Private Vows in The Laity/Spirituality

[BarbTherese]

Some may wonder why I chose to make private vows to poverty, chastity and obedience - which are the vows that nuns and religious make most usually - when I am so adamant about a lay vocation to the life of the laity.  The reason the aforementioned nuns and religious make these vows is because it was the example Jesus set and how He lived His Life on earth, and there might have been other reasons too.  If I desire to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, I will adopt a way of life that is poor, chaste and obedient somehow nor is it necessary to make such vows.  One is actually building on one's Baptism and what I have done re obedience is to vow obedience to the rule of life I wrote, and my SD approved.   I did a lot of research, and continue to do so, once I was given a computer quite some years ago now.

With a quick Google (will return for a close read later) just now and a very quick read I came across this which struck me initially anyway as a good text: "Traditional Vows Redefined for the 21st Century" http://ncronline.org/news/sisters-stories/traditional-vows-redefined-21st-century

And in Part 1 of the above, I read this which struck me as absolutely beautiful:

http://www.ncronline.org/news/sisters-stories/evolution-committed-life-21st-century?_ga=1.160227262.263401182.1457230514

And we need to be clear about one thing: Religious life and forms of the committed life have always evolved in the history of the church.

Think about the desert fathers and mothers in early centuries who struggled to develop a type of committed Christian life long before formal religious life took shape.

Consider the early Benedictines, who believed that stability in one monastery was part of a religious commitment.

And then remember the mendicant Franciscans and Dominicans, who rejected stability so they could move about, beg for their needs, mingle with the poor, and preach the word.

Recall the struggles of women religious who sought to get out of the cloister and engage in active ministries with the poor and oppressed in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

Remember the development of secular institutes, and groups like the Grail.

Think about the Catholic Worker Houses where members live simply and nonviolently, serve the poor and work for peace, even risking arrest and jail in their protests.

The evolution of the committed life is nothing new. It's always evolving and it will continue to evolve

                                                          -- if we just "dance with the Spirit!"

(all formatting is mine)

 

[BarbTherese]

Re "walking in the footsteps of Jesus".  This does not mean to live the life Jesus lived.  Rather it is to live all the circumstances and duties of one's life (which are God's Will for us)as Jesus would have lived them.  A very very tall order, I know.  It is an ideal for which one strives and prays and thanks God very humbly for the overwhelmingly gracious and amazing gift of the Sacrament of Penance (Confession or Reconciliation).  

I do like what Thomas Merton said :

http://www.octanecreative.com/merton/quotes.html

“It is useless to try to make peace with ourselves by being pleased with everything we have done. In order to settle down in the quiet of our own being we must learn to be detached from the results of our own activity. We must withdraw ourselves, to some extent, from effects that are beyond our control and be content with the good will and the work that are the quiet expression of our inner life. We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, to work without expecting an immediate reward, to love without an instantaneous satisfaction, and to exist without any special recognition. “ - from No Man is an Island

(Not quite what I was looking for, but I don't want to time out.............timed out nonethless)

With more time to search, this is what I was looking for:

"MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. - from "Thoughts in Solitude"

It needs to be stated I think that in reading Thomas Merton, one needs to use some caution.  Certainly his early works are absolutely inspirational and he was an advisor to Vatican II.  Later in his life he got mixed up with what I think might have been Buddhism and even third wave type of thought.  While not every word he wrote at that stage can be chucked out, it is advisable to read with caution and to have a working knowledge of what The Church teaches and to not take on board anything contrary.  I have also noted that some books published seemingly written by him, if one takes a close look, they are actually written by another or others and stated as based on Merton's thinking.  I never read those books personally.

Here is a long Catholic Answers article "Can You Trust Thomas Merton" http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/can-you-trust-thomas-merton  It does list at the end of the text those works of Merton's that are faithful to what The Church teaches.  There is also a list of those of his works to be read with caution.

 

[BarbTherese]

Woops read the Catholic Culture review https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?recnum=60 on Sr Maureen Fiedler who wrote the article on traditional vows redefined for the 21st century in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR).  Not a good review either and both Sr Maureen and the NCR are best ignored as a dangerous read possibly.  I don't think and I don't hope, however, that the article I quoted contains anything contrary to Catholic Teaching and theology..

Please do jump in if I am wrong!

(I haven't got time just now to have a close read of both Parts 1 and 2 of the article)

[BarbTherese]

I have set up a blog and was surprised to find that it seemed to have been published immediately.  I am totally unsure of what I am doing.  Therefore, if the blog suddenly comes down, it is because of any, some or all of the following

I have no idea what I am doing

I do not feel comfortable with a blog

I am becoming obsessive about the blog

Blogging has become too time consuming for me

 

Blog address: https://bethanyaust.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

[BarbTherese]

Deleted the blog not long after setting it up. 

 

 

[BarbTherese]

Read in another thread about a religious order that has set up a coffee shop. See HERE

Bethany was also A free coffee shop in my previous location. However, home-based is a bit risky.  Thankfully no real crisis ever occurred. Deo Gratius.  What "Bethany" is all about has totally changed (in fact, it is diametrically opposed) to where I am now and that was quite difficult and a real struggle accepting and adjusting....at first.  I moaned to my SD "I live like a hermit, and its not what I 'signed on for' !!!".  He just laughed, which made me a bit cross at first.  Now I understand and can laugh with him......but it took some time to do so, to bring current experience prayerfully (many groans and moans to The Lord) into the context (rule of Bethany) of what I did in fact 'sign on for'.  Thankfully, as they are precious memories, I still have photographs of those teenagers who were constant (most daily) regulars in Bethany at my previous location.

I was always busy and out and about in my previous suburb, the doorbell and phone almost a constant.  Where Bethany is now, it is more quiet than a monastery I think.  There is a difference quite often between the silence in a monastery (where noises of others can sometimes be heard) and the silence of living alone.  Or, I must add, to my experience anyway.

The anecdote depicting how I first came in contact with teenagers in my previous suburb, is quite funny.  I may have related it already.  It all came about because a couple of them scrawled graffiti on my rubbish bin. I went to their 'hangout' and told them all off well and truly.  The next day two teenage girls knocked on my door to apologise (even though it was not their deed) and I asked them in for coffee.  Soon there were many knocks on my door and my extending invites in for coffee.    Not all that long after, it was obvious the old 'hangout' had been exchanged for Bethany.   And that journey involved much fun - and at times awful and unpleasant drama.  There was kindness too with empathy and understanding ............ and also the heartrending.  In the years I was in my previous suburb, the teenagers grew up and moved away from Bethany as their hangout and location.  Now and then they would call by to say hello although now they were adults and we spoke at the front door - to my knowledge all the boys were in jail or had been there, and most all the girls were unwed mothers.  I never had a 'saviour complex' about those teenagers, I just hoped that for a space in time, they could experience a different way and again in hope, maybe that different way would speak to them later in their lives.

I have long been fascinated by St Therese for many reasons.  A prime one is that she did strive to never complain, even to The Lord in prayer.  Wow!  There is a vast and huge difference between petitions for others as well as oneself to God - and moaning and groaning to Him. I'm a moaner and groaner.

My anecdote about the teenagers and Bethany is an example of "merrily planting a seed and not hanging around to see what happens".  Our is to work and pray, The Lord grants increase wherever He May.

Edited March 12, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

Before Vigil Mass last night, I had arranged with Father to go to Confession***.  One of biggest concerns lately has been two people who have caused me much stress due to disputes which have come about through, what are to me, very silly and minor incidents.  Usually, I had been the one to make peace.  After the latest big dispute over nothing and weary of the circle in which I continually found myself (silly incident; major dispute; I make peace), I decided not to be the peacemaker (and got 'the guilts') and break the circle I hoped.  The latest dispute with these two people has resulted in they do not talk to me nor I to them - and me refusing to be peacemaker.  I asked Father in Confession for some advice - one of the things he said which really gave me consolation (and eliminated 'the guilts') was "You don't take an alchoholic to a hotel, do you?".  Sadly, there is very little on which these two people and I can agree. I have asked continually not to raise these subjects, to no avail   I continue to say hello if I pass them on the street - but do not engage in conversation, nor do they.  Certainly I will help them in any way I can if they need it.  I do keep the situation in prayer. Things are as they are now - but most all situations are unfolding and fluid.   I hold nothing against them.  They might seem to rather like disputes; whereas, my problem is that I have opted out of the situation because I just do not have the strength, virtue nor wisdom to know how to handle it in a better and different manner.  I often think on my feet and as I wrote this post it occurred to me that I might be doing what St Mary of The Cross MacKillop (Aussie saint) recommended: "Do what you can and leave the rest to God".  And my "what you can" in the situation is very poor indeed.  I rather often fall far short of any sort of mark - the resulting challenge is not to be discouraged because I seem unable to be what I would like to be..........and even that is unfolding and fluid..............although at 71yrs almost, not too much time ahead possibly for current situations to unfold and retain their fluidity.  

Oh for the virtue of St Therese and her experience with grumpy Sister Peter in the wheelchair!  But then I am not called to be St Therese. 

And about "doing what you can".  I used to be constantly dogged by doubts that I had "done my best".  But I know when I have done what I can (thanks heaps St Mary MacKillop - Aussie).  I love what she wrote to The Holy Father "Your Holiness, it is an Australian who writes............".

Later reflecting on today's Gospel, it seemed to me in The Gospel, that Jesus by writing in the sand and ignoring the clamour around Him for a judgement on the woman in adultery was totally ignoring a situation that was entirely negative.  That was consolation to me too.  I do find something almost funny (prompted by an article I read) in the situation - and if I picture the scene in my imagination: self righteous people around Jesus shouting and yelling and demanding - and Jesus knows they are trying to trap Him and have the authority to do so..........but Jesus ignores the lot of them and beds down and writes in the sand.  Talk about staying cool under pressure!

___________________________

*** Prayers please for my SD who has had a fall, broken his hip and had surgery the next day.  He is currently recovering and it might be quite a long process. Father is my usual Confessor and so until he is back on deck, I will be going to Confession in my parish. 

[BarbTherese]

Keeping track of the number of views of this thread :

Between 5.3.15 and 12.3.16               Average 33 views daily

Over past 24hrs                                  68 views (probably roughly 8 of these views were me returning to the thread for some reason)

 

Edited March 13, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

I have been asked to train up as a sacristan - I am humbled.

My other really good news is that for Holy Thursday (I am having my feet washed) celebration, I can get to the Church by taxi ok, but coming home was a concern as I would have to wait in a lonely sort of spot for a cab and they can be very difficult to get at Easter for one.  The same applied for Saturday Easter Vigil, I could get to Mass ok, coming home was the concern. 

I spoke to a parishioner this morning at Mass and he has very kindly offered to bring me home from both celebrations as he lives not far from me at all.

I am now going to morning Mass every Wednesday (bus).  Holy Week a one off special effort: Tues, Wed and Thur. After Easter I am putting in another day for weekly morning Mass, probably a Tuesday.  I like to sneak up slowly, slowly slowly and step by small step, on my primary and major goals or objectives.  I start off small and once that is 'in the blood', I take another step.

We only have three morning Masses in our parish, although I have heard we have very early Latin Masses on other days.

Deo Gratius

Edited March 16, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

What appears in the quote box below is an extract from a pdf document online from CARMELNET.ONLINE

St Therese of Lisieux is my Confirmation patron saint.  It took me quite a few years before I understood her Little Way - and the fullness of the Little Way is an ongoing journey.  The reason I chose St Therese for my Confirmation is simply because in her images, she was a nun with a Crucifix and flowers..........and the hint of a smile. 

  Reflection on the Little Way grants one perspective, to strive to live it out is an entirely different kind of perspective.  It is a revelation, and revelation it is.  At first it seemed to me the easy way to holiness and being then in my teens, I wanted the big, the grand, the overwhelming, the outstanding for everyone to see.  Getting over that stage was not easy and quite a long journey of years - but once I realised my own weakness and poverty (by being immersed and floundering in it), I understood that I needed something like a Little Way if only God would grant me the Grace to crawl out of my miseries - shift my focus off them -  and allow myself to focus on and be embraced by His Love and Mercy.  I could see with clarity that I could not do this at all - it had to be The Lord and His Grace with nowhere else to turn.

The thing about pride and self focusing is that one has the mental attitude of doing things oneself.  It is in knowing and/or experiencing one's weakness to the full that one knows and experiences just how futile and illusory is the thinking that one can actually do things oneself.  Without God's Grace, His Love and His Mercy, I am totally and absolutely lost in all things.

How do I shift focus from self and on to God - simply by desiring to do so with sincerity, and application, determination - come what may.  For a while it is effort.....further down the line it is not as much effort.......and then further down the line still one realises that it is a fait accompli, it has happened like a flower finally coming to full bloom.  But it has been nothing of one's own work, for the very uptake of sincerity, application and determination was a Grace in the first place.  One sees with clarity and knows it all beyond doubt on a new level never before experienced probably.

 It was an amazing matter to me that the Grace of The Little Way was there for the sincere asking as are the many Graces and Gifts that flow from it...........from that very first sincere step of desiring to shift my focus off myself and on to God with unrelenting trust and confidence and no matter what.  And that "no matter what" is of great importance.  I don't think that one is so much cured of miseries as lifted into the Arms of God's Love and Mercy - and with one's warts and all.......any cure that should eventuate is an act of Divine Providence and that particular path God desires one to follow...........one is formed (formation) for that path by God.  If one speaks openly of God and His Grace in all things, it is because one can now see in a clear dark way (crazy I know!) the reality of life and in life.

Apologies that the quotation below is all on the left hand side margin.  I was unable to alter the format once I had copied it from the pdf document.  The pdf document is not all that long, but I wanted to focus here on the particular section as it appears below:

Human Weakness and God’s Mercy

The starting point of her little way is

the mercy of God. The mercy of God is God’s

love in the presence of hurt and pain. God’s

heart is moved to compassion as when Jesus

saw humans suffer. This is what his Mercy

means. Le bon Dieu, as Thérèse said, is a God

of love and mercy; he is not a God of rigorous,

recriminative justice. God is not obsessed

with our sinfulness, on the lookout for the first

false move on our part. We all say glibly:

God loves each one of us unconditionally.

Thérèse nuances that statement. God’s love is

unconditional, but in order to receive it, we

must be in touch with our weakness.

Otherwise we give God no entree. We have to

know and own our weakness for God’s Mercy

to enter the picture.

 

Thérèse’s sister Celine

said that Thérèse’s spirituality was that of the

Good Thief. The Bad Thief in the story

closed the door on God’s Mercy.

Her little way is about God’s Mercy

and human weakness. We need to be in touch

with both these poles: God’s fullness and our

emptiness. But there is one more piece to the

puzzle; Thérèse called it the centerpiece. It is

confidence and trust. My way, says Thérèse,

is all about confidence and love. We have to

trust God’s Mercy in the face of our

neediness. Trust or surrender into God’s arms

is the bridge that connects divine Mercy and

human inadequacy Our task in life is to

accept God’s love and our own powerlessness,

and in the strength of that love to let God heal

us. Then we can get on with life. Does this

sound familiar? It is the spirituality of the

Twelve Steps.

 

All is grace, Thérèse said. By this she

meant that God’s love, or grace, is

everywhere, in every turn of daily life, in

every life situation. And it is there for the

taking. And secondly, all is grace, because

our success and well-being are ultimately

God’s gift. Our part is to let God’s grace

work in us in all the actions of our lives. In

the end our lives are truly the human face of

God.

The mystery of the gospel is that

God’s love and power flourish best in human

weakness. St Paul puts it bluntly in II

 

Corinthians [12: 9] in the words of Christ:

“My grace is enough for you, for in weakness

power reaches perfection.”

 

We have to

acknowledge our infirmity. We have to own

our weakness, confess our powerlessness.

Then God will come.

This is the good news of Our Lord

Jesus Christ according to Thérèse. It also

happens to be the gospel according to Mark

and Matthew and Luke and John, brought into

clearer light by the genius of this Doctor of The Church.

[BarbTherese]

I used to ponder that quote by St Paul quite often: "Why does God's Power reach perfection only in weakness, in my own human misery and failures for example?"  Then I realised that if God's Love and Mercy only shone forth in good lives, it must shine far more brightly in those lives fraught with failure and human miseries, sinfulness".  It is like if I shine a torch (God's Power) into an area that is already bright (good lives), the torch light does not show its power to grant light much at all, if at all.  But if I shine a torch into a dark place (human miseries, failures and sinfulness), then I can see with clarity just how much light the torch actually has the power to give.......... even in the more and most darkest of any place at all.  In fact, the more dark the place, the more the light of the torch will be evident.

I did have the audacity to realise that God's Love and Mercy, His Power, needs the likes of me to reveal just how absolutely ALL EMBRACING The Love and Mercy, The Power, of our God surely is.  Undoubtedly, The Lord smiles on all out weakness, finiteness and fallibility trying (impossibly) to explain and reach His Infiniteness.

God's every blessing and gift for the coming drama of Holy Week. Palm Sunday begins for me at 6pm tonight (9.59am Saturday 19.3.16 here now).  Happy Solemnity of St Joseph, Spouse of Our Lady today!  St Joseph is patron of The Church.

Edited March 18, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

Last paragraph of the Prayer of St Therese for Humility :

http://www.ecatholic2000.com/therese/sos31.shtml

And yet, dear Lord, Thou knowest my weakness. Each morning I resolve to be humble, and in the evening I recognise that I have often been guilty of pride. The sight of these faults tempts me to discouragement; yet I know that discouragement is itself but a form of pride. I wish, therefore, O my God, to build all my trust upon Thee. As Thou canst do all things, deign to implant in my soul this virtue which I desire, and to obtain it from Thy Infinite Mercy, I will often say to Thee: "Jesus, Meek and Humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine."

I am so happy to have refound her words above, I knew I had read similar somewhere - now I have refound them. For some reason, I have long thought they were the words of St Teresa of Avila...........although both saints have some similarities for sure.

[BarbTherese]

5 hours ago, BarbaraTherese said:

 I don't think that one is so much cured of miseries as lifted into the Arms of God's Love and Mercy - and with one's warts and all.......any cure that should eventuate is an act of Divine Providence and that particular path God desires one to follow....one is formed (formation) for that path by God.

Just wanted to further quote on the above.  By stating that one is in formation for that path intended by God........in the case of a vocation to religious life for example:  God and His Grace grants the desire for religious life. It is He who ensures that one is free from impediments.  It is He who might grant particular abilities, education etc.  It is He who causes one to be attracted to a particular charism and community and then He ensures that the community He intends accepts that person into the first stages of the religious life journey......and then the following stages too.    This applies to all particular and personal vocations and all related various and differing stages.

It is God and His Grace that grants faithfulness to the vocation and call to holiness all along the way whatever that way might be or however it might be...........straight line..........or an up and down type of journey.  The formation for - and journey through -  the vocation to holiness to it's conclusion at death is through God and His Grace alone, His Divine Providence (His Direct and Permissive Will) and in these alone do gratitude and thanksgiving, praise, rightly belong - in Truth and in Justice. 

"All is Grace" (St Therese of Lisieux)

[BarbTherese]

Slowly learning the procedure for preparing the altar etc for Mass during weekdays.  Today I learnt how to fill the cruets and put them on the credence table and generally set up the table .

I also learnt to set up the Lectionary and Roman Missal.

I was able to light all the candles and put the lights on, fans and air conditioners if necessary.

What still has me fuzzy is knowing how many hosts to put out if our school children attend. The children attend Mass according to their rostered classes for each weekday.  Our school is right next door. I love the little homily Father gives for the schoolchildren – beneficial not only for children.

 

There might be other things too still to learn, but I like to internalize what I have learnt before moving on to the new.

 

Humilibus me, Domine.

[BarbTherese]

Getting ready for 3pm Good Friday celebration and chastising myself for not having spent Lent and to date of The Triduum better than I have.  Then it occurred to me that what I should be doing is giving thanks and gratitude for having spent this holy time a bit better than last year.............small steps - perspective and attitude.