TEN OBSERVATIONS ABOUT CATHOLICISM FOR THOSE NEW TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE (7 of 10) 

Some time ago (I used to remember when), I struck up a conversation with a young lady while getting a Starbucks Grande. I asked her what her religion was, because she had on a Notre Dame jacket. She replied to me, “I don’t belong to any organized religion,” smiling that grin that comes from one who thinks they have the ultimate freedom of life. I said, “Oh, that’s interesting, then you must belong to one of the unorganized ones.” That look that was on her face was one of sheer bewilderment.

This story reminds me of an observation about Lay Cistercian spirituality that still guides how I look at my physical, mental life of meaning, and finally, my spiritual life that always puts everything else into order.

IN THE CHAOS OF HUMAN LIVING, I MUST ORGANIZE MY LIFE USING THE BEST SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES THAT WILL LEAD ME TO BECOME MORE HUMAN.

An organized life that is orderly and predictable is not the one in which I live. Even as a strict Catholic who uses Cistercian practices and charisms to stop the merry-go-round of daily living, I seek a place where change is not the default. Like so many other of Christ’s precepts, the Rule of Opposites is fast at work, even in my unconsciousness, like the human autonomic system of my physical self. The Rule of Opposites, as I define it, is the hypothesis that once Baptized in water and the Spirit, I must see things as the opposite of what I experience only in the physical and mental universes. Although not familiar with all of its nuances, this Rule of Opposites is normative in the kingdom of heaven (on earth while I live) and later on as a more permanent reality.

Again, the notion of a dual citizenship emerges, one which has a double meaning to many words (spirit and Spirit, peace and Peace). My spiritual compass is geared to navigate life using these two realities, but more importantly, how to sustain my humanity and make sense out of what I see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. I so this through the organized traditions and spirituality of the Catholic Church, as I know it, plus the added dimension of Cistercian (Benedictine) practices and charisms (humility and obedience to God’s teachings and examples). From the chaos of my personal attempts to find out how all reality fits together in some systematic (organized) way, the Church and The Cistercian Way gives me the blueprint on how to interpret what Christ came to teach all of us on how to love, so powerfully, so fiercely, that it provides order or organized discipline to counter the opposite that the world trys to sell.

All this is the theoretical basis for my practical application of being organized. Consistency and Repetitiveness are not the enemies of change but actually allow me to find a North on my Compass and the energy to keep it centered through my daily routine. Do you notice the Rule of Opposites in that statement? That Jesus would be God beyond human knowing and loving, and yet would accept being the ransom for many, is the ultimate paradox for me, even more so than the enigma of the proof of God’s existence.

Religion seeks to organize chaos as it manifests itself in the complexities of living a life without a set of principles against which we can measure progress. The world offers chaos as a result, couched in the cotton candy of false truth. Only the Church can offer an answer to the questions of the purpose of life, my purpose of life, what reality looks like, how it all fits together, how to love fiercely, and finally, knowing that we will die, now what? The Catholic Church, among all religious belief systems, uses the way, the truth, and the life that leads to order in the chaos of everyday living, although other religions may have a percentage of the truth.

HOW I ORGANIZE MY CATHOLIC AND CISTERCIAN SPIRITUALITY IN REAL TIME

I met a man, quite similar in appearance and temperament to me, who keeps trying to pray as much as possible in the hopes of becoming more like Christ and less like himself. The more he prays, he thought, the holier he would become and thus the closer he would become to his center (Philippians 2:5). In trying to use the World as a measuring stick for holiness (quantity equals quality), he overlooked the dimension of the heart. The mind is good at measuring quantity, while the heart looks for quality. It is not how much you pray but how much your heart can make room (capacitas dei) for Christ. He was seduced into thinking that prayer was all verbal and must be done in Church, while actually that is an important part of the contemplative life for a Lay Cistercian, but there is always more. Formal prayers are not the end in themselves but only ways to be present to Christ, only the beginning of the process. This happens from the beginning of each day, which is why the Morning Offering prayer is so important. Prayer is not what you do as much as lifting the heart and mind to God, wherever and however you seek God daily.

One of the ways to approach the Sacred is to follow a daily routine. Some people call it a habit. Do this every day for 30 days. If you are unable to do so, you might want to consider whether your spirituality needs to go to the gym.  What follows is my exercise to move from self to God.

DAILY PRACTICES

Place this aide on your mirror. When you wake up in the morning, offer everything you do today as glory to the Father and for the grace to do God’s will, through Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Monday: In reparation for my sins and those of the Church, those on my prayer list

Tuesday: For all family, friends, teachers, classmates from St. Meinrad Seminary, those on my prayer list

Wednesday: In honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, and St. Joseph, those on my prayer list

Thursday: For all Lay Cistercians, Monks of Holy Spirit Monastery, Monks of St.Meinrad Archabbey, priests and religious of Diocese of Evansville, Monks of Norcia, Italy, and  those on my prayer list

Friday: For an increase in grace to love God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and my neighbor as myself.

Saturday: For all deceased, an increase in my faith through the Holy Spirit, and for those on my prayer list.

Sunday: To give praise, honor, and glory to the Father through the Son through the Holy Spirit, the God who is, was, and is to come at the end of the ages

FIDELITY TO THE LIFE OF ONE WHO IS SIGNED WITH THE SIGN OF FAITH

In my life, I must have a schedule to follow. I refuse to be used by a schedule (feeling that I have sinned if I don’t adhere to it perfectly) but would rather use it to help me seek God where I am and as I am, each day. I share with you my daily practices. I must emphasize the word “daily”. It is such a simple word, but it has crushed me more times than I would like to admit. These habits are what I do daily, and I do not wish to impose them on you. You may wish to try some of them or none of them. If you do try them, do them daily, and feel the struggle that it takes to be worthy of being an adopted son or daughter of the Father.

 EACH DAY, READ CHAPTER 4 OF THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT. NO EXCEPTIONS! — the Rule contains practices offered to his monks by St. Benedict (c. 540 AD). Most of the chapters contain practical guides on how to organize the daily lives of monks of his time.  If you go to this site, you will find a wealth of information about St. Benedict and also a tutorial from the Abbott on the meaning of each chapter of the Holy Rule. The key here is asking God to become what you are reading. https://christdesert.org/prayer/rule-of-st-benedict Here are some of the Chapters of the Holy Rule that I use to take up my cross daily and follow Christ.

• Prologue
• Chapter 4 Tools for Good Works
• Chapter 5 Obedience
• Chapter 7 Obedience
• Chapter 19 The Discipline of Psalmody
• Chapter 20 Reverence in Prayer

I read and try to practice these Chapters as one who is a professed Lay Cistercian of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit (Trappist) in Georgia, always mindful of the lifetime promises I made to Christ through the Abbott, Dom Augustine, O.C.S.O. I am not a monk living in a monastery. My monastery is the limits of the World in which I seek to find meaning. I am challenged to adapt the Rule to help me seek God daily where I am and as I am. Some days are better than others. I have discovered that it is the time I take trying to calm myself down to present myself to God properly, which is also a prayer.

EACH DAY, RECITE THE OFFICE OF READINGS, THE MORNING PRAYER, AND THE EVENING PRAYER. These prayers are prayers of the Church Universal. Somewhere in the world, the faithful are reciting these prayers in praise of the Father through the Son in union with the Holy Spirit. They are public prayers of reparation for the sins and shortcomings of the Church and all members. It is praise and thanksgiving to the Father for considering us as adopted sons and daughters. Since before c 540 (St. Benedict), holy men and women have been praying these prayers seven times a day, 365 days a year, continuous prayer for all of us to the Father that He grant us mercy, sinners all. These Hours are not limited to “just Catholics”.  There is no such thing as Catholic prayers. Our Catholic heritage contains prayers that have been part of our tradition for twenty centuries. Anyone can pray these prayers because we don’t pray to the Catholic Church or any Church. Prayer is our communication with Christ, mind to mind, heart to heart, and also to love others as Christ loves us. No one can say that Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit. Ecumenical groups also pray the Liturgy of the Hours together and are linked together by the Universal Prayer of the Church.

Watch the example of one of the Hours from Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery (Trappist), in Georgia.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbE92dFGG50  What did you notice about this prayer? I was struck by how slow the monks sang hymns and prayed the Psalms. It was like walking in honey. 

EACH DAY, READ OR LISTEN TO SACRED SCRIPTURE — Some people read the Scripture to prove they are better than anyone else. How far away are they from the Kingdom of Heaven? St. John writes about why we have the Scriptures in John 20:30-31 when he says: “Conclusion.^*30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book.^s31But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.”^t

The biblical quotation is from a website you should bookmark under CATHOLIC UNIVERSAL. It is the website of the Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20. 

EACH DAY, IN FACT, SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, DO LECTIO DIVINA.– When I first began doing Lectio Divina in June of 1963, I was very scrupulous to follow Guigo II’s Ladder of Contemplation. As I approach the end of my life on earth, I am much more forgiving of following the steps of Guigo II.  I pray Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) without realizing that there are steps.  Even seven years ago, when I first became interested in applying to be a Lay Cistercian, I found myself having one long session of Lectio. Now, my Lectio sessions total one, sometimes two hours per day, but I spread that out over three or four shorter sessions. My daily schedule is flexible, yet strict enough that I pray at least once a day at 2:30 a.m. (twenty minutes), then do my Lectio Divina at my computer at 6:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m., after Compline.   

If you are looking for a challenging read, open this URL. http://www.umilta.net/ladder.html

The Steps for Lectio Divina: Spiritual Reading (source unknown)
Step 1. Lectio (lex-ee-oh), “Reading”
Read the Scripture passage. Try reading it out loud. Try reading it several times. Let the words sink in deeply. Open your mind and heart to the meaning of the words.
Step 2. Meditatio (med-it-tots-ee-oh), “Meditation”
Reflect on the Scripture passage. Think deep thoughts. Ask yourself questions such as the following:
 What does this passage say to me?
 Who am I in this passage?
 What do I see? What do I hear?
 What do I think?
 Which character do I most relate to?
 What do I most need to learn from this?
Try taking notes on your answers to the questions. Try journaling about the insights gained with meditation.
Step 3. Oratio (or-o-t-see-ah), “Prayer”
Move into the heart of the matter. Feel deep feelings. Consider the following questions as you respond to God:
 What do I want to communicate to God?
 What am I longing for in my relationship with God?
What do I desire in my prayer life?
 What secrets of my heart are ready to be expressed? Is there joy? Grief? Fear? Gratitude?
Express your intimate self to God in your own personal way.
Step 4. Contemplatio (con-tem-plot-see-oh), “Contemplation”
Simply rest in the presence of God. Be passive and just enjoy God. Settle into the tenderness of God’s love.

(Variation) Step 4/ Additional Step 5. Actio (ax-ee-oh); “Action”
Ask yourself the following questions in utter honesty:
 How is God challenging me?
 Is there a good thing God is calling me to do?
 Is there a harmful thing God wants me to stop doing?
 What is the next step I need to take?

At the age of 84.11 and counting, I must decide on a schedule that is practical for my situation in life. I look at these practices as intense and profound snatches of time in a day fully consecrated to having in me the mind of Christ Jesus ( Philippians 2:5-12). Whatever comes my way, I have that Catholic mindset, of truth that Cistercian way, which leads to a life as adopted son (daughter) of the Father.

I try for consistency and constancy in my prayer life, although I rarely get to 100%.

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