Tag Archives: New Evangelization

Day 24 – Knowledge of Mary

Day 24 – Mary and the Church

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John:

[S]tanding by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the Scripture), “I thirst.” (John 19:25-28)

From Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium #285-286):

On the cross, when Jesus endured in his own flesh the dramatic encounter of the sin of the world and God’s mercy, he could feel at his feet the consoling presence of his mother and his friend. At that crucial moment, before fully accomplishing the work which his Father had entrusted to him, Jesus said to Mary: “Woman, here is your son”. Then he said to his beloved friend: “Here is your mother” (Jn 19:26-27). These words of the dying Jesus are not chiefly the expression of his devotion and concern for his mother; rather, they are a revelatory formula which manifests the mystery of a special saving mission. Jesus left us his mother to be our mother. Only after doing so did Jesus know that “all was now finished”(Jn 19:28). At the foot of the cross, at the supreme hour of the new creation, Christ led us to Mary. He brought us to her because he did not want us to journey without a mother, and our people read in this maternal image all the mysteries of the Gospel. The Lord did not want to leave the Church without this icon of womanhood. Mary, who brought him into the world with great faith, also accompanies “the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus” (Rev 12:17). The close connection between Mary, the Church and each member of the faithful, based on the fact that each in his or her own way brings forth Christ, has been beautifully expressed by Blessed Isaac of Stella: “In the inspired Scriptures, what is said in a universal sense of the virgin mother, the Church, is understood in an individual sense of the Virgin Mary… In a way, every Christian is also believed to be a bride of God’s word, a mother of Christ, his daughter and sister, at once virginal and fruitful… Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell forever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul”. (Isaac of Stella, Sermo 51: PL 194, 1863, 1865.)

Mary was able to turn a stable into a home for Jesus, with poor swaddling clothes and an abundance of love. She is the handmaid of the Father who sings his praises. She is the friend who is ever concerned that wine not be lacking in our lives. She is the woman whose heart was pierced by a sword and who understands all our pain…. As she did with Juan Diego, Mary offers [us] maternal comfort and love, and whispers in [our] ear: “Let your heart not be troubled… Am I not here, who am your Mother?” (Nican Mopohua, 118-119.)

Reflection:

After Jesus gave us His Mother to be our Mother, the Gospel says that He knew all was finished. Mary is able to turn the stable of our hearts into a home for Jesus, no matter how poor we feel we are. He knew that we needed a Mother to make the journey of Christian faith. In Mary we have a Mother and in the Church we have Mother. As Blessed Isaac of Stella taught us, what we can say about Mary, we can say about the Church. In one of the Church’s sacramentals of healing, the priest prays for the one who “ad Ecclesiae sinum recurrit,” (seeks refuge in the womb of the Church). The womb of Mary is the womb of the Church and that is the place of true liberation and healing. Through Marian consecration we come to see our relationship with the Church as being in the womb of our Mother and we discover the consolation and transformation that come from being so rooted in grace and surrounded by prayer.

Prayer:

Litany of the Holy Spirit or Veni Sancte Spiritus

Rosary (or at least one decade) followed by the Litany of Loreto

Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary

Knowledge of Self Day 17 – Pastoral acedia

Day 17 – Pastoral acedia

A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:4-7)

From Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium):

At a time when we most need a missionary dynamism which will bring salt and light to the world, many lay people fear that they may be asked to undertake some apostolic work and they seek to avoid any responsibility that may take away from their free time. For example, it has become very difficult today to find trained parish catechists willing to persevere in this work for some years. Something similar is also happening with priests who are obsessed with protecting their free time. This is frequently due to the fact that people feel an overbearing need to guard their personal freedom, as though the task of evangelization was a dangerous poison rather than a joyful response to God’s love which summons us to mission and makes us fulfilled and productive. Some resist giving themselves over completely to mission and thus end up in a state of paralysis and acedia.

The problem is not always an excess of activity, but rather activity undertaken badly, without adequate motivation, without a spirituality which would permeate it and make it pleasurable. As a result, work becomes more tiring than necessary, even leading at times to illness. Far from a content and happy tiredness, this is a tense, burdensome, dissatisfying and, in the end, unbearable fatigue. This pastoral acedia can be caused by a number of things. Some fall into it because they throw themselves into unrealistic projects and are not satisfied simply to do what they reasonably can. Others, because they lack the patience to allow processes to mature; they want everything to fall from heaven. Others, because they are attached to a few projects or vain dreams of success. Others, because they have lost real contact with people and so depersonalize their work that they are more concerned with the road map than with the journey itself. Others fall into acedia because they are unable to wait; they want to dominate the rhythm of life. Today’s obsession with immediate results makes it hard for pastoral workers to tolerate anything that smacks of disagreement, possible failure, criticism, the cross.

And so the biggest threat of all gradually takes shape: “the gray pragmatism of the daily life of the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and degenerating into small-mindedness”. A tomb psychology thus develops and slowly transforms Christians into mummies in a museum. Disillusioned with reality, with the Church and with themselves, they experience a constant temptation to cling to a faint melancholy, lacking in hope, which seizes the heart like “the most precious of the devil’s potions”. Called to radiate light and communicate life, in the end they are caught up in things that generate only darkness and inner weariness, and slowly consume all zeal for the apostolate. For all this, I repeat: Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the joy of evangelization! (Evangelii Gaudium #81-83)

Reflection:

Do I fearfully guard my free time? Am I afraid of being asked to give too much? Have I lost the joy of the Gospel and the joy of sharing the Gospel? Have I become disillusioned with the Church, with my ministry, with others or with myself? If I feel that I cannot do it alone, I am exactly right. Sometimes we settle for that which we believe we can accomplish on our own. When we do that we set our sights so low that we quickly lose inspiration and motivation. Although we are very small, with Mary’s help, by the grace of God we can truly do great things. In fact, if we remain in Mary’s womb, we really let her do great things and we consent to do them with her, as Jesus did when Mary took Him to greet her cousin Elizabeth. Are we willing to accept whatever Mary wants to do with us to spread the Gospel and bring Good News to the poor?

Prayer:

Ave Maris Stella or Sub Turm Praesidium

Dominican Litany of Humility

Litany of the Holy Spirit

Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary

New Book on Spiritual Direction

”The lost (or forgotten) art of spiritual direction goes back to the first centuries of Christianity, to the Fathers of the Desert. We could also say this art goes back to Christ Himself.” (Bishop Gregory Mansour from the Foreword) There are many who are discovering the value of spiritual direction, but there are too few spiritual directors to meet the need. Our hope is that this book can provide foundational guidance and build up in confidence to those who are already sufficiently formed in the spiritual life and could help to serve in some capacity as spiritual directors. It also provides a valuable opportunity for spiritual directors to reflect on their own ministry and grow in the service they are offering.

“The demand for sound spiritual directors far outpaces the supply, leaving so many who could be helped toward sanctity stumbling on the journey…. That’s why Fathers Acklin and Hicks have done the whole Church, present and future directors, and the directees they will guide an enormous service in fusing the Church’s spiritual wisdom and their extensive experience into a superb, systematic primer.” —Fr. Roger J. Landry, National Chaplain, CatholicVoices USA, CatholicPreaching.com

“Together with concrete guidelines and numerous examples from personal experience, this book refers extensively to Sacred Scripture as the foundation for spiritual direction. Furthermore, since the practice of spiritual direction goes back to the first centuries of the Church, the authors turn for guidance to the Doctors of the Church, the writings of the saints, and papal magisterium in developing and supporting their insights.” (From the back cover)

“In Spiritual Direction: A Guide for Sharing the Father’s Love, the authors have written a superb guide to giving spiritual direction, and receiving it as well, worthy of the masters. I highly recommend it.” —Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Philadelphia

“Fr. Thomas Acklin, OSB And Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB have written a classic. This work will be seen as one of the best references for spiritual direction.” —Bishop Gregory Mansour, Maronite Bishop of the Eparchy of St. Maron (Brooklyn)

For Whom is This Book Intended?

“This book is primarily intended to support individuals who are being drawn into the ministry of spiritual direction. …

“This book can also serve those who are not yet being sought out by would-be directees but could be in the future. For example, various people in the helping professions (nurses, hospital chaplains, hospice volunteers, teachers, coaches, etc.) are in a position to listen to and support individuals whom they are serving and with whom they develop one-on-one relationships. For a spiritually-minded person, this listening and support can start to take on the shape of spiritual direction.

“This book can also be helpful for individuals who are striving to grow in their own spiritual lives. In it we consider how various aspects of the spiritual life emerge from and are fostered by a one-on-one relationship with a spiritual director. By reading about and reflecting on these aspects of the spiritual life, we believe it will help the recipients of spiritual direction and anyone who is seeking to grow closer to the Lord to better understand spiritual development and growth in the Holy Spirit.” (pp. xxvi-xxvii)

Overview: Chapter Headings

Part I – Foundations of Spiritual Direction

Chapter 1 – One on one

Chapter 2 – Interiority

Chapter 3 – Vulnerability

Chapter 4 – Listening

Chapter 5 – Communicating

Part II – Particular Aspects of Spiritual Direction

Chapter 6 – Guidance for Prayer

Chapter 7 – Passages in Prayer and the Spiritual Life

Chapter 8 – Psychological Models and Healing

Chapter 9 – The Spiritual Director

Appendix – Saints for Spiritual Directors

Order online

The text can be ordered directly from Emmaus Road Publishing: Purchase Book Online

New Evangelization: new in its “ardor, methods and expression”

When Pope St John Paul II asked for a New Evangelization, he did not ask to change the content of evangelization, which is always Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever. Rather he asked for an evangelization that is new in its ardor, methods and expression. One reason for this newness is because the field of the New Evangelization is primarily those who have already heard the Gospel…sort of. Those who grew up Catholic and received a version of the Gospel watered down with secular culture, rejected what they thought was Christianity without really knowing the content of the faith. The full content of the faith must be presented in a new expression to avoid the defense, “I've already heard that.” It must also be presented with new methods, because those who need evangelization are not showing up for the old methods of CCD and parish missions and Sunday homilies. It must be presented with new ardor because the fervent authenticity of the messenger is critical for communicating the Good News in a compelling way.

Joseph Rockey is a Pittsburgh native with a typical story for those in need of a New Evangelization. Raised Catholic, he learned the faith at a young age, but his faith did not grow as his intellect and human maturity grew and compared to the glamor of society, it quickly appeared outdated and his practice of the faith became lukewarm, perfunctory at best. Through a study abroad in Rome and some positive influences in his life, including his fiancée Teresa, Joe began to develop a positive appreciation for the Catholic Church and came back to a fuller practice of the faith. He also began to discover that there were many things taught by the Church that he did not understand. He discovered a deeper understanding and appreciation of the faith through We Are One Body® radio and he developed a new ardor for helping others to make the journey that he was making. He began to conceive of sharing the faith through a new method: podcasting. Then he reached out to me, in hopes that I could provide a new expression.

My initial thought was that I need another thing to do like I need a hole in the head. At the same time, I recognized the true ardor in Joe and his sincere desire to reach out to others his age and offer something that might help them to reconsider Catholicism. God forbid that I should be an obstacle to that! So we discussed what might be possible and what might be helpful for potential listeners. He was willing to work out the technical details and the “marketing” needed to help people discover our podcast and I am always willing to talk about the Lord. In discussing how we might proceed, we decided that Joe's personal interests and questions are likely the same interests and questions of many people his age. With that in mind, Joe simply brings up questions and we talk in a way that becomes a kind of spiritual direction for him and, we hope, for many others as well.

We are well aware that our effort is imperfect and leaves much to be desired, but I am convinced that it is a meaningful contribution to the New Evangelization. It is a new expression and a new method with a new ardor and we pray it brings at least a few people closer to Jesus. Please pray for us and spread the Good News and share our podcast as well, if you think it would be helpful for someone you know.

Click here to subscribe to our podcast “Father and Joe”.