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Learning to Observe

Despite our denials, we presume that our ‘ witnessing-to ’ has an impact, blinding us as to how ‘ witnessing-from ’ others surpasses our presumptions of being better. One reason for this failure is an inability to appreciate how the least considered person often deepens our faith not by what they say, but by what they do. The reason to ignore this richness concerns an inability to be still and notice, amidst the surrounding confusion, the kingdom’s mysterious workings. Hence, the Magister’s insight regarding the widow opens unperceived paths if we care to listen: “ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but sh...
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Empathy

This time of year is characterised by an invitation to be compassionate and dig into our pockets. This call to think of others is desirable, but it raises questions about how to interpret it, enlightened by the Magister, rather than social activism.  Understanding his empathy, it is insightful that when the Magister speaks of the sinful woman’s search for forgiveness, he stresses her love: “ Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown ”(Luke 7,47a). Considering the nature of my search, I find this affirmation disturbing since he continues: “ But whoever has forgiven little loves little ” (Luke 7,47b). Yes, “ Acta non verba ”; it is better to do well than to speak well!  Describing her love, the evangelist uses ‘ egapesen ’ (she loved), emphasised by ‘ polu ’ (much): her loving was a ‘ committed love , greatly so’. This should serve me as an eye-opener to what it means ‘ to repent ’ (Metanoia), which we often associate with doing less (s...
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Tempus Adventus

 Advent is upon us:  a threshold recalling us to Bethlehem, hard to fathom as parties, shopping and benevolence dominate. Nevertheless, it offers us the opportunity to renew our faith, which involves rethinking our traditions, especially our Christmas crib, increasingly replaced by decorations that ignore this season’s worthiness, which intends to awaken us to a hope rooted in faith.  This hope underlined by the enactment of the Christmas crib at Greccio , which was not a romanticised version of Bethlehem: it offered those present an opportunity to understand the manger as preparatory to comprehending the cross, itself fundamental to being childlike. We are, therefore, invited to grasp the significance of Paul’s affirmation: “ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being...
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Consciousess

Responsibility proposes availability underlined by open-heartedness, embellished by the Spirit. It envisages an otherness that seeks to understand things differently, not due to ideological persuasions but a means to deepen one’s baptism. It is thus interesting to note how the Magister emphasises his otherness as a means to greater insights still evolving: “ I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now…he will guide you into all the truth …”(John 16,12-15). Seasoned discipleship points the way if one intends to understand the Magister’s promise, but self-centred conviction is not a guarantee of enriching insights into discipleship.   This nominated otherness is not mere intellectual affirmations or lived-out spiritual haughtiness. Its significance can be best understood in the silence that underlines intimate prayer: a consciousness expressive of Isaiah’s “ Here am I, here am I ” (61,5). Since a disciple is not greater than his teacher (Matthew 10,24), t...
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Recognising our Agendas

To judge others is qualified by distinguishing between judging others and the need to recognise others for who they are: the latter is positive because it provides us with the clearness of mind to avoid delusions. Recognising the depravity encountered in others offers us an opportunity not to ignore our unrighteousness, “ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ” (Romans 3,23). This recognition entails a process, which integrates the formation of our conscience; hence, the need to let the Magister illumine our hearts and minds to avoid delusions (John 8,12). We, therefore, need to listen carefully as doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves (James 1,22) because “ I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves ” (Matthew 10,16).  The formation of conscience requires that we have no self-serving agendas that obscure the truth. These venal motivations impair truth because, self-absorbed in our subjectiv...
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Sodalitas: renewing our fellowship

“ We few, we happy few, we band of brothers ” concerns the rousing Saint Crispin’s Day Speech given by the King in Shakespeare’s Henry V. Exhorting his men to greater valour, the speech enhances the victory against the French at Agincourt. Applied, it enhances a better understanding when we speak of a shared discipleship as we realise that, despite the claims, few intend to actualise them. Crucially, this failure enhances the illusion of knowing yourself and, consequently, judging others.   Fellowship requests an inner equilibrium capable of eliminating the fear of the other: to recognise in the other, the other half of myself, for as we are told, “ Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another ” (Proverbs 27,17). This understanding gives way to deeper insights: “ But if we walk in the light, as he is the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son, cleanses us from all sin ” (1John 1,7).  These insights help us redefine our understanding...
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The Inner Core

Hopkins, of whom I can never tire because he often says what I want to say but cannot, sets the mood. Personal boundaries protect the inner core of one’s identity: a sustained insight that underlines our inter-relationships. This essential inner core, expressive of values and personal dignity, must be intact as inter-relations are transformed or surpassed (Brett Beasley, Acting Christ: The Christocentric Exemplarism of Gerald Manley Hopkins , Literature and Theology, Vol. 34, Issue 2, June 2020, pp. 228-244). No one bestows nor should anyone plunder this inner core: it is proper to each person.   It is easily forgotten that dignity is a shared value, not an exclusive possession: honouring personal boundaries also means respecting the boundaries of others. Accordingly, personal formation is identified with wholeness, which includes emotional stability and clear-mindedness. Lacking this understanding, we mimic Lear’s blindness to Goneril’s and Regan’s meaningless flattery and Cordeli...
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A CAPITE AD CALCEM

 Encountering the Magister’s face, now mirrored in other faces, challenges us to re-assess our self-understanding as we proclaim His presence. When we are unwilling to renew our faith “ from top to bottom ” (a capite ad calcem), an unnoticed dichotomy between our affirmations and practice accompanies. Somehow, it does not worry us: confined to an ornate subjectivity, we convince ourselves otherwise by wearing particular garbs or evoking particular devotions, overlooking our perfidies. Some claim innocence seeking truth, but “ light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile; so ere you find where light in darkness lies, your light grows dark by losing of your eyes ” (William Shakespeare, Love’s Labor’s Lost , I.1).  Carefulness is required, because blinded, our subjectivity dressed up as objectivity is confined by prejudices, self-gratifications and claims whose purpose is our comforts, not our discipleship. Despite claims to being Minorem, our choices speak otherwise because...
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Vivo memor leti …

To l ive remembering death (Vive memor leti) might sound pessimistic, but it recalls us to our senses because we easily make choices that ignore the limits imposed by death. This is one reason why we need to focus on our familiarity – the little things in life that illuminate us as light gives way to the magical: the privilege to live and let others live, to think and understand, to enjoy and appreciate, to love and be loved. Accordingly, life’s familiarity enhances our discipleship because it reminds us how God reveals Himself and challenges us to understand beyond ourselves. It should not, therefore, surprise us that God uses familiarity to attract our attention as He did with Moses: “ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There, the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within the bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fi...
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Manum misi in ignem – St. Jerome - Praying with the Psalms

Preamble      Unfortunately, most encounter the Psalms within a liturgical setting as short interludes between one reading and another. We take it for granted that they exist without necessarily comprehending their origins. Ordained ministers are obliged to recite them daily, forming the backbone of their ministry (CCC 276, § 2, n.3): ignoring their spiritual richness, decadence infiltrates.       The Psalms animate some parish communities: they are regularly recited, but this practice is not sufficiently diffused. They come alive within the monastic communities whose days and nights are regulated by their chanting, whose breath is synchronised as they pray the Psalms in the name of the faith community. But what about those beyond the ‘Claustrum’: how can we benefit from the Psalms? It is this question that addresses this reflection. Henceforth, insights that have proven helpful to praying with the Psalms are shared. I am indebted to former students, m...
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DULCE EST DESIPERE IN LOCO - the sweetness of foolishness

Yes, i t is sweet to be foolish at times : to realise that I need to become all things to all so that I can witness the Magister, disregarding my rights and status (1 Corinthians 9, 15-18). By contrast, God chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; He chooses what is weak to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1,27). This insight strengthens the sweetness of our foolishness because we are instruments in God’s hands. Some presume that discipleship is a personal initiative rather than a response to the Magister’s call: “ to deny oneself and take up the cross ” (Mark 8,34). This confused comprehension proves wasteful because it reinforces our ineptness. Pontificating, patronising, moralising, and scapegoating mark this path: afraid to taste the sweetness of being foolish, we identify with those who appear strongest. It would be mistaken to presume that this desire is not widespread despite claims to be Minorem. Experience teaches that despite the claims and pretensions, the dres...
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ANGUSTUM OSTIUM

How often have I heard the Gospel proclaim, “ Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me ”(Matthew 16,24)! Three questions accompany this affirmation: (i). “ What does ‘deny myself’ imply ”? (ii). “ What does the reference to the cross mean ”? (iii). “ Why are these qualities specified as conditions to discipleship ”? These questions increasingly preoccupy me because, celebrating the thirty-ninth anniversary of my ordination, like a good accountant, I need to add up my ‘ numbers ’ and discover the results: numbers do not lie: wisdom demands self-criticism because “ the unexamined life is not worth living ” (Plato, Apology , 38a5-6). Thinking, examining my life, another Gospel passage draws my attention: “ Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to ” (Luke 13,24). The narrow door - the a ngustum ostium  -is identified with the cross because, “ Whoever wants...
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CHEAP GRACE

This reflection, an introduction, aims to explore Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the term because he articulated it most famously in his 1937 “ Nachfolge ”, translated as “ The Cost of Discipleship ”, written as a critique of Nazism and a complacent Lutheran church. Another reflection will explore the Catholic understanding of the term.  Independent of differences, the need to discuss this theme is obvious, because God’s graciousness is abused by transforming it into a comfortable, easy commodity whereby a faith that challenges our affirmations, lifestyles and values is downplayed. It is mistaken to limit this laissez-faire attitude to the laity: the real crisis underlying religious life and priesthood is our complacency, which prevents a radical rethinking of our charisma.    Cheap grace concerns “ the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace ...
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BOUNDARIES

 Speaking of boundaries, not to be confused with imposed restrictions, the City College of New York’s motto accompanies: “Respice, Adspice, Prospice” (Look to the Past; Look to the Present; Look to the Future). Boundaries invite us to consider our past as a means to understand the present and thus, provide for later events. This exercise is interpersonal because “ No man is an island, entire of itself. Each is part of the continent, a part of the main ” (John Donne, No Man is an Island ).  Boundaries resemble invisible bridges, enhancing our humanity by opening passages to appreciate others and how our differences can enrich our self-understanding. Lacking boundaries encourages violence, blinding us to others’ dignity as we refuse to let their faces reflect our own. Their absence forbids discipleship because we are too concerned with exploiting others, not with what we share with them. This misplaced understanding undermines our ability to practice ‘ disinterested committed lo...
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THE NEED TO BE BY MYSELF

 Prayer necessitates solitude, often abhorred because it is confused with loneliness. The latter entails an unsought alienation whose hallmark is desolation. As Edgar affirms, “ Who alone suffers suffers most ” (William Shakespeare, King Lear , VI).  The need to be by myself pertains to a feeling of wellbeing: as Scipio points out, ‘ one is never less alone than when alone ’ (Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus). Growing older, this desired richness is strengthened, like aged wine. Solitude enriches prayer because its stillness highlights an intimate prayerful dialogue even when outwardly engaged. Our hearts’ cultivated stillness enriches our doings by focusing on their significance, so Mary, rather than Martha, addresses our understanding (Luke 10, 38-42).  This insight is furthered strengthened by the Evangelist’s observation concerning Mary, who “ treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart ” (Luke 2,19). The need to contemplate the Beautiful is itself ex...
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A SANCTUARY IN TIME

     We readily limit the significance of the cross to an emblem to consolidate a religious or cultural identity or as an excuse to enhance our misery, forgetful that “ misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows ” (William Shakespeare, The Tempest II.2).      The significance of the cross highlights our baptism because, as pointed out by Saint Augustine, all those who belong to Jesus Christ are fastened with him to the cross, which sets the setting for Bonhoeffer’s assertion that the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise happy life: it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.           Scrutinising these insights, we need to focus on Shabbat’s stillness where the cross becomes a sanctuary in time, challenging our trustworthiness: it expresses a lived-out silentium underlined by the Magister’s reassuring presence: ‘ Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest ’ (Matthew 11,26...
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TAKING OFF THE LID

    The insistence ' to babbling like pagans ' (Matthew 6,7) tempts us: it is freely embraced when God’s graciousness no longer suffices, and the cross is downplayed. Following St. Bernard, the disciple desires the Magister rather than his gifts, but this entails the cross as a key to understanding one’s integrity.       The cross is God’s therapy that enables us to encounter our fears and frustrations by recalling us to its silence and how this contributes to the formation of our conscience (CCC 1783-1785). This silence sustains a dialogue of love: ignoring its need reflects an unconscious or perhaps not, attempt to hide our hearts from God: unless God searches our heart, we are frustrated because, as Jeremiah warns, ' You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart ' (29,13). While our hearts are restlessly caught up in a whirlwind of frustrating desires, this endeavour is unrealistic.       Prayer is expressive of ou...
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PRAYER: ONE STEP AT A TIME

     It’s not easy to discuss prayer because we expose our hearts in the process.  In addition to this, different understandings prevail, not necessarily easily communicated or understood: many perceive prayer as mere articulation, liturgical celebrations, or emotionally focused gatherings. Discussing prayer, Virgil’s ‘ Amor gignit amorem ’ (Love begets love), guides my steps.       Defining prayer, Augustine’s affirmation that prayer is the articulation of love offers a fundamental insight. Saint John Damascene reinforces this discernment by observing that prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God because only our longing of mind and heart makes prayer genuine (Filacolia). Saint Bonaventure’s Itinerarium in Mentis reinforces this comprehension.      Saint Teresa’s affirmation also demands attention because prayer is an act of love where words are superfluous (Interior Castle), verified by Bernini’s portrayal of the sain...
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SPACES

     Every relationship entails an ability to create a space for the other in one’s heart. The ability to do so highlights a maturing but questioning discernment, which reminds us of the need not to presume truth and, worse, love. The intended spaces can either strengthen or weaken our discernment: to bridge with others or barricade ourselves from them. Dialogue distinguishes between the two.        A principle highlights Christian discernment: “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3, 30), which clarifies my intentions as I speak of the Magister. Surpassing an intellectual assertion or a fleeting emotion, the Johanine affirmation recalls an intimacy defined by love because “whatever is honestly done out of love and in accordance with love can never be blameworthy” (Abbot Isaac de l’Étoile).      Love challenges us to renew our understanding of life: its credibility. Our spaces are accosted by a decision to let the Magister illum...
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