Mary has requested that the daily message be given each day to the world. It is read nightly at the prayer service from her Image Building in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.A. This is according to her request. All attempts will be made to publish this daily message to the world at 11 p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A.We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages rests with the Holy See of Rome. |
 |
A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb, the Bridegroom of the Soul
Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.
Messenger: Include Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center in 6:20 prayers.
Messenger: Please pray for 5 urgent intentions!
Messenger: Please pray for the healing of Father Carter through the intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater.
We are studying Christian life and how we live it.
Our object is to establish a comprehensive view of what is necessary for the maintenance and development of full Christian living.
Response to God's Love is a book written by Fr. Carter and used as a text book for about 16 years at Xavier University. He taught there for over 30 years. He has authored some 17 books and written six years of priestly newsletters which have been circulated around the world.
Jesus desires this section to be included. This book is so important to Jesus. You will have greater insights into the Divine Mysteries if you read slowly as Jesus requests and pray for vision and grace. Oh God, thank You for this great work.
The moment Fr. Carter took his pen in hand God was giving the world a great body of knowledge to help renew the Church and the world.
Fr. Carter has spiritually directed all of us through his writings and Jesus has directed him his whole life to help renew the Church and the world.
St. Claude de la Colombiere, St. Margaret Mary, St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Ignatius and St. Xavier intercede for us, especially for the Jesuits to help us do this work to help bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart and triumph of Mary's Heart.
Messenger: In the study of Theme IV - Death-Resurrection it is necessary to read the following material.
Response in Christ - Chapter 1
Response to God's Love - Chapter 4
Mother at Our Side - Chapter 9
Pain and the Joy - Chapters 2, 15, 26, 31, 32
This is an outline from
Father Carter's class.
It is not complete - it is only an outline.
Theme IV - Death and Resurrection
A. Concept of Death-Resurrection in Salvation-History
B. The greatest tragedy of suffering is not that there is so much of it but so much of it seems to be wasted
C. Old Testament
D. Jesus
E. Church: Life of Death-Resurrection
F. Individual Christians
G. Some Particular forms of the Cross (Suffering)
Theme IV - Death and Resurrection
Brief OutlineA. Concept of Death-Resurrection in Salvation-History
1) Purpose of suffering
2) Suffering leads to greater life if we cooperate with God's plan for us
B. The greatest tragedy of suffering is not that there is so much of it but so much of it seems to be wasted
C. Old Testament
D. Jesus
E. Church: Life of Death-Resurrection
F. Individual Christians
Romans 6:11
2 Corinthians 4:7-11
G. Some Particular forms of the Cross (Suffering)
Self-Discipline
Renunciation
Everydayness
Crucial decision making - (am I doing the right thing)
Failure
Transitions in life (hardships)
Uncertainty
Other (Physical and Mental sicknesses)
Loneliness
Rejection
Escapism
Shattered Dreams
Theme IV - Death and Resurrection
Expanded OutlineA. Concept of Death-Resurrection in Salvation-History
1) Purpose of suffering in God's plan
We live in a world of human beings whose human natures have been damaged by sin
Suffering entered the human condition because of sin
God uses suffering for good if we cooperate with His plan for us
The supreme example of this is Jesus' suffering and death
Everything Jesus did contributed to our redemption
His will was perfectly formed to His Father's will
...let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.' (Mat. 26:39)
2) Suffering leads to greater life if we cooperate with God's plan for us
When families go through suffering,
— if they react properly,
— if they ask for God's help,
at the end of suffering they are usually brought closer together
Suffering embraced properly leads to greater life
The greatest tragedy of human suffering is not that there is so much of it, but so much of it is wasted.
Suffering can lead to greatness
ie. Helen Keller
Helen Keller became deaf, blind and mute
She was a shining example for all of us
Message given December 2, 2000
Jesus speaks:
My dear people, the Paschal Mystery is
Death-Resurrection.A brief reading of the entry Death and
Resurrection in Response to God's
Love will help you see the plan
for this theme.A much fuller reading must be done as
the unfolding of this theme progresses.The reading material is given that you
will study it as you progress
more and more into learning
about this great mystery.A deeper study follows every time
you read the material.Besides the reading material in
Response to God's Love, the
entries in Response in Christ
will be presented for a fuller
understanding and excerpts
from the priestly newsletter and an
article about this material.I now will begin presenting this material on
Death-Resurrection. I quote to you
from the words of the founder:
Excerpt from Response to God's Love, by Father Edward Carter, S.J.
"Our incorporation into the mystery of
Christ at baptism, and the gradual
maturing of that life in the process
of becoming, is centered in the pattern
of death-resurrection.
Indeed, the theme of death-resurrection
is at the heart of salvation history.
Let us briefly consider its place in the
Old Testament, in the New Testament,
and in God's ongoing self-
communication, always remembering
that any form of death — that is,
any form of suffering — is meant to
lead to greater life, greater peace,
and greater happiness."{End of excerpt from Response to God's Love}
Jesus speaks:
The theme of Death-Resurrection will be
open for your discussion by giving
you different forms of Death-Resurrection
in your lives. These are considered
in the founder's book The Pain and the Joy.I write to you through him that you will
more fully understand how you live the
Paschal Mystery of Death-Resurrection.I love you, Jesus.
This is an outline from
Father Carter's class.
It is not complete - it is only an outline.
B. The greatest tragedy of suffering is not that there is so much of it but so much of it seems to be wasted
C. Old Testament
NOTE: Old Testament prefigures New Testament
Exodus 24: 1-18 (From the Old Testament)
C:
THE RATIFICATION OF THE COVENANTHe then said to Moses, ‘Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and bow down at a distance. Moses alone will approach Yahweh; the others will not approach, nor will the people come up with him.’
Moses went and told the people all Yahweh’s words and all the laws, and all the people answered with one voice, ‘All the words Yahweh has spoken we will carry out!’ Moses put all Yahweh’s words into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing–stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent certain young Israelites to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices. Moses then took half the blood and put it into basins, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then, taking the Book of the Covenant, he read it to the listening people, who then said, ‘We shall do everything that Yahweh has said; we shall obey.’ Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it over the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has made with you, entailing all these stipulations.’
Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy elders of Israel then went up, and they saw the God of Israel beneath whose feet there was what looked like a sapphire pavement pure as the heavens themselves, but he did no harm to the Israelite notables; they actually gazed on God and then ate and drank.
Moses on the mountain
Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets—the law and the commandment—which I have written for their instruction.’ Moses made ready, with Joshua his assistant, and they went up the mountain of God. He said to the elders, ‘Wait here for us until we come back to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; if anyone has any matter to settle, let him go to them.’ Moses then went up the mountain.
Cloud covered the mountain. The glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day Yahweh called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the watching Israelites, the glory of Yahweh looked like a devouring fire on the mountain top. Moses went right into the cloud and went on up the mountain. Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
The Old Testament prepares the way for new covenant established by Jesus.
For years the Israelites lived under Egyptian enslavement.
They escaped by the parting of the Red Sea.
This parting of the Red Sea prefigures Baptism.
The Israelites under Moses went down into the parted waters and they came up.
Our founder considered the following Scripture passages with regard to these subjects.
Romans 6: 1-11 (From the New Testament)
Baptism
What should we say then? Should we remain in sin so that grace may be given the more fully? Out of the question! We have died to sin; how could we go on living in it? You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life. If we have been joined to him by dying a death like his, so we shall be by a resurrection like his; realising that our former self was crucified with him, so that the self which belonged to sin should be destroyed and we should be freed from the slavery of sin. Someone who has died, of course, no longer has to answer for sin.
But we believe that, if we died with Christ, then we shall live with him too. We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over him any more. For by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now the life that he lives is life with God. In the same way, you must see yourselves as being dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.
Luke 24: 13-27 (From the New Testament)
The road to Emmaus
Now that very same day, two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. And it happened that as they were talking together and discussing it, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but their eyes were prevented from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What are all these things that you are discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped, their faces downcast.
Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ He asked, ‘What things?’ They answered, ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth, who showed himself a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have now gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they could not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.’
Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe all that the prophets have said! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer before entering into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.
Exodus 12: 1-26 (From the Old Testament)
E: THE PASSOVER
Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ‘This month must be the first of all the months for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, "On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock for his family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small for the animal, he must join with his neighbour nearest to his house, depending on the number of persons. When you choose the animal, you will take into account what each can eat. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may choose it either from the sheep or from the goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter it at twilight. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on both door–posts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh must be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with the head, feet and entrails. You must not leave any of it over till the morning: whatever is left till morning you must burn. This is how you must eat it: with a belt round your waist, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You must eat it hurriedly: it is a Passover in Yahweh’s honour. That night, I shall go through Egypt and strike down all the first–born in Egypt, man and beast alike, and shall execute justice on all the gods of Egypt, I, Yahweh! The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood I shall pass over you, and you will escape the destructive plague when I strike Egypt. This day must be commemorated by you, and you must keep it as a feast in Yahweh’s honour. You must keep it as a feast–day for all generations; this is a decree for all time.
The feast of Unleavened Bread
"For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you must clean the leaven out of your houses, for anyone who eats leavened bread from the first to the seventh day must be outlawed from Israel. On the first day you must hold a sacred assembly, and on the seventh day a sacred assembly. On those days no work may be done; you will prepare only what each requires to eat. You must keep the feast of Unleavened Bread because it was on that same day that I brought your armies out of Egypt. You will keep that day, generation after generation; this is a decree for all time. In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty–first day, you must eat unleavened bread. For seven days there may be no leaven in your houses, since anyone, either stranger or citizen of the country, who eats leavened bread will be outlawed from the community of Israel. You will eat nothing with leaven in it; wherever you live, you will eat unleavened bread." ’
Injunctions relating to the Passover
Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and choose a lamb or kid for your families, and kill the Passover victim. Then take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and with the blood from the basin touch the lintel and both door–posts; then let none of you venture out of the house till morning. Then, when Yahweh goes through Egypt to strike it, and sees the blood on the lintel and on both door–posts, he will pass over the door and not allow the Destroyer to enter your homes and strike. You will observe this as a decree binding you and your children for all time, and when you have entered the country which Yahweh will give you, as he has promised, you will observe this ritual. And when your children ask you, "What does this ritual mean?" you will tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice in honour of Yahweh who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, and struck Egypt but spared our houses." ’ And the people bowed in worship. The Israelites then went away and did as Yahweh had ordered Moses and Aaron.
The tenth plague: death of the first–born
And at midnight Yahweh struck down all the first–born in Egypt from the first–born of Pharaoh, heir to his throne, to the first–born of the prisoner in the dungeon, and the first–born of all the livestock. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up in the night, and there was great wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without its dead. It was still dark when Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up, leave my subjects, you and the Israelites! Go and worship Yahweh as you have asked! And take your flocks and herds as you have asked, and go! And bless me too!’ The Egyptians urged the people on and hurried them out of the country because, they said, ‘Otherwise we shall all be dead.’ So the people carried off their dough still unleavened, their bowls wrapped in their cloaks, on their shoulders.
The Egyptians plundered
The Israelites did as Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for silver and golden jewellery, and clothing. Yahweh made the Egyptians so much impressed with the people that they gave them what they asked. So they despoiled the Egyptians.
Excerpts from Response In Christ, by Father Edward J. Carter, S.J.
... Here the covenant between Yahweh and His People was sealed with sacrificial blood. ...
... Moses sprinkled with blood both the altar, representing Yahweh, and the Jewish people. ...
... Since blood signified life for the Jews, such an action had deep meaning for them. It symbolized the sealing of the covenant, the establishment of a new life-relationship between Yahweh and themselves.
(End of Excerpts from Response In Christ)
D. Jesus
E. Church: Life of Death-Resurrection
F. Individual Christians
Romans 6: 1-11
Baptism
What should we say then? Should we remain in sin so that grace may be given the more fully? Out of the question! We have died to sin; how could we go on living in it? You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life. If we have been joined to him by dying a death like his, so we shall be by a resurrection like his; realising that our former self was crucified with him, so that the self which belonged to sin should be destroyed and we should be freed from the slavery of sin. Someone who has died, of course, no longer has to answer for sin.
But we believe that, if we died with Christ, then we shall live with him too. We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over him any more. For by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now the life that he lives is life with God. In the same way, you must see yourselves as being dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4: 7-11
The hardships and hopes of the apostolate
But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God’s and not our own. We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh.
G. Some Particular forms of the Cross (Suffering)
Self-Discipline
Renunciation
Everydayness
Crucial decision making - (am I doing the right thing)
Failure
Transitions in life (hardships)
Uncertainty
Other (Physical and Mental sicknesses)
Loneliness
Rejection
Escapism
Shattered Dreams
Definition Escapism is unhealthy or immature flight from painful reality.
Topics for discussion:
One person should be the leader of the discussion.
One person should be the recorder for the group.
You should have a good discussion going at all times.
They do not have to be discussed in order. You can discuss those of particular interest to you.
Questions on Loneliness
1) Some experts say loneliness is as prevalent or common in the U.S. as in anywhere in the world? Is this true? If so, what are the reasons for it?
2) What do you think are some of the most common forms of loneliness?
3) What is the most common kind of loneliness for
1) adolescence
2) young adults
3) middle aged
4) elderly
4) Is there a difference between being alone and being lonely?
Is there a possible connection between the two?
5) What is the Christian response to loneliness in myself and others?
(What can I draw on to help myself with loneliness? How can I help others that are lonely?)
6) If you were counseling a person afflicted by loneliness what advice would you give?
Shattered Dreams
7) What advice would you give to a person having more than ordinary difficulty recovering from shattered dreams?
Failure
8) What advice would you give to a person having more than ordinary difficulty recovering from failure?
ESCAPISM - is unhealthy or immature flight from painful reality
9) Suicide in younger generation is increasing now.
Suicide is the ultimate form of escapism.
What do you think are some reasons for this increased rate amongst the young?
10) What do you think is the most common type of escapism for
1) adolescent
2) young adult
3) middle aged
4) elderly
11) What do you think are some of the most common types of escapism in our modern culture?
12) What are some of the Christian principles escapism violates?
13) If you were counseling a person particularly given to escapism practices, what advice would you give?
Selected Readings
Excerpt from Response in Christ, by Father Edward J. Carter, S.J.
ONE The Concept of
the Christian Life
There are various points of departure for a treatment of the Christian life. Our particular choice consists in giving a general, panoramic view of this life in this chapter with a consequent deepening of ideas in the pages to follow. Inevitably the themes put forth here will receive only a sketchy treatment, and to this extent the chapter will not give complete satisfaction. However, such a procedure allows for an immediate view of our complete life of grace in Christ. This preliminary glimpse can consequently serve throughout as a constant, unifying frame of reference.
The Christian life essentially consists in God's loving self-communication to us with our concomitant response to Him in love. One peculiar characteristic of this communication of God to man is that it has centered itself within a concrete historical framework. God's gift of Himself therefore establishes the process of salvation history. This process began with man's creation and elevation to the supernatural life, a life which is a participation in God's own divine life. This participation is real and, therefore, somewhat similar to life as it is in God Himself; however, since it is only a created sharing, man possesses it in an infinitely less perfect manner than God who is Himself this life.
Man rejected this self-communication of God in original sin. Yet God's desire to give Himself to man was not withdrawn. He determined to save man from his sinfulness, and thereafter the divine communication centered around the promised Redeemer. Salvation history preceding the advent of this Redeemer became a preparation for the Redeemer's coming. From the time of His coming, salvation history was and is the establishment and continuation of His redemptive work.
1. The Christian Life as Prefigured in the Mosaic Covenant
In the age prior to the coming of Christ, salvation history was rooted in the Mosaic period. At the heart of this Mosaic era was the great salvific event of the exodus (Ex 15:1-18). Through this event Yahweh led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and under Moses formed them into His People. The history of the Jewish people previous to this exodus event was merely a preparation for this central happening. Thus Israel in recalling its ancient traditions could see that Yahweh's covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was a preparation for the great covenant definitively established through Moses on Mount Sinai.
God, then, within the framework of salvation history has determined to communicate Himself according to a covenant. What is covenant? In reference to salvation history it is a mutual life relationship in love between God and His People, and among the People themselves. God on His part communicates His own life through grace, and man in return gives himself to God and his fellowman in loving service. There are various laws governing the multiple aspects of this life-relationship. There is a formal worship with its determined ritual. Yet everything centers around the essence of covenant, the life relationship.
As mentioned, the Mosaic covenant dominated the Old Testament period. At the heart of the formation of this covenant there was a transition process involved as the Jews were led forth from Egyptian slavery to freedom under the leadership of Moses. The Egyptians had finally consented to this departure of the Jews under the pressure of the last of the plagues inflicted upon them. Under this plague the Egyptians' first-born were slain. The Jews escaped this deathblow of Yahweh by marking their doorposts with the blood of the paschal lamb: ". . . I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt, I am Yahweh! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt." (Ex 12:12-13).
As the Jewish people escaped from Egyptian bondage they experienced a transition which was essentially religious in nature. This transition was from a less perfect to a more perfect type of existence, for in being released from slavery they were gradually formed into Yahweh's People. The definitive event of this formation occurred on Mount Sinai. Here the covenant between Yahweh and His People was sealed with sacrificial blood. Moses sprinkled with blood both the altar, representing Yahweh, and the Jewish people. Since blood signified life for the Jews, such an action had deep meaning for them. It symbolized the sealing of the covenant, the establishment of a new life-relationship between Yahweh and themselves.
2. Life in the New Covenant
This Mosaic covenant prefigured the covenant which was to be established in Christ. Yahweh had given himself to the Jews in a special way. He was their God and they were His People. This life relationship was highly imperfect, however, if compared to that instituted by Christ. The covenant life between God and man established by the Incarnate Word is of the most intimate nature. We see this if we consider the new covenant as being contained in a perfect way in Christ Himself. He is radically the new covenant.1 Covenant, remember, has various dimensions of love. Out of love God shares His life with man, and man in community responds in love by giving himself to God and relating in love with his neighbor. In Christ we perceive these relationships achieved in the most perfect manner possible. First of all, Christ in His humanity receives the divinity's gift of self in the highest degree – to such a high degree, in fact, that we have the hypostatic union as a result. In other words, the human nature of Christ is recipient of God's self-communication in such a perfect manner that it does not exist by reason of its own personal act of existence, but rather by the divine existence of the Word, the second person of the Trinity.
Christ as man – in the name of all men, for all men – perfectly receives God's communication of Himself in grace. This is the first movement of covenant life, downward from God to man. In the second movement of covenant, man's response, we again see Christ as central. As man, Christ makes the perfect response to God for all men. This response of Christ includes both His love for His Father and His relationship in love with men. His entire life was itself this perfect response. His life, submerged in a constant, loving conformity to His Father's will, was and is the perfect incarnate response which man is called upon to make to his covenant God.
The response which Christ made was centered in His death and Resurrection. These two events contained the whole of Christ's life and are intimately united. Everything which Christ did previous to Calvary was a preparation for Calvary and consequently shared its redemptive value. The Resurrection was in one way or another the completion of the work of Calvary. Since Christ's perfect response to the Father culminated in His death-resurrection, it is evident that Christ's life involved a transition just as did the life of the Jewish people in the old covenant. This transition of the Israelites was manifested in the exodus from Egypt. In fact, Christ's transition in death-resurrection was a fulfillment of the Jewish exodus; and just as the transition of the Jews marked a passage from a lower to a higher type of existence, so did Christ's transition or passover have this characteristic.
What was Christ's transition? Before Christ experienced death, He was limited by the sinfulness of the world into which He had immersed Himself in His Incarnation. He loved men, and He loved to be in their midst, and in the midst of their world. But He did suffer from the sinfulness of this world. Sinless though He Himself was, He was in certain ways affected and limited by sin. Indeed, sin destroyed Christ in his mortal existence. This shows us the degree to which Christ was limited by or "hemmed in" by the world's sinfulness. But through the passageway of His death, Christ passed beyond the limitations He had experienced in His mortal life. He conquered sin, and He rose into a more perfect type of life, that of the Resurrection. In such a life He could no longer suffer, He could no longer be "limited" by the sinful aspect of the world.
There is another similarity between the Jewish transition or exodus and the transition involved in Christ's death-resurrection. We saw the part that sacrificial blood contributed to the passover or transition of the Jewish people in two instances. The blood of the paschal lamb freed the Jewish homes from the deathblow of Yahweh immediately before their departure from Egypt, and ultimately it was sacrificial blood which sealed the Mosaic covenant upon Mount Sinai.
Sacrificial blood was also essential in Christ's passover or transition. It was through the shedding of His blood that He passed through death to Resurrection. It was thus His blood which made the transition possible and which sealed the new covenant. This new covenant, supplanting the old, is the new life relationship between God and His People, and the People themselves. Christ, in achieving new life through death-resurrection, gained it not only for Himself but for all His members.
The Christian, then, shares in the life of Christ's Resurrection. But if he participates in the Resurrection of Christ he must also share in Christ's death, since death is the way to Resurrection. St. Paul tells us: "We are dead to sin, so how can we continue to live in it? You have been taught that when we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised in his death; in other words, when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too might live a new life." (Rm 6:2-4).
Through Baptism therefore the Christian is incorporated into Christ's death-resurrection. Baptism pledges the Christian to die to sin and ideally to all that is not in accordance with God's will, even though sin is not involved. Baptism also pledges the Christian to live vitally his new life in Christ, his share in Christ's Resurrection. As he is incorporated into Christ through baptism, the Christian is also made a member of the Church. Awareness of this simultaneous incorporation into both Christ and the Church emphasizes for the Christian the fact that his life of holiness in Christ is to be lived out in community. In other words, the Christian lives in Christ within the People of God, within the Church. This stress of contemporary spirituality upon the communal aspect of Christian holiness is firmly rooted in God's revealed truth. Throughout salvation history God has lovingly communicated Himself to man within the covenant framework with its communal dimension. He has also asked for man's response in love within this same covenant framework.
The Church in union with Christ is the new covenant. Since Christ is the Head of His Church, it follows that the Church with her members must live out the covenant life according to the structure which Christ gives her. The Church has no life, no pattern of life, except that which Christ gives her. This basic pattern or structure is death-resurrection. Christ established the Church by His paschal mystery, His death-resurrection. In so establishing the Church by such an event, Christ also determined how the Church essentially lives out her covenant life down through the ages – through death and Resurrection.
The Church, then, continues Christ's death-resurrection. She consequently continues the entire mystery of Christ, since Christ's entire life is contained in His passover event.2 We see therefore why the Church can be referred to as the continuation of the redemptive Incarnation. Indeed the Church is Christ, the mystical Christ. Because she is the earthly continuation of Christ, the Church has everything within her structure needed to be the source of salvation and sanctification for men of all times. For instance, in reference to the presently much-discussed theme of the Church's relevancy to modern man, we know from theological reflection that the Church has this relevancy radically structured within her very existence. This is simply an application of the reality that the Church actually does prolong the mission of the Incarnate Word; since Christ was relevant to His age, the Church has the capacity to be relevant to all ages.
What do we mean by saying Christ was relevant to His age? Christ revealed the Father and communicated the Father's life to men by adapting Himself in a fundamental way to the life situation which existed at that particular time in Jewish history. Since Christ through His humanity adapted His message to the people of His times, so the Church must use her innate capacity to be relevant for the men of this or that age. She must in a sense be constantly reincarnating Christ, for she is the only visible Christ which this world now has. This reincarnation largely means being relevant.
As the Church is the continuation of Christ, so is the life of the Christian. Just as the Church centers her life in Christ's death-resurrection, so does the life of the Christian. Both Church and Christian then are continually dying with Christ, dying to all which is not of Christ. At the same time Church and Christian are meant to rise more and more with Christ, assimilating ever more perfectly His life through grace. This life of grace is the Church's and the Christian's share in Christ's Resurrection. It is true that this life of grace will have its completion only in eternity. Nevertheless, it does have very real beginnings here in this life.
It is therefore apparent why the Church's life is directed to the liturgy, especially the eucharistic liturgy.3 For it is within the liturgy culminating in the Mass that the death-resurrection of Christ is constantly renewed in a special manner. In the Mass the People of God have the constant opportunity to assimilate the death-resurrection of Christ more and more into their lives. As they do so collectively and individually, the People of God are continuing Christ's life and mission upon earth.
The Christian life, then, is a response to God's gift of Himself. God in love gives us a life of grace, a share in His own divine life. We respond in love by giving ourselves to God and our fellowman, by dynamically living out this life of grace, this Christ-life, in the pattern of death-resurrection. This life of grace is meant to be exercised constantly, as the Christian loves God and man, in Christ, according to the will of the Father. Also, to reiterate, God intends that our life in Christ be lived out in the community of the Church. The Christian life can never solely be an individual's response to his God.
As the Christian lives out this life of grace in community, he is offering Christ a new humanity through which He can reincarnate Himself. It is not only through the Church as a whole that Christ reincarnates Himself, but also, ideally, through each Christian within the Church. Each Christian has a special responsibility and privilege. No one else can offer Christ the unique opportunity of reincarnating Himself as can this or that particular Christian. For each Christian is a unique, created imitation of God never again to be repeated. Each Christian has a unique humanity to offer Christ. To the extent that he fails to do so, to that degree Christ has lost this opportunity to reincarnate Himself through this humanity.
Consequently, the Christian life can be conceived as the Christian permitting Christ to live more and more through his total person. Christian holiness is continual growth in the assimilation of that great thought of St. Paul, ". . . I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me." (Ga 2:20).
There are many ways in which the Christian can permit Christ to live in and through him. Love of the Father and love of all men, of course, are the two great themes which will channel this reincarnation of Christ. These were the great driving forces in Christ's life, and consequently they will be so in the life of the Christian.
If the Christian is to grow in projecting Christ through his Christian personality, he must be aware of the many various ways in which Christ loved His Father, and His will. He must be aware of the various ways in which the Father's will comes to him, and thus he will realize the multiple ways in which he is to love the Father in embracing that will. The Father's will can come to him in joy and happiness or in pain and sorrow; in work or in relaxation; in a life of great obscurity as well as in a life which commands public attention; in frustration or in success. These and many other channels of the Father's will offer the Christian the opportunity to continue this witness of Christ's life: no matter how easy or difficult, the Father's will must be lovingly embraced in all things. This is how Christ radically saved the world. This is how the Church, living according to the same principle, cooperates with Christ in furthering His redemptive work.
Christ's great love and concern for men must also be continually reincarnated through the Christian. Contemporary spirituality makes considerable use of personalism.4 One basic way we can apply personalism to our present theme is as follows: God revealed His love to men in a concrete way, through a Person possessing a tangible, visible human nature. Although this tangible, historical Christ is no longer with us upon earth, the basic plan of the Father continues. To a considerable degree He still continues to give Himself, His love, through tangible, visible human natures. It is through the Christian united with Christ that God continues in many ways to make His love tangible, visible – and human – to mankind.
Through these brief indications we can realize the various and many possibilities through which Christ lives again in the Christian. As the Christian in this manner projects Christ to his contemporary world he relives the total mystery of Christ. All the mysteries of Christ's life will be apparent somehow in such a Christian existence. But as the Christian puts on Christ more and more, death-resurrection will be especially apparent. For the Christian will be more and more going out of a self-centered existence, dying to that which is not really life at all, and increasingly passing over into a greater existence, into the life of Christ Himself. In this manner the Christian continues that transition process of passing from a lower to a higher mode of existence. We have seen this transition process to be at the heart of salvation history. We saw it in the exodus-event of the Jewish people. We saw it in the death-resurrection of Christ. We continue to find it in the life of the Christian as he prolongs the paschal mystery of Christ.
Yes, we live a new life in Christ. Christ, therefore, wants to share everything relating to our existence – sin alone excepted. When He united us to Himself in assuming human nature, He united to Himself all our authentic concerns, values and interest. He is truly a man, and He wants to share with us all our truly human experiences. He and His grace want to touch these experiences. Nothing which is really human is alien to our life in Christ.
We enjoy the freshness of a bright clear day, the stillness of the night, the innocence of a little child, the companionship of a friend, the relaxation or stimulation of a good movie. Christ wants to share these joys with us. In our daily work there is a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and joy – there also can be pain, disappointment and misunderstanding. Christ wants to be there in the midst of all.
A strong, young American, the pride of his father, and full of promise, goes off to war. One day he fights his last and is no more. His father is in anguish and sorrow, and we sympathize. We observe the hatred and suspicion which exists between many white men and many black men, and our hearts grieve. Science achieves a great new discovery, and we are glad for this progress of the human race. A young man and woman are deeply in love, they marry, and their joy is great. And we rejoice with them. All these human experiences Christ wants to share with us, for He, too, is a man. The Christian actually is in Christ, and we must be bold enough to apply this reality to all the authentic areas of our existence. Christ wants it no other way.
The chief source of strength for the Christian as he lives in Christ is the liturgy, for this is the heart of the Church's life. Yet participation in the liturgy alone will not make certain the Christian's progress in holiness.5 The Christian must be constantly living out his previous participation. His life in Christ necessitates various types of activity which complement his liturgical life.
One such form of Christian endeavor is Christian asceticism. Karl Rahner says that our present age is very much in need of a sound asceticism.6 There are various reasons for asceticism in any age. Because of original and personal sin, the Christian has within himself many tendencies which are not in accord with Christ. Whether these involve the exterior senses or the interior senses and spiritual faculties, these tendencies must be controlled; otherwise, the Christ-life, the life of grace, cannot dominate the total person of the Christian as it is meant to do. Christian asceticism therefore embraces the traditional concept of mortification, namely a constant, reasonable control of the total person. Asceticism also includes the idea of organized effort in the spiritual life; it includes moreover the idea of renunciation and penance. These are traditional meanings of the term.
Yet Christian asceticism as contemporary thought conceives it goes further than mere control, organized effort, renunciation and penance. It embraces the reality of selflessness, a gradual going out from self-centeredness. As the Christian grows, his existential frame of reference becomes more and more Christ and others. To live means increasingly to love Christ and men. Paradoxically, the more the Christian goes out of himself, the more he authentically becomes himself, the more he becomes a true person. Viewed in terms of death-resurrection, Christian asceticism is seen to be more concerned with the death aspect of the paschal mystery. However, Resurrection is also present in a proper asceticism, for, among other reasons, Christian asceticism carries with it its own joy – a share in Resurrection joy.
Asceticism and other expressions of the Christian life involve the exercise of the infused virtues, both theological and moral. These virtues can be conceived of in terms of supernatural faculties which give expression to our life of grace in Christ. These virtues, the chief of which are faith, hope and love, give the Christian all the capacities he needs to form meaningful, graced relationships with God, man and the rest of creation. (The horizontal dimension outward to man and creation is receiving special attention in the contemporary treatment of faith, hope and love.) Although the death aspect of the paschal mystery is present in the exercise of the virtues, we more easily identify these virtues with the Resurrection aspect of the paschal mystery. For the life of grace, with the infused virtues playing a dominant role, is our share in Christ's Resurrection.
The life of the Christian must also involve prayer. Why? Our life of grace is a created participation in Trinitarian life. What is life in God? It is essentially a life of knowledge and love. The life of the Trinity consists in the knowledge and love which exists between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then it is from the Trinity that the knowledge and love of God also goes out to creation.
Our life of grace is structured in the same manner. In union with Christ it essentially consists in knowing and loving God and in knowing and loving His creation, both on a supernatural level. Because this life of grace is centered in God, prayer is an absolute necessity. For prayer essentially is an interpersonal dialogue between God and the Christian. Without prayer the knowing and loving of God will never be what it should and neither will be the knowledge and love of God's creation. For one cannot envision, one cannot love man and the rest of creation without the intimate contact with God which prayer gives. This is because it is God's vision and God's love of His creation which the Christian shares in the life of grace.
The Christian, however, must not only pray. He must also externalize his life of knowledge and love in various ways. Today's spirituality with its incarnational trend stresses this fact.7 The Christian's life of Resurrection in Christ must to a considerable extent express itself in the daily world which surrounds him. This Christ-life must be expressed in the Christian's concern for the problems of the inner city and in his concern for a more just distribution of the world's wealth. It must manifest itself in the Christian's solicitude for the diseased and the poverty-stricken the world over. This life we have in Christ must incarnate itself in a concern over the spread of pornographic literature and other forms of godlessness. It must manifest itself as solicitous regarding the hatred which often exists between black man and white man. Our Christ-life must also express itself by our showing a tangible, warm love and interest toward those with whom we come into direct encounter.
This list of love and concern on the part of the Christian could be extended on and on. To what extent the Christian will manifest his concern in any of these areas will depend upon his vocation, the graces he receives and other circumstances. Our main point is this: the Christian through his life of grace in Christ has been called to further the creative and redemptive effort of God. He must, therefore, intimately involve himself in the affairs of this world. (Even the cloistered contemplative is called to involvement through such means as prayer.)
We have briefly indicated that the life of the Christian involves liturgy, asceticism, the exercise of the infused virtues, prayer and action. Rounding out such a list are other traditional aids to holiness, for example, spiritual reading, examination of conscience, spiritual direction. All of these are means of expressing our life of grace in Christ. They are also ways of growing in that life. All these should be seen in their connection with the Christian's participation in the passover mystery of Christ, His death-resurrection.
This first chapter has purposely centered the reality of the Christian life around the death-resurrection of Christ. In the remaining chapters we will expand upon the essentials we have treated briefly in these first pages. As we progress, we hope to show in detail that Christian holiness is life in Christ, for our life in Christ contains everything – our love of God, our love of men, our love of all creation. We hope to portray the Christian as one who believes from the depths of his being that to live is Christ.
_______
1. Cf. Bernard Cooke, "Synoptic Presentation of the Eucharist as Covenant Sacrifice" in Theological Studies, Vol. 21, (1960), p. 36.
2. The Mystery of Christ is essentially one reality. Any of the individual mysteries implicitly contains the others. For a treatment of this, cf. L. Bouyer, Liturgical Piety (Notre Dame, Indiana: Notre Dame University Press, 1955), pp. 189-190.
3. Cf. Second Vatican Council, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 10.
4. Cf., for example, E. McMahon and P. Campbell, Becoming a Person in the Whole Christ (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1967).
5. Cf. Second Vatican Council, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 12.
6. Cf. Karl Rahner, Spiritual Exercises (New York: Herder & Herder, 1965) pp. 66-79.
7. Cf., for example, Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, No. 34.
(End of Excerpt from Response in Christ)
Excerpt from Response to God’s Love by Edward J. Carter, S.J.
4
Death and Resurrection
Our incorporation into the mystery of Christ at baptism, and the gradual maturing of that life in the process of becoming, is centered in the pattern of death-resurrection. Indeed, the theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of salvation history. Let us briefly consider its place in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and in God's ongoing self-communication, always remembering that any form of death—that is, any form of suffering—is meant to lead to greater life, greater peace, and greater happiness.
The theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of Old Testament history. The Jewish people, under the leadership of Moses, experienced death-resurrection as they were formed into the people of the covenant—Yahweh's people. In the great Exodus event, they escaped Egyptian slavery, went on to Mt. Sinai where the covenant was ratified, and then progressed to the Promised Land. As members of the Mosaic covenant—as Yahweh's people—the Jews experienced a religious transition; they passed over to a higher level of religious existence, to a more intimate union with God.
This religious transition contained death-resurrection. For the Jews to become people of the covenant, to remain so, and to grow in the life of the covenant, it was necessary that they undergo a mystical or spiritual death. In short, the Jews had to be willing to pay a price; they had to be willing to bear with that which was difficult in covenant life; they had to be willing to die to that which was not according to Yahweh's will. This mystical death, however, had a very positive purpose; it was directed at life in the covenant and at growth in that life. This spiritual death, in other words, was aimed at resurrection.
Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament theme of death-resurrection. In doing so, he, too, was experiencing a religious transition. He was passing over—gradually, at first, and then definitively in his death—to a new kind of existence, to the life of his resurrection, which he achieved not only for himself, but for all mankind. To achieve this new life of resurrection, Jesus was willing to pay the price; Jesus was willing to suffer, even unto death. That it had to be this way—that the only way Christ could have achieved resurrection was through suffering and death—was pointed out by Jesus himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: "Then he said to them, 'What little sense you have! How slow you are to believe all that the prophets have announced! Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this so as to enter into his glory?' Beginning, then, with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted for them every passage of Scripture which referred to him" (Lk 24:25-27).
Christ has structured the Christian life by the way he lived, died, and rose from the dead. It is obvious, then, that the pattern of death-resurrection must be at the heart of the Church's life. Individually and collectively, we continually die with Christ so that we may continually rise with him. Thus, we pass over in a process of continued religious transition to a greater participation in Jesus' resurrection. It is true that our participation in Christ's resurrection will reach its completion only in eternity. Nevertheless, we begin the life of resurrection here upon this earth, in the here and now of human life, in the midst of joy and pain, in the experience of success and failure, in the sweat of our brow, in the enjoyment of God's gifts. As Christians, we should have a sense of growth concerning our here-and-now life of resurrection. Some Christians seem to have a rather static view of the Christian life. They do not seem to have a vital and efficacious realization that the Christian life, centered in death-resurrection, should become more conscious, more experiential, more dynamically relative to daily existence.
We cannot maintain the life of resurrection or grow in it without a willingness to suffer. This does not mean that we need to feel overwhelmed and heavily burdened by the suffering in our lives. The greater portion of suffering for most Christians seems to be an accumulation of ordinary hardships, difficulties, and pains. At times, however, deep suffering—even suffering of agonizing proportions—can enter one's life. During these oppressive periods of suffering, a person's sense of anguish can become so great that the prospect of continuing life becomes an agony in itself. Whether the sufferings of Christians are of either the ordinary variety or the rare and extreme type, Christians must nevertheless convince themselves that to properly relate to the cross is to grow in resurrection—and for an individual Christian to grow in resurrection means that he or she will also have an increased capacity to help give resurrection to others.
One of the most traditional forms of the experience of the cross—that is, of dying with Jesus—that spiritual masters have always treated is self-discipline or asceticism. All forms of life demand self-discipline: The athlete must subject himself or herself to rigorous training; the musician must endure long hours of practice; the doctor must be willing to order his or her life to the rigorous demands of the medical profession.
The Christian life, too, has its own form of discipline or control that has as its comprehensive purpose the greater assimilation of the Christian's total being to Christ. Christian self-discipline, or asceticism, allows for the proper development of the Christ-life in all its dimensions. Like all forms of authentic discipline, it is at the service of life; when it is properly exercised, asceticism helps us to grow in our capacity to love God and others.
This proper, grace-inspired control over the complete person is necessary because the various sense and spiritual faculties do not automatically follow the lead of grace. Because of original sin and personal sin, there are various tendencies within us that, if they are not properly controlled, will lead us away from Christ and our spiritual development. The Christian, therefore, must be willing to exercise a reasonable self-discipline despite the difficulty that is involved. Moreover, this control must extend to all of the person's faculties.
Regarding our intellectual lives, there are various tendencies inimical to the spiritual life that must be disciplined. There can be a laziness, for instance, that might prevent the proper pursuit of study that is necessary for our own particular role in the Church. There can be an unwholesome curiosity that might lead us to want to know that which is pleasing, rather than, first of all, that which is necessary. There can be an intellectual pride that might manifest itself in various ways; some people, for example, find it extremely difficult to be open to the ideas of others or to admit their own mistakes.
The will, the decisive faculty of the human person, must receive special attention. It must become both supple and strong: supple in order to be open to the varied movements of the Holy Spirit; and strong in order to guide the entire person, including those forces that can so powerfully lead away from God. Concerning concrete decision making, there are two extremes that must be avoided: On the one hand, we must avoid precipitous action that is devoid of reflection that is rooted in an appropriate openness to the movements of the Spirit; on the other hand, we must not fall prey to the habit of indecision. Some people are prone to spending an excessive amount of time in making decisions about even the simplest matters. Life is short, and we must condition ourselves to make decisions after appropriate reflection, which, in many of our ordinary actions and decisions, is practically instantaneous. Unhealthy fear and other factors that are responsible for indecision must be curbed despite the great pain that this can, at times, cause for certain temperaments.
The faculties of memory and imagination must also be controlled. These can be of great value if properly guided; if they are not properly guided, however, they can, in their unruliness, become great obstacles to spiritual progress. An undisciplined memory and imagination can, for example, seriously interfere with our prayer life. Similarly, memory and imagination that are not properly controlled can also give rise to numerous temptations against the various virtues.
We must also properly control the emotions. A considerable portion of past spiritual literature has not given due allowance to the role that God intends the emotions to exercise. When we speak of controlling the emotions, therefore, we are not suggesting either an aggressive repression or an inhuman rigidity; rather, we speak of a control that permits the emotions to contribute to the richness and overall value of our actions. We must remember that the emotions, when they are properly integrated with the movements of the intellect and will, enhance the goodness of our acts.
It is obvious, however, that we must strive to discipline the emotions' evil tendencies if these emotions are to contribute to spiritual growth. The emotions can cause havoc if such a discipline is lacking. At times, they can reduce a person to an almost brute existence; at other times, they can seriously constrict a person and, consequently, seriously impede the proper exercise and development of the Christian life.
It is equally obvious that a person's bodily nature should also be the subject of proper discipline. The body is essentially holy, partaking in the holiness of Christ's body; however, the body is also subject to numerous evil tendencies that are at war with the spiritual life and must be controlled with a sound asceticism. St. Paul reminds us of this: "I do not run like a man who loses sight of the finish line. I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. What I do is discipline my own body and master it, for fear that after having preached to others I myself should be rejected" (1 Cor 9:26).
Renunciation is another form of dying with Jesus that, over the ages, has been given much attention in the teaching of the spiritual masters. Indeed, the New Testament itself attests to the undeniable role that renunciation plays in the Christian life. The gentle St. Luke, for example, teaches with a peculiar intransigence Jesus' message of renunciation—a message that Jesus himself lived. Renunciation was by no means the only aspect of Christ's life, but it was an undeniable one. Christians, because they are followers of Christ, must also include renunciation in their lives regardless of their individual vocations. Again, it is well to remind ourselves that the cross is always intended to be connected with life and love. Paradoxically, then, we embrace renunciation for the sake of life. This was the purpose of renunciation in Jesus' life, and it must have the same purpose in the Christian's existence. Let us now consider some of the various ways in which the principle of renunciation applies.
Self-discipline or asceticism, which we have already discussed, does not necessarily include the aspect of renunciation. A person can exercise self-discipline in the positive use of created goods, and renunciation would not be involved; rather, the person would be relating to a created good according to God's will. Renunciation is, however, sometimes related to the practice of self-discipline; a person cannot always properly relate his or her total being to God's creation unless, from time to time, he or she is willing to renounce particular goods and values. Consider this example: A person will not always properly employ his or her external senses in using God's creation unless, at times, he or she denies the senses what they naturally desire. If we are not willing to admit this, we are being falsely optimistic about human nature. There is a sinful element within us that inclines us to a misuse of creation. To control this tendency toward misuse, we must exercise renunciation of those goods toward which our various spiritual and sense faculties are oriented.
In addition to being an aid to self-discipline, there are other uses of renunciation. The choice of a particular vocation or life's work, for instance, demands a renunciation of various other created goods and values. A person who chooses marriage has to be willing to sacrifice certain values and activities that might well be appropriate for a single person, but are incompatible with the married vocation. The Christian scholar, who is called by God to make his or her contribution to the life of the Church in the academic sphere, must also learn the lesson of renunciation; such a person cannot be true to the demanding work of scholarship unless various human values—all of which are good in themselves—are nevertheless sacrificed.
Another use of renunciation is its special witness to the transcendent aspect of the Christian life, one element of which is that our life of grace is a participation in the transcendent life of God. This life has a radical thrust of desiring God as he is in himself; this particular desire will not be completely satisfied until we achieve the beatific vision in which we will possess God as he is in himself, without the mediation of the world. Here on this earth, however, we can, to a certain extent, go out to God as he is in himself. Among the methods for achieving this goal is the practice of renunciation. Speaking of this kind of renunciation, which is expressive of transcendent love of God, Karl Rahner observes: "For such renunciation is either senseless or it is the realized and combined expression of faith, hope and charity which reaches out toward God precisely insofar as he is in himself, and without any mediation of the world, the goal of man in the supernatural order" (Theological Investigations, vol. 3, pp. 51-52). God, then, wants us to seek him not only as he is immanent in creation, but also as he is transcendent in himself. To reiterate, one way to achieve this is through the prudent, periodic renunciation of created goods and values.
We have been discussing two main forms of dying with Jesus, namely, self-discipline, or asceticism, and renunciation. These traditional forms of the Christian cross actually permeate the experience of numerous and various kinds of pain, suffering, hardship, bearing with the difficult—whatever name one wishes to apply. Let us consider some of these ways in which we are daily called to mystically share in the death of Jesus.
A common form of suffering is the experience of loneliness. Trying to cope with loneliness, in fact, seems to be one of the major problems of our day, and some think that the problem is perhaps greater in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Loneliness, of course, is not limited to urban centers, but it does seem to haunt our crowded cities in a special way. Ironically, it seems that the more populated an area becomes, the more possibilities there are for loneliness.
There are two basic kinds of loneliness—that which need not be and that which cannot be avoided. The first type of loneliness results from the fact that we are not in proper touch with our true selves, with God, or with others; the second type results from our existential situation as wayfarers, as pilgrims, who have not yet arrived at our final destination. The pain that results from the first type need not be, and we should work to eliminate its causes. The suffering and dying that are related to the second kind, however, are inevitable. As Christians, we should use this suffering and dying to grow in various ways, among which is the maturing realization that we have no lasting home here on earth.
There is, in addition, the very prosaic type of suffering that is involved in the proper living of each day. There is nothing dramatic about this form of pain, and, precisely because it seems so uneventful, it is very difficult to properly relate to it in a consistent fashion. On particular occasions, we might feel that a quick death by martyrdom would be preferable to the daily dying that involves all sorts of little sufferings. But this daily dying is a precious type of suffering, and to grow in the realization of its importance is a significant sign of spiritual progress. It is a sign that we have the spiritual keenness to comprehend that God so often situates the cross within the ordinariness of everyday life.
Crucial decision making is also a distinct form of dying. Making a decision, we realize, is extremely important for both ourselves and others. There might be two possibilities or three or even more. We might seek advice from others, but in the last analysis, we know—oh, how well we know—that, ultimately, we alone must make the decision before God. We pray for light and strength, for we realize that we need help not only to make the proper decision, but also to properly deal with the pain that is inevitably involved.
The experience of failure is another suffering that we encounter in various degrees along the path of life. Some fail in their attempts to achieve the type of employment they so much desire; others fail to perform properly once they have been so employed. Some are not very successful in initiating interpersonal relationships; others are not very successful in maintaining the ones in which they do become involved. Some experience failure because they strive to accomplish too little; others experience failure because they strive to do too much. Some encounter failure because they have not given the proper effort; others feel failure's pain despite their conscientious perseverance. In these and in other types of failure there is a double pain—the pain of having failed and the pain in having to begin over again. The pain of having failed, however, must not be wasted; we must use it to become better persons. If we do use it, we are able to cope more maturely with the effort that is involved in beginning afresh.
Experiencing various types of transition along the path of life also produces its own kind of pain. Periods of transition from one age of life to another are numerous, and some are obviously much more radical than others. The transitions from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to young adulthood, from young adulthood to middle age, from middle age to old age produce various, and sometimes rather intense, kinds of sufferings. There is the classic kind of pain that adolescents experience, for example, as they grope for some kind of self-identity, as they try to cope with various types of peer pressure, as they struggle for a new kind of relationship with parents because their childhood relationship no longer suffices. These periods of transition, or life-stages, also involve changing interests and goals; that which held our interest at one stage of life leaves us bored at another. To establish a new set of interests and challenges is sometimes painful, but not so painful as the boring vacuum that we must exist in if we fail to replace those now-dead interests and goals with new ones.
Another type of transition involves our work-life. During the past decade, people have increasingly experienced the necessity, and sometimes the desirability, of making work or professional changeovers. Whereas in the past a person would more or less be expected to remain in the same skilled labor or professional position for the duration of his or her working years, today it is not uncommon for a person to embark upon several or more career changes. These changes, even when the desire for a change rather than a circumstance of necessity has been the catalyst, involve the inevitable difficulties that accompany the adjustment to new surroundings, different coworkers, and different responsibilities.
Furthermore, work or professional changeovers sometimes demand a change in residence, not only to vastly different parts of the country, but even to other parts of the world. The transition that involves a change of residence, in fact, is a growing characteristic of our times. We are definitely becoming a much more mobile and transient population; however, even when persons freely seek these changes in residence, they can experience considerable hardship. One must die a bit—one must separate himself or herself from people, places, customs, landmarks that he or she has perhaps cherished over a long time. Not to feel this jolt, this separation, this dying, would mean that one possessed less than a sensitive heart.
Rejection, in various forms, is another pain not uncommon to human experience. Rejection because of race, religion, or ethnic origin has been, sad to say, a rather prominent part of our country's history. Blacks, in particular, have felt the wrath of racial rejection and discrimination. Others, too, have not been immune—this group includes, among others, American Indians, Puerto Ricans, and Mexican-Americans.
Although we ourselves might not have suffered racial, ethnic, or religious rejection, we are certainly susceptible to other types. We may have experienced, for instance, a certain ostracism in not being accepted—or being only reluctantly accepted—by this or that group, by this or that organization. When our ideas and opinions are not accepted by others, we feel the sting of yet another type of rejection. Further still is that very painful yet all too common rejection of not feeling loved by the person whom we dearly love.
The type of rejection that we experience—no matter what it might be—carries with it its own kind and degree of suffering that we can neither deny nor instantaneously cause to go away; we can, however, profit from its painful presence. One of the things we must do in order to grow from the rejection that we experience is to refuse to harbor bitterness against the person or persons who have caused us pain. Not to be bitter can be difficult—at times, it can be very difficult. If we do remain bitter, however, our suffering is increased by a type of pain—the pain of bitterness—that is not growth promoting, but is, rather, pernicious to the well-being of our personality.
The experience of various kinds of uncertainty is another type of suffering, or dying. The list of examples of human uncertainty is a long one. There is the uncertainty that is connected with the approach of a first experience: the young doctor who is still in training, for example, is understandably apprehensive as he or she prepares for his or her first surgery. There is the uncertainty of the young man and the young woman who are about to marry. Both begin to realize the uncertainties that are attached to marriage: Am I really marrying the right person? Will the children be normal and healthy? Will my partner love me over a lifetime, or is it possible that love will turn to coldness or even hatred? Likewise, the young businessman wonders whether the financial investment that he is about to make will result in increased earnings or ultimately lead to bankruptcy. There is also that common uncertainty that has plagued men and women of our contemporary age—namely, the question of whether life as we now know it on this earth will suddenly end in a nuclear holocaust.
Christians, of course, experience these same uncertainties to the same extent that non-Christians experience them. Christians, however, precisely because they are Christians, should react to uncertainty and assimilate it in a manner that will differ from that of non-Christians. The Christian life is, after all, supposed to extend to all the dimensions of authentic human existence—including the experience of uncertainty.
There is, however, a way in which Christians experience uncertainty in a manner that differs from non-Christians. There are specific uncertainties that explicitly arise out of Christian practices. Let us consider a few examples. In deciding one's basic state of life, the doubt, confusion, and anxiety that can temporarily accompany a choice of vocation can be agonizingly painful for some people. There are, in addition, the uncertainties and obscurities that, at times, accompany spiritual development in general. In the practice of prayer, for instance, there can be dryness, or an apparent inability to encounter God, even though God is really present to the person. There can also be a certain repugnance as one feels the demanding effort that is required to pray in present circumstances, as well as the bothersome uncertainty that makes us wonder whether our prayer is the proper type for us here and now.
What is more, various uncertainties surround the seemingly contradictory manifestations of God's will. There might be, for example, a certain indication that God would have us act in a particular way, yet his will, as it is channeled to us from a different perspective, seems to suggest another course of action. Of course, God never contradicts himself; the contradiction is only an apparent one. We are not without pain, however, as we work through the confusion and uncertainty.
How should we Christians act in times of uncertainty? We must be conscious of the two great realities of love and trust. First, we must try to be particularly conscious of how much God loves us in Christ. This deepened realization, in turn, will lead us to return that love in such a way that our love will be characterized by an abandoning trust in God's providence for us. Consequently, times of uncertainty can be times of tremendous growth. For we are creatures who all too often can become self-complacent before God; we are prone to forget just how weak and helpless we are without God. The discomfort of uncertainty, then, can help arouse us from this false sense of security because at these times we become more conscious of our helplessness and we approach God for guidance, strength, and consolation.
When we experience uncertainty we should also be aware that, although we do not possess all possible light, we do have enough light to properly cope. The general pattern of Christ's life is always before us as an example and can be lived out in circumstances of uncertainty as well as at any other time. We can also utilize particular means that can lessen or even dispel the uncertainty, or that will at least help us to properly cope. Examples of such means are prayer and the seeking of advice from competent persons—if the particular uncertainty indicates that the counsel of another or others would be helpful.
We have been discussing some of the specific ways in which we experience suffering. Let us now end this discussion in the same way that we began—by reminding ourselves of suffering's purpose in God's overall plan. Suffering, when it is properly encountered, leads us to a more mature Christian existence, that is, to an increased participation in Jesus' resurrection. If it is unchristian to flee the suffering that God intends for us (we are, of course, allowed to take proper means, as indicated by God's will, to dispel or alleviate suffering), it is also unchristian to view suffering out of perspective. We should view suffering, or dying with Christ, in relation to growth in the life that Jesus came to give us in abundance. As we properly encounter suffering, we are more and more cutting through the layers of the false self and increasingly coming in touch with the true, Christic self. If we live according to this true self, we become more capable of loving God and our fellow human beings. We become more vibrant personalities, more sensitive to the true, the good, the beautiful. We concentrate on the good that God's love has put in creation rather than on the evil therein that results from man's sinfulness.
Although we might endure suffering with a proper Christian perspective, this is not to say that we find it easy to suffer. We need constant motivation for the proper assimilation of the suffering that daily faces us. This motivation, in turn, must be centered in the remembrance of the one who has suffered before us:
Though he was harshly treated, he
submitted
and opened not his mouth;
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his
mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was
taken away,
and who would have thought any
more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of
the living,
and smitten for the sin of his people,
A grave was assigned him among the
wicked
and a burial place with evildoers,
Though he had done no wrong
nor spoken any falsehood.
—Is 53:7-9
(End of Excerpt from Response to God’s Love)
Excerpt from Mother At Our Side, By Father Edward Carter, S.J.
nine
The Cross Leads To Life
. . .and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." (Lk. 2:35).
Our incorporation into the mystery of Christ at baptism, and our growth in this life, is centered in the pattern of death-resurrection: Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. (Rom. 6:3-4).
The theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of salvation history. It is a recurrent theme in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
The Jewish people, under the leadership of Moses, experienced death-resurrection as they were formed into the people of the covenant—Yahweh's people. In the great Exodus event, they escaped Egyptian slavery, went on to Mt. Sinai where the covenant was ratified, and then progressed to the Promised Land. As members of the Mosaic covenant, the Jews experienced a religious transition; they passed over to a higher level of religious existence—to a more intimate union with God.
This religious transition contained death-resurrection. For the Jews to become people of the covenant, to remain so, and to grow in the life of the covenant, it was necessary that they undergo a mystical or spiritual death. In short, they had to be willing to pay a price. They had to be willing to bear with that which was difficult in covenant life. This mystical death, however, had a very positive purpose; it was directed at life in the covenant and at growth in that life. This spiritual death, in other words, was for the purpose of resurrection.
Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament theme of death-resurrection. In doing so, He was experiencing a religious transition. He was passing over—gradually, at first, and then definitively in His death—to a new kind of existence, to the life of resurrection. He achieved this life not only for Himself, but for us also. To achieve this new life of resurrection, Jesus was willing to pay the price. He was willing to suffer, even unto death. That it had to be this way—that the only way Jesus could have achieved resurrection was through suffering and death—was pointed out by Jesus Himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Lk. 24:25-26).
Christ has structured the Christian life by the way He lived, died, and rose from the dead. It is obvious, then, that the pattern of death-resurrection must be at the heart of the Church's life. Mary, as Mother of the Church and our mother, is in a most advantageous position to show us our own individual roads to Calvary and support us as we carry the cross, each of us on our own as well as the Church as a whole. She already traveled that road in perfect acceptance of the death-resurrection struggle as she was always most closely united with the work of her Son. Individually and collectively, we are meant to continually die in Christ so that we may continually rise in Christ. We thus pass over in a process of continued religious transition to a greater participation in Jesus' resurrection. It is true that our participation in Christ's resurrection will reach its culmination only in eternity. Nevertheless, we begin the life of resurrection here upon this earth, in the here-and-now of human life, in the midst of joy and pain, in the experience of success and failure, in the sweat of our brow, in the enjoyment of God's gifts.
We cannot maintain the life of resurrection or grow in it without a willingness to suffer. This does not mean that we need to feel overwhelmed and heavily burdened by the suffering in our lives. The greater portion of suffering for most of us seems to be an accumulation of ordinary hardships and pains. At times, more penetrating suffering—even suffering of agonizing proportions—can enter our life. Whether the sufferings are either of the more ordinary variety or the rare and extreme type, Christians must convince themselves that to properly relate to the cross is to grow in resurrection.
The great tragedy regarding human suffering is not that there is so much of it, but that apparently so much of it is wasted. Apparently many do not relate to suffering properly—according to God's will. Consequently, they fail to use suffering as a means to growth. Again, our mother's fiat can be a vivid reminder to persevere through even our most difficult trials.
As the opening Scripture passage tells us, Our Lady was no stranger to suffering. As we well know, her life of suffering culminated in her extreme agony beneath the cross. Who can fathom the depth of her grief as she watched her innocent Son suffer the excruciating pain and death of crucifixion? In the church of San Domingo in Puebla, Mexico, there is one of the most striking representations of Mary that I have ever seen. Near the front of the church, and to the right as one faces the altar, there is a figure of our Blessed Mother seated in a chair. She is dressed in a black robe with gold trim. Atop her white veil is a black lace veil of mourning. On her lap is Christ's crown of thorns. Mary gazes down at this crown which had been so cruelly and derisively placed upon Jesus. The expression on Mary's face is one of the most moving I have seen. It is a combination of grief, dignity, and beauty. It is indeed easy to shed tears as one beholds this figure of Mary. It tells us so much about Mary. It tells us that she not only is the Mother of Joy, but also the Mother of Sorrows.
Yes, our dearest Mother Mary knows what it is like to suffer. She knows so well the purpose of suffering in God's plan. By asking her to obtain for us the grace to grow in wisdom, we can increasingly understand the role of suffering in our own lives. Asking her for the grace not to waste suffering, we can learn to use it as a means of growth for ourselves and others.
One of the most traditional forms of the experience of the cross which spiritual masters have always discussed is self-discipline or asceticism. People in all walks of life require self-discipline. The athlete must subject himself or herself to rigorous training; the musician must endure long hours of practice; the doctor must be willing to order his or her life to the vigorous demands of the medical profession.
The Christian life, too, has its own form of discipline, and it is necessary for the greater assimilation of our total being to Christ. Christian self-discipline, or asceticism, helps us grow in the Christ-life. It extends to all aspects of the person—intellect, will, imagination, memory, sight, hearing, taste, touch, and so forth.
Renunciation is another form of dying with Jesus, which, over the years, has been given much attention in the teaching of the spiritual masters. Indeed, the New Testament itself attests to the undeniable role that renunciation plays in the Christian life. The gentle St. Luke, for example, teaches Jesus' message of renunciation—a message which Jesus Himself lived. Renunciation was obviously not the only aspect of Christ's life, but it was an undeniable one. Christians, because they are followers of Christ, must also include renunciation in their lives regardless of their individual vocations. Again, it is well to remind ourselves that we embrace renunciation for the sake of life. This was the purpose of renunciation in Jesus' life, and it must have the same purpose in ours.
Acts of renunciation are life-promoting regarding ourselves and others. Let us always remember what Our Lady of Fatima has said: Pray, pray, a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them.24 And the angel said to the Fatima visionaries: Make everything you do a sacrifice, and offer it as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and as a petition for the conversion of sinners.25 All our good actions, including the enjoyable and pleasant ones, can be offered as sacrifices. In the stricter sense, our sacrifices include those actions which involve doing that which is difficult or which involves acts of renunciation.
A good example of an act of renunciation is the practice of fasting which Our Lady of Medjugorje requests of us. She asks us to renounce our regular habits of eating and drinking on Wednesdays and Fridays. Mary tells us that the best way to fast on these days is to partake only of bread and water. If one is unable to fast in this manner, he or she should practice that type of renunciation which is possible. We should remember that fasting is a practice contained in New Testament teaching.
There are, of course, many other forms of carrying the cross besides those of self-discipline and renunciation. There is that very common form of bearing the cross which is involved in the proper living of every day. There is nothing dramatic about this form of suffering, and, precisely because it seems so uneventful, it is difficult to properly relate to it in a consistent fashion. On particular occasions, we might feel that a quick death by martyrdom would be easier than the daily dying which involves all sorts of little sufferings or crosses. But this daily dying is a precious type of suffering, and to grow in the realization of its importance is a significant sign of spiritual progress. It is a sign that we have the spiritual discernment to comprehend that God so often situates the cross within the ordinariness of everyday life.
Crucial decision-making is also a form of the cross. Making a decision, we realize, is extremely important for both ourselves and others. We can seek advice from others, but in the last analysis we know—oh, how well we know—that, ultimately, we alone must make the decision before God. We pray for light and strength, for we realize that we need help not only to make the proper decision, but also to deal with the pain which is inevitably involved.
The experience of failure is another suffering that we encounter in various degrees along the path of life. In failure there is a twofold pain—the pain of having failed and that involved in having to begin again. The pain of having failed must not be wasted. We must use it to become better persons.
Rejection, in various forms, is another pain not uncommon to human experience. Many have experienced rejection because of race or ethnic origin. Although we ourselves might not have experienced this type of rejection, there are other kinds. We may have felt, for instance, a certain ostracism in not being accepted. When our ideas and opinions are not accepted by others, we feel the sting of yet another kind of rejection. And how many there are who have experienced that very painful rejection, being rejected in a romantic relationship.
Another common form of suffering is the experience of loneliness. There are two basic kinds of loneliness—that which need not be and that which cannot be avoided. And who has not experienced the pain connected with illness or injury? Some must bear this cross to a much greater degree than others. Some, indeed, have had their lives very significantly changed because of serious illness or injury. Let us pray for these so that they may have the love and courage to live with their cross according to God's will.
The above examples describe some of the ways in which the cross enters our lives. We can each probably add one or two more to our own list. In any case, we need to remember that we have a special prayer partner to help guide us along the way. She knows suffering and she certainly knows her Son. She is always by our side.
In conclusion, let us again remind ourselves that the cross is meant to lead us to greater life—here and in eternity. Let us always strive to live by the words Jesus has left as: Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Lk. 9:23-24).
Notes
- Our Lady's Peace Plan, op. cit., back cover.
- Ibid., p. 1.
(End of Excerpt from Mother At Our Side)
Excerpts from The Pain and the Joy, by Father Edward Carter, S.J.
2
The Pain and the Joy
Certain people look upon religion as a type of enslavement. Religion, claim these people, puts shackles on one's desires for full living, pleasure, and happiness. Religion, they continue, makes you fearful, forces you into a rigid pattern of dos and don’ts which restricts and even suffocates your thrust toward full personality development. Whatever the causes may be for one's arriving at this view, such an attitude grossly misrepresents the nature of true religion.
Jesus has come to make us happy, not to make us participate in a religion which destroys the joy-dimension of human life. Jesus has come to increase our capacity for true self-fulfillment, not to restrict us with a religion which (while encouraging morbid self-enclosement), destroys possibilities for healthy self-expansion. Jesus has come to show us the way to true pleasure, not to present us with a religion which looks askance at such. Furthermore, this happiness and fulfillment which Jesus has come to give us is meant for this life as well as for eternal life. Christianity is a religion which gives a here-and-now happiness that develops into a future and eternal happiness. It satisfies our deepest desires to be fully alive. Furthermore, Christianity is a religion which unites pain and joy.
Christ's followers have looked upon His sufferings—which culminated in the agony of Calvary—and have been moved to a most unique kind of compassion; for the sufferings of Jesus are those of the completely innocent one, sufferings of an extremely kind, sensitive, and loving man. Here was a man who had done nothing but good, and yet, in the end He suffered rejection, betrayal, and denial.
Nevertheless, this classical figure of suffering and pathos who is Jesus is also the classical figure of hope. The crucified Jesus is the great symbol of hope because His suffering and death point beyond Calvary to His Resurrection. The suffering and pathos of Jesus opens up into hope-causing and joy-causing resurrection. The Jesus who exacts compassion from His followers is the same Jesus who fills them with resurrection joy, peace, and happiness. Jesus allows the Christian to see that suffering is not meant to be self-enclosed, but rather open-ended. Suffering is meant, when properly assimilated, to lead to greater life, to greater love, joy, and happiness.
The pain and the joy of life are inevitably linked together. Let us not try to separate them. On the one hand, let us not narrowly view life's suffering so that we fail to see it as a means, if properly encountered, to a fuller life. On the other hand, let us not so exclusively focus on the aspect of joy that we fail to remember that its presence in our life cannot be maintained and deepened unless we are willing to suffer with Jesus. Pain and joy—what God has joined together, let us not strive to separate.
Dying and rising were inseparable in Jesus' existence. Since we have been baptized into Christ's death-resurrection, as St. Paul tells us (Rom. 6:1-11), dying and rising are also inseparable in our own existence. The pain and the joy. In experiencing humanity, the Christian must assimilate both according to God's designs.
15
Contemporary Asceticism
Let us define asceticism here as the effort to reach a higher spiritual level by rigorous self-discipline and denial.
Asceticism is an important element in the pattern of death-resurrection. It is one of the more active forms of dying with Jesus, for the term asceticism implies a chosen kind of effort on the Christian's part, but, very importantly, an endeavor assisted by God's grace. There is another fundamental form of the cross which does not require this more active type of effort and we could label it as passive suffering or purification, a kind of suffering which we accept in accord with God's will, but over which we have little or no control. Here, we discuss asceticism on a different level, as defined above.
The purpose of Christian asceticism is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in achieving the necessary discipline required for the living of the Christ-life, our life of grace. This discipline is meant to extend to all dimensions of the person. As with many aspects of the Christian life, the concept of asceticism has undergone rethinking in our day. The traditional asceticism is seen as deficient in certain respects. A contemporary asceticism, geared to meet the needs of the modern Christian, has been gradually developing.
The traditional asceticism was based to a considerable extent upon the monastic or semi-monastic type of spirituality. For many centuries this spirituality was a dominant force. It became systematized and was handed down from generation to generation. Many committed Christians who were not living a monastic or semi-monastic state of life, more or less adapted this spirituality as best they could to serve their own particular vocations. As we know, this monastic spirituality stressed withdrawal from the world. If one had to live in the world, one endured it for the proper reasons, but hardly desired such a situation in itself. Many precautions were given on how to escape basically unscathed from the engagement. Monasticism's attitude toward secular involvement was to a considerable extent negative. Its asceticism was oriented toward non-involvement rather than toward proper engagement. This traditional asceticism was basically directed toward achieving a particular kind of contemplative union with God. Its direct objective was not primarily aimed at the proper building of the secular city, although it did have its own proportionate concern in this regard.
We should not be overly critical of this traditional asceticism with its stress on withdrawal, silence, and the like. It originated and developed to serve the purpose of monasticism, and in view of this goal we can say it was basically well-conceived. This spirituality certainly has produced its share of great saints. Its shortcomings arose because it came to be accepted by many as the universal asceticism—the one for committed Christians of all vocations.
As stated above, a contemporary asceticism is being developed to more realistically meet the needs of the vast majority of today's Christians. The new asceticism is meant to serve the Christian in her or his secular involvement. It is meant to help the Christian find God in the market place as well as in times of formal prayer and solitude. Its general principles can serve the needs of all committed Christians living in the secular world, whatever their vocations may be. The traditional monastic type asceticism is still available for those living within that monastic tradition, and it has also been experiencing its own renewal.
The new asceticism, if it is to be authentic, has to meet the varied needs of the Christian in the exercise of the Christ-life. This Christ-life is a relational life. Let us now discuss three of the relationships which flow from this Christic existence—relationships with the material world, with one's neighbor, and, most importantly, with God.
The new asceticism assumes a very positive attitude toward material creation. Yet, as must the asceticism of any age, contemporary asceticism has to be concerned with the Christian's proper control relative to the material world. We have a tendency to misuse the world's material things. At times we use things in excess. At other times we use things we should not be using. These abuses are present in any age and culture, but they are apt to be multiplied among people living in affluent cultures. The new asceticism, while accepting an appreciation of material things, must also be concerned with instructing us to achieve proper control relative to the material. There are two facets of this control. One allows us to relate to the material world properly, while actually using it. The other facet directs us at times to non-use, either to learn better how to use God's material gifts, or because there is an indication that the particular use of something material is simply not according to the Spirit's designs here and now.
Turning our attention to relationship with our neighbor, let us say a few words concerning new asceticism and social concern. There is the constant temptation to settle down in the niche of one's relatively comfortable existence and act as if there were not extremely pressing social problems and issues. A Christian could even do this under pretense that he or she needs peace, a freedom from anxiety, in order to find God. The person could rationalize that to become mixed up with the murky and seething waters of social issues destroys this peace of spirit.
The asceticism of social concern points in another direction. First of all, it gives us the courage to look at the unpleasant, sometimes hideous aspects of the social structure. The asceticism of social concern bids us to reflect sufficiently about the actual situation—long enough and consistently enough so that we no longer block out that about which we should be aware. The asceticism of social concern makes us look at racism, at poverty, at the vastly destructive drug traffic, at the free reign of pornography, at political corruption—at whatever is eating away at authentic social structures, at whatever helps prevent the establishment of a more just social order.
The asceticism of social concern makes us seriously reflect on all this. Obviously, it must do more. It must also generate the verve to act upon this realization that there is much to be done. Asceticism must prompt us to embrace the pain involved in bettering the social structure, whether that pain be, for instance, enduring the anguish attendant with actual inner-city involvement, or the frustration entailed in painfully slow court procedures aimed at achieving social justice. Whatever our state of life, whatever our work or profession, whatever our immediate environment may be, the asceticism of social concern will prompt us to do something. This doing can range from the most intense concrete involvement of the social activist to the prayer and sacrifice of the cloistered contemplative. All of us must take Christ seriously. May He be able to say to us:
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. (Mt. 25:35-36).
Contemporary asceticism looks not only at our responsibility toward society at large, but also at our dealings with those relatively few individuals whom we contact in a more direct and consistent fashion. There is, for example, an asceticism required for giving time and attention to the individual. This is not always easy. We live in a vastly advanced technological culture in which the individual can easily be pushed into the background where she or he tends to be treated as a faceless number rather than as an unique individual with a priceless dignity. Influenced by this ugly dimension of our culture, we can rationalize that we are too busy to give any considerable time to this or that individual. Asceticism, however, bids us to develop the patience, the loving attention, the selflessness involved in making ourselves available to individuals, particularly in those instances when the individual is not especially attractive to us.
Even when the individual is appealing to us—as, for example, in friendship or marriage—there is still an ascetical effort demanded. These close relationships are meant to be meaningful and beautiful occasions for the exercise of the deepest love. If this love is to grow and flourish, if it is not to wither, and perhaps die, there is a dying which must take place within us—it is ultimately a dying to the non-authentic self, to that self which is an obstacle to the relationship. It is a dying to that which refuses to give oneself in love so that the other may be aided in becoming more what he or she is destined to be. If these relationships are to endure properly, there must be at least a basic attitude of such selflessness. We are not speaking here of those relationships which are dissolved for legitimate reasons, for instance, a friendship which is judged by one or both parties to be no longer authentically viable.
Let us consider a few ideas concerning this new asceticism and the Christian's relationship with God. We have already said much in this regard. In discussing asceticism's role in helping the Christian relate properly to material things and to one's neighbor, we have also been implicitly speaking about one's finding God through such relationships. This is precisely one of the main thrusts of contemporary asceticism—to enable the Christian to find God in and through a proper engagement with the world.
To find God in this manner demands discipline. We have to make the effort to be open to the Spirit's guidance during our activity. We have to take the means whereby the vision of faith is vitally operative in our engagement in the market place. Following the lead of faith, we must allow Christian love to shape and inform our secular activity. If we fail to make this effort, lesser motives take over. We work and are busy, we mix in the society about us, simply because we happen to find it all so interesting, and the overriding influence of the Spirit guiding our activity fades to the background.
If we are to achieve proper openness to the Holy Spirit during our secular involvement, it seems a certain amount of formal prayer and disengagement must be structured into our lives. In this regard, the new asceticism can borrow from the traditional asceticism. Figuratively speaking, the Christian must at times go to the solitude of the desert to meet God in a more direct fashion. The Christian must seek the solitude of one's room, a church, a walk in the fields or along the lake's shore. The Christian needs these periods of disengagement in order to pray, reflect, reorient oneself so that engagement with the world may be truly a Christic one, one guided by the Spirit.
In conclusion, we can say that a new asceticism has been developing to meet the needs of today's Christian. If the current asceticism is a new one, it is not a totally different one. It is not completely differentiated from the traditional asceticism. But if it is to be really effective, today's asceticism will necessarily have to incorporate into its structure some of the practices of the more traditional one. We have just given one indication of this in our discussion of the need for a certain degree of disengagement. By having proper regard for certain teachings of traditional asceticism, the newer form can temper what could be an excessive optimism regarding our engagement with the world.
If the traditional asceticism was prone to an excessive fear of the world, the new asceticism is prone to fail to effectively point out that there are precautionary measures to be taken to ensure a proper engagement with the world. If the new asceticism can judiciously blend certain aspects of the older form with its own particular thrusts and broadened vision, then it certainly will be a more effective and realistic asceticism for the vast majority of today's Christians.
26
Shattered Dreams
To hear the words "shattered dreams" conjures up for us memories of major disappointments experienced along the ever-changing path of life. The disappointments can be those which wound the heart to its core. Disappointments of lesser proportions cause diminished pain, but still a kind which leaves its mark.
Shattered dreams come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Some experience career disappointments even though they were privileged to enter the work of their dreams. Once professional success was achieved, however, a type of emptiness ensued and, with puzzlement, they asked themselves, "Is this all the satisfaction that comes from all my strivings? Is this all there is to professional success?"
Others experience shattered dreams because the careers they hoped for were always beyond their grasp. For this or that reason they were not able to give themselves completely to that work or occupation for which their hearts yearned. For example, one with outstanding talent as an artist can only give a bit of free time to expressing his or her genius because financial problems force the person to work full-time at another occupation. The heartbreak this occasions can only be known by one who has experienced this kind of frustration. An athlete on the verge of national stardom sustains a serious injury which necessitates abandonment of a cherished sport. These and similar examples leave one with the question: "What would it have been like?. . .I'll never know."
Personal relationships have yielded a plethora of shattered dreams. A person experiences crushing disappointment because he or she is rejected by a person dearly loved, a person who had been the focus of so many hopes and dreams. Another experiences pain because the hoped-for relationship with a particular person never eventualizes. In both cases tears flow copiously and the person has to strive mightily to convince oneself that life is still worth living.
The shattered dreams of parents regarding their children—this particular kind of pain makes up a considerable portion of life's sufferings. For example, a child with so much to live for is snatched away in sudden, unexpected, and tragic death. Or parents watch a child slip away from their influence and go the way of moral degradation despite the parents' best efforts to provide proper guidance. Other situations involve financial problems which prevent the desired education of exceptionally gifted children—an education the parents had so much hoped for.
There are many examples of shattered dreams. You know of other examples, ones which you have personally suffered, and others which you have seen others experience. All examples involve shattered hopes, whose remains are scattered about in the form of burnt-out ashes, the remnants of goals once eagerly sought, but which now no longer exist.
As Christians we too are subject to experiencing shattered dreams along with the rest of the human race. However, being exposed to various disappointments will not excessively disturb us if we rely on our Christian perspective. To be able to view disappointment in union with Christ is a great gift which all do not possess.
With the light afforded by this Christian perspective, we should ask ourselves whether the shattered dream was the result of seeking that which was outside of God's will. Sooner or later such a pursuit always causes a sense of emptiness, disappointment, disillusion. Disappointment can also result from the relative failure of doing that which we thought to be Spirit-inspired. The disappointment attached to such a venture, however, is permeated with a distinct sense of peace; for we realize we have done our reasonable best to follow God's lead. Our effort has failed in one sense; but in another sense, we have succeeded. We know that good has emanated from our conformity to God's will.
Individual shattered dreams do not destroy the all-pervading dream or hope of the Christian. We know that if we remain basically faithful to Christ, our dream, or hope, regarding our earthly destiny will be fulfilled. We further know that this dream or hope for a truly successful existence on this earth will open up to absolute fulfillment in eternal life. The committed Christian, then, can experience shattered dreams, but not a shattered life, for in them we can also recognize a challenge and a cross to carry. He has asked us to pick up our cross and follow Him.
31
Failure
One of the most painful sufferings we experience within the human condition is failure. The suffering is often exacerbated because we over-identify with the situation. We have linked too much of our being with the task, the relationship, or whatever else has prompted the failure. We tend to think, for example, that because we have failed in a particular work, we have failed as human beings. However, as much as we may have involved ourselves in the work, we are not the work itself. This is not to say we are always blameless. We may be considerably at fault regarding the failure. On the other hand, we may be basically without culpability. Whichever the case, we must strive not to over-identify with the situation. This only increases the pain, and needlessly so.
Besides over-identifying with failure, there are two other sufferings connected with it. There is very obviously the pain of the failure itself—even when we succeed in keeping it within proper perspective. There is also the pain of regrouping, of starting over, of getting on with the rest of life. This is not easy; but the pain involved is less than that which results from remaining mired in the failure, allowing it to rob us of some of the joy which is meant to be ours. There have been, are, and will be failures of various kinds and degrees in our lives. Let us accept the pain involved, learn from it, and continue the spiritual journey as wiser human beings.
32
Loneliness
Loneliness is an experience which afflicts every human being to one degree or other. No one escapes its suffering. Its pain can vary from being no more disturbing than that of other common sufferings, to a kind of affliction which penetrates to one's inner depths and makes one shed copious tears.
There are two basic kinds of loneliness: the one which need not be, and the one which is inevitable. The one which is avoidable emanates from our not relating to God and others as we should and can. The other, which exists even though we are doing our reasonable best to reach out to God and neighbor, is simply a part of the human condition. We experience an unavoidable loneliness because we are pilgrims. Until our pilgrimage ends in the attainment of eternal life, loneliness will always haunt us in various degrees. This must be, for the kind of loneliness which is inevitable results from our not yet being completely fulfilled. We attain perfect fulfillment only in eternal life. Until then we are, in part, lonely creatures.
If unnecessary loneliness results from our not relating properly to God and others, the remedy for lessening its suffering is obvious. We must strive to grow in our relationships with God and others. This is not going to completely remove loneliness, but it will lessen its pain and make it more bearable.
In coping with loneliness we experience ups and downs in the process, and even apparent contradictions. For example, in striving to deepen my relationship with a significant person—a step which basically lessens loneliness—I may still experience it on occasion because of prolonged physical separation from this person, or because of misunderstandings which temporarily seem to separate us to some extent. Regarding God, at times one can feel a particular loneliness precisely because one desires God so much; but for now, God seems hidden and difficult to contact. Some experience this suffering in a very penetrating fashion as they undergo the classical dark night of the spirit; others feel this loneliness in a less striking, but still very real, fashion.
Loneliness resulting from our efforts to relate properly to God and others is not debilitating as is that which emanates from our failure to go out to God and others as we should. This is so because the former constitutes part of the positive growth process.
The temptations which confront the human person in his or her struggle with loneliness are numerous and well known. Seeking alleviation from loneliness in alcohol and other drugs, in illegitimate sex, in excessive TV watching—these are a few of the escape routes well known to the modern world. Whatever the false escapes, they seem to be more prevalent in affluent cultures where money can buy practically any false comfort one could desire.
Here in the United States, the affluent American can easily buy all the non-authentic escapes from loneliness. These false routes beckon us so enticingly, promising a quick solution to our problem. As with anything non-authentic, however, embracing them as a cure for loneliness actually makes the problem more severe. So it is not surprising that a group of experts has concluded that loneliness is a serious problem in today's world, and nowhere does it seem to be greater than in the United States.
In coping with the problem of loneliness, we should look at the phenomenon realistically. This realistic view tells us that loneliness will always be with us to some degree. Dealing with the problem does not mean eradicating all loneliness. It means making sure that we are not causing ourselves unnecessary loneliness by failing to relate to God and others as we should. In other words, it means we should strive to love as we should. The person who is trying to love properly is not a person who escapes all loneliness. He or she is a person whose basic happiness, loneliness does not destroy.
(End of Excerpts from The Pain and the Joy)
A rosary can be used to pray for healing. It is powerful to unite our prayers to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and pray through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater.
In times of trouble, for special prayer, we can use our rosary and pray as follows.
A Rosary for Healing or for Someone with Cancer.
On one Hail Mary bead or as many as you desire, say:
May God heal through the intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater in union with the Mass and all the Masses being celebrated around the world.
Pray the Hail Mary or Hail Mary's then pray this after the Hail Mary.
May the cancer be uprooted and thrown into the sea.
We believe with all our hearts.
After the Glory Be— pray the following petition.
May be healed through the intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater if it be the holy will of God.
 |
Note: You can look at Mary on the image rosary while you pray this rosary. |  |
Note: The above section can be printed out from a PDF file, and you can pray the rosary looking at the pictures.
Messenger: ALL APOSTLES THAT CAN COME ON DECEMBER 17, 2000 TO FLORIDA — 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARY'S APPARITION ON THE BUILDING IN CLEARWATER, FLORIDA.
Messenger: Mary wants the Red Rosary Book printed. It will cost $12,000 - $14,000 to get them reprinted. We are out of Red Rosary books. Mary has asked us to always circulate them. They go with the apparition in Florida.
Can you help with the printing of the new Blue Rosary Book Volume II of Rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary?
Messenger: CAN YOU HELP US BY GIVING US ROSARIES FOR THE SCHOOLS REQUESTING THEM?
Mary speaks: PLEASE MAKE WALTER'S ROSARIES. THE SCHOOLS WANT ROSARIES AND THERE ARE NOT ANY ROSARIES LEFT.
Messenger: Pray for Perry.
Prayer List for apostles for interior use in the Movement. Pray hourly.
Spread the Blood of Jesus on everyone, consecrate their hearts, cast the devil out, pray for coming of the Holy Spirit in a special way for all people involved on this list.
Pray Father Carter is healed through Our Lady of Clearwater.
Pray for Father Carter's doctors.
Please pray for one new very important intention.
Pray for all involved in buying the building.
Pray for designated priests, Fr. Mike, Fr. Smith, Fr. Ken, all priests involved in the Imprimaturs
translations including all bishops. Pray for Fr. Joe, Bishop Ed, Fr. Don, Father at
Tuesday Masses, Fr. Tom, Fr. Bill, all priests involved with Walter, Fr. Hagee and special
priests.
Pray for Father's sister Merle, for all of us servants, handmaids, apostles and vocations
to all 7 categories.
Pray for the elections.
Pray for an audience with the Pope.
Pray for all Jesuits involved, all those over us. Pray for the 4 urgent intentions.
Pray for the rights to the books.
Pray for the process of getting Father's books on the Internet.
Pray for money to reprint the books.
Pray for the Imprimatur on the Priestly Newsletter Book II.
Pray we can send it to all bishops and Jesuits.
Pray for Perry and family and discernment.
Pray for all sub-centers and all out-of-state rosaries.
Pray for the sisters' mailing, nursing home mailing, bus mailing.
Pray for Rosary Factory.
Pray for Genevieve's daughter and Sheila's mom and Jerry's dad, Bernice's daughter.
Pray for Paul and Joan discernment.
Pray for all book covers.
Pray for B & M and Tina and Terry, all printing jobs, companies involved.
Pray for 5th, the 13th, the 17th.
Pray for the Internet team and the daily messages.
Pray for building up of Morrow, Ohio, Dale, Indiana, other sub-centers.
Pray for the Holy Spirit Center and all involved.
Pray for all our families, children in school, college mailing.
Pray for lots of rosary makers and rosaries for the schools.
Pray for funds and grace.
Pray for Paul C., Margaret Mary, Steve and Sheila, Monica, Angie, Marian, Cathy, Joe,
Nick, Mary, Emily, Joe, Doris, Glaci, Dunkers, Joan R., Morgan, Mark, Walter, Janice, Mike
A., Margaret, Ron, and Harold, Tommie.
Pray for Fred doing the paper and all involved in priestly "start-up".
Please pray for all Shepherds of Christ children.
Pray for Victor's son, Michael and a girl missing.
(Please copy and pass out to family and friends.)
Mary's
Message from the Rosary of August 27, 1996Mary speaks: I stood beneath the cross of my Son, and my Heart was in such pain for I saw Him before my eyes. I saw Him covered with blood. I saw Him die. My Heart, my children, my Heart to watch my Son, but my Heart, my Heart, how I suffered for my little children of the world that give in to this world and give up the love of my Son. O my little children of light, I give you this message. Carry this light into the darkness for your Mother Mary, for I stood beneath the cross and I cried. I cried for the little ones. I cried for the young ones, the ones that do not care and will lose their souls. How do I make you see for you will not listen to me? What can I do? I come. I appear. I beg. I plead. I give you these gifts from my Son, and you reject me. I do not deliver messages very often anymore for I have been ignored. The message is the same. You do not read the messages I have given to you. Please help me. Help the little children. I appear. I appear. I appear, and I am ignored. I stood beneath the cross, and I cried. I cried, and my Heart was in such anguish for my little children, for I am searching for them this day as I searched for the Child Jesus. Please, please help me. I cannot hold back the hand of my Son any longer. I am Mary, your Mother. I ask you to help my children. You are my children of light.
Song: O Lady of Light, shining so bright, be with us this day, guiding our way, O Lady, O Lady of Light.
Mary speaks: I appear to you as Our Mother of Sorrows.
(End of Mary's Message)
MY VALENTINE FOR JESUS AND MARY
AND THE WORLDI _________________ give my heart to
You Jesus and Mary on this day
_________________
I promise to help spread the devotion to
the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Q: How do I feel we can grow closer in our relationship by seeing ourselves as children in the Father's family?
Copyright
© 2000 Shepherds of Christ. Shepherds of Christ Ministries
PO Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451
FAX: (513) 932-6791
