October 15 - Teresa of Avila

   From the Office of Readings:

All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example.

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart.

Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.

-Michael Dubruiel 

73 Steps to Spritual Communion with God - 46b

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel The previous posts are in the archives to the right. This is step 46: part 2:

(46) To desire eternal life with all spiritual longing.

.....


A spiritual longing is much more focused on God and less on self. St. Paul desired eternal life with this type of longing when he wished if for his fellow men to the point that he himself would forgo it, if it would save them. Spiritual longing is always sacrificial and somewhat paradoxical.


Our Lord said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing." There is great wisdom in meditating on these words in light of St. Benedict's maxim to "desire eternity with a spiritual longing." We long to cleave to Christ, to imitate Him and to be united with Him, so to live with Him for all eternity.

73 Steps to Spritual Communion with God - 46a

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel The previous posts are in the archives to the right. This is step 46 part 1:

(46) To desire eternal life with all spiritual longing.




A spiritual longing is much more focused on God and less on self. St. Paul desired eternal life with this type of longing when he wished if for his fellow men to the point that he himself would forgo it, if it would save them. Spiritual longing is always sacrificial and somewhat paradoxical.



Our Lord said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing." There is great wisdom in meditating on these words in light of St. Benedict's maxim to "desire eternity with a spiritual longing." We long to cleave to Christ, to imitate Him and to be united with Him, so to live with Him for all eternity.

73 Steps to Closer Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel - 45c

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are in the archives to the right. This is step 45:

(45) To be in dread of hell.





It is true that if you take your own notion of what Hell is like and then place God in the picture that it become Heaven. I can imagine being quite happy in Gehenna if I was there with Jesus watching people dump their garbage. In fact I can imagine enduring the worst that life can give and being okay with it if I had a strong sense that God wanted me there.

We should dread anything that will separate us from God's love and Hell is the final separation. Fostering this dread will increase our appreciation for the availability of God's love in the present moment. The final judgment has not happened for us yet, there is still time. Time to confess and let go of past sins. Time to reform our lives and live in the grace of God in the future. Time to dread the fires of Hell and to live for the glories of Heaven.

73 Steps to Closer Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel - 45 b

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are in the archives to the right. This is step 45:

(45) To be in dread of hell.





The point is that once you have some understanding of how horrible Hell would be for you that you should foster a "dread" of it. The only way we can end up in this eternal place of damnation is by rejecting the gift of salvation that comes to us from Jesus Christ. Accepting or rejecting that gift is a moment by moment yes or no, manifest by our actions.



Dread is a fairly good motivator. Most of us seldom do anything we dread. We keep putting it off. That is why so many people still mail in their tax statements on April 15th close to the stroke of midnight. To dread what is "really" evil is healthy. And what is really evil is "separation from God" which is the best definition of what Hell is.

73 Steps to Closer Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel - 45a

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are in the archives to the right. This is step 45:

(45) To be in dread of hell.



I think it is helpful to personally design our own notion of Hell. Jesus used Gehenna to describe it to the people of His day. "Gehenna" was the local dump (landfills were a long way into the future) for the city of Jerusalem. So when Jesus described Hell to the people they would have thought of Gehenna where a smoldering fire burned incessantly consuming the refuse of the people of Jerusalem.



Designing your own notion of Hell merely insists of imagining what the would be the worst possible experience that could happen to you and magnifying that by eternity. For most of this would involve pain and suffering that would never cease, but for some it might be an embarrassing situation. Sadly for many it might be an actual moment in their life that they play over and over again in their minds.

Prepare for the Catholic Mass

  From Michael Dubruiel

One of the features that I mention in How To Get The Most Out Of The Eucharist is something I call "P.R.A.Y.": What are some concrete steps we can take that will help us get the most from the Word of God? 

Here are a few that can easily be remembered by using the word P.R.A.Y. .

P ... Prepare by studying Scripture and coming to a better understanding of how Catholics approach and interpret the Word... The less familiar we are with the Word that we hear proclaimed at the Eucharist, the more likely we are to be distracted by what we hear rather than fed.

R ... Read the Mass readings beforehand... If we read beforehand we can better listen when the readings are being proclaimed, and it is more likely that we will truly hear what God wishes to say to us. 

A ... Attend to what is being read to us at the Eucharist. Listen in a way that acknowledges that God wishes to speak to you at this Mass... 

Y ... Yield to what God is asking of you and respond with a "yes." Every celebration of the Eucharist is a renewing of the covenant between God and us. God waits for our response. 

Here's an example of how to use it:

Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Matthew 25:1-13

P. Prepare

Of Foolish Virgins and the Bridegroom

1. This parable of Jesus' is only found in Matthew's Gospel.

2. Most Kingdom parables have are concerned with the present, this one is concerned with the future. "The Kingdom of heaven will be like..."

3. The wedding practice mentioned in the parable was not the norm in Jesus' day. Bridesmaids did not wait for the groom, nor were latecomers rejected. We might infer from this that the Kingdom's way is not our way.

4. Although the virgins appear the same at the beginning, some our proven to be foolish at the appearance of the groom.They are wrong in thinking that the groom will come soon (obviously the groom is Jesus and the second coming is his appearance) but in fact the wise virgins do not expect a quick coming of the groom and are prepared with extra oil for their lamps.

5. The foolish virgins, i.e. followers of Christ think that accepting the invitation is enough but more is demanded.

6. What does the "reserve oil" represent:

Augustine thought it was love which is God's gift but our responsibility. Chrysostom took it to be almsgiving and our treatment of the needy (which will come up again in the same chapter of Matthew's Gospel).

7. In Matthew's Gospel being a disciple of Jesus is tough. How does this conflict with our view of what following Jesus means? Are we more like the foolish virgins who think our relationship with Jesus is enough?

8. Throughout Matthew's Gospel Jesus envisions there being two types of Christians within the Church: those who take seriously the constant repentance and those who do not.

9. The Father's interepreted the virgin's sleep as death which reminds me of a homily I once heard about the priest never seeing a U-Haul trailer attached to a hearse, but it turns out that in this parable we do take it with us and will what we take be enough?

10. In the parable the groom finally arives in the middle of the night (when it is darkest, in a culture that did not have electricity and having the "light" was an absolute necessity to venturing out).

11. At the moment of his coming the Church suddenly becomes very individualistic, as in other parables of Judgement--all now depends upon what we did, not our group. Here the Church is communal, we are to help one another but at the moment of Judgement it is all changed.

12. There comes a moment when it is too late to repent--the message of the parable is don't wait until it is too late, and be prepared, take stock of what you are doing with the relationship that you have with Christ. Is your lamp burning? Are you running on "Full"?

R. Read

Read Matthew 25:1-13 slowly. Several times if necessary. Then think about it. You might want to read it again before you go to Mass on Sunday.

A. Attend

Listen to all of the readings at Mass. How does the First Reading and Responsorial Psalm add to what the Gospel says? What speaks to you as you hear the Gospel proclaimed? What in the homily touches you or adds to what you were already thinking?

Y. Yield

How can you recommit your life to Jesus and be ready for his coming? What concrete steps can you take this week to be aglow with His love? Ask Jesus to fill you in the Eucharist.