The Role of the Papacy and the Bishops of the Church

32. Since I am called to put into practice what I ask of others, I too must think about a conversion of the papacy. It is my duty, as the Bishop of Rome, to be open to suggestions which can help make the exercise of my ministry more faithful to the meaning which Jesus Christ wished to give it and to the present needs of evangelization. …We have made little progress in this regard. The papacy and the central structures of the universal Church also need to hear the call to pastoral conversion. The Second Vatican Council stated that … episcopal conferences are in a position “to contribute in many and fruitful ways to the concrete realization of the collegial spirit”. Yet this desire has not been fully realized, since a juridical status of episcopal conferences ... including genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated. Excessive centralization, rather than proving helpful, complicates the Church’s life and her missionary outreach.

33. Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: “We have always done it this way”. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities. A proposal of goals without an adequate communal search for the means of achieving them will inevitably prove illusory. I encourage everyone to apply the guidelines found in this document generously rand courageously, without inhibitions or fear. The important thing is to not walk alone, but to rely on each other as brothers and sisters, and especially under the leadership of the bishops, in a wise and realistic pastoral discernment.

The Bond of Perfection

Like many folks, I often joke, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it.  I need some direction.!"

Today's second reading from the Feast of the Holy Family (Col. 3:12-21) gives all the direction you need for good family life.  In fact, I think it's about as succinct a statement of how to live a Christian life as I have heard.

Put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another (if one has a grievance against another) as the Lord has forgiven you.  And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

 Well, just the ticket, but . . . not so easy to implement.  A 2014 resolution?

Fervor for the Gospel

29. Other Church institutions, basic communities and small communities, movements, and forms of association are a source of enrichment for the Church, raised up by the Spirit for evan- gelizing different areas and sectors. Frequently they bring a new evangelizing fervour and a new capacity for dialogue with the world whereby the Church is renewed. But it will prove beneficial for them not to lose contact with the rich reality of the local parish and to participate readily in the overall pastoral activity of the particular Church. This kind of integration will prevent them from concentrating only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots.

Having myself been re-evangelized by the Cursillo movement, I found the Pope's observation to be especially relevant to me. I've been at times steeped in both Cursillo activity and in parish activity. The Cursillo movement possesses an enthusiasm and devotion to the work of the Holy Spirit that is difficult to find in parish life. Its dedication to bring the world the Christ is an evangelizing attitude that is not prevalent in the parish. In fact, I'm beginning to see a movement in the Church toward a spiritual interiority reminiscent of my childhood, pre-Vatican II days. Then, the Liturgy was strictly a personal encounter with Jesus in which I repented of my sins. Of course it is that. But, the idea that I would invade the personal spiritual space of my neighbor by openly professing my faith was never emphasized. My responsibility to joyfully proclaim the Gospel was not taught to me. The idea that I would  "bring a new evangelizing fervour and a new capacity for dialogue with the world" was never mentioned.
The Pope's admonition to certain movements to  "prevent them from concentrating only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots" can be equally applied to the Parish community.

a) the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach;

For me, the most appealing characteristic of our new Pope is the refreshing way he turns his eye to the Church and critically examines her. He praises her for all the good that she does (see the post of Dec 9),  but is critical of her faults as well. Like we are called to self examination and metanoia in the sacrament of reconciliation, so too is the Church called to self examination and renewal.

a) the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach;

26. Paul VI invited us to deepen the call to renewal and to make it clear that renewal does not only concern individuals but the entire Church. ... "The Church must look with penetrating eyes within herself, ponder the mystery of her own being ...This vivid and lively self-awareness inevitably leads to a comparison between the ideal image of the Church as Christ envisaged her and loved her ... and the actual image which the Church presents to the world today... This is the source of the Church’s heroic and impatient struggle for renewal: the struggle to correct those flaws introduced by her members which her own self-examination, mirroring her exemplar, Christ, points out to her and condemns”

27. I dream of a “missionary option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation. ...

28. The parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community. ... This presumes that it really is in contact with the homes and the lives of its people, and does not become a useless structure out of touch with people or a self-absorbed group made up of a chosen few. The parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration. In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelizers. ... We must admit, though, that the call to review and renew our parishes has not yet sufficed to bring them nearer to people, to make them environments of living communion and participation, and to make them completely mission-oriented. 

The Attitude of the Evangelizer

John 6:56

56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.

The Israelites were aghast at these words of Jesus. Some of the words below confront we moderns in almost the same way. They may not be ghastly, but they certainly are scarey and test the foundation of our faith. The emphases are mine.

from Evangelii Gaudium

24. The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast. Such a community has an endless desire to show mercy, … . Let us try a little harder to take the first step and to become involved. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. The Lord gets involved and he involves his own, as he kneels to wash their feet. He tells his disciples: “You will be blessed if you do this” (Jn 13:17). An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others. Evangelizers thus take on the “smell of the sheep” and the sheep are willing to hear their voice. An evangelizing community is also supportive, standing by people at every step of the way, no matter how difficult or lengthy this may prove to be. It is familiar with patient expectation and apostolic endurance. Evangelization consists mostly of patience and disregard for constraints of time. Faithful to the Lord’s gift, it also bears fruit. An evangelizing community is always concerned with fruit, because the Lord wants her to be fruitful. It cares for the grain and does not grow impatient at the weeds. The sower, when he sees weeds sprouting among the grain does not grumble or overreact. He or she finds a way to let the word take flesh in a particular situation and bear fruits of new life, however imperfect or incomplete these may appear. The disciple is ready to put his or her whole life on the line, even to accepting martyrdom, in bearing witness to Jesus Christ, yet the goal is not to make enemies but to see God’s word accepted and its capacity for liberation and renewal revealed. Finally an evangelizing community is filled with joy; it knows how to rejoice always. It celebrates every small victory, every step forward in the work of evangelization. Evangelization with joy becomes beauty in the liturgy, as part of our daily concern to spread goodness. The Church evangelizes and is herself evangelized through the beauty of the liturgy, which is both a celebration of the task of evangelization and the source of her renewed self-giving.

Evangelize Who? Who, me?

Evangelize, proclaim the Good News! A scarey thought for most Catholics, especially when you live in a world where Jesus' name is met with derision and the mention of Catholicism is met with complaints of the Church's inordinate wealth and priest's abuse of children. (see post of December 9th)

Evangelization does not require us to "sell" anyone on the virtues of being Catholic. It only requires that we live our faith. We can be identified as Christians by the way we love one another. If we make our faith an integral part of all that we do in all our daily activities, we will be great evangelizers.

Pope Francis, before he begins his instructions, lays out what issues he will address in his letter. The emphasis in bold is mine.

14. ... The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith
the new evangelization is a summons addressed to all and ... it is carried out in three principal settings

15. In first place, we can mention the area of ordinary pastoral ministry, which is “animated by the fire of the Spirit, so as to inflame the hearts of the faithful who regularly take part in commu- nity worship and gather on the Lord’s day to be nourished by his word and by the bread of eter- nal life”. In this category we can also include those members of faithful who preserve a deep and sincere faith, expressing it in different ways, but seldom taking part in worship. Ordinary pastoral ministry seeks to help believers to grow spiritually so that they can respond to God’s love ever more fully in their lives.

A second area is that of “the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of Baptism”, who lack a meaningful relationship to the Church and no longer experience the consolation born of faith. The Church, in her maternal concern, tries to help them experience a conversion which will restore the joy of faith to their hearts and inspire a commitment to the Gospel.

Lastly, we cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him. Many of them are quietly seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of ancient Christian tradition.

Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they [evangelizers] should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but “by attraction”.

17. Here I have chosen to present some guidelines which can encourage and guide the whole Church in a new phase of evangelization ... I have decided, among other themes, to discuss at length the following questions:

a) the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach;
b) the temptations faced by pastoral workers;
c) the Church, understood as the entire People of God which evangelizes;
d) the homily and its preparation;
e) the inclusion of the poor in society;
f) peace and dialogue within society;
g) the spiritual motivations for mission.

The Living History That Surrounds Us

Faced with the ever increasing rate of change in our lives, we spend an inordinate amount of time keeping up with things. Lifetime jobs are rare, today's iPad is tomorrow's obsolescence and living in the same city all your life is a rarity. We try to keep up every day with an eye focused on the future. In this kind of environment it is no wonder that we have lost our appreciation of the past.
So much of who and what we are stems from the past. Yet, there seems to be a decided lack of appreciation for history. Newness is a necessity. Old ideas don't fit our views anymore and must be revised and a new face put on them.
A recent media-induced controversy regarding the race and ethnicity of Santa Claus is a good example of our efforts to ignore the past. With little effort the source of the Santa Claus myth (sorry kids) can be traced back to the 4th century Saint Nicholas of Myra, a man whose race and ethnicity are fairly well established. The story of St. Nicholas and its development over the centuries is quite wonderful and for our children can provide many valuable lessons in care for the poor and generosity. It can instill in their hearts a deeper appreciation of Christmas and a sense of the rich past in which it has evolved.
In one of his talks Gil Bailie once said that he was a Christian because he knew someone, who new someone, who knew someone ... who knew St. Peter, who knew Jesus Christ. The Christian faith is because of the testimony of those who came before us.
In his letter, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis in his comments on evangelizing touches on this point.

13. Nor should we see the newness of this mission as entailing a kind of displacement or forgetfulness of the living history which surrounds us and carries us forward. Memory is a dimension of our faith which we might call “deuteronomic”, not unlike the memory of Israel itself. Jesus leaves us the Eucharist as the Church’s daily remembrance of, and deeper sharing in, the event of his Passover (cf. Lk 22:19). The joy of evangelizing always arises from grateful remembrance: it is a grace which we constantly need to implore. The apostles never forgot the moment when Jesus touched their hearts: “It was about four o’clock in the afternoon” (Jn 1:39). Together with Jesus, this remembrance makes present to us “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1), some of whom, as believers, we recall with great joy: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God” (Heb 13:7). Some of them were ordinary people who were close to us and introduced us to the life of faith: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice” (2 Tim 1:5). The believer is essentially “one who remembers”.

Spiritual Growth

The way I like to think of spiritual growth is likening it to a satellite revolving around the earth. Like a satellite revolves around the earth, so do our lives revolve around God. Each revolution of the satellite provides a slightly different view of the earth, a different angle, a different perspective. So too, with our spiritual development as our prayer life and Christian action grows and deepens, and we find additional challenges requiring further purgation, we are awakened to a new and perhaps deeper understanding of and a closer union with God. The important thing is to place God at the center of our spiritual orbit.

To carry the simile a bit further, like a satellite that eventually falls to earth because of the gravitational forces between it and the earth, so too the gravity of God, the Divine gravity, hopefully draws us into union with God.

Our Discontent

Pope Francis on our failure to find joy.

7. Sometimes we are tempted to find excuses and complain, acting as if we could only be happy if a thousand conditions were met. To some extent this is because our “technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender joy”.  I can say that the most beautiful and natural expressions of joy which I have seen in my life were in poor people who had little to hold on to. I also think of the real joy shown by others who, even amid pressing professional obligations, were able to preserve, in detachment and simplicity, a heart full of faith. In their own way, all these instances of joy flow from the infinite love of God, who has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ.

The Essence of the Gospel

What is the message of the Gospel? One of the more eloquent statements of the Gospel I've run across is one by John Russbroec in  The Spiritual Espousals. The following is taken from the prologue:

"See, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him" (Mt. 25:6). These words, written for us by St. Matthew the evangelist were spoken by Christ to his disciples and to all persons in the parable of the virgins. The Bridegroom is Christ and human nature is the bride, whom God created according to his own image and likeness. In the beginning he placed his bride in the noblest and most beautiful, the richest and most luxuriant place on earth, that is, in Paradise. He subordinated all other creatures to her, adorned her with grace, and gave her a commandment so that through obedience to it he might deserve to to be made firm and steadfast with her Bridegroom in eternal faithfulness and so never fall into any adversity or any sin. But then came the evildoer, the enemy from hell, who in his jealousy assumed the form of a cunning serpent and deceived the woman. They both then and deceived the man, in whom human nature existed in its entirety. Thus did the enemy seduce human nature, God's bride, through deceitful counsel. Poor and wretched, she was banished to a strange land and was there captured and oppressed and beset by her enemies in such a way that it seemed that she would never be able to return to her homeland or attain reconciliation.

But when it seemed to God at the right time had come and he took pity on his beloved in her suffering, he sent his only-begotten Son to earth into a magnificent palace and a glorious Temple, that is, into the body of the glorious Virgin Mary. There the son wedded his bride, our nature, and united her with his own person through the purest blood of the noble Virgin. The priest who witnessed the bride’s marriage was the Holy Spirit. The angel Gabriel brought the message. The glorious Virgin gave her consent. Thus did Christ, our faithful Bridegroom, unite our nature with himself. He came to us in a strange land and taught us through a heavenly way of life and with perfect fidelity. He worked and struggled as our champion against our enemies, broke open the bars of our prison, won the struggle, vanquished our death through his own, redeemed us through his blood, freed us through his water in baptism, and made us rich through his sacraments and his gifts, so that, as he says, we might "go out" with all virtues, "meet him" in the palace of glory, and enjoy him forever in eternity.

The Content of Evangelii Gaudium

I will attempt to present some of the salient points Pope Francis conveys in his recent Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. I pray the Lord gives me the perseverance to see this project through.

Following are the broad topics covered in the letter.

The Joy of The Gospel
CHAPTER ONE - THE CHURCH’S MISSIONARY TRANSFORMATION 
CHAPTER TWO - AMID THE CRISIS OF COMMUNAL COMMITMENT
CHAPTER THREE - THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL 
CHAPTER FOUR - THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF EVANGELIZATION 
CHAPTER FIVE - SPIRIT-FILLED EVANGELIZERS

In his opening paragraphs the Pope lays out the purpose of his letter.

1. The joy of The gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who ac- cept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faith- ful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.

3. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.1 The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms.
 ... Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!
10. Consequently, an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow... And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ”. Quote is from Paul VI, Gaudete in Domino

Faith in the Spirit

The following paragraph demonstrates our Pope's optimistic and joyous attitude. Although the quote is an old one it must reflect his personal confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide God's people.

84. ...we can once again listen to the words of Blessed John XXIII on the memorable day of 11 October 1962: “At times we have to listen, much to our regret, to the voices of people who, though burning with zeal, lack a sense of discretion and measure. In this modern age they can see nothing but prevarication and ruin ... We feel that we must disagree with those prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand. In our times, divine Providence is leading us to a new order of human relations which, by human effort and even beyond all expectations, are directed to the fulfilment of God’s superior and inscrutable designs, in which everything, even human setbacks, leads to the greater good of the Church”.

Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium

What a great document! Very readable and filled with thoughts that you may have wished at one time or another that your parish priests might say.

Here's one.

76. ... But in justice, I must say first that the contribution of the Church in today’s world is enormous. The pain and the shame we feel at the sins of some members of the Church, and at our own, must never make us forget how many Christians are giving their lives in love. They help so many people to be healed or to die in peace in makeshift hospitals. They are present to those enslaved by different addictions in the poorest places on earth. They devote themselves to the education of children and young people. They take care of the elderly who have been forgotten by everyone else. They look for ways to communicate values in hostile environments. They are dedicated in many other ways to showing an immense love for humanity inspired by the God who became man. I am grateful for the beautiful example given to me by so many Christians who joyfully sacrifice their lives and their time. 

I've got more. Stay tuned!

Pope Francis - Plain Talk

In the past I have found papal documents to be stiffly written and as a result difficult to read. I'm only in to the first few pages, but, in Evangelii Gaudium I find the text to be easy to read and meaningful to the Christian on the street.

An example:
6. There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certain- ty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slow- ly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is... But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness... It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:17, 21-23, 26). 

More to come ....

It has been a long hiatus that I've taken from this blog. The practicalities of life get in the way of inspiration. The review of my recent reading is my attempt to revive that inspiration. I'm looking forward to providing more input into this blog. I hope you feel inspired to offer your thoughts as well.
Last February I met a couple of friends on Molaka'i.

Scary bird

Streams of Living Water

 I    I've recently read a book by Riichard Foster, Streams of Living Water. This book has been sitting on my shelf unread for quite some time. Once I started reading the book I realized what a mistake it was not to have read it sooner.

It is a wealth of information and inspiration. It describes what the author terms as six great traditions of Christian faith. The six traditions are the contemplative, the holiness, the charismatic, the social justice, the evangelical, and the incarnational traditions. The book devotes a section to each of these traditions. Each section begins with a timeline showing the significant people and movements in the church that have contributed to each tradition. This is followed by stories; portraits of people that provide a living paradigm for each tradition. He describes with significant details an historical, a biblical, and a contemporary model that exemplifies each tradition.

Each section goes on to define the characteristics of each of the traditions followed by a description of the major strengths and the major perils of each. Each section concludes with suggestions as to how to practice each of these traditions.

The book contains two appendices the first describing critical turning points in church history, the second giving brief definitions and descriptions of notable figures and significant movements in church history. Have you had your fill of information?

As for inspiration, his portraits of the people he selects as model are extremely moving. The first section of the book, entitled Imitatio: The Divine Paradigm, shows how Jesus in his lifetime exemplified each of these major streams of spirituality. In the section on the contemplative stream he writes a portrait of John, the Apostle, and his relationship with Jesus. Reading the section evoked in me the feelings that derive from close personal relationships and the sense of loss we experience when death separates us from a close personal friend. In the chapter on the social justice tradition his choice for the biblical paradigm is Amos the Prophet. Foster's description of Amos and the life and times in which he lived and the people among which he prophesied not only inspires but provides a wealth of insights into how Amos’ prophecies can relate to our lives nearly 3000 years later.

  

The author selects many well-known figures in order to describe the spiritual streams; for instance St. Augustine as an evangelical, St. Paul as charismatic, Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a model for holiness, and Dorothy Day exemplifying social justice. But he selects as well some very obscure (at least to me) figures in the history of Christian traditions. He chose a man named Frank Laubach as a contemporary example of living the contemplative tradition. He selects William Joseph Seymour as a model for the charismatic stream. John Wollman, a Quaker, as a model for the social justice tradition, and Susanna Wesley as exemplary of the incarnational tradition.

Just one example of how the author provides ways to practice which struck me as particularly meaningful is found in the chapter on the holiness tradition. Foster outlines three perils of the holiness tradition, legalism, Pelagianism, and perfectionism. He offers the following councils to keep these pitfalls in check. With respect to legalism, its rules and its judgments, replace them with love. In order to counter Pelagianism and its emphasis on salvation through works he prescribes a growing appreciation of God's grace and how it empowers us to right action. And he asks the perfectionist to realize that perfection is attained through growth, and growth is attained by leaving behind past errors and continually striving to become better.

Sign of the Cross, Sign of the Trinity

At St. Theresa's in Eagle, Wisconsin my wife and I heard a simple sermon suggesting a way to think about the Trinity.  The homilist associated the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with the first question and answer in the Baltimore catechism:  "Why did God make me?  To know, love and serve Him so we can be with Him forever in heaven."

The homilist invited us to make the sign of the cross.  "In the name of the Father."  We touch our forehead, seeking to know the Father who loves us, creating us in His image as rational and spiritual beings. "And of the Son."  We touch our heart, seeking to love as God's Son Jesus loved us in becoming a human being. "And of the Holy Spirit."  We touch our shoulders, seeking to serve God and our neighbor in the spirit of the active love between Father and Son.

In this way, our simple sign of the cross invites us to live the meaning of the Trinity, placing all that we are and do on our Triune God's altar of personal and sacrificial love.

Simplicity and Closeness to God

From An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum, p. 86-87:

Slowly but surely I have been soaking Rilke up these last few months:  the man, his work and his life.  And that is probably the only right way with literature, with study, with people or with anything else:  to let it all soak in, to let it mature slowly inside you until it has become part of yourself.  That, too, is a growing process.  Everything is a growing process.  And in between, emotions and sensations that strike you light lightning.  But still the most important thing is the organic process of growing.

To be very unobtrusive, and very insignificant, always striving for more simplicity.  Yes, to become simple and live simply, not only within yourself but also in your everyday dealings.  Don't make ripples all around you, don't try so hard to be interesting, keep your distance, be honest, fight the desire to be thought fascinating by the outside world.  Instead, reach for true simplicity in your inner life and in your surroundings, and also work.  Yes, work.  It doesn't matter at what, I still haven't found solid ground under my feet, but whether it's Russian essays or reading Dostoevsky and Jung or having a tal, all of these can be work.  And have confidence that it will all come together and everything will turn out all right in the end.  That confidence is something I've had for a long time.

Since God is simple, striving for simplicity is striving to become closer to God.  The way of God is growth in simplicity.  Hillesum describes the result of this growth a few pages later in her diary (p. 89):

Something I have been wanting to write down for days, perhaps for weeks, but which a sort of shyness -- or perhaps false shame? -- has prevented me from putting into words.  A desire to kneel down sometimes pulses through my body, or rather it is as if my body has been meant and made for the act of kneeling.  Sometimes, in moments of deep gratitude, kneeling down becomes an overwhelming urge, head deeply bowed, hands before my face.

It has become a gesture embedded in my body, needing to be expressed from time to time.  And I remember: 'The girl who could not kneel', and the rough coconut matting in the bathroom.  When I write these things down, I still feel a little ashamed, as if I were writing about the most intimate of intimate matters.  Much more bashful than if I had to write about my love-life.  But is there indeed anything as intimate as man's relationship to God?

Guarding the "Threshold of Assent"

What does it mean to covet?  To covet is to desire more than you are entitled to in regard to something else. The 10th commandment refers to goods, the 9th to spouses.  To covet my neighbor's spouse is to yearn for a physical or emotional relationship with her that I am not entitled to have with her, not being married to her.

Luckily, we can feel (if we want to) the difference between being attracted to another as a friend and being attracted as a real or potential lover.   To covet is to walk, knowingly or unknowingly, any distance in the company of the latter feeling. Why does anyone?  Because the feeling is so powerful and beguiling.  It can take in even those who are "on the lookout," because the euphoric feeling can masquerade (to those who want it to be true) as "Christian love."

Dante's Divine Comedy sets out a theory of ordered and disordered love that offers an analysis and antidote.  Dante emphasizes that to avoid coveting one must guard one's "threshold of assent."  Purgatorio XVIII.  In other words, we cannot assent to walk through the door and into the chamber of emotional or physical attraction.  To cross that threshold leads to an ambiance of euphoric pleasure, of "falling in love" that can blind the reason to what is going on.  Before too long you are not acting rationally, and you risk unravelling the bond of fidelity in your marriage that belongs exclusively to your spouse.  Of course, the problem is that, like with any incipient addiction, it feels so good you can't (because you don't want to) walk away.

How does one who has crossed that threshold and walked down it any length, help himself?  If the person you covet is virtuous, she can help you by putting a stop to the nonsense.  But if she's caught up in the inordinate desire as well, the risk grows, threatening the ruin of both marriages.

Injecting formality, courtesy and distance into the relationship is a good antidote. Thinking of the person in the context of her own familial relationship is essential.  This isn't about you, or you and her.  It is about spouses and families, relationships much bigger than a solipsistic couple.

If you manage to pull in the reins after you've crossed the threshold of assent, what of your relationship?  Can you put Humpty Dumpty back together again? Hard to know.  Pope Benedict offers some hope.  He believes relationships of love (eros) can be turned into relationships of caring (agape).  There is a natural trajectory in that direction when persons try to embody what true love is:  willing and acting for the true good of the other person.

Moral of the story:  Walk with care near the threshold of assent!

The Mystical Bonds of Charity.

Sunday's second reading (1 Corinthians 12:31 - 13:13) brings home the centrality of love (charity) to all we do in life.  ( . . . if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. . . ."

Since love's ultimate source is God, all "good action" must (whether realized or not by the actor) be connected and directed by God's love.  Since charity/ love is self-less, it is God's grace that enables us to be charitable, to be loving.  This is very basic to Catholic belief.

St. Thomas said, "it is by charity that all the other virtues are directed to [humanity's] final end.  Accordingly, [charity] informs the acts of virtures . . . and is the form of the virtues [forma virtutum] . . ." [S.Th. II-II, 23, 8, c] 

In other words, without actual participation in the very life of the Living God there exists no such thing as moral virtue. Virtues are nothing but embodiments of charity in a particular domain of life.

Quoted from God Encountered, Vol. 2/4 at p. 58, 60, by Frans Jozef van Beeck.

The point of all this is that the love that inhabits and inspires all good acts leads us to our final end, which is union with the God of love. According to van Beeck (who is in turn quoting Jan van Ruusbroec), at the lowest level, the "inner touch of God's love" produces an outwardly perfect moral life "after the manner of Christ and his saints."  This is not a minimal Christian life style at all, but a fulfillment of our natural capacities.  Van Beeck adds:

"But there is more.  At the interior, spiritual ('charismatic') level, charity stirs up theological virtue proper: faith, hope, and love first of all, but then also, 'under the influence of divine grace and other gifts, and of one's own zest for every virtue,' the capability to actively 'follow the example of Christ and of holy Christendom.'

'Finally, at the highest ('mystical') level (which most conforms to every human person's essential attunement to God), the active life finds itself even further transformed.  This is where maturely virtuous people recognize that they must lose even their interest in being good.'

They will act out of delight; in that sense, they will envision in every act of virtue only the honor and praise of God; even further, they will aspire to abandoning themselves to God beyond deliberation, beyond their own selves, indeed beyond everything.  Thus, precisely be living equivalently de-centered lives, they will find their true selves -- immemorial and authentic, and made new and ecstatic.'

And so, a love-centered, love-directed life (in which pure charity is the motivation and end of action) leads out of morality proper to our final end of union with the God who loves.  That union is a mystical in that our desire for love, and our compassion, unites with the God who is love, and who loves us without limit or end.   Ibid., p. 59.