Giving yourself to God and to others-Part V

In Part V of our study of St. John of the Cross, with guidance from the book "John of the Cross for Today: The Ascent" by Dr. Susan Muto. Ave Maria Press (1991), we continue to study the six signs of "Passing on the Contemplation," found in Dr. Muto's work on page 67.

1. Learn to abide in quietude with loving attentiveness to God (this will certainly temper your ego-control)

2. Pay no heed to the imagination and its work (this will certainly diminish your distractions)

3. Let your faculties (intellect, memory, will) remain in a state of rest.

4. Passively receive divine direction rather than activity doing something (this allows you to remain receptive to what God is effecting in you).

5. If you must put your faculties to work, do not make use of excessive efforts or studied reasonings.

6. Whatever you do, do so with gentleness of love, moved more by God than by your own abilities.

This takes real mind control, but when our Lord wishes for you to be with Him in this manner, He will make all this possible. I remember a Franciscan priest who could sit in a most uncomfortable chair and be totally at rest, and when you saw him, it was plain that he was in deep contemplation. God had given him this tremendous gift, and as previously noted, he did not recall having had this experience. Our Franciscan never spoke about the 10 minutes he was with Jesus. He couldn't because the intellect was not at work and therefore there was no recollection of the event. But he was always very gentle and peaceful.

I know that in my experiences, when I close my eyes and shut everything out and try to calm my imagination, I begin to think how I could meet Jesus this time. That is already too much imagination at work. Don't think about meeting Jesus. Think about His love and goodness, instead. It is not important what you or I will do when Jesus beckons. It is more important to be in a totally receptive mode, so be still my soul, and be at rest because your Master awaits you.

Contemplation has nothing to do with ability. Do not pride yourself that you can somehow control when Jesus will visit. You can't! He will visit with you when your are receptive to Him without strings attached. Jesus loves us as small children. Children have no pretenses, they act out of pure love. Of course if they come from parents who cannot get along, this has a devastating effect on them.

Due to old translations of Scripture, there is always that "fear" of the Lord. We should be awed by Him always, but we should never fear Him. The Lord is so gentle and so loving, do not be afraid of Him. But people who are frequent and habitual sinners and who are abusing this gentle and loving Father, they have every reason to be afraid. Repent! - and fear no more.

People who love God deeply, and who make a real effort to sin no more, may be able to pass on to contemplation. I had a lay spiritual advisor for a while, and she spent much time in contemplation. People of other faiths who are not in conflict, they too can pass to contemplation.

You will not find the word "contemplation" in Scriptures. The Jewish elders contemplated the law, yes, but that's not what we're talking about here. Contemplation, rather, became known in religious orders. One has to go back to when and where monasteries began. "The word "monastery" is derived from the Greek monos, meaning alone. Christian monasticism is generally regarded as a way of life involving persons living in seclusion from the world, under religious vows and subject to a fixed rule. Medieval monasticism had its roots in two distinct types of ascetic life practiced by Christians in early fourth century Egypt. The first type was the eremetical life of the desert hermits, whose most famous practitioner was St. Anthony. The other type was the cenobitical life of monks who lived together in organized communities, whose founder was said to be St. Pachomius. The monastic traditions of Egypt began to be known in the West beginning in the late fourth century, as literature about the lives of the desert fathers was disseminated, and individual monks traveled to and settled in Europe.

"During the fifth and sixth centuries, monasteries were founded in Italy, Gaul, Spain, and Ireland. In Gaul, and later, England, double monasteries were common. These were establishments of monks and nuns who lived in separate quarters under the direction of an abbess. During this early stage of monastic development, there was no generally accepted rule that governed monastic life. In the West there were translations of various Eastern codes, such as the Rules of Pachomius and Basil. Another influential rule was St. Augustine's famous letter on the management of convents of nuns. However, there was nothing that could be called a working code for the management of a monastery. This changed in the eighth century with the widespread adoption of the Rule of St. Benedict.

"Benedict of Nursia was born near Spoleto, Italy, around the year 480. As a young man he lived as a hermit near the town of Subiaco, and his reputation for holiness was such that the monks of a nearby monastery asked him to become their abbot. Benedict's first attempt at communal monastic living cannot be considered a success, since his fellow monks resented his strict rules and tried to poison him! He returned to Subiaco, and eventually founded his own monastery at Montecassino.

"It was at Montecassino that Benedict composed his Rule for living in monastic communities. He envisioned the monastery as a reclusive and self-sufficient community, directed by an elected abbot. To lessen dependence on the secular world, the Rule decreed that everything essential for life, such as water, mills, gardens, and workshops, be found within the monastery walls. The church was always the most prominent building, and other buildings contained large rooms such as refectories and dormitories that reflected the group nature of monastic living. Benedict's Rule emphasized the value of communal religious life, and outlined how a monk's day was to be filled with prayer, manual labor and spiritual reading.

"A monk's day began with the ringing of bells, some time between midnight and two a.m., signaling the first prayers of the day. After a short nap, prayers were again held at sunrise, and then at three-hour intervals throughout the day. Communal prayers averaged about five hours per day, while private prayer and contemplation could take up to four more hours. Meals were served once a day in winter, twice in summer, with meat forbidden except in case of illness. Monks were required to be silent while eating, and developed a sign language to communicate. At least three hours per day were spent in manual labor, with remaining hours not spent in prayer devoted to study, especially of Latin, and sacred reading." 

The point is that if you spend hours each day in prayer, and live a quiet life without too many bumps in the road, and particularly, if you carefully choose what to see or not to see on television (the less the better), and you desire a closer walk with the Lord, contemplation becomes a real possibility. But do not wish for it. Just let it happen when it does. Feel at peace about it, and keep Jesus in your heart and mind. There will come a time, when temptation begins to lessen. I suspect it is because Satan, by then, will have gotten his final notice. He knows he cannot get any foothold in your life, and will stop attacking. But do not let down your guard. Be strong of faith, be strong of desire to please God, and love your sisters and brothers as you do yourself.

In the above short history lesson, I did not mention the Franciscans. That was not an oversight, because the desert fathers and the Benedictines came well before the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and so on. Carmelites have a deep monastic contemplative spirituality, even the few lay Carmelites I've met. Dominicans, I don't know - I know less about them as a group. But I suspect that prayer and contemplation precedes the homilies and retreats they are well known for. Franciscans, on the other hand, also contemplate. We know that the Capuchin Order at some time lived an active-contemplative life. So what happened? As vocations grew fewer, and as the work proportionately increased the friars became too busy with all sorts of worthy causes and apostolates and some of that contemplative lifestyle simply disappeared. The exception is the Poor Clares, they are contemplative for the most part.

The Secular Franciscan Order, not unlike the lay Carmelite Order, its professed and dedicated members do not live in monasteries, friaries or convents, but our Rule, in Chapter II (Way of Life), Para. 8 says this: "As Jesus was the true worshipper of the Father, so let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do."

Also, in our General Constitutions, is Article 12, § 3, "3. Rule 8 The brothers and sisters should love meeting God as His children and they should let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do. They should seek to discover the presence of the Father in their own heart, in nature, and in the history of humanity in which His plan of salvation is fulfilled. The contemplation of this mystery will dispose them to collaborate in this loving plan."

So it is clear that a deep spiritual life, an interior life of the soul is desired of Secular Franciscans as well. So, please, be open to this. Jesus has so much love to give. Let Him in. Do not shut Him out. In relation to us, He is like the the whole earth, and each one of us is just one kernel of sand. We need Him, we want Him in our lives. There cannot be real peace in the world unless more people want Him, too.

May God continue to bless you and give you His peace!

Fred Schaeffer, SFO
3-20-2006

 

Giving yourself to God and to others-Part IV    -      Part VI