NOTES ON HOW I MUST ABANDON MYSELF TO MOVE TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF MY HUMANITY

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
Do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures –
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
For I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
For you are my Father.

Saint Charles de Foucauld, Former Trappist of N.D. de Neiges, Martyred December 1, 1916

I. REVIEW

Being a Lay Cistercian requires discipline. Discipline is a learned behavior, such as love and being an adopted son or daughter of the Father. Silence and Solitude. Custos oculi. Silent prayer. This session is not about you; it’s about Christ in you.

Learning to Listen with the “ear of the heart.” Contemplative means you focus on the room in which you meet Jesus. (Matthew 6:5)

II. TODAY’S THEME: TECHNIQUES TO PROBE THE DEPTHS OF YOUR SPIRIT

To be a Lay Cistercian, you must continually cultivate the habit of silence and solitude. To be a Lay Cistercian, you must also grow in Christ daily (capacitas dei) and cultivate the habit of prayer to make all things new with new skins (conversio morae).

III. THE DIVINE EQUATION

The Divine Equation does not reveal secret information about God but rather presents the questions and answers that God shares with us about how to become fully human as nature intended (in the Garden of Eden before the Fall).

1. What is the purpose of life? What is the one idea or principle at the center of all existence?

Characteristics:

• You look at all your life experiences,
• visible and invisible reality, and
• Choose one principle you think is the North on your compass,
• If you applied it to everything, an idea or a principle, what would make everything reasonable, even if you did not understand how it all fits together?

What is this one Principle of Existence you choose?

_________________________________________________________

2. What is the purpose of my life within that purpose? What have you selected as your center within that purpose of life? What are some false centers?

• A dual template answers this question:
• You are a citizen of the world (not wrong as much as insufficient)
• You are also a citizen of the kingdom of heaven through adoption.

Characteristics:

• You wake up at whatever time you have in your existence
• You must learn how to live in the world
• You must learn what is good for you from what is bad for you
• You must learn how to love
• You must learn how to love an unseen God

Using the totality of what you have learned, what is the center you choose that allows you to be fully human?

What is your center? __________________________________________

3. What does reality look like? What is the Rule of Threes?

Physical Universe— Begins with a YES as default.

Mental Universe—Begins with a YES; default changes with a NO.

Spiritual Universe –Begins with a YES, but everything is the opposite of the Mental Universe.

THE RULE OF THREES

PHYSICAL UNIVERSE – Base of Matter

MENTAL UNIVERSE—Meaning through Mind

SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE—Intelligent progression

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

4. How does it all fit together?

What did you place as numbers one and two?

REALM OF THE MIND	REALM OF THE HEART
Visible Reality What my masculine side provides.	Visible Reality What my feminine side provides.
I. THE ALPHA WAY AUTHORITY AND FAITH The Christ Principle My adoption by Christ My acceptance of the Holy Spirit Freely offer my will to the Father. Dying to Self	IV. WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE SERVICE AND GOOD WORKS Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy Chapter 4, Rule of St. Benedict Gathering Day Tallahassee Lay Cistercian discernment group Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Lay Cistercian Gathering /Mary and the Saints as Intercessors
The  Christ Principle  Invisible Reality II. THE TRUTH KNOWLEDGE AND FREE WILL The Primacy of Holy Scriptures Writings of the Early Church via New Advent about Scripture Writings of St. Benedict Writings of Cistercian authors YouTube of Bishop Barron and others Catechism of the Catholic Church	Invisible Reality III. THE OMEGA  LIFE LOVE THROUGH CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE Eucharist Reconciliation and Penance Lectio Divina Liturgy of the Hours Contemplative Prayer “Do what he tells you.” Humility and Obedience to the will of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit each day.

5. How to love fiercely? We must learn how to love. We must learn to keep our balance each day by loving others as Christ loved us.

6. You know you are going to die; now what? Mapping forever.

IV. Read Chapter 4 of the Rule of Benedict each day. Look at the Contemplative Practice blog each week: https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org

Outline for a Zoom Day of Reparation using Cistercian practices (as I understand them)

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