“You are a fire that takes away the coldness,
illuminates the mind with its Light, and causes me to know Your Truth. And I know that You are Beauty and Wisdom itself. The food of angels, You gave Yourself to human beings in the fire of Your Love. - Catherine of Siena - (Open your mind and heart
to receive the Light of God this day.)
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Is 26:1-6; Ps 118:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a Mt 7:21, 24-27 "Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. "'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who
listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’"
Reflection on the Scriptures
Have you had someone in your life who you would describe as your rock? Picture them right now. Think of their precious qualities and inherent goodness. You might want to take a moment to thank them
and tell them what they mean to you. It is often through those relationships that we encounter God. Matthew’s gospel invites us to have faith in God who is our eternal rock. God provides strength, love, and hope. God roots us and anchors us when the winds of life push and pull. We can ask ourselves if we are building the dreams of our
life on the rock, who is God. Or are we settling on the sand of cultural disruptions and superficiality which can blow us away from God when the storms surge in? . . . Here’s an idea: find an actual rock in your yard or during a walk, that speaks to you. Place it on your desk, nightstand, windowsill, or kitchen counter. Each
time you look at it, thank God for anchoring you. Thank God for being your rock and for speaking to you through the love of others. Build your house on rock and let the dreaming begin. - by Susan Naatz
Also reprinted in Critical Questions in Christian Contemplative Practice, by James Arraj and Philip St. Romain. Just what
Bernadette Roberts' experience of Christian mysticism was like is not a large part of this book, but it is striking that her no-self experiences began very young and it is possible they colored her practice of the Christian contemplative life. While she recognizes the differences between these two journeys, she regards "the second movement as a continuation and completion of the first." (p. 106) And she sees a possible progress of spiritual development starting "with the Christian experience of
self's union with God... But when the self disappears forever into this Great Silence, we come upon the Buddhist discovery of no-self..." (p. 109) "Then finally, we come upon the peak of Hindu discovery, namely: "that" which remains when there is no self is identical with "that" which Is, the one Existent that is all that Is." (p. 109) Given this
kind of schema I can only surmise that the original Christian mystical experience that Bernadette Roberts is talking about is not that of John of the Cross at all, for what St. John is talking about is of an intensity and depth that it would be a completion of these Buddhist and Hindu experiences. It is an experience of what lies in the heart of this emptiness that in some marvelous way exists. Once the no-self experience is placed above the Christian experience of union, then there is an almost irresistible movement towards reinterpreting Christian dogma in the light of this experience. This seems to be what is happening when Bernadette Roberts says, "and when I finally saw 'that' which remains when there is no self, I thought of Christ and how he too had seen 'that' which remained - a seeing which is the resurrection itself." (p. 131)
Or "...even the seeing of the Trinitarian aspect of God is not the final step. The final step is where there is no Trinity at all, or when the aspects of God are seen as One and all that Is." (p. 132) This approach immediately runs into immense theological difficulties which threaten to obscure the real contribution that Bernadette Roberts can make to Catholic thought. We can accept the value of her
experience without being compelled to accept her interpretation of its relationship to Christianity. If she is experiencing what the Buddhists call enlightenment, then she can help us understand the nature of this experience, for she is describing it afresh and from a Western point of view and in a non-Buddhist language, and by doing so she can help us to deal with the difficult problem of how to relate Christian mysticism to Buddhist enlightenment.
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