Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 23. 2000
The Southern Cross, Page 9
lna Nutshell
To mature spiritually, Christians do well to seek the counsel
of the church’s ministers or others expert in spiritual
direction, Pope John Paul II said in “The Church in
America. ”
A spiritual relationship with God may he strengthened by
helping at a soup kitchen or by spending time in meditation.
Who takes spirituality seriously? Cardinals and cab drivers;
young fathers and aging grandmothers; teachers, students.
A frantic prayer
of petition and praise
By Carole Norris Greene
Catholic News Service
T
o pray effectively, give back to
God his own words, spiritual friends
told me in conversations over the
years.
I never forgot their counsel. It re
ally guided me a few years ago when a
.iamily member was to appear in a
New York City court to answer seri
ous charges.
My friends had stressed:
—You can’t pray with God’s words
if you haven’t put them in you! Read
ing the Bible and seeking explana
tions of what you don’t understand are
essential to growing spiritually.
—Don’t memorize lines. Meditate
on them, then ask the Spirit to bring
to mind what you need to recall.
—Praise God, even when a matter
is difficult.
My relative’s New York hearing was
scheduled for 5:30 p.m. That morning a
car was rented for the drive from Balti
more, Md., to Manhattan. A friend was
asked to accompany him because incar
ceration was a possibility, and the car
would need to be returned.
The last thing I expected that after
noon at work was a panicked call. The
friend had borrowed the car hours ago
for a “quick run” and hadn’t returned.
The blood drained from my face, for
I knew the implication: I would have
to make that arduous drive to New
York and back, all in time for work
the next morning.
I left work, heart racing, tears fall
ing uncontrollably once I reached my
car. Then I remembered the admoni
tion to pray — even when trauma
tized. I forced my thinking away from
the problem and onto God.
“0 God!” I cried, “you said that the
battle is yours, not mine! Please enter
this battle. You are our only hope!”
My mind was groping for anything
from Scripture about how God fought
FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE
for his people. I spoke out loud, recall
ing God’s parting of the Red Sea, and
sending manna from heaven to the
exiled Israelites. I talked about how he
honored King Jehoshaphat’s prayer
when Judah was threatened, and how
Jesus healed the sick and the pos
sessed. God was merciful in those
situations, and I asked him to be mer
ciful in ours.
I sang the 23rd Psalm, for the
words came to me readily that way. I
thought of petitions in the Mass,
“Lord, have mercy, Christ have
mercy.... Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of
power and might!” I also recalled my
own failings and asked forgiveness.
Finally I reached my relative. We
would have two hours to make the
four-hour journey to New York!
Before reaching the expressway in
Baltimore, however, I saw a car up a
side street resembling the rented
white Crown Victoria. It was! The
driver wasn’t in it, but when he re
turned moments later I demanded an
explanation.
He shook his head and claimed to
have had an unbelievable day, which
he would explain on the way to New
York. The men sped off, leaving me
shaken but grateful to God.
That was just the beginning of
God’s answer to my frantic prayers of
petition and praise. The cases ahead of
my relative’s took so long that he
made it in time for his own. And not
only was he exonerated, but when he
and his friend had arrived at New
York’s Lincoln Tunnel they were
waved through by a toll attendant.
They were going so fast he mistook
them for the police.
Good thing. Neither one had
enough toll money!
So, whenever I am tempted to think
that God is not listening, I think again,
then remember his faithfulness.
(Greene is an associate editor of
Faith Alive! and CNS columns.)
What shapes everyday
spirituality?
By Father Lawrence E. Mick
Catholic News Service
T
have a friend who goes ballistic
any time I talk about “the spiritual
life.” It’s not that he isn’t spiritual
himself; he is. He just doesn’t like the
terms “spiritual” or “spirituality.” For
some reason, these terms suggest to
him an unbodily approach to life that
denies our human condition.
My friend feels strongly that we do
not live as pure spirits and that every
part of our human life is lived out in
bodily existence.
Actually, I would say that every life
A primary source of spirituality for
Catholics should be the church’s lit
urgy. Vatican Council II’s Constitu
tion on the Sacred Liturgy insists
that, in the liturgy, “full and active
participation by all the people is the
aim to be considered before all else; for
it is the primary and indispensable
source from which the faithful are to
derive the true Christian spirit” (No.
14).
The liturgy can shape us in a vari
ety of ways.
—Hearing the word of God pro
claimed and preached each Sunday
gives us guidance for daily living.
—Sharing in the body and blood of
CNS photo by W.P. Wittman Limited
is a spiritual life. The crucial question
is what spirit shapes it. Is it truly the
Spirit of Christ or is it some lesser
spirit?
Christian spirituality can take
many forms.
Simply put, our spirituality is our
characteristic way of approaching God
and life. Spirituality encompasses ev
ery dimension of our lives.
Our spirituality is shaped by many
different experiences. Some of these
experiences occur in moments of quiet
solitude when we experience the
Lord’s presence in prayer and contem
plation. Others occur in busily active
moments shared with others.
My relationship with God might be
strengthened as much by helping at a
soup kitchen as by spending an hour
in meditation.
Tell of a prayer you rely upon — and why.
“A prayer that has particular spiritual value to me ... is as follows: T shall pass through this world but once. If,
therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do, let me do it now ..., for I shall not pass this
way again.” — Jeanne C. Enteman, Washington, N.J.
“I rely upon the Serenity Prayer, basically because I have two teen-agers. It helps me to focus. The key line for me
is the plea for wisdom that I might know the difference between the things I can and cannot change.” — Louise
Barone, West Greenwich, R.I.
“For me, it is the hour J. spend in the chapel ... every Sunday night. I sit there and feel that I can communicate
well with the Lord at that time. It is a time that I can bring the challenges of the parish before God and ask for
guidance.” — Father James McGough, Gulfport, Miss.
An upcoming edition asks: Tell of the ministry in prisons and jails conducted in your diocese. If you would like to respond for
possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1100.
the Lord in Communion gives us
strength to live as Christ’s body
throughout the week.
—The music can inspire us, nour
ishing joy and peace.
—The very fact of gathering with
brothers and sisters in faith brings us
support in living out the Gospel.
In the liturgy we assemble as
Christ’s visible body. We share in the
Lord’s body and blood so that we will
become more fully his body, the
means of his presence in our world
today.
The more fully we enter into the
experience of the liturgy, the more we
allow it to shape our minds and our
hearts according to Christ’s mind and
heart.
From the liturgy we are sent to
carry Christ’s presence into all the
activities of everyday life. That kind of
spirituality can make all of life a
prayer of praise to God.
(Father Mick is a priest of the
Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, and
a free-lance writer.)
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