Go ahead!
Courage! In the spiritual life, those who do not go forward go backwards. It is the same with a boat which must always go forward. If it stands still, the wind will blow it back.
- Padre Pio (This theme of “the two ways” is found
throughout the Scriptures and spiritual writers. Which way have you been going lately?)
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Christianity and Spirituality monthly forum
April 4, 2024, 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. CDT
Topic: "Christianity and Reincarnation," by Philip St. Romain
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Ex 32:7-14; Ps 106:19-20, 21-22, 23
Jn 5:31-47
Jesus said to the Jews:
"If I
testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.
You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept human testimony,
but I say this so that you may be saved.
He was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater than John's.
The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.
Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word remaining in you,
because you do not believe in the
one whom he has sent.
You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have
life.
"I do not accept human praise;
moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.
I came in the name of my Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another
and do
not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father:
the one who will accuse you is Moses,
in whom you have placed your hope.
For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me.
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my
words?"
Reflection on the Scriptures
As we near the end of the fourth week of Lent, we are invited to continue reflecting on those barriers that prevent us from encountering God. The hard truth is that
sometimes, we're the barriers. It’s our attitudes, our beliefs, and our resistances that can be the primary barriers. We are called to be a discerning people who go deep within―sometimes to uncomfortable spaces―to distinguish what comes from our false notions of how things should be and where the invitations to see things anew surface. As you dive deeper into this Lenten season, perhaps a good practice to ask yourself is what barriers are you being invited to remove so that you can be present to a God who cares deeply for you or others. -by Robby Francis
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 4. Inner Growth Books, 1986.
Three Difficult Texts
The third and, final text comes from the Living Flame of Love: "Since God, then, as giver, is communing with the soul by means of loving and simple knowledge, the soul must likewise commune with Him by receiving with a loving and simple knowledge or advertence, so that knowledge may be united with knowledge and love with love."(51) When "the deep and delicate voice of God" is heard and "is
conscious of being led into silence, and hearkens, it must forget even that loving advertence of which I have spoken, so that it may remain free for that which is then desired of it; for it must practice that advertence only when it is not conscious of being brought into solitude or rest or forgetfulness or attentiveness of the spirit, which is always accompanied by a certain interior absorption." (52) The proper interpretation of this passage demands an examination of the context that it is imbedded in, as well as an appreciation of the nuances of what St. John means by loving attentiveness. In the number that precedes this passage he writes: "For
God secretly and quietly infuses into the soul loving knowledge and wisdom without any intervention of specific acts, although sometimes He specifically produces them in the soul for some length of time. And the soul has then to walk with loving advertence to God, without making specific acts, but conducting itself, as we have said, passively, and making no efforts of its own, but preserving this simple, pure and loving advertence, like one that opens his eyes with the advertence of
love."(53)
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