Weakness with watchfulness will stand, when strength with too much confidence fails. Weakness, with acknowledgment of it, is the fittest seat and subject for God to perfect His strength in; for consciousness of our infirmities drives us out of ourselves to Him in whom our strength lies. - Richard Sibbes (When I am weak, God supplies what is
lacking.) _____ Christianity and Spirituality monthly forum
Thursday, November 2, 2023 is canceled December 7 is still on unless otherwise noted: 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. CST Open Forum: questions and topics for discussion welcomed Free
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Wis 3:1-9; PS 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Rom 6:3-9 Jn 6:37-40 Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone
who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose
anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal
life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”
Reflection on the Scriptures
Yesterday and today, many have been visiting cemeteries, which, as the word itself implies, is the “place of
rest”, as we wait for the final awakening. It is lovely to think that it will be Jesus himself to awaken us. Jesus himself revealed that the death of the body is like a sleep from which He awakens us. With this faith we pause — even spiritually — at the graves of our loved ones, of those who loved us and did us good. But today we are called to remember everyone, even those who no one remembers. We remember the victims of war and violence; the many “little ones” of the world, crushed by hunger
and poverty; we remember the anonymous who rest in the communal ossuary. We remember our brothers and sisters killed because they were Christian; and those who sacrificed their lives to serve others. We especially entrust to the Lord, those who have left us during the past year.
-by Pope Francis, 2014 Sermon on All Soul's
Day
St. John of the Cross and the Beginning of Contemplation by James Arraj From St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. J. Jung, Part II, Chapter 3. Inner Growth Books, 1986.
From Meditation to
Contemplation
As long as consolation and sweetness remain, the beginner is satisfied that God is approving of his life of prayer. However, for those called to contemplation this state cannot last. It is here,
after the soul has become accustomed to the feelings and consolations of beginners, that St. John introduces the night of sense. Consolation and sweetness begin to diminish and aridity seizes the soul. The sense of value and accomplishment in praying evaporates. The night of sense is the beginning of contemplation; St. John calls it arid, purgative contemplation or dark fire. It is the herald of the more perceptible contemplation to come, and its purpose is to detach the soul from
sensible knowledge and prepare it for this higher way of knowing.
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