Insights to Spirituality

Contents

Preface

Introduction

God Is Everything

Life As Gift

Grateful To God

What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

Obstacles To God

Do You See Him?

God Is Calling

An Attitude Of Gratitude

Choosing His Presence

Practicing The Presence Of God

Finding God In Our Lives

Let Me Only Know Your Will

In His Presence

Prefer Nothing To Christ

Look Beyond

It Takes Time To Become An Apostle

Symphony Of The Soul

The Newness Of God

The Master Needs It

In Pursuit Of God

Total Love For God

Focus On Priesthood

Now Is The Time

Are You Thirsty?

The Now Moment

Beneficiary Status

Questions

Jesus Be My Savior

Love Is Our Response

Love Of The Eucharist

Loving For Life

Set Your Heart On The Kingdom

Dream A Little

Awareness

Martyrdom For Today

Who Am I Lord?

The Mystery Of Non-Public Ministry

How Green Was My Valley

Love Doesn’t Die

Christ, Our Daily Bread

Prayer, Our Encounter

With God

Finding Precious Gems

How Do We Pray?

Growth Stages In Prayer

For Whom Should I Pray?

Sacred Places

Silence And Its Rewards

Lectio Divina

The True Self

Interior Growth

Living Today With The Lord

Kairos Time

Praying The Rosary

An Examination Of Today

His Grace Is Enough

Fidelity To God

Overcoming Seduction

His Invitation

Seeing Christ

Feeling The Spirit’s Presence

My Neighbor—Saints

In Our Midst

My Neighbor

Everything Counts

The Price Of Giving

Daily Almsgiving

Impediments To Being Ordinary

Of Soup

Truth Has No Compromise

The Whole Picture

Missionaries For America

How Do We Use Our Gifts?

Joy

The Things We Do For Others

Have You Met Jesus?

Personal Spirituality

Peace And Spirituality-Personal

The Seed Is The Word Of God

All About Gratitude

Discernment

Spiritual Self Direction

Perfection

Can You Drink The Cup?

We Are All Evangelists

Humility

Anticipation

Leadership

Friendly Persuasion

Are We Christians Ordinary People?

Do You Have A Good Life?

New Beginnings

Christmas Love

Reconciliation From The Heart

Compassion Rather Than Killing

Where Are The Idols?

Remembering Your First Communion

Communal Spirituality

A Committed Life

Carpe Diem!

The Archetypal Priest

Experiencing God Daily

Not Guilty

Dreams

Transitions

An Example For Advent

Incarnational People

Living In The Present

Reverencing The Word Of God

Living The Gospels

New Life In Christ

Peace From Conflict

What About Commitment

We Are Like Stained Glass

The School Of Perfection

Christian Risk Taking

Missionary People Are Special

Half Empty, Half Full

Be Not Afraid

Faith-Filled Practices—Ways To Encounter God

Why Go To Church

Celebration Of All Souls

Bereavement

The Arimatheans

Retreat, De Mello Style

Seeing Through The Eyes Of Jesus

A Person For Others

The Virtue Of Obedience

Small Faith Communities

Blessings And Thanksgiving

The Green Scapular

Abortion

The Enneagram

The St. Vincent De Paul Society

Bibliography

To my wife, Tommie, the love of my life,

      For encouragement and support.

Preface

Being a cradle Catholic has filled my life with a large number of concepts, definitions, prayers, teachings, practices, beliefs and ways of living, for which I am grateful. In absorbing the information given by teachers, from books, from others and from all the rigor of Catholic education, we take much for granted from these experiences. It is only later in our adult life that we begin to question and analyze some of our experiences of learning, for the sake of learning more deeply how all of this exposure to Catholic teachings can be understood and used in our journey with Christ and our neighbor. One such concept, is that of spirituality, which began to occupy my interest early in life, prompting me to dig into what constitutes living a spiritual life. The idea of health of body, mind and spirit as essential to growth and good living seemed easy to understand about the mind and body part, but the way to lead a spiritual life was something that seemed vague and perhaps, understood only by those religious orders or priestly ministers in the church. Further reading about the lives of saints and the ways in which people form spiritually, provided increased clarity that spirituality can be particular to each person’s life, and is essential to becoming a saint.

This gave rise to the distinct number of subjects that comprise the spiritual life journey, and the relationship among these subjects, that would provide a base for a spiritual life for an ordinary person. There are numerous books and written documents on spiritual life, and the authors of these are long on the journey with God. It seemed that a consolidation of the elements of a spiritual life and the place they must have in our lives would be helpful to others, as it was helpful to me. For this reason, I have chosen a number of subjects that may help others to dig further in living life in concert with what will please our Lord. I have attempted in this book to provide information on those topics which seemed to be useful in beginning one’s own spiritual formation. They have been assembled for easy reading and learning about different ways to carry out the will of God for his glory.

Introduction

We live in a society where tensions between the flesh and the spirit continue to exist. There is a battle between what we recognize as what God wants and what the world wants. This reveals to us our human weakness, as we are only strong when we live in God’s way. The drifting between good and evil in us is due to our lack of recognition of the presence of Christ in our lives, and particularly at Mass. Our human weaknesses are a consequence of original sin, but Christ gives strength to our living as we seek to align our lives with his. It is from these difficulties we experience that we who want to live with Christ on this earth seek a framework in which to live that is derived from the commandments, and we recognize this framework as what we call spirituality. We yearn for the spiritual aspects of life that will enable us to follow in his footsteps. But, how do we acquire a spiritual life? What is spirituality and how do we recognize it? The purpose of this book is to present the essential aspects of spirituality that would identify and describe ways that relate to an ordinary spiritual life, seeking to become spiritual for the glory of God first.

Spirituality is a complex collection of ways in which we live. It is complex as it addresses a vast number of parts of our life whose description is made up of many seemingly unrelated occasions. It is a collection of those ways we live from experience and we choose to make a part of our lives. There is no spiritual handbook that has been developed, but there have been many articles and books written about the spiritual life from the saints to those you meet each day on your pilgrimage through the time God has given each of us. Rolheiser, in his earthly view, has described spirituality as the way we live our lives, giving us a rather broad definition as well as pointing out that each of us lives our own spiritual life. Our spiritual lives grow and change as we gain more experience, and are influenced by the many factors that confront us, those that are attractive to us, those that we make a part of us, and those that shape us as grace from God. The objective of our spiritual lives is to live as God wishes to see us live. He has created us for himself and it is our obligation to seek his will at all times, which is the foundation of our seeking a spiritual life, one that we live with him each day.

How can we describe the complexity of our spiritual life and what we do with it? Our relationship with God is the story of our spirituality, the everyday actions we take to do what is pleasing to him and which gives him glory. So, God is the beginning and reason for our spirituality, our quest to live his will each day. We recognize God through the virtues of faith, hope and charity, for in Scripture he has told us that he is always with us until the end of time, he has promised us eternal life to give us hope, and his constant love for us, even though we are not deserving of it, are visible signs of what he desires of our relationship with him. Our response is faith in all that he has revealed to us, hope in what we seek for our life with him, and charity for responding to him in love.

There are other parts of life that are needed for a spiritual journey. Certainly, love must exist between God and us as the glue that unites the faithful with him and with one another. There are many ways to love, but the most central is giving of ourselves in his service. We were told early in life that we must know, love and serve God in this world in order to be welcomed by him in the new world. We must be aware of whom we love and identify as our God, avoiding all idols which could be an impediment to the experience of love with God, an experience of happiness and freedom which only he can give. This love gives rise to prayer to which God calls us continually in our relationship.

How do we show our love for God except through prayer, both personal and communal. Our prayers are directed to him in the quiet of our lives, where we listen for his response. Prayer in common, particularly at Mass, offers the highest form of prayer which we live. Professed religious people spend their lives in a routine of prayer and work, such as we observe in the lives of monks and religious people who have committed their lives to living as an ordinary person for God’s purposes. Ask any married person how their marriage would be if they were not loving each other and growing in their love in imitation of God’s love for us. DeMello has shown us that awareness of God and our neighbor is fundamental to a spiritual life.

We recognize that our neighbor is involved in our spiritual life, as God has given us the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. Our quest to love our neighbor has many turns in the road as we continue our lives with many we know, as well as new neighbors. Certainly, we are able to love some neighbors more easily than others, and we meet some for short times, from which we are changed in some way. There are always saints within our lives that we live with and those we recognize from a distance as saintly. Sometimes it is easy to recognize people who are examples of saintly behavior. Two examples are in our church community: (1) a wife gave herself to care for her husband as his caregiver through his many years of illness before death, married for better or worse, in sickness and health; (2) a man who involved himself with service to the poor and those in ill health who showed by his humble, reliable service that he was a saint among us. Christ works through our neighbors to bring us to become a saint. We form our spiritual life to serve the saints among us, our neighbors.

The relationships we have call us to develop both a personal and communal spirituality as there are our quiet times we live personally and those we live with our neighbor, each of which is seen through a different lens. Our personal spirituality is developed by each person through individual practices, such as prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and other acts that are dedicated to our Lord. It is a personal effort to follow his Will so that his Will is our will. Our journey through life is filled with opportunities to increase our spiritual life, seeking direction and discernment through prayer. We make our prayers asking God to guide, strengthen, console and direct our every choice while accepting all that he desires of us. Our resolve to become more spiritual in our actions is also helped through religious practices, such as attendance at daily Mass, spending time with the Lord on quiet retreats, ministering to those in need, participating in causes for justice, and loving kindness.

Communal spirituality can be recognized as those times we spend with others in the same way that the Apostles prayed together and discussed what Jesus had taught them. We can recognize it as our supporting one another in our spiritual leanings, our desire for God, our sharing with others what we are doing to build our relationship with God. An example of this type of spirituality is praying in common with others, bible study groups, or spiritual ministries in which we share our feelings about God. We can relate our participation in a Small Faith Community. These types of faith-filled actions are mostly about communal spirituality.

Faith-filled practices are our participation in exercises within the church that will enhance our response to what God calls us to do in our church. We are exposed to such practices early as we begin to attend Mass. We are called to spend quiet time with God at retreats, or we may be a person who attends Masses of Christian burial as an Arimathean at church. We may have the opportunity to be a Vincentian, or we may develop the habit of being a person for others by humble service in the community or in the lay ministry of the church.

The formation of a spiritual life for anyone will contain these essential elements: GOD, LOVE, PRAYER, OUR NEIGHBOR, PERSONAL and COMMUNAL SPIRITUALITY, and FAITH—FILLED PRACTICES. Living through these as a way of life will lead directly to giving our will to the Will of the Lord. We are made for the Lord; he calls us; we seek those ways of living that will bring us union with him now and in the next life. It is an adventure that is exciting and life-giving, and when we let God be God in us, we will see life in an exciting and joyful way. He has called us to follow him, and we must form our lives around his Call.

Blessings and joy!

Gerald Miller

God Is Everything

You, our God, are good and true, slow to anger, governing all with mercy. To know you well is complete justice, and to know your might is the root of immortality.

(Wisdom 15:1,3)

To describe God is both difficult and infinite in its breadth, as there is no limit to God nor can one tell all of who God is. We know him through his gifts to us: FAITH in his always being there for us; HOPE in his promise that we will one day be with him in Eternal Life; LOVE that he so generously gives unconditionally to us and has mercy on those who return his love. We live through the generosity of Jesus dying for our sins, freeing us to live in a way that is pleasing to the Father and filled with happiness in his love. God is always calling us to love, and our response must be letting God be God in us.

Life As Gift

We are all familiar with the expression, Seeing is believing. We take in a lot of information through our ability to see. However, there are two ways in which we do not see. The first way is through blindness or actual loss of visual sight. As a result, we cannot see what is around us, nor can we acquire the total beauty of our world. There is a second kind of blindness that people who are not sight impaired possess. This inability to see is often created by our lack of attention or belief in the world around us. For example, one person may recognize the beauty and goodness of a newborn baby, whereas another may simply acknowledge the fact that the baby exists. Some people see the miracle of the seasons of the year, shown by the wonderful changes in the trees and plantings that surround us, whereas others are too busy to admire the changes around them. Many do not see because they do not choose to see.

It is in this way that many people see or do not see God. One person does not believe that God exists, whereas another recognizes that one cannot exist but for the love of God. Even among those who profess their belief in God, there is a variety of ways in which they describe their God. Their God may exist in the way they pray, or in the ways that they treat others, or when they believe that he is really listening, or in many other personal ways. All of these attitudes may be good, and all may be different, perhaps, as different as the people are. Attitudes can be attributed to the way in which we relate to God, or to our experience with God through our lives. It is an awareness that each should nurture continually.

But Jesus is always tugging at us, trying to move us along further in our spiritual life. He wants us to pay attention and develop the awareness to understand that he and the Father are one with the Holy Spirit. As we receive the Holy Eucharist, we experience his being in us, and as a result our being in him and the Father. We know this from the Scriptures, (Jn: 14:6-15) when Thomas asked where Jesus was going, and when Philip asked him to show them the Father, Jesus said, I have been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever sees me sees the Father; how can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? He further states, and everything you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son, and everything you ask in calling upon my Name, I will do.

We are at times like Thomas and Philip who do not see Jesus as he is with us. He is a part of us, moving us along in our mission for which he has created us. We must recognize that he is a part of everything we do as he is a part of us. Stop for a minute and think about what this means!! We seek to become believers who see the impact of Jesus in our lives, not ignoring the numerous times he helps us each day. We grow with him as a part of us by continual reception of the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist. We become more sensitive to his presence, more aware of his part in our lives. Sometimes, we seem to either ignore this fact, or we fight with the fact that he is truly a part of us, for he told us so.

This belief that Jesus is a part of us always is a recognition that we have only to follow his lead into eternity. Talking to him, praying that his will be our will, seeking his blessing on our neighbor and loved ones, looking for his meaning in disappointing times, and living a regular life are all a part of knowing him and the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is always with us, and life is pure gift.

Grateful To God

We know from history that those who do not sow cannot reap the rewards of their labor. Ask any employee what they expect from their employer if they do not work. Adam and Eve did not work for living in the garden provided by God, for God had provided them with everything, except the fruit from a certain tree. Rolheiser, in his book, The Shattered Lantern (1), presents the idea that Adam and Eve’s sin was a forceful taking of the fruit of the tree in disobeying God, as the fruit was only available to them as a gift from God. They were to receive life as a gift from God, but not to take it as their right.

We are the fortunate recipients of God’s beautiful world, something he created and gave to us for our living. There is the beauty of seasons, trees, blue sky, warmth of the sun, laughter of people, movement of people and animals, and hosts of other phenomena that meet us daily. We have not made any part of this world; we are only influenced it by our being part of it. Scientists have discovered medications that heal disease and propel people to investigate the moon; governments provide services for those in need; housewives have discovered great ways to prepare food for enjoyment; teachers help us to understand our world; parents help us to be a part of the society in which we live. These are but a few examples of what comes from the use of God’s gifts to us.

The catch is that many times we are not aware or do not recognize that God is the giver of everything we have, own, use, consume or recognize. I believe that he expects us to use his gifts for others. Accepting his gifts with gratitude expresses our morality as we see the use for them, and their passing through our hands, as being a conduit for giving to others. Our gift is then passing on the love that God gives, not because it is ours or that we own it, but because God has given it as gift. Think about yourself as a branch on the vine as Jesus told us. Our connection is symbolically explained and our actions must mirror this relationship. There are many occasions that God is acting and we are receiving, even unknowingly. Perhaps, at Mass, God sends angels into church to prepare the hearts of each of us for the great sacrifice he will offer through the actions of the priest. This sacrifice is God’s greatest gift, and we must be prepared to take part in it.

Rolheiser (1) tells us, Proper receptivity and gratitude lie at the root of purity of heart. They are the real beatitudes. Matthew 5:8 could be just as easily rendered: Blessed are those who are grateful, who see and appreciate everything as gift, for they shall see God. He goes on further, as To become grateful and remain so, it is necessary to practice the asceticism of joy. The greatest compliment that one can give to the giver of a gift is to thoroughly delight in the gift. We owe it to our creator to delight in gratitude, in the gift of life and creation.

As we walk through life, we recognize that nothing is accidental. All things have a meaning, and to those who recognize God’s gifts, there is always the positive view that somehow God has a meaning meant for us in those things which confront us. Looking at the events of ordinary life and reading the signs of the times prompts us to ask, What is God saying to us? This manner of living typifies mystical living in ordinary life. Rolheiser(1) expresses that we must move beyond our practical atheism to a deeper sense of how God is already present and acting in the ordinary events of our lives. Look for the hand of God in everything and count everything as gifts from an all-loving God.

What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

Recently, I had the experience of attending Mass in Wheaton, IL at the church of St. Daniel, the Prophet. It is a large church in a rather new part of Wheaton, and the church is only a few years old. The church has its altar at the center point of the round pew arrangement. It was the thirtieth Sunday in ordinary time, and the celebrant was a priest in his 70’s, Fr. Tom White. To my surprise, he sang most of the Mass with almost operatic flair. He also explained the background for each reading prior to its reading which enriched the appreciation