spirit Archives - Shepherd of Faith

Little bit of heaven!

“Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Matthew 18:20. This past week during prayer group the truth of this verse was most evident. Our group usually has 4-5 women who show up every Friday at 8 am. We either discuss a book, pray the Rosary or Chaplet of Divine Mercy or discuss a reflection for the day. Only two of us were available this week but we agreed to meet anyway. The funny thing is that we never agreed on what we would do, so we both showed up with something to discuss. I don’t think either of us were “married” to the idea that we had to discuss what we prepared. I think we were both open to let the Spirit lead and boy did it ever!

My prayer “partner” this week shared a book she was reading on the topic of St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castles. We had just enough time to discuss the intro to the book which summarized St. Teresa’s take on the 7 Castles of the soul. All I can say is WOW! I immediately came home and ordered the book for my kindle and also dusted off some CDs on the topic which I had purchased during a retreat I attended several years ago. God is good! We sat for an hour dissecting each paragraph of the intro and I think we both walked away with a deeper understanding of what St. Teresa was getting at.

After reading about one particular “castle” of the soul, I got the sense that St. Teresa was describing one’s ability to live in constant awareness. This reminded me of something I read in another book about living in the moment and developing a sense of awareness. The book described awareness as the ability to look at something without judgment and thereby see it much clearer. For example: if you look at a tree without thinking about its color, height, type, etc. – the tree itself becomes clearer in your vision, it seems closer. It’s beauty literally jumps out at you.

I continued to ponder my group discussion throughout the day, especially the idea of awareness. I realized the same rule of non-judgment we are urged to apply to inanimate objects also applies to people. If we look at people without judgment, they too can become much clearer. What does that mean? We see them for what they really are – children of God, souls on a journey. When our ability to see them becomes clearer, they become more beautiful in our sight. When they become more beautiful in our sight, our capacity to love them increases. We grow closer to them and to God and we journey deeper into the interior castle.

St. Teresa of Avila is a Catholic saint but her book on the interior castles is not just for Catholics. It’s focus is on the growth and transformation of the soul and not on Catholic theology. I highly recommend this book to everyone but especially to those who truly believe they’ve “arrived.” Upon reading this book you will soon learn you are not where you thought you were in terms of your spirituality and your relationship to God.

Of course, my God never lets a day go by without providing some spiritual reading that coincides with what I am currently meditating on. Once again, here is what I got this morning from Richard Rohr’s website:

I believe that God gives us our soul- our deepest identity, our True Self, our unique blueprint – already at our very conception. Our unique little bit of heaven is installed by the Manufacturer at its beginning! We are given a span of years to discover it, to choose it, and to live our own unique destiny to the full. The discovery of our own soul is frankly what we are here for.

Your soul is who you are in God and who God is in you. We do not “make” or “create” our souls. We only awaken them, allow them, and live out of their deepest messages. Normally, we need to unlearn a lot of false messages – given by family, religion, and culture – in order to get back to that foundational life which is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Yes, transformation is often more about unlearning than learning, which is why the religious traditions call it “conversion” or “repentance.”

As a young friar, I remember being very confused about Jesus beginning his preaching with the word “change” (Mark 1:15, Matthew 3:2). What was I supposed to change from? I was a good Catholic, a Franciscan, soon to be a priest, and trying to keep my vows. I assumed he meant it for other “bad” people. But those roles and identities were still all “forms,” not necessarily the substance of my soul. I hope you get the point. The false self is all the more delusional the more it appears to be “good.”

Saint Teresa’s description of the final castle sounds like what Rohr describes as “our unique little bit of heaven.” Are we willing to work on dying (to self) to get there? Isn’t that what we are here for? Step inside! God bless you!

Spiritual offering

In my post of March 3 Prayer is the offering in spirit I shared the words of Tertullian, priest. I promised to share some thoughts – so here they are.

“God is a spirit, and so he looks for worshipers who are like himself.” God is a spiritual being and so expects us to relate in the same manner. How we relate is through prayer! How we pray is up to us – whether we recite a prepared prayer (our own or one taught by the Church), whether we “shoot from the hip”, whether we contemplate, meditate or just sit silently in His presence. I don’t think God cares as much about how we relate as He does about whether we do it wholeheartedly. There are different levels of spiritual maturity and so not everyone will pray in the same manner. God’s ultimate desire is for us to be in right relationship with Him.

The first paragraph that touched me from Tertullian’s treatise was this one: since God asks for prayer offered in spirit and in truth, how can he deny anything to this kind of prayer? How great is the evidence of its power, as we read and hear and believe.

“Prayer offered in spirit in truth” – honest to goodness heartfelt pleas and praise – that’s what that means to me. To sit without thoughts or distractions, in His presence believing that He is listening and believing that He loves you unconditionally and has your best interests at heart. THAT is when prayer has the power – the power to comfort, strengthen and heal!

“How can he deny anything to this kind of prayer?” Isn’t that comforting? Our God is an awesome God. He loves us more than we can imagine. He answers the prayers we offer in spirit and truth.

“How great is the evidence of its power as we read, hear and believe” – I’ve believed in the power of prayer since I was a little girl – watching my mother pray fervently for so many things and seeing God take hold each and every time. She believed in a higher power and she was confident He would come through for her each time and He did. She never ceased praising Him, knowing that all good things come from Him.

Tertullian writes about how we’ve read, heard and believe in the evidence of its power. How true that is! So many books have been written about the power of prayer – the power of a praying wife, the power of a praying mother, the power ……..We’ve heard in many different circles of the power of prayer. Scripture itself tells us: where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. How awesome is that! I know I preach about the power of prayer every chance I get because I’ve experienced it myself, in the past and just recently. But it’s not enough to just read and hear about it. We MUST believe in its power. Colossians 4:2 tells us: devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. If you have any doubt about the power of prayer, I would recommend you keep a prayer journal. Write your prayers in the journal each day and check back every once in a while to see HOW those prayers have been answered. I can guarantee you will doubt no more and your awareness of God’s goodness and grace will increase. It will change your life! You may have to keep a gratitude journal as well!

As I look back on my life and the prayers I’ve offered in spirit and truth, I realize how much God has heard and answered the prayers I’ve offered earnestly and wholeheartedly for others and in communion with others! Never underestimate the power of prayer! God bless you!