Being True Witnesses

“How can we meet the Lord, each time becoming more and more his true witnesses?” the Holy Father asked, explaining that St. Maximus of Turin affirmed, “whosoever wishes to reach the Savior must first put themselves, in their very faith, at the right hand of the divinity, and place themselves in heaven with the belief of their hearts”. This is constantly learning to direct the mind’s and the heart’s gaze toward the heights of God where the risen Christ is. In prayer and in adoration God encounters the human being … Only if we know how to direct ourselves toward Him and pray to Him can we discover the deepest meaning of our lives and our daily path will be illuminated with the light of the Risen One”.
–Pope Benedict XVI, Regina Coeli, Easter 2011

St. Teresa of Avila: Transverberation

In chapter 29, inThe Life of St. Teresa of Avila, we read the following description of St. Teresa’s mystical ecstasy, also known as “transverberation”. In this description we hear St. Teresa narrate her mystical experience, in which she was spiritually consumed by God’s love:

“In his hands I saw a long golden spear
and at the end of the iron tip
I seemed to see a point of fire.
With this he seemed to pierce my heart several times
so that it penetrated to my entrails.
When he drew it out,
I thought he was drawing them out with it
and he left me completely afire with a great love for God.
The pain was so sharp
that it made me utter several moans;
and so excessive was the sweetness
caused me by this intense pain
that one can never wish to lose it,
nor will one’s soul be content
with anything less than God.
It is not bodily pain, but spiritual,
though the body has a share in it–indeed, a great share.
So sweet are the colloquies of love
which pass between the soul and God
that if anyone thinks I am lying I beseech God,
in His goodness, to give him the same experience.”

Blessed are the poor in spirit…

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? I had a student who once told me that this passage meant God didn’t want us to like ourselves too much. In the Gospel of Matthew, that section in chapter 5 typically known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says “Blessed are they who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3). Being called to the vocation of priesthood or consecrated life requires poverty in spirit. But what exactly does that mean?

First, poverty in spirit is not self-pity or self-loathing. To be poor in spirit reflects back to the Old Testament notion of the “anawim” the little ones. God takes pity on Israel as His anawim, his little ones whom he loves. Israel’s poverty is also its greatest treasure, since relying on God for everything also means that God provides for all their needs. Poverty in spirit is this fundamental recognition that everything comes from God, therefore, the one who recognizes their life as a gift given by God already begins to live the blessedness of the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

What a liberating freedom to know that we belong to the Lord, despite our inadequacies, imperfections and defects! He chooses us! A vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life requires a special dependence on God. This form of spiritual poverty allows the one discerning a vocation to have the space and freedom they need to follow the Lord wherever He may lead.

Jesus said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3). Blessed are we who trust in Him and follow Him where ever he may lead us!

Discernment- Like a pair of old boots

There was a romantic comedy film I watched a while back in which the male protagonist said to the female protagonist “you and I belong together like a pair of old boots.” In a sense, a vocation can be seen as the right paring off of the one who is called and the vocation they are called to live out to follow.

We don’t always know how the Lord is calling us to server Him, but what we are always discerning is how a vocation “fits” our particular life. Discernment is not about an ideal situation we want to live in, rather it concerns our life, seen with honesty and humility.

If we are called to the priesthood or the consecrated life, God usually provides some type of moment in which we find these lifestyles desirable, even if we had never found them attractive up until that moment. Some people feel very gravitated to the call to serve the Lord and follow Him immediately, like St. Matthew did (Mt. 9,9). For others, it is a slow process of recognition and prayerful reflection, along with insightful conversations with a priest, sister, brother, deacon or other consecrated person.

The Lord’s plan for us is perfect, so let’s prayerfully and actively search for the right “fit” for our lives so that one day we can say that “our vocations and us belong together like an old pair of boots.”

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

In the past three to four hundred years, many Spiritual Directors have entrusted those discerning a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion, which is composed of eucharistic adoration, reparation and consecration, has led many closer to the Lord (regardless of where their discernment has led them).

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has always been a foundational part of Catholic spirituality and devotion, as far as this particular devotion is understood to be based on Divine Revelation’s message that God is love and in the mystery of the incarnation God has loved us with a human heart (Gaudium et Spes #22). As Pope Benedict XVI stated, concerning the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: “Moreover, not only does this mystery of God’s love for us constitute the content of the worship of and devotion to the Heart of Jesus, but in the same way it is likewise the content of all true spirituality and Christian devotion. It is consequently important to stress that the basis of the devotion is as old as Christianity itself.” (Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Encyclical Haurietis Aquas)

To adore the Lord through this venerable image of his wounded and fiery heart calling us to communion with Him is a gateway to discern how exactly the Lord wants us to serve Him. Discernment requires a true “trust” in the one we are discerning with, namely the Lord. He must have free reign in our hearts and lives in order to lead us, without bypassing our freedom. Discernment is an act of freedom to transcend one’s circumstances, limitations and inadequacies to follow the Lord wherever He may lead us. Let us commend ourselves to the Heart of Jesus, whose wounded heart calls us to trust in the abundance of His sacrificial love. “It was only the experience that God first gave us his love that has enabled us to respond to his commandment of love” (cf. Deus Caritas Est, # 17).

We’ll close with the words of Pope Pius XII:

“Consequently, it is clear that the revelations made to St. Margaret Mary brought nothing new into Catholic doctrine. Their importance lay in this that Christ Our Lord, exposing His Sacred Heart, wished in a quite extraordinary way to invite the minds of men to a contemplation of, and a devotion to, the mystery of God’s merciful love for the human race. In this special manifestation Christ pointed to His Heart, with definite and repeated words, as the symbol by which men should be attracted to a knowledge and recognition of His love; and at the same time He established it as a sign or pledge of mercy and grace for the needs of the Church of our times.”
(Encyclical Haurietis Aquas by Pope Pius XII, #97)

Giving Witness

Today the Latin Church celebrates the feast day of Sts. Timothy and Titus, two early Christian bishops and martyrs, companions of St. Paul the apostle. Martyrdom was seen as the witnessing par excellence to God’s merciful self-revelation in Christ. To give one’s life for the gospel was a way to plant the seed of faith in many others who were moved by such conviction.

When the Roman persecutions ceased, Christians began to view consecrated virginity and monasticism as a form of “dry martyrdom” (without the shedding of blood). Today, the Lord still calls us to consider the special vocation to give witness to His merciful love and to edify people’s faith that God is alive in our world, yet has prepared a Kingdom that is not fully visible in this world. This witnessing is seen in anticipation of the full establishment of God’s Kingdom through consecrated virginity. The consecrated life acts as a visible sign and witness that though we live in this world, our riches are not of the world, rather we sell all that we have to buy that field were our precious treasure is hidden (Matthew 13:44).

May the Lord move us with zeal and love for His Kingdom, as he moved Timothy and Titus to give their life in witness to this God who promises the abundance of life. God’s blessings be upon you!

Courage

When I think of someone who responded to God’s call in their life with courage I think of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is not always easy to follow the Lord in the path toward a vocation to the priesthood or the consecrated life, especially as many among our own families and friends look down upon this vocation. In fact, the Lord allows us to endure misunderstanding and at times even tension in our own family life in order to prepare us to a closer walk with Him and the universal family that is the Church. These trials are only part of the journey, but they call for the virtue of courage in enduring them with love.

St. Thomas’ family was of low nobility (his father a Count and his mother a Countess) and had great ambitions for young Thomas. He was given an excellent education by the Benedictine Monks of Monte Cassino, were his parents thought he would one day hold an important position. When Thomas expressed his desire to join the newly founded Order of Preachers (the Dominicans), his family immediately said “no”. The Dominicans, along with the Franciscans, were a mendicant order and did not meet the circle of influence his family wanted Thomas to be associated with. After being held prisoner in his own house for two years, he courageously persevered in his vocation, even as a prostitute was brought in to seduce him, and was finally snuck out of his prison by his brothers.

We recognize that family and friends don’t always understand what God might be calling us to, but like St. Thomas we must confront our call with courage. It takes a lot to say “yes” to God and to meet one’s challenges face on. St. Thomas understood that to follow Christ one must at times be willing to even be misunderstood by one’s own family. Courage to go against someone else’s values and against what they think will make us happy is not easy, especially when those others are our own family, friends, co-workers, etc. Let us pray for the courage to follow Christ who promises the fulfillment and peace the world cannot give us!

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Christmas Symbols and Discerning a Vocation

There are several Christmas symbols that go unnoticed during the entire Christmas season, yet they are all pointing to the meaning of Christmas, namely “joy to the world, the Lord has come” (borrowing a line from Handel’s Messiah). Why are these symbols important? Because as human beings we need symbols and signs to guide us throughout the course of our lives. The freshness of the pine smell in an everlast Christmas tree really represents the freshness of God’s love with the coming of Christ. The fact that an everlast tree is always in season reminds us that God’s love is always in season, because his love and fidelity endure forever (Psalm 136). There are many more Christmas symbols that could be mentioned, but the main point is to remember that the season’s Christmas symbols point to Christ’s coming into the world. Christmas symbols point to Christ and his coming, and they really help us experience the joy of the season through palpable objects we can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. In a sense, when an everlast tree is used as a Christmas tree, it acquires a religious identity just by the fact it is an everlast tree.

Answering the call to the priesthood or the consecrated life also points others to Christ, who see in a real and palpable way that God is alive in the world through the lives of service to God and neighbor that a vocation to the priesthood or the religious life entail. Like the Christmas Tree, a vocation to the priesthood and the religious life shows God’s love still acting in our favor in our world. Does God call you to be a symbol of His love through the particular vocation of to the priesthood or the consecrated life? Next time you see a Christmas Tree or any Christmas ornament, consider answering to the call.

Where Do Sisters Come From?

Well, just as Elizabeth Ficocelli found a beautiful way to explain and illustrate the priesthood to young boys (see our blog post below), she has found a joyful and delightful way to help young girls understand the love of every religious sister to serve God and his people. Where Do Sisters Come From? would be a wonderful Christmas gift or catechetical resource for young girls. It is a beautifully illustrated book that can open the hearts of young girls to dream of God’s will for their life. Enjoy!