Spiritual/Prayer life like working with Suprise Cooking Ingredents!

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JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!

Sometimes the spiritual journey is difficult to quantify and to express. Although we often wish to describe it in sugary sweet terms, those who have been on the journey long enough know that in between one's visits with our Beloved into the gardens of sweet pomegranates,  spiced wine, apples and raisin cake, we are often chewing on crusts of old dry bread that has lost its delectable fresh flavor and warm perfumed scent long ago.

I admit that I like to think about food a lot. I know in spiritual terms, aesthetics would tell me that I need to suppress these sensory pleasures and become detached from this earthly distraction.  To that I reply that this is a fair assertion and that there is definitely a time and season for all things. Fasting comprises an integral part of the spiritual life, but so does feasting. As a matter of fact, Jesus conveyed more of his teachings during meals with his disciples, sinners and even his would-be enemies, than perhaps at any other time. This is because a shared meal is unifying and nourishing in mind, body, soul, and spirit. People are gathered together to communicate and listen. Enough said about that.   

I further confess that I am a closet Food Network fan and frequent viewer, and choose to allow my brain to vegetate (no pun intended) at the end of the day to Chopped and Sweet Genius with my kids. (No objectionabe content is on these shows:) These two programs are similar in their structure. One is given a basket of secret and  seemingly unrelated and strange ingredients, and the competing chefs are asked to come up with a creative and tasty dish to some sort of theme. For example, on Chopped the first four contestants might be asked to prepare an appetizer using pig's feet, marmalade jam, creamed corn, and rose petals.  In 20 minutes they are expected to repurpose these disparate ingredients into palatable and visually pleasing dish for the judges. Sweet Genius focuses on desserts and one must create a chocolate, a cake, and candy in three different rounds with  variety of wild food items. It is quite fun and amazing to see what they come up with and how this motley assortment of goods is transformed into delightful and delectable dishes!

Sometimes when assessing my own basket of virtues and vices, spiritual gifts and shortcomings, and diverse personality traits that include the good, the bad, and the ugly, I am at a loss.  Although God has given everything I need and every good gift to reach divine intimacy with Him, I still hold onto the ingredients present in my soul that want to be the spoilers. The passions, attachments, and bad habits try to win out over the fresh and pure ingredients the Holy Spirit has endowed me with despite my unworthiness.  When in quiet prayer on a particularly chaotic day, I might bring a pint of zeal to be with God, with a pinch of complaining, a teaspoon of negotiating and wrestling with His Divine Will, and a teaspoon of honey in my desire to love God and my neighbor, despite my brokenness.     

On those days, I have to ask Our Lord to help me sort through all of these competing ingredients in order that the complaining and negotiating can be subsumed into my desire to be there and create a prayer time of true loving presence between He and I.  This is the beauty of Our Lord, our great maestro, our creative chef if you will. He knows how to bring my sour and old, moldy attitudes into His Most Sacred Heart where His Blood and Water wash away my selfishness, and he burns away the dross and mold found within me .  He then mixes the fresh and ripe kernels found in my heart into His Divine Perfection and with the Spirit teaches me how to pray in purity of spirit.  

In the Parable of the Yeast, Jesus tells us that 'The Kingdom is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour it permeated every part of the dough.'  (M 13:33) We are asked to bring that yeast before Our Lord that He can transform it into something beautiful for Himself and for the world. In this parable, as well as that of the mustard seed, He even reassures us that it just takes a tiny bit on our part of faith, hope, and love, and that then He will do the rest. This translates into the necessity of showing up for prayer, regardless of our heart's disposition and assortment of moods on any particular day. It further assures us that God always makes something beautiful out of the ingredients that we bring to Him in our hearts, as long as we place it all before Him and surrender it into His creative hands. He is the One who transforms all things found within each of us, and makes them brand new in unexpected and beautiful ways.

Fr. Doug's Dec. Homily: What St. John of the Cross Never Said

JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!

Enjoy yet another wisdom-filled homily on the one thing necessary and what we will be solely judged upon at death...

Embracing the Childlike Spirit of Christmas

 by Akiane See http://wastedwisdom.net/2012/06/29/interview-akiane-speaks-of-heaven-and-paintings/

JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!

As the clock ticks towards Christmas Eve and Christmas day (and season), our thoughts turn more fully to the Crib of Christ and the Babe that was born in the most unlikely of circumstances and places.  The feelings of anticipation, joy, and excitement in celebrating the birth of Jesus often hearken back to our childhood memories when we would know that something special was going to be taking place as night fell on Christmas Eve. Not only was it the glee over the possibility of Santa Clause visiting our house, but there was also a childlike understanding that the manger scene carefully laid out on our table was about to dramatically change as the Christ Child was finally placed there amidst the animals, the angels, shepherds, and the Holy Family. The amazing thing was that the Baby Jesus was the star of the show! We understood that the entire world looked upon the birth of this helpless child as the freedom and liberation from their woes, as the arrival of their King! We understood that He was like us - a child!

We are now grown adults, yet this sense of childlike joy and pregnant anticipation should not be any less! Yet perhaps we have gotten caught up in our 'adult' responsibilities, concerns, cares, and duties. Perhaps we have even become somewhat cynical or too serious to spend moments allowing our spirits to frolic with Jesus. Indeed, we may have forgotten that little Jesus is waiting to speak to our hearts and that He is calling us to have simple unencumbered child-like hearts that enable us to see and hear Him and His Divine Presence in our lives each and every moment of every day. He has openly shared his promise "that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be fulfilled." (Jn 15:11) 

What does this joy consist of? It surely is not worldly joy that comes and goes in an instant, and leaves our hearts feeling momentarily satisfied and then quickly empty once again.  No, it is something deeper than that found in the deepest recesses of our hearts. In Proverbs we are told that wisdom "was delighted every day, playing before him all the time, playing in the world. And my delights were to be with the children of the earth" [Prv 8:30-31] Jesus is Divine Wisdom and brings this wisdom to us in order to rediscover and nurture our childhood innocence and dependence upon him. He affirms this in the Gospel of Matthew when He praises His Father, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." (Mt11:25)  He tells us soon thereafter that "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." (MT 18:3-5)  His birth was the first step in showing us how to do this and opening the gates for us to guard our childlike traits for, in and with Him.  

Christmas is a fitting time for us to look at how we are nurturing our child within. God needs that child to be loved, nurtured, and listened to. He needs this little one's capacity to love, to look upon His creation and all people with fresh eyes, and to experience every moment of daily life as a gift and an opportunity for discovery at each moment.  Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (MT 19:14)  The Holy Trinity was so convicted of the importance of Jesus coming to earth in the flesh that salvation history unfolded only upon the fiat of Our Lady, the subsequent Incarnation, Birth, Life, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord.  One did not happen without the other. Furthermore, although scant details are available of Jesus' childhood, we know that he played, ran, explored, studied, and learned his trade as He grew up "and grew in wisdom" as it was foretold that 'a little child shall lead them.' (Is 11:6)

We need to give ourselves permission to play and frolic. We need to be responsible adults and we must embrace our daily duties, but we also need to balance this with complete trust and joy in God. This means recognizing as a child does, that God is watching over us and wants a true relationship with us.  We need to just 'be'. This enables God to tap into our soul and release more graces to us that are then openly received. The result can be as stunning as the art of famous child prodigy Akiane (see link above) or as hidden as one whose soul is immersed in the Divine Child as was the case with Ven. Cyril of the Mother of God. He was born Nicholas Schockwilerg in 1590 at Luxemburg and entered the Carmelite Order at an early age. He was ordained a priest in 1624 and was later elected a prior. In 1628 he left the monastery to join the more austere Discalced Carmelites at Prague. It was he who rescued the statue of Infant Jesus from the rubble of a church, after it had been ransacked by Saxons. The statue had been damaged and the hands broken off. One day when Father Cyril was praying in the oratory he heard the words: "Have pity on Me and I will have pity on you. Give Me back my hands and I will give you peace. The more you honour Me, the more I will bless you." Many subsequent miracles have taken place through this devotion to the Child infant of Prague. See http://floscarmelivitisflorigera.blogspot.com/2009/01/octave-of-nativity.html

As Carmelites, we see the rich history of devotion to the Child Jesus. St. Teresa of Avila reportedly always traveled with her statue of the Infant Jesus when she was establishing new convents. Her devotion to the Infant Jesus was forged after she was coming down the steps of her convent when she saw a beautiful young boy. The Child spoke to her and said: "Who are you?" Teresa answered: "I am Teresa of Jesus, who are you?" The Child answered: "I am Jesus of Teresa!"  Her spiritual daughter, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face" was also particularly devoted to the Infant Jesus. Thérèse placed an Infant statue in the novitiate at Lisieux when she had charge of the novices, because she knew how many blessings the Divine Child brought to the Carmelite novices in Prague when it was placed in their midst. The same statue still stands in the cloister at Lisieux. Her entire spirituality was based upon the way of spiritual childhood and consists of deep and childlike dependence upon God in all circumstances and in great confidence. (See http://www.meditationsfromcarmel.com/content/teresa-jesus-and-th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se-and-child-jesus)

As Christmas arrives, let us become little children who frolic around the crib and dance for joy at the incarnation and birth of Christ as our spiritual Father St. John of the Cross reportedly did. On the day before Christmas he used to organize with the friars a kind of paraliturgical procession to recall how Mary and Joseph went in search of lodging for the divine Infant. At Christmas time above all he felt his heart pulsate with love for the Child Jesus. One Christmas, seeing a statue of the Infant lying on a cushion, he cried out, "Lord, if love is to slay me, the hour has now come. " Another Christmas, taken with love, he took the statue of the Infant in his arms and began to dance with enraptured joy. His countenance, in fact, corresponded with the Church's liturgy. (See http://www.franciscan-sfo.org/ap/yepes/gen_7.htm)

Let us be free as little ones, and pray as Our Lady instructed Ven. Cyril:
 
Jesus, you decided to become a child, and I'm coming to you full of trust. I believe that your attentive love forestalls all my needs. Even for the intercession of your Holy Mother, you can meet my necessities, spiritual as well as material, if I pray according to your holy will. I love you with all my heart, all my strength.

I beg your pardon, if my weakness makes me sin. I repeat with the Gospel "Lord, if you want you can heal me." I leave you to decide how and when. I am ready to accept suffering, if this is your will, but help me not to become hardened to it, rather to bear fruit. Help me to be a faithful servant and for your sake, holy Child, to love my neighbour as myself. Almighty Child, unceasingly I pray you to support me in my necessities of the present moment.

Grant me the grace to remain in you, to be possessed and possess you entirely, with your parents, Mary and Joseph, in the eternal praise of your heavenly servants. (See http://www.infantjesus.com/prayers.htm) Amen.

 

Preparing Our Hearts for Advent

JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!


It is hard to believe that we are celebrating St. Andrew the Apostle's Feast Day, and that Advent begins in just two more days!  The desire always stirs in my heart for  simplicity, quiet, and solitude during this holy season. Yet, I find that I have to fight for this and carve out time for the prayer, preparation and quietude that Advent requires to truly allow a deepening of the Christ Child to snuggle and attach to the womb of my soul.

Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity wrote a compelling letter on November 29, 1905 to one of her spiritual directors, Abbe Chevignard, about the Carmelite approach towards Advent.  She writes,

The holy time of Advent is here; it seems to me that is is very especially the season of interior souls, those who live unceasingly and through everything wholly 'hidden with Christ in God" at the center of themselves. In expectation of the great mystery, I love to go deeply into that beautiful psalm XVIII, which we often say at Matins, and particularly these verses: "There he has placed his tent in the sun, and this star comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his bed, rejoices like a champion to run its course. At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun; to the furthest end of the sky is its course; nothing is concealed from its burning heat." Let us empty our soul so He can come forth in it and communicate the eternal life that is its own; the Father has given Him "power over the flesh" for that purpose, as we are told in the Gospel. And then, in the silence of prayer, let us listen to Him, for He is the 'Source' who speaks within us and who has said, "He who sent me is true, and I tell all I have heard from Him. " Let us ask Him to make us true in our love, to make us sacrificial beings, for it seems to me that sacrifice is only love put into action: "He loved me, He gave Himself for me." I love this thought, that the life of the priest (and of the Carmelite) is an Advent that prepares for the Incarnation in souls. In one psalm, David sings that "fire goes before the Lord." [Ps 96:3] Isn't fire love? And isn't our mission also to prepare the way of the Lord through our union with Him whom the Apostle calls a "consuming fire"? [Heb12:29] At His touch our soul will become like a flame of love spreading into all the members of the body of Christ, the Church; then we will console the Heart of our Master, who, showing us to the Father, will be able to say: "I am already glorified in them." [Col.1:24]

Help me, Monsieur l'Abbe, I have great need of it, for the more light there is, the more I feel my powerlessness. On Dec. 8th (since you are a high priest), would you consecrate me to the power of His love so I may in truth be "Laudem Gloriae"; I read that in Saint Paul and I understood that it was my vocation, even now in exile while awaiting the eternal Sanctus."  (Letter 250, 11/29/1905 from The Complete Works, Vol Two, Letters from Carmel, Elizabeth of the Trinity)

Like Bl. Elizabeth and St. Andrew, at the outset of Advent we are called to proclaim that "We have found the Messiah." (John 1:40) He is within our hearts if we allow Him room. He is found most especially in His earthly tabernacle, much like the womb of Our Lady who carried Him, in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Let us come and Adore Him. Let us be still and follow Him, and then let us bring others to Him, as St. Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus, and as Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity silently did so as well through the power of her prayers made through His Indwelling within her.  Amen.

Long Live Christ the King!

JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!

 

 

 

Our Carmelite tradition heralds Jesus as Our King and Majesty in many beautiful writings by our saints. St. Teresa depicts Our Lord dwelling in the center of our souls as a mighty King who seeks to unite us to Himself within the interior castle of our hearts. Our King of Glory tirelessly seeks to draw us ever closer to the center of our hearts in prayer where He resides and beckons us to come and sup with Him.  Unlike earthly royalty, Jesus is the gentlest of kings yet his Almighty power in loving us makes it hard to resist His invitation to give Him our whole heart.  Furthermore, St. Teresa knew that our Heavenly Father is also King of Creation and our majesty, and that His Son enables us to approach His throne as one "under this protection you can approach and petition Him, for then His Majesty takes delight in you."   (Sililoquies #7)

 

St. Teresa stresses that we must not be afraid to approach Christ the King who calls us to Himself in unfailing love and mercy. We must humbly yet courageously respond to His promptings and move ever close to His throne by dying to ourselves and ridding ourselves of all that keeps us from Him.  In the Book of Her Life she writes, 

 

O  King of Glory and Lord of all kings! How true that Your kingdom...has no end...There is no need for intermediaries with you! Upon beholding Your person one sees immediately that you alone...merit to be called Lord.

 

Oh my Lord! O my King! Who now would know how to represent your majesty! It's impossible not to see that You in Yourself are a great Emperor, for to behold Your majesty is startling; and the more one beholds along with this majesty, Lord, the more startling it becomes. Nevertheless, we can converse and speak with You as we like, once the first fright and fear in beholding Your Majesty passes; although the fear of offending You becomes greater. But the fear is not one of punishment, for this punishment is considered nothing in comparison with losing you." (Ch. 37)

 

Let us heed our Foundress, St. Teresa. Let us approach the Lord, Our King, with praise and thanksgiving and without hesitation.  Let us serve Him as His faithful servants. Amen.

 

 



Fr. Doug's Homily on Bringing About the Kingdom of God

JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!

Enjoy this homily as a source of meditation and as a means of deepening the sense and realization of the Kingdom of God in your life and with all those around you.

May His Peace be with you. Amen.

Celebrating the Indwelling with St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St.. Elizabeth of the Trinity, who held a special devotion and understanding of the Most Holy Trinity and His Indwelling within each person's soul. The secret to her sanctity was to let herself be built up into a little house of God, where Christ could dwell within. She wanted her soul to be like a little vase that could be filled up with Him so that she could communicate this living water to her brothers and sister in the Church. In her letters she writes that “In the little sanctuary of my soul, so intimate, I find him at every hour of the day and night; I am never alone: my Christ is there praying in me and I pray with him. My whole practice is to entire within, and lose myself in those who are there! It is so simple. The Divine Adorer is within us, so we have his prayer; let us offer it, commune with it, and pray with his soul. 
This is confirmed when Jesus reveals to us in Holy Scriptures that, "If anyone hears me calling and opens the door I will enter his house and have supper with him and he with me." (Rev. 3:20-21 )

Origen tells us in his notebook on prayer that is read for the Liturgy of the Hours on the Feast of Christ the King and known as 'Your Kingdom Come' that, "The Kingdom of God is within us, for the Word of God is very near, in our mouth and in our heart. Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God’s kingdom prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it might grow and bear fruit and become perfect. For God reigns in each of his holy ones. Anyone who is holy obeys the spiritual laws of God, who dwells in him as in a well-ordered city. The Father is present in the perfect soul, and with him Christ reigns, according to the words: We shall come to him and make our home with him.

Thus the kingdom of God within us, as we continue to make progress, will reach its highest point when the Apostle’s words are fulfilled, and Christ, having subjected all his enemies to himself, will hand over his kingdom to God the Father, that God may be all in all. Therefore, let us pray unceasingly with that disposition of soul which the Word may make divine, saying to our Father who is in heaven: Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come.

Note this too about the kingdom of God. It is not a sharing of justice with iniquity, nor a society of light with darkness, nor a meeting of Christ with Belial. The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin.

Therefore, if we wish God to reign in us, in no way should sin reign in our mortal body; rather we should mortify our members which are upon the earth and bear fruit in the Spirit. There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with his Christ. In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power which we wish to receive. And he will sit there until all his enemies who are within us become his footstool, and every principality, power and virtue in us is cast out.

All this can happen in each one of us, and the last enemy, death, can be destroyed; then Christ will say in us: O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory? And so what is corruptible in us must be clothed with holiness and incorruptibility; death will be cast out, and our mortality will be clad with the Father’s immortality, so that, as God reigns in us, we may truly enjoy the blessings of rebirth and resurrection.  (See http://www.liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/loh/christthekingor.htm)

. Elizabeth of the Trinity cultivated the Kingdom of the Three wholly within the little cell of her heart and soul. She understood that we are to cherish our Beloved "whose name is Love" and who "dwells within us at every moment of the day and night, and that he asks us to live in company with him." The key is to give our fiat to Our Savior, who is the living water and the source of this unitive love. "Let us be in communion all the time with Jesus who wants to tell us the whole Mystery..He is always at work in our soul; let us be built up by him and may he be the Soul of our soul, the Life of our life, so that we may be able to say with St. Paul, 'For me, to live is Jesus Christ!'  (Your Presence is my Joy, by Conrad de Meester)

This all points to the sublime truth that our souls are temples of the Holy Trinity. We must constantly be beckoning Him to come into our abode, in response to His constant invitations to come into His presence in an ever deeper level. We can realize this more readily by  meditating upon Our Lady, who we know became, "a most holy Temple to Our Most High God, who by dwelling in her sanctified the whole creation and made our fallen nature godly." 

In the Akathist prayer we honor Our Blessed Mother by proclaiming, "Extolling your birth-giving, we all praise you as a living temple, O Theotokos. For the Lord whose hand sustains the world, having dwelt in your womb, sanctified and glorified you, and instructed all people to cry to you."

Rejoice, tabernacle of God the Logos;
Rejoice, holy one, holier than the holies.
Rejoice, ark that was gilt by the Spirit;Rejoice, inexhaustible treasure of life.
Rejoice, precious diadem of godly kings;
Rejoice, honored pride of the pious priests.
Rejoice, the Church's unshakable tower;
Rejoice, the kingdom's unassailable fortress.
Rejoice, through whom trophies of victory are raised;
Rejoice, through whom enemies are defeated.
Rejoice, healing of my body;
Rejoice, my soul's salvation.
Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.

People: Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.

Because St. Elizabeth recognized that Our Lady like no other was drawn within into complete communion with Her Son in a perpetual Incarnation, she sought to enter into the soul of Mary and unite herself so deeply that, "Mary herself would overshadow her and carry her soul into the soul of her Son." Blessed Elizabeth wrote about Blessed Mother that, "She kept herself so little, so recollected in the presence of God, in the secret of the Temple, that she drew forth the good pleasure of the Trinity...the Father, stooping over this creature who was so beautiful, so unaware of her beauty, willed her to be in time the Mother of him of whom he is the Father in eternity."

As we journey towards plumbing the depths of the Indwelling within our souls, we pray that our hearts may be pure and open.  We ask that St. Elizabeth of the Trinity help us by her stated mission: "In heaven, I believe, my mission will be that of drawing souls into interior recollection, helping them to go out of themselves, to cling to God through a movement which is wholly simple and wholly loving; and to preserve them in that great silence of the within, which allows God to imprint Himself on them and to transform them into Himself."  

St. Elizabeth, we ask for your prayers and intercession, along with that of Our Most Blessed Mother of Mt. Carmel, in moving our hearts deep down into the abyss of the Holy Trinity, where He resides deep within the recesses of our souls. Amen.