THE PENITENTIAL LAY CISTERCIAN

One of the challenges of getting older is replacing work or routine with another one, a contemplative one, in my case. I have taken upon myself the spiritual practices of what I have made for myself as it relates to reparation for my past sins, and praying for those who may be in Purgatory.

My personal schedule for the Lay Cistercian approach has evolved over the past decade. What began as a recitation of the rosary, attending daily Mass, Lectio Divina, and reading from Cistercian authors has evolved into my own writing about my spirituality at each stage. These blogs, over 1000 of them to date, have consumed my attention and become my passion. At 84.10 years of age, my attention span is considerably shorter than it used to be. Each day, I try to be present to Christ through the Holy Spirit, where I am and as I am. I bring up my writing because I want to keep my mind from atrophying.

I have a goal (one which I may or may not reach) to put down as many thoughts as I can on what it means to be a human at the deepest level of my humanity; what it means to love at that next level of my humanity (on the spiritual level); and what truth is.

I formerly thought that one conversion was enough to stay in God’s grace. Now, I realize that it is that very act of faith called conversio morae that I must make in humility and obedience daily. The Lay Cistercian practices, which are Cistercian prayers and practices, are peak moments in my daily conversion, but only serve to allow me again and again to place myself in the presence of Christ and wait for the Holy Spirit to enliven my mind and heart.

THE PENITENTIAL CATHOLIC AND THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION (CONFESSION)

If you choose to make new wineskins to hold the daily wine that comes from consciously placing yours in the presence of Christ and asking the Holy Spirit to overshadow you once again, you are doing what is not popular according to the kingdom of earth but essential to maintaining your Baptismal promises and making all things new.

Christ gave us a way, through the institution of the Catholic Universal Church, to regain our priorities. Starting over is the sign that God recognized that we humans will need to have a source of power to sustain us until the next time we fail. Failure is part of the effects of Original Sin. In Baptism, we are freed to seek help with that next level of our humanity, spirituality. We don’t evolve in our physical and mental universes with just matter and time becoming the norm of evolution. We have evolved from our animality to rationality, having the ability to reason and to choose what is good for us with that reason. We need a source of power that is not human nature to fill us with the energy that can take us and sustain us at that next and highest level of our humanity– the kingdom of heaven on earth until we die and then to reap the reward of being faithful to that gift of energy in the kingdom of heaven in heaven.

In the infinite wisdom of God, God not only set boundaries for us (Ten Commandments and prescriptions of the Law in the OT, and the Rule to Love One another as Christ loved us in the NT), but gave us the means to be present to the only energy that can allow our humanity to grow to its fullness. These are the Seven Sacraments, especially Eucharist and Penance, where the Church facilitates, in each age, in each lifetime, a personal way to receive the grace needed to face the world again and again, until Christ comes in glory.

Both Eucharist and Penance require that I be present to Christ, which can be very inconvenient. It is what Christ instituted through the living Body of Christ to give humans the energy to sustain themselves until they die, and then to live what they learned about the purpose of life. They do not cost money, only a commitment of time and the promise to do better next time.

If children are brought up not knowing how to make all things new each day through penitential prayers such as the Sacrament of Reconciliation, then we just feed the mind, but not the mind and the heart. These two life-giving Sacraments, distributed by the Church, imperfect as it is, must be a part of any strict spirituality of Lay Cistercians or any Baptized individuals.

ACTIO (Actions to take)

• Review the role penance plays in your spiritual life
• Meet with a priest or deacon, or other designated persons from the Church, to talk about how you can regain your footing and find stability in a world prone to wobbles and missed opportunities to move to that deeper level of humanity.
• Penance and Eucharist are life-giving chances to meet Jesus and fill up on grace (the energy of God).
• Penance means I ask for mercy for all my failings and faults (and mortal and venial sins) and ask God for the power to move ahead once more.
• Make a plan for daily or at least weekly Eucharist attendance.
• Make a plan to receive Penance at least two times per year or more frequently if you have committed a mortal sin.

Neither you nor I don’t wants to die and have Jesus ask us why we did not use the gifts He gave us to come through this valley of tears.

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