understanding and living christian spirituality · 2019-08-22 · 8/17/19 1...

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LIVING CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

Understanding and Living Christian Spirituality

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Sources: Rolheiser, Ronald. The Holy Longing. Doubleday. p 3-19Nouwen, Henri. A Spirituality of Living, Upper Room

Presented by Ray Glennon, OFS

Mother of God CommunityPraise and Worship Meeting

August 18, 2019


Living with Plato’s Madness: Desire∙ We are driven by desire, an

unquenchable fire that keeps us from finding peace. We live with dis-ease.

∙ Spirituality is about what we do with the fire inside of us, about how we channel our desire.

∙ Everyone has a spirituality, whether or not they are religious.

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What is Spirituality? (Ron Rolheiser)

∙ Our spirituality is about the disciplines and habits we choose to live by; our choices result in actions that shape our desire

∙ Our choices will either lead to:⎼ a greater integration or

disintegration within our bodies, minds, and souls

⎼ a greater integration or disintegration in the way we are related to God, to others, and the cosmic world.

∙ Our spirituality can be life-giving one or a destructive one.

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Our Choices & Our Spirituality

∙ “Lord, make me chaste and celibate ⎼ but not yet.”⎼ St. Augustine

∙ “You have made us for your self, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” ⎼ Also St. Augustine

∙ A life-giving spirituality seeks to encounter and to remain with God.

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∙ We must choose among desires and every choice, good or bad, is a renunciation of other things.

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Spirituality and God(God Creates and Calls; We Seek and Choose)

∙ God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself… freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life… God himself, in creating man in his own image, has written upon his heart the desire to see him. Even if this desire is ignored, God never ceases to draw man to himself. (Compendium, Catechism of Catholic Church, #1, #2)

∙ Spirituality is our effort with grace to become who we truly are. The deepest level of our being is spiritual. (Hauser, In His Spirit, Paulist Press, p 9)

∙ We seek God; we choose either to move toward God and others in love or to live a self-centered existence.

∙ As the Spirit of God is united with the human spirit, our hearts are calmed as they rest in God(Last two bullets, Cunningham & Egan, Christian Spirituality, Paulist Press, p7)

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Christian Spirituality∙ (Encountering) Jesus must be the

center of any Christian spirituality. . . Within Christian spirituality, long before we speak of anything else (church, dogmas, commandments, even admonitions to love and justice), we must speak about Jesus, the person and the energy that undergirds everything else; after all, everything else is merely a branch. Jesus is the vine, the blood, the pulse, and the heart. ⎼ Ron Rolheiser, The Holy Longing, p. 74

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Christian Spirituality∙ If you were to ask me point-blank,

“What does it mean to you to live spiritually?” I would have to reply, “Living with Jesus at the center.”⎼ Henri Nouwen, Letters to Marc About Jesus, p. 7

∙ Christian spirituality is the lived encounter with Jesus Christ in the Spirit.

∙ Christian spirituality presupposes a way of life and not an abstract philosophy or code of beliefs

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Jesus’ Way of Life∙ Departed to the mountain to

pray; spent the night in prayer.∙ When day came, he called

twelve apostles to himself. ∙ Jesus and his apostles came

down and a large crowd of disciples and people came to hear him and be healed of their diseases.

∙ Luke 6:12-19

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Spiritual Disciplines

∙ The spiritual life is a life guided by God’s Spirit, the same Spirit that guided Jesus’ life.

∙ Can we create some space for God, where we can hear, feel, and experience the Spirit of God (that tell us we are the beloved)?

∙ Discipline: the effort to create some space in which God can act

∙ Solitude – Community – Ministry

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Christian Spirituality Essentials

∙ Prayer and Private Morality∙ Community as a Constitutive

Element of True Worship∙ Social Justice∙ Mellowness of Heart and Spirit

(Gratitude and Compassion)

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Spiritual Disciplines

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Our Role in . . . Living a Spiritual LifeWe Seek God in Solitude Prayer & MoralityWe Share God in Community Community

We Serve God in Ministry Social JusticeGratitude / Compassion

Christian spirituality is the lived encounter with Jesus Christ in the Spirit.


Solitude & Prayer∙ There is no bad way to pray

and there is no one starting point for prayer.

∙ All spiritual masters offer only one non-negotiable rule: You have to show up for prayer and you have to show up regularly.

∙ Everything else is negotiable and respects your unique circumstances.

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Thoughts on Prayer

“Well when you spend one hour a day adoring your Lord and never do anything which you know is wrong . . . You will be fine.” – Mother Teresa to Henri Nouwen

∙ Spend time with the Lord∙ Worry about the things of God:

Truth, Light, and Life∙ Move from Mind to Heart

through simple, attentive prayer ∙ Set your heart on the kingdom

and become one with God’s people

∙ Contemplate the Gospel∙ Praise and worship ∙ Choose to live in a spiritual

milieu: Community

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Community (Rolheiser)

∙ God calls us, not just as individuals, but as a community and that how we relate to each other is just as important as how we relate to God. Or, more accurately, how we relate to each other is part of how we relate to God. For Jesus, the two great commandments, to love God and love one’s neighbor, can never be separated.

∙ One can only really love a God who is love if one is concretely involved with a real community (ultimately, an “ecclesial community”) on earth.

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Community (Nouwen) ∙ Community is a fellowship of people

who do not hide joys and sorrows but make them visible to each other in a gesture of hope.

∙ Community is like a large mosaic. Each little piece seems so insignificant. When all these little stones are brought together in one big mosaic portraying the face of Christ, who would ever question the importance of any one of them.

∙ A fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world.

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∙ All disciples of Jesus are called to

ministry (cf Matt 5: 3-12;

Matt 25: 31-46)

∙ If we know we are loved by God

and we forgive and celebrate in

community, we will minister.

∙ Living the Discipline of Ministry

calls us to practice

⎼ Gratitude: embracing life’s joy

and suffering and avoiding

resentment

⎼ Compassion: suffering with

those who are in pain leads to

comfort

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Ministry (Nouwen)

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Living Christian Spirituality

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Living Christian Spirituality Mother of God Community CovenantNouwen Rolheiser

Solitude Prayer &Morality Our Call to Holiness

Community Community Our Call to Love and Support One Another

Ministry Social JusticeGratitude / Compassion

Our Call to Evangelize and Serve the Church

• Christian spirituality is the lived encounter with Jesus Christ in the Spirit

• “Living with Jesus at the center”

understanding and living christian spirituality · 2019-08-22 · 8/17/19 1...

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