Monday, January 19, 2009
Rembrandt's St. Paul in Prison
From A Year With Blessed James Alberione, Compiled by J. Maurus
The Master wants the whole of a person
Jesus wants to live in us! Our being, so to say, has to disappear; that is, our thoughts have to disappear so that his thoughts may become ours.
Jesus should live in our mind. Our desires and feelings have to disappear because Jesus wants to replace them with his and implant his heart in us. Our entire will has to disappear, all our evil tendencies, all our actions that are too human, because Jesus wants to put his will in us.
In these three things consists the true love of God. It is an illusion to think that only few sentiments of the heart will do. Everything is needed:
- The mind of Jesus Christ
- the will of Jesus Christ.
From Saint and Thought For Every Day, by Blessed James Alberione
A Worm
The spirit of criticism is similar to the work of a woodworm which crawls slowly and secretly but inevitably reaches the very heart of the tree and may eventually destroy it. Where this worm crawls everything will be spoiled: Oh, if at least somebody could realize this! Generally those who criticize have more defects and become ineffective in their work. St. Paul appropriately teaches us: "A little leaven ferments the whole mass" (Gal. 5:9) and "He who disturbs you will bear the penalty, whoever that may be" (Gal. 5:10). And he concludes: "Would that those who are unsettling you would mutilate themselves!" (Gal 5:12).
What Strikes Me Most Today
What strikes me most today is when Blessed James Alberione writes, "Oh, if at least somebody could realize this!" (The "Oh" and the "!" are his, I didn't add them). When I saw this, I thought I better read this several times, and I'm glad I did. I think that many times when we speak negatively about others, whether we are the ones speaking or the ones listening, it is an attempt to make us feel better about ourselves. We feel that we are not as bad as the person we are talking about. Next time I find myself in a conversation critical of others, I'll try to remind myself to stop the conversation - not only is that acting in charity, it's a lot better than mutilating myself or committing a sin that could jeopardize my relationship with others and with God!
Why?
Why a blog? Why St. Paul? Why do I think I have any business doing this?
We are all on a spiritual journey. We all want that journey to lead us to heaven, to eternity with God. For this journey, we need one another.
The journey so far has led me to read and learn about so many forms of authentic Catholic spirituality - Ignatian, Benedictine, Carmelite, Dominican, Franciscan, etc. My biggest problem was that I came to love each one tremendously. I began reading more and more, spending more and more time at the Daughters of St. Paul bookstore on Watson Road here in St. Louis. Who would have thought my greatest conversion story would take place in a bookstore? Mine was not quite as sudden or dramatic as St. Paul on the road to Damascus, but getting to know the Daughters of St. Paul affected me no less significantly.
The sisters are Eucharistic by nature. The first time I entered the chapel in their bookstore, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and one of the sisters was on her knees, gazing at Christ, with an indescribably beautiful smile on her face. I had a glimpse of heaven. I knelt at one of the other kneelers and noticed on the wall behind the monstrance the words: "Fear not, I am with you. From here I want to enlighten. Atone for sin." I had that brief moment of absolute certainty that I was on the right path.
Over the last several years I have worked my way through as many books, CD's, DVD's and conversations with the Daughters of St. Paul that time has allowed. Time is at such a premium for all of us. Years ago we were told that with advances in technology we would have much more free time on our hands. We all know this has not been the case. Our lives are busier and more hectic than ever. Even if we are unable to find time to read good books, see enlightening movies or attend lectures and discussions, maybe we could all spend a little time on the internet supporting one another on our faith journeys. Many of you know more about many aspects of Catholic spirituality than I do.
Pope John Paul the Great called us all to a New Evangelization, to share the Gospel with the world. I am hoping we can all be St. Paul in this blog space by sharing Christ with one another and with others. St. Paul travelled to many foreign and often hostile regions to evangelize the world; we are fortunate to be able to use the internet to reach even farther and more quickly.
The idea of using today's means of social communication to spread the Gospel was given to Blessed James Alberione on the night between the centuries (December 31, 1900 - January 1, 1901). He was a 16 year-old seminary student adoring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament when a special light came to him from the Host. Following this, Blessed James Alberione became the founder of the Society of St. Paul priests, the Daughters of St. Paul, the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Sisters of the Queen of Apostles, and numerous institutes that are also part of the Pauline family.
So what is Pauline spirituality? In my experience, Pauline spirituality encompasses all the teachings of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and love of all the other spiritualities and Saints of the Church. It is the members of the Pauline family who are the happiest people I know! It is loving God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit with all our hearts and souls, through the intercession of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and St. Paul.
So why St. Paul? I can relate to St. Paul. We first meet him in the New Testament as a sinner. He has a thorn in his side that God decides is best not to take away. I sometimes wish I knew what that thorn was, but it's probably better I don't know. I like to pretend it is one of my many weaknesses or faults. If St. Paul could go from persecuting Christ and His Church to becoming the person responsible for spreading the Gospel and establishing the Church in foreign lands, the least I can do is start a blog. I have been especially inspired by my two favorite bloggers, Sr. Margaret Charles Kerry, fsp, and a Pauline Cooperator named Rae Stabosz. I believe Sr. Margaret and Rae are doing just what St. Paul and Blessed James Alberione would be doing with the internet.
In future blogs (which will be shorter than this first post!), I would like to share writings of St. Paul, Blessed James Alberione, and many others. I look forward to others sharing writings from other Catholic spiritualities and writers. An especially Pauline way of sharing is to point out to one another what aspects particularly speak to each of us.
Another Pauline trait is to pray for one another. My prayer is that we support one another on our path to holiness. Our goal is to glorify God in all that we do - so let's do it!
I know that is one area in which I definitely need to improve. If I can't find words of encouragement or constructive criticism, I need to keep my mouth shut.
ReplyDelete