CATHOLICISM Faith Formation Full Video

CATHOLICISM for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul

Cardinal Pell and Richard Dawkins debate, 10 April 2012

Here is the debate between Cardinal Pell of Australia and Richard Dawkins from 10 April 2012:

Music with Meaning - I would die for You - MercyMe

I was reading the book "The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) everything" and was on the chapter concerning chastity. In that chapter there is a beautiful meditation by Pedro Arrupe, S.J. which I will share here:

Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.

It also reminded me of a song I used to play on retreats a few years ago. It is by a band called MercyMe who wrote the song because of, and dedicated it to the memory of, a young boy who gave his lost his life after contracting a fatal disease whilst on a mission trip to South America.

I love the lyric "You never know why you're alive / until you find what you would die for" which come just after the words "My life has never been this clear / Now I know the reason why I'm here". I think many Christians who have discovered their faith anew can relate to this, and even more so people who have just discovered Jesus for the first time. When you fall in love with Him it is the greatest thing known in all creation, to be in love with the God who is love, and who teaches us what it means to love. Through suffering and joy, all for the greater glory of God. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Extracts of Fr Barron's CATHOLICISM for Lent

I will update this post each week as the extracts become available on the awesome Word on Fire.

Week 1:



Week 2:



Week 3:



Week 4:



Week 5:

Interview with Episcopal Vicar Paschal Ryan about praying outside abortuaries in London

Who is asking those questions?
Me! Please have a listen. Then head over to iprayforlife.wordpress.com for some more

"i pray for life" - video about praying outside the abortuaries in London

There is a video that has just been released that shows interviews with some people who pray outside the abortuaries. I was fortunate enough to be involved in this project :-) There is also a website: iprayforlife.wordpress.com. Please see the message and video below:

Some call them brave, some call them crazy. Some wish they could do the same but are afraid.

They say about themselves: "ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things in an ordinary way."

By simple acts and true Christian testimony, bit by bit, they change the world and save human lives.

They know that "for the triumph of evil all that is necessary is that good people do nothing"

May the ranks of the defenders of life steadily increase! Do not lose heart!

This is a great mission entrusted to you by Providence. May God from whom every life takes its origin bless you.

(JP II, Kalisz 1997)

Watch "i pray for life"

Recorded in London, Sept 2011

Mensch amendment: Christians being forced from public life in Britain!

Not long after the Catholic adoption agencies were forced to close, we now have an amendment that wishes to prevent "faith based" counselling. There is a very good piece at Cranmer discussing this issue. It concludes as follows:

The Mensch amendment is not only ill-conceived and badly thought through; it is fundamentally un-conservative, intolerant, illiberal, and incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 9 of which provides a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This includes the freedom to manifest a religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance, subject to certain restrictions that are ‘in accordance with law’ and ‘necessary in a democratic society’. 
Mrs Mensch is proposing that inter alia Christians may not counsel on the matter of abortion because this is ‘necessary in a democratic society’. She thereby disregards the Established Church and the constitutional position of the Monarch and her bishops. She sets aside that the majority of the country professes some adherence - however residual - to the Christian faith. And she appears to be oblivious to the fact that the whole fabric of society is constructed upon Christian precepts. 
The question of abortion is profoundly divisive: it is a moral issue. But there is no such thing as ‘neutrality’ in morality: human beings may not conveniently be detached from their gender, beliefs, lifestyle or culture. Counselling is not the mere impartation of information: we have computers for that. Counselling involves empathy and the outcome is clarity and guidance. Why should people of faith be specifically barred from providing enlightenment? Why, if it is deemed necessary and expedient for women to have ‘the right to choose’, may they not have the right to choose whence they receive the information by which they may arrive at that choice?

I recommend you have a look at the whole piece and start writing to your MP's as soon as possible so that Christians are not put into local exile in Britain.

The blogger uses the title "Archbishop Cranmer" out of respect for the long deceased Archbishop Thomas Cranmer of the Church of England who was executed during the reign of Mary 1. He was a leader of the English Reformation and assisted Henry VIII with the justification for his divorce. Under King Edward Cranmer pushed through many reforms to the Church of England. The blogger is "is one of the wittiest conservative thinkers out there, whether in the UK or the USA." (Rabbi Yehuda Hausman, The Musings of Rabbi Hausman (2011)). I must state that I personally do not agree with Archbishop Cranmer's points of view 500 years ago, but do sympathise with the blogger on some points.

My WYD 2011 experience Part 2

One of the highlights of my first ever visit to Madrid was the Museo del Prado. So much so that I visited it on 4 separate occasions (getting in 3 times). They had a wonderful exposition highlighting "The Word made Image". Plus there was a special guest painting "The Deposition" by Caravaggio. Simply breathtaking.

So, to share with you some of the art works (although the 14 pieces are greatly diminished on the Internet) please go to: www.museodelprado.es/en/pradomedia/multimedia/the-word-made-image-1/

My WYD 2011 recap - JMJ Madrid part1

3 Abp Chaput's in one shot

Confessionals side view

I have recovered from my pilgrimage and would love to share some of the images I took with you. Of course, the star of the show was Jesus, in the Eucharist, in His Priests, and in His People. You can see the crowds that gathered from around the world to welcome the Pope and Jesus in the Eucharist in the airfield South West of Madrid. All along the walk to the venue the locals were very accommodating and sprayed us with water to save us from the 40+ degree heat (Celsius), even the firemen helped.

But before the huge Mass, we needed to go to confession. You can see the amazing number of confessionals in the pictures above, they were lined up as far as the eye can see in both directions in Retiro Park.

I spent many days visiting the Love and Life centre where the guests were Abp Chaput and Fr Baron among others. But the highlight was definitely the "Catholic Underground" Eucharistic adoration sessions hosted by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. The music was beautiful, the lyrics meaningful and the presence of God tangible. On Friday after the Stations of the Cross we had the most amazing adoration which left many people in tears of gratitude.

Confessionals as far as the eye can see

Our dearest guest and Host, Jesus

Firemen cooling down the pilgrims as they arrive for the vigil

So close yet so far

Planned Parenthood's Weak Link, LIVE with Abby Johnson Tonight!

From http://plannedparenthoodsweaklink.com/:

Dear Pro-Life Friend,

This Tuesday night, August 23, Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood abortion center director turned pro-life advocate — and author of the Top 10 national bestselling book UnPlanned — will expose her former employer during a webcast event that will uncover the huge weakness she discovered inside the nation’s largest abortion operation … and that she frequently witnesses while traveling across America to speak out against Planned Parenthood.
YOU are invited to be there when Abby blows Planned Parenthood’s cover (but hurry, because there’s limited space available for the online event!)
Sign up below to register for the FREE webcast, where you’ll be among the first to discover:

• Why a Planned Parenthood clinic director and “employee of the year” changed sides to become an outspoken pro-life advocate
• The shocking truth about Planned Parenthood that was revealed through Abby’s high-stakes legal battle with the abortion giant
• The abortion industry’s #1 greatest fear — and how YOU can help make it come true
• Planned Parenthood’s secret “Achilles Heel” that could topple its abortion empire like a house of cards
• How to make abortion unavailable in your community … even while it’s still legal
• The most effective way to drive Planned Parenthood — or any other abortion operation — out of your community
• The brand-new tool you can use to change more hearts and minds about abortion, save more lives … and perhaps even impact eternal souls

You won’t want to miss this eye-opening LIVE webcast event where you’ll hear directly from Abby and other presenters including:

JEFF PARADOWSKI, Abby’s attorney who defeated Planned Parenthood’s legal team and PR spin machine in the high-stakes legal battle with the abortion buisness after Abby changed sides

DAVID BEREIT, national director of 40 Days for Life, the campaign of prayer and fasting, peaceful vigils outside abortion facilities, and grassroots outreach that played a major role in Abby’s conversion

SHAWN CARNEY, campaign director of 40 Days for Life, and the first person that Abby went to for help when she was ready to get out of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry

Pope Benedict XVI reflecting on 60th anniversary of ordination and the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

The Pope sent the tweet to launch the news.va website.One of the first posts is his homily from the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Thanks be to God for given us such a wonderful Pope. The full homily can be found here. I found this extract particularly beautiful:

"...bear fruit, fruit that abides. What fruit does he expect from us? What is this fruit that abides? Now, the fruit of the vine is the grape, and it is from the grape that wine is made. Let us reflect for a moment on this image. For good grapes to ripen, sun is needed, but so too is rain, by day and by night. For noble wine to mature, the grapes need to be pressed, patience is needed while the juice ferments, watchful care is needed to assist the processes of maturation. Noble wine is marked not only by sweetness, but by rich and subtle flavours, the manifold aroma that develops during the processes of maturation and fermentation. Is this not already an image of human life, and especially of our lives as priests? We need both sun and rain, festivity and adversity, times of purification and testing, as well as times of joyful journeying with the Gospel. In hindsight we can thank God for both: for the challenges and the joys, for the dark times and the glad times. In both, we can recognize the constant presence of his love, which unfailingly supports and sustains us.Yet now we must ask: what sort of fruit does the Lord expect from us? Wine is an image of love: this is the true fruit that abides, the fruit that God wants from us. But let us not forget that in the Old Testament the wine expected from noble grapes is above all an image of justice, which arises from a life lived in accordance with God’s law. And this is not to be dismissed as an Old Testament view that has been surpassed – no, it still remains true. The true content of the Law, its summa, is love for God and for one’s neighbour. But this twofold love is not simply saccharine. It bears within itself the precious cargo of patience, humility, and growth in the conforming of our will to God’s will, to the will of Jesus Christ, our friend. Only in this way, as the whole of our being takes on the qualities of truth and righteousness, is love also true, only thus is it ripe fruit. Its inner demand – faithfulness to Christ and to his Church – seeks a fulfilment that always includes suffering. This is the way that true joy grows. At a deep level, the essence of love, the essence of genuine fruit, coincides with the idea of setting out, going towards: it means self-abandonment, self-giving, it bears within itself the sign of the cross."

Our Lady is an Icon, don't touch

Icon of the Assumption of Mary in Suprasl

I just got back from a short holiday in Poland. While there I was blessed enough to visit the Russian Orthodox Icon Museum in Suprasl. The monastery has been in the town since 1500 and has a collection of more than 1200 icons.

There was a particular icon that caught my eye during the tour. You can see the photo on the left. It is an icon depicting the assumption of Our Lady. The most striking feature of the icon is at the bottom, there you see a man whose hand's have been cut off by St Michael the Archangel (see detailed picture below).

Why did St Michael cut the hands off? The story goes that the man was a Jewish Priest who did not acknowledge the

the sanctity of Mary and wanted to push the funeral bier over. As can be seen, Saint Michael intervened.

Close up detail from icon of Assumption of Mary

But the story has a happy ending. The hand less priest's hands were miraculously re-attached and healed once he acknowledged the sanctity of our Lady. You can read more about the details of this icon here.

Another icon that raised my heart was an icon depicting the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharistic bread and wine. You can see Christ (although it may be one of the Church Fathers) holding a chalice in which his blood resides, along with His body. Thanks be to God for these revelations in art.






Icon of the Real Presence



From the walls of the Icon Museum in Suprasl





 



Attention London: Pro-life Superman Msgr Reilly is in town

from Maria Stops abortion:

Monsignor Philip J Reilly, the founder of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants will be in London on Wednesday. He will be giving a talk at St James' Church, Spanish Place, 22 George Street, London, W1U 3QY, on Wednesday 18th May 2011 at 7.30pm.
The number of babies, as well as Mothers & Fathers saved from the horrors of abortion by God's Grace, through this Priest is amazing.Should we go to the abortuary and pray? What should we do when we are there? Do Bishops and Priests need to go? Will me going really make a dfference? Over years I've heard Monsingor answer all of this and much more besides.

JP2 Beatification Homily by B16

(from http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/?p=22244)

Homily of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Beatification of Pope John Paul II
Sunday, 1 May 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Six years ago we gathered in this Square to celebrate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our grief at his loss was deep, but even greater was our sense of an immense grace which embraced Rome and the whole world: a grace which was in some way the fruit of my beloved predecessor’s entire life, and especially of his witness in suffering. Even then we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God’s People showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste. And now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed!

I would like to offer a cordial greeting to all of you who on this happy occasion have come in such great numbers to Rome from all over the world – cardinals, bishops and priests, official delegations, ambassadors and civil authorities, consecrated men and women and lay faithful, and I extend that greeting to all those who join us by radio and television.

Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, which Blessed John Paul II entitled Divine Mercy Sunday. The date was chosen for today’s celebration because, in God’s providence, my predecessor died on the vigil of this feast. Today is also the first day of May, Mary’s month, and the liturgical memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker. All these elements serve to enrich our prayer, they help us in our pilgrimage through time and space; but in heaven a very different celebration is taking place among the angels and saints! Even so, God is but one, and one too is Christ the Lord, who like a bridge joins earth to heaven. At this moment we feel closer than ever, sharing as it were in the liturgy of heaven.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29). In today’s Gospel Jesus proclaims this beatitude: the beatitude of faith. For us, it is particularly striking because we are gathered to celebrate a beatification, but even more so because today the one proclaimed blessed is a Pope, a Successor of Peter, one who was called to confirm his brethren in the faith. John Paul II is blessed because of his faith, a strong, generous and apostolic faith. We think at once of another beatitude: “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (Mt 16:17). What did our heavenly Father reveal to Simon? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of this faith, Simon becomes Peter, the rock on which Jesus can build his Church. The eternal beatitude of John Paul II, which today the Church rejoices to proclaim, is wholly contained in these sayings of Jesus: “Blessed are you, Simon” and “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe!” It is the beatitude of faith, which John Paul II also received as a gift from God the Father for the building up of Christ’s Church.

Our thoughts turn to yet another beatitude, one which appears in the Gospel before all others. It is the beatitude of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. Mary, who had just conceived Jesus, was told by Saint Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (Lk 1:45). The beatitude of faith has its model in Mary, and all of us rejoice that the beatification of John Paul II takes place on this first day of the month of Mary, beneath the maternal gaze of the one who by her faith sustained the faith of the Apostles and constantly sustains the faith of their successors, especially those called to occupy the Chair of Peter. Mary does not appear in the accounts of Christ’s resurrection, yet hers is, as it were, a continual, hidden presence: she is the Mother to whom Jesus entrusted each of his disciples and the entire community. In particular we can see how Saint John and Saint Luke record the powerful, maternal presence of Mary in the passages preceding those read in today’s Gospel and first reading. In the account of Jesus’ death, Mary appears at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:25), and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles she is seen in the midst of the disciples gathered in prayer in the Upper Room (Acts 1:14).

Today’s second reading also speaks to us of faith. Saint Peter himself, filled with spiritual enthusiasm, points out to the newly-baptized the reason for their hope and their joy. I like to think how in this passage, at the beginning of his First Letter, Peter does not use language of exhortation; instead, he states a fact. He writes: “you rejoice”, and he adds: “you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet 1:6, 8-9). All these verbs are in the indicative, because a new reality has come about in Christ’s resurrection, a reality to which faith opens the door. “This is the Lord’s doing”, says the Psalm (118:23), and “it is marvelous in our eyes”, the eyes of faith.

Dear brothers and sisters, today our eyes behold, in the full spiritual light of the risen Christ, the beloved and revered figure of John Paul II. Today his name is added to the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the almost twenty-seven years of his pontificate, thereby forcefully emphasizing the universal vocation to the heights of the Christian life, to holiness, taught by the conciliar Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. All of us, as members of the people of God – bishops, priests, deacons, laity, men and women religious – are making our pilgrim way to the heavenly homeland where the Virgin Mary has preceded us, associated as she was in a unique and perfect way to the mystery of Christ and the Church. Karol Wojtyla took part in the Second Vatican Council, first as an auxiliary Bishop and then as Archbishop of Kraków. He was fully aware that the Council’s decision to devote the last chapter of its Constitution on the Church to Mary meant that the Mother of the Redeemer is held up as an image and model of holiness for every Christian and for the entire Church. This was the theological vision which Blessed John Paul II discovered as a young man and subsequently maintained and deepened throughout his life. A vision which is expressed in the scriptural image of the crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side. This icon from the Gospel of John (19:25-27) was taken up in the episcopal and later the papal coat-of-arms of Karol Wojtyla: a golden cross with the letter “M” on the lower right and the motto “Totus tuus”, drawn from the well-known words of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in which Karol Wojty?a found a guiding light for his life: “Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart” (Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266).

In his Testament, the new Blessed wrote: “When, on 16 October 1978, the Conclave of Cardinals chose John Paul II, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, said to me: ‘The task of the new Pope will be to lead the Church into the Third Millennium’”. And the Pope added: “I would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the whole Church – and especially with the whole episcopate – I feel indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the treasures that this Council of the twentieth century has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into practice. For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate”. And what is this “cause”? It is the same one that John Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Square in the unforgettable words: “Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!” What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though all the others.

When Karol Wojtyla ascended to the throne of Peter, he brought with him a deep understanding of the difference between Marxism and Christianity, based on their respective visions of man. This was his message: man is the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man. With this message, which is the great legacy of the Second Vatican Council and of its “helmsman”, the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, John Paul II led the People of God across the threshold of the Third Millennium, which thanks to Christ he was able to call “the threshold of hope”. Throughout the long journey of preparation for the great Jubilee he directed Christianity once again to the future, the future of God, which transcends history while nonetheless directly affecting it. He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress. He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope, to be lived in history in an “Advent” spirit, in a personal and communitarian existence directed to Christ, the fullness of humanity and the fulfillment of all our longings for justice and peace.

Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a “rock”, as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Eucharist.

Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. Amen.

Get ready for the Beatification of John Paul II

Tomorrow will be the beatification of JP2 the Great.
To refresh your memory of this great doctor of the Church you can pick up the pdf version of Our Sunday Visitor's tribute from 2005 here:
http://www.osv.com/Portals/0/images/pdf/JPII_Tribute_Web.pdf

Also, you can follow the beatification live here:
http://www.vatican.va/video

And refresh your memories:
http://catholic-lovevolution.blogspot.com/2011/04/let-us-remember-great-pope-john-paul-ii.html

The Scourging and Crucifixion in Anime style Video

The film is a bit violent (as it was 2000 years ago), but it has the happiest ending - the one we all hope for. Jesus, I Trust in You,

WCCM, Christian Meditation and Centering prayer – a spiritual mishmash for Catholics

 Guest post by NETI


My Parish in London (Our Lady of Victories) initiated a “Lenten Talk” run this year by the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM). Having recently read an awful lot about the New Age Movement I became worried. I went to the first talk done by Fr Laurence Freeman titled “Letting go” and the one done by Kim Naraja “Is meditation Christian”. Here are my reflections.


The subject is vast and much can be said about what is happening in the Catholic Church nowadays. I guess the right basis for any discussions are two documents issued by the Vatican: 1) “Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life”, a must-read for any Catholic in the current world of confusion and 2) “The Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation”.


C.S. Lewis once gave a speech to an assembly of Anglican ministers and youth leaders asking them to respect the boundary line: 'I think it is your duty to fix the lines clearly in your own minds: and if you wish to go beyond them you must change your profession. This is your duty not specially as Christian or as priest but as honest men.'


I would be really grateful if those priests changed their professions as C.S. Lewis says, not only out of respect to our Holy Mother Church but also as honest men (or women in some cases). But above all I pray for their conversion to the true spirituality. Sometimes I wonder if they think they are much smarter than Our Lady who encourages us, the sinners, to pray the Rosary, read the Bible, go to Confession and receive the Eucharist. Not navel-gazing !


And the list of the “enlightened” fathers is long (of those that I know):

• Cistercian monks ( O.C.S.O) Fr Thomas Keating, Fr William Meninger, Fr Basil Pennington and Fr Thomas Merton;
• Benedictine monks (O.S.B.) Fr John Main, Fr Laurence Freeman, Fr Bede Griffiths
• Franciscan friar (O.F.M.) Fr Richard Rohr
• Benedictine sisters (OSB) Sr. Teresa Ann Harrington

It was interesting to discover that most of them use the Rule of St Benedict - St Benedict incorporated many principles of John Cassian and recommended his monks read the works of Cassian.

Okay, so who was this John Cassian so widely quoted by many propagators of so called “Christian Mediation” or Centering prayer (Kim Naraja when asked by me what the difference between those two types of prayer is replied that they were like brothers, very similar).


JOHN CASSIAN John Cassian wrote two major spiritual works, the Institutions and the Conferences. In these, he codified and transmitted the wisdom of the Desert Fathers of Egypt. The Institutions (Latin: De institutis coenobiorum) deal with the external organization of monastic communities, while the Conferences (Latin: Collationes patrum in scetica eremo) deal with "the training of the inner man and the perfection of the heart.” John Cassian is generally considered to be an early proponent of the view that later became known as Semi-pelagianism. This emphasized the role of free will in that the first steps of salvation are in the power of the individual, without the need for divine grace. His thought has been described as a "middle way" between Pelagianism, which taught that the will alone was sufficient to live a sinless life, and the view of Augustine of Hippo, that emphasizes original sin and the absolute need for grace.


The second reference widely used by our “Meditating MishMash Fathers” is the mysterious book called: “The Cloud of Unknowing”. The story goes that in 1974, Father William Meninger, a Trappist monk and retreat master at St. Josephs Abbey in Spencer, Mass. apparently found a dusty little book in the abbey library, The Cloud of Unknowing. As he read it he was delighted to discover that this anonymous 14th century book presented contemplative meditation as a teachable, spiritual process enabling the ordinary person to enter and receive a direct experience of union with God. This form of meditation is recently known as 'Centering Prayer' (from a text of Thomas Merton). He quickly began teaching contemplative prayer according to The Cloud of Unknowing at the Abbey Retreat House. One year later his workshop was taken up by his Abbot, Thomas Keating, and Basil Pennington, both of whom had been looking for a teachable form of Christian contemplative meditation to offset the movement of young Catholics toward Eastern meditation techniques.  Father Meninger now teaches the Centering Prayer along with workshops on Forgiveness, the Enneagram, Sacred Scriptures, and Prayer all around the world – now, have a look at the Vatican document and you will find that the Enneagram is classified as a New Age Practice. That is what I call spiritual mishmash – a bit of Scripture, a bit of New Age and a bit of prayer.


“The Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation” says: Christian prayer is not an exercise in (…) stillness and self-emptying, but a dialogue of love, one which “implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'You' of God”. It leads to an increasingly complete surrender to God's will, whereby we are invited to a deep, genuine solidarity with our brothers and sisters.”


Fr Freeman (WCCM) told us in his introduction that “Meditation is the way of self knowledge, prayer in silence, letting go (I think he mentioned that world at least 50 times, almost like a mantra on its own). Prayer is not about getting benefits from God but becoming like god. Capacity of letting go (here we go again) everything, receiving, humbly and simply. Not to acquire but to let go (déjà vue). All forms of prayer converge in the hub of a wheel of prayer. In the center of prayer we enter into the prayer of Jesus (Christ prays in you).


The inspiration for his enlightened talk can be discovered by reading from “Centering Prayer” by Fr Basil Pennington (p 25-37): The desert tradition out of which this teaching on prayer of John Cassian, The Cloud of Unknowing, and Centering Prayer evolved is the same as that from which the Jesus Prayer issued. However, while Abba Isaac gave St. John a word from the Psalms: "0 God, come to my assistance; 0 Lord, make haste to help me," the Eastern current derived its source from two passages of the New Testament - that of the blind Bartimeus and that of the publican - to form the well-known prayer: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." In time, especially under the long domination of the Moslems, the Eastern Christian tradition was enriched or modified by other influences from the East. Thus today the expression "The Jesus Prayer" is a blanket covering a variety of methods.


Also remember that although the early Fathers (including Cassian) sought union with God in solitude and peace, this was always in the third stage of spiritual development, after undergoing both the Purgatio and Illuminatio. For us to assume that we can jump directly to the stage of Unitio without the first two stages is dangerous and not in keeping with Catholic teaching. Also, for us to attempt to achieve mystical experiences through certain practices is against our Faith as these mystical experiences are graces giving to the mystics as a great gift from God and it is Him alone who decides who shall receive them. As the Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states in paragraph 23: “Genuine Christian mysticism has nothing to do with technique: it is always a gift of God, and the one who benefits from it knows himself to be unworthy (cf St. Teresa of Jesus, Castillo Interior IV)”. St Teresa of Avila also tells us in The Interior Castle that more harm than good can from trying to stop the mind, but we should rather without any effort or noise, strive to cut down the rambling of the intellect – but not suspend either it or the mind; it is good to be aware that one is in God’s presence and of who God is when in prayer. 


Also, you can't use technique as a substitute for spiritual growth to suddenly arrive at "contemplation" or Unitio. You may "blank" your mind or use a mantra to some how hypnotise yourself, but this will bring an empty calmness more akin to transcendtal mediation than any true contemplation. Let us not forget what the Great Pope John Paul II taught us in his homily during the celebrations of the 4th Centenary of St Teresa of Avila's death. He reminded us that St Teresa opposed the books of her day which presented  contemplation as thinking about nothing or an assimilation into some vague divinity.

What most of the above Fathers are proposing is mishmash of Eastern religions (Zen Buddhism and Hinduism) mixed with the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and true mystics. It is not easy to make up your mind while going through that mishmash of good and less good intentions. The rich heritage of Christian Meditation is not to be found in other religions. It is found in the methods of St Theresa of Avila, St Ignatius of Loyola and St Francis de Sales. It is also most prominently found in the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. As Pope Benedict points out in Verbum Domini: “The Word of God is at the basis of all authentic Christian spirituality.” (Para 86, where Origen is also quoted). The basis of Christian meditation is the Word of God (in the person of Jesus and the Scriptures), not an emptying of the mind, but approaching the dialogue with God where God reveals himself through his Word (cf Verbum Domini).


I would fully encourage you to read some of the following sources for a better understanding of centering prayer and what the dangers for any Catholic practicing them are:

• THE DANGER OF CENTERING PRAYER: Catholic Answers
• LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
• NEW AGE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (8 Part Series) : Colorado Catholic Herald
• A CALL TO VIGILANCE (Pastoral Instruction on New Age) : Archbishop Norberto Rivera Carrera
• CENTERING PRAYER MEETS THE VATICAN : Catholic Culture
• THE HERESY OF QUIETISM : Catholic Answers
• A CLOSER LOOK AT CENTERING PRAYER : Catholic Culture
• Centering Prayer and Enneagram Are Pagan: Catholic Media Coalition
• Fr Richard Rohr joins conversations on Evolutionary Christianity. An analysis of Evolutionary Christianity: Catholic Media Coalition
• Clare Merkle - What's Wrong with Centering Prayer: Catholic Fidelity

And please write to your Parish Priests, Bishops and The Vatican about this alarming spread of mishmash spirituality.

Lent Reflection: The Temptations of Christ in the Desert (Part 3)

The Second Temptation

When scripture is quoted and the text is not provided, please look to the bottom of the reflection for the text of the scripture.

Let us once again look at the text from the Gospel according to Matthew.

Mat 4:1-11 

(1) The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. (2)  After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and nights, he was very hungry. (3)  Then the devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread.” (4)  Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say: 'No one can live only on food. People need every word that God has spoken.' " 

(5)  Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. (6)  The devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say: 'God will give his angels orders about you. They will catch you in their arms, and you won't hurt your feet on the stones.' "  (7)  Jesus answered, "The Scriptures also say, 'Don't try to test the Lord your God!' " 

(8)  Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. (9)  The devil said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.” (10)  Jesus answered, "Go away Satan! The Scriptures say: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.' "  (11)  Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.

This second temptation is an interesting one. It also is a difficult one to understand. We see that the Devil himself is a Scripture Scholar! In essence, this theological debate between Jesus and the Devil is a debate concerning the image of God. “Who is God?” is the issue.

To provide a defence against the first temptation, Christ quoted Scripture. Seizing on the opportunity presented, Satan attempts to twist the Bible to his own ends. He quotes Psalm 91:11-12 verbatim. Jesus responds with a quote from Deuteronomy 6:16. Against this background, we can begin to examine the debate.

Satan takes Jesus to the highest point of the Temple. This was the place where people would find God. He then tries to prompt Jesus into forcing God to prove He exists. He wants Jesus to put God to the test. This is why Jesus responds as he does. The quote from Deuteronomy is in response to the story in Exodus 17. The people where beginning to doubt that the Lord was with them. They wanted some miracle, some proof. Jesus recognises these intentions and refuses to allow Satan to fool him.

Let us stop for a moment. What is actually wrong with asking God for a little bit of proof. If we could prove in a scientific way that God existed, I am sure it would be a great help for each of us. Nevertheless, there is a fundamental problem here. Trying to subject God to testing in this way is arrogance. An arrogance that is incapable of perceiving God. When we try imposing out test conditions on Him, we place ourselves above him and then look for physical proof. It forces us to ignore the whole dimension of love. Modern man only believes that which he can test and grasp. This lack of openness to love and interior listening closes the way to God. It is impossible to find God by searching in this way.

We cannot ask God to prove He is God. We then put ourselves above him, and in doing so make ourselves God. We put ourselves in the position of judging the truth from lies. Satan in his use of Scripture is playing on this theme. He is attempting to put himself in God’s place. Once there he will decide the truth. Satan uses his quote as a stand-alone reference. In this way, he is assuming that God really has nothing to say to us in the Bible as a whole. He relegates the Bible to a tool for supporting any deed.

Jesus on the other hand provides a better model. He refuses to put God to the test. He knows that to do so would already exclude the openness to accept the proof. He is able to put the Psalm into a broader context. He knows that the quote provided by Satan does not refer to earthly comfort and protection. It is about a much deeper comfort, the confidence that he will receive comfort in eternity.

We see that the debate is about how we can and cannot know God. If we decide to try proving God’s existence, we already put ourselves in a position where this becomes impossible. How can you prove Love? However, if we accept the Love of God, then we will know God.

Bible verses forming part of the discussion, but not quoted above:

(Psalm 91:11-12)

God will command his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will carry you in their arms, and you won't hurt your feet on the stones.

(Deut 6:16)

…don't try to make him prove that he can help you, as you did at Massah.

(Ex. 17:1-7)

The Israelites left the desert and moved from one place to another each time the LORD ordered them to. Once they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for them to drink. The people started complaining to Moses, "Give us some water!" Moses replied, "Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the LORD to the test?" But the people were thirsty and kept on complaining, "Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt just to let us and our families and our animals die of thirst?" Then Moses prayed to the LORD, "What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!" The LORD answered, "Take some of the leaders with you and go ahead of the rest of the people. Also take along the walking stick you used to strike the Nile River, and when you get to the rock at Mount Sinai, I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink." Moses did this while the leaders watched. The people had complained and tested the LORD by asking, "Is the LORD really with us?" So Moses named that place Massah, which means "testing" and Meribah, which means "complaining."