The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
THE SIXTY SECOND CATHOLIC: HOW TO UNLOCK THE MYSTERY OF FAITH
A common misconception about Faith is that it is unknowable. It is, if all we use is human knowledge. There is a caveat, we can only approach it and what we do know we know because Jesus came to show us the puzzle. and give us the key to open it. We must put the key in the lock and turn it ourselves to receive its treasure.
In my Lectio Divina (Phil. 2:5) today, I thought of how I always have seen knowledge as the end of the process, when actually, it is the beginning of the process. Here are my thoughts, short, sweet, and succinct.
- If the Mystery of Faith were to be contained in a box (like the box of Pandora), it needs someone to open it to approach the treasures inside.
- The mind is the lock which we must open. It takes knowing how to open the box, and what to do once we get it opened.
- Faith informed by reason is the key to open the lock of our mind.
- The treasures of the box are not gold and silver but the heart of Christ, pure love, pure knowledge, pure service.
- As adopted sons and daughters of the Father, He sent his Son, Jesus, to show us the key and to help us open the Box.
- The Holy Spirit is the treasure, allowing us to approach Christ without burning up our human minds.
- Christ made it possible for us to love in a way that the World could never do, by showing us the sign of contradiction, by sharing with us the gift of Faith, by giving us responsibility to hand this on to the next generation, by actually making Christ present to us body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist and for our contemplation, the Blessed Sacrament, the Liturgy of the Hours, and for forgiveness and making all things new, the Sacrament of Penance.
- All of our gifts are not because of anything we did or can do by ourselves, but because Christ loved us.
- His only command was: love others as I have loved you.
ACTIO
Read Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict every day.
- http://www.osb.org/the-medal-of-saint-benedict/
- http://www.solesmes.com/sites/default/files/upload/pdf/rule_of_st_benedict.pdf
FIVE LEVELS OF SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
- Hear and read the Word
- Pray the Word
- Share the Word
- Be the Word
- Enjoy the Word
Praise be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. The God who is, who was, and who is to come at the end of the ages. Amen and Amen. –-Cistercian doxology
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