Your Pastoral Coach

The Spirit of Carmel

I have always been attracted to Carmelite spirituality. I love St. Therese, St, John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Avila. They inspire me in my contemplative journey. Today I received a prayer card from the Carmel of Terre Haute monastery in anticipation of the feast of St. Therese on October 1st. I encourage you to click on the monastery's link. Just browsing through their web page you feel a sense of peace. It is beautiful. They also have a shop with great art. I have ordered icons from them before and they were well made.

Here's the prayer I got today...
"Creator God, You made all things good and looked upon them with love. Our world is now threatened by violence and terrorism, famine and disease, sin and death. We turn to you, Father, with the childlike confidence of Saint Therese. We ask you, through her intercession, to help us overcome the evils of our day with renewing power of love.
Please hear and answer this prayer and all the petitions we hold in our hearts.
We pray in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen"

Technorati Tags: Carmel, Therese, Convent, Spirituality

How do you know God's will?

How do we discern God’s will?

This is THE question of our spiritual journey.  Life is nothing but choices..., are we making the right ones?  How do we know?  I think there are four stages of discerning God’s will in our lives and at any given point we have decisions in all stages.  Please read through this and share your thoughts.

First, seek to dwell in the house of the Lord every day of your life (Psalm 27).  Seek to grow in holiness and union with God through meditation, contemplation, prayer, praise, sacraments, scripture, devotions, wise counsel, and many other means.  Devote time to God so that God can transform your heart into His.  This week is my wife’s birthday.  I’m pretty sure she will like her present because I have devoted enough time to her to know her heart (at least enough for a present).  The more we walk, think, speak, and act in the presence of God, the easier it will be to discern His will.  This is not a quick fix…

“Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2

Second, pray for the spiritual gifts that will help you with discernment.  Pray to have a heart that only finds delight in pleasing God. 

“MOST HIGH, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart, and give me right faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, wisdom and understanding, Lord, that I may carry out your holy and true command. Amen.”

St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer to discern God’s will said in front of the crucifix

Third, live in the question for some time.  Don’t rush.  Since we are all the body of Christ, God uses people to give us hints.  We will have a conversation with someone at the bus stop or get a call from an old friend or read a blog entry which sheds light on our question. 

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6: 16

Then, as long as our choice furthers our love for God and our love for one another, confidently follow your heart.  Say yes to the whisper of God, to the divine ripples made by the gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit.  Our heart will know.  If we are loving God and live in His presence, how can we go wrong?  The journey will be perfect. 

“In every one of our activities, every instant in our lives, God is waiting to be revealed through our actions. Obviously, we can and sometimes do take a pass on letting God be known through our actions, but that doesn't change the reality that each of our actions has divine potential”  Steve Bogner, May 2005

“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. “

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

This thread started in Steve Bogner's Blog about Willpower.  This topic is SO important, that I also wanted to make an entry here.  I'd love to hear people's thoughts.

Your Pastoral Coach mentioned...

Catholicism, Holiness, and Spirituality had a nice piece called Some new Catholic blogs where he mentioned "Your Pastoral Coach"...

Call it either 'Beacon for Life' or 'Your Pastoral Coach', but under either title, Hector Muñoz shares his thoughts on applying Catholic faith and spirituality to leadership skills and life in general. He has a great background too, and I've found his blog to be a breath of fresh air.

I am honored, humbled, and grateful!

She's off to college

Well...., my daughter is off to be a Freshman in college.  We just took her to Fordham University in New York City this weekend.  It was an emotional transition for her..., the excitement of making new friends, of swimming at the college level, of gaining knowledge about social work and art, establishing a good friendship with her roommate...  There were also the concerns of managing the schedule, participating in rigorous (and early!) practices, moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar...

I have to say that the one making most of the emotional transition was me.  I kept getting images of her as a little girl walking around the house with the denim skirt she "required" to wear, wearing heart shaped sun glasses, and a little plastic purse.  Also of the many hours improving her diving skills at the pool.    My daughter is a freshman...?  Already?  We need big events like this to help us realize that time is really passing and fast.  I'm grateful for all the wonderful memories of the past, and hopeful for the future.  To me, this is a reminder to live today, in the moment, so that we can continue to have memories of love and joy, and hopefully help others with the same.

I have had some trouble accepting the high cost of this college.  However, sitting at the campus church before leaving (it's a Jesuit school), looking at the beautiful stain-glass windows, and feeling the sacredness of the place, all I was feeling was gratitude that she will have the opportunity to not only grow in mind and heart, but also in soul...

Newsweek's Spirituality in America

In From the specific to the overstated,   Douglas LeBlanc provides a good analysis of Newsweek's cover on religion and spirituality. "Newsweek’s latest cover package is a religion writer’s dream — 16 pages of prime editorial space to discuss American religions in their ever-expanding diversity and custom-tailored worldviews."

I have just began reading it, but wanted to share it with everyone.  Enjoy...

Gifts for Spiritual Growth

"Dad, what are gifts of the Holy Spirit?" I had to think a bit about this question from my daughter last night. Deep within us we have potential gifts that help us grow closer to God and to live our faith. When we say yes to the call from God stirring in our soul, and when we pray with the intention to grow in divine love, these gifts manifest. They help us grow spiritually and they in turn grow stronger. We call them the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some of them help us with our faith, others with our will.

The first, Wisdom, helps us see our everyday life in relation to God. It helps us see the things which are of God around us. Understanding helps us comprehend these things, it helps us realize the deeper truths of our interactions. Knowledge helps us grasp these truths even when they are mysteries greater than our mind. The gift of Counsel helps us in reflecting, discerning, and consulting on matters of faith. Piety helps us direct our focus and activities towards God. It helps us live lives of prayer, praise, love, and service of neighbor. The gift of Fortitude gives us the courage to overcome fears, to act on the will of God for us, to live the radical message of Jesus. Finally, Fear of the Lord helps us discipline our pleasures and senses, it helps us demonstrate appropriate reverence for God. Michael Downey, author of The New Dictionary of Christian Spirituality and the source of some of the comments says that "...one fears God out of love instead of loving God out of fear.

These gifts, inspired by Isaiah 11:2-3, may not be described in words common to our everyday language, but they have everything to do with living our spirituality in every day life.

A prayer for peace

I've been thinking a lot about Pat Robertson's statements and remembering all the conversations with Catholics and other Christians that feel so comfortable advocating war. In my local diosecean newspaper there was a letter to the editor a few weeks ago where someone was questioning the wisdom of the Iraq war. The following week someone else wrote back saying in so many words "how dare you, don't you know this great country was formed in the battlefield?" Why are we not waging peace with more passion?

Here's a prayer from Pope John XXIII (1881 - 1963)...

Dear Lord,
may you banish from the hearts of men and women, whatever might endanger peace.
May you transform each of us into witness of truth, justice, and brotherly love.
May you enkindle the wills of all, so that we may overcome the barriers that divide,
cherish the bonds of mutual charity,
understand others, and pardon those who have done us wrong.
by virtue of your action,
may all peoples of the earth become as brothers and sisters,
and may the most longed for peace blossom forth and reign forever.
Amen

Pat Robertson - an integrity issue

I just read Pat Robertson's apology for saying the US should assasinate Hugo Chavez in CNN.  He said...

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping;"

To be a Christian leader you need to have integrity to both the teachings of Jesus and to one's word. Sadly, Pat Robertson failed to demonstrate his Christian leadership in both counts. First, he promoted the assasination of President Chavez. Regardless of what we may think of Chavez, it is against the teachings of Jesus to advocate for violence. The problem here is that Robertson has advocated for the doctrine of pre-emptive war. Once you do that, it is a slippery slide. Where do you draw the line? To have integrity to Jesus' teachings is to advocate for peace. "The promotion of peace in the world is an integral part of the Church's mission of continueing Christ's work of redemption on earth." (Compendium of the social doctrine of the church, par. 516) Second, he failed as a Christian leader by not showing the integrity and humility necessary to truly repent for his comments and apologize. I mention this not to attack Pat Robertson, but to use this as an example of what not to do if we truly want to lead as Jesus led.

As long as we lead with integrity to the Gospels and our rich social justice tradition, we would not have to apologize later.  "Thou shall not kill..."  Life can be so simple...

Quote: Safe Drinking

"If your eyes hurt after you drink coffee, you have to take the spoon out of the cup." Norm Crosby

Best tasting coffee!

I'm just drinking a wonderfully tasting and aromatic cup of coffee. What's best is that I'm making a difference in the world. Sometimes the best way to make a difference is through the choices we make when we consume. I love a good cup of coffee and I ussually search for good beans and ground them daily. Last month I bought coffee through the Catholic Relief Services' Fair Trade Program .  They have selected a group of companies that treat the coffee farmers fairly, compensate them well, and donate money to Catholic Relief Services and other agencies that help them improve their education, health, and well-being. I bought from a company called "Peace Coffee" and selected "Tsunami Relef Roast" and "Birchwood Breakfast Blend." So far I have only tried the Tsunami Relief one. It is strong and flavorful, I only need to put in 3/4 of the amount I used to put in with other brands. I absolutely love it! The Sumatra coffee farmers in Aceh are also loving it! If you are a coffee drinker, consider buying from Catholic Relef Services' Fair Trade Program. Make a difference!