Rob Des Cotes

The Mysteries of the Life of Our Lord

(translated from Ignatius’ text by Louis J. Puhl, S.J.)

NOTE. In all the mysteries given below, all the words that are in quotation marks are from the Gospel itself, but not those that are outside the quotation marks. Usually three points are given in order to make it easier to meditate and contemplate on the mysteries.

262. THE ANNUNCIATION TO MARY
St. Luke 1, 26-38
FIRST POINT. The angel, St. Gabriel, salutes Mary, and announces to her the conception of Christ our Lord: “He went in unto her and said, ‘Hail full of grace. …Thou shalt conceive in the womb and bring forth a son.’ ”
SECOND POINT. The angel confirms what he had said to her by announcing to her the conception of St. John the Baptist: “And behold Elizabeth thy kinswoman, she also has conceived a son in her old age.”
THIRD POINT. Mary replied to the angel: ” Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word.”

263. THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH
St. Luke 1, 39-56
FIRST POINT. When Mary visited Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist in his mother’s womb knew the visit of Mary. “And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe in womb leapt and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry and said, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.’ ”
SECOND POINT. Mary chants the Magnificat, saying, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”
THIRD POINT. “Mary stayed with her about three months, and returned to her own home.”

264. BIRTH OF CHRIST OUR LORD
St. Luke 2, 1-14
FIRST POINT. Mary and her spouse Joseph go from Nazareth to Bethlehem. “Joseph also went up from Galilee to Bethlehem to profess his subjection with Mary his espoused wife who was with child.
SECOND POINT. “She brought forth her first-born and she swathed him round and laid him in a manger.
THIRD POINT. “There appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest.'”

265. THE SHEPHERDS
St. Luke 2, 8-20
FIRST POINT. The birth of Christ our Lord was made known to the shepherds by the angel: “I bring to you glad tidings of great joy…for there has been born to you this day a Savior.”
SECOND POINT. The shepherds go to Bethlehem. “They went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger.
THIRD POINT. “The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God.

266, THE CIRCUMCISION
St. Luke 2, 21
FIRST POINT. They circumcised the Child Jesus.
SECOND POINT. “His name was called Jesus, whereby he I was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
THIRD POINT. They returned the Child to His Mother who felt compassion for Him because of the blood He shed.

267. THE MAGI
St. Matthew 2, 1-12
FIRST POINT. The Three Kings, Magi, guided by the star came to adore Jesus, saying, “We have seen his star in the East and have come to adore him.”
SECOND POINT. They adore Him and offer Him gifts, “And falling down they worshipped him…and offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
THIRD POINT. “Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their own country by another way.”

268, THE PURIFICATION OF MARY AND THE PRESENTATION OF THE CHILD JESUS
St. Luke 2, 22-39
FIRST POINT. They take the Child Jesus to the temple to be offered as the first-born to the Lord, and they offer for him “a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
SECOND POINT. Coming into the temple, Simeon received Him into his arms saying, ” Now thou dost dismiss, O Master, thy servant in peace.”
THIRD POINT. Anna “came upon them and gave thanks to God, and spoke of the Child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.”

269. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
St. Matthew 2,13-18
FIRST POINT. Herod wished to kill the Child and so killed the Innocents, but before their death the angel warned Joseph that he should flee: “Arise, take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt.”
SECOND POINT. He withdrew into Egypt: “So he arose…by night and withdrew into Egypt.
THIRD POINT. “There he remained till the death of Herod.”

270. THE RETURN FROM EGYPT
St. Matthew 2, 19-23
FIRST POINT. The angel admonished Joseph to Israel: “Arise, take the child and his mother and go into the land of Israel.”
SECOND POINT. “He arose…and came into the land of Israel.”
THIRD POINT. “Since Archelaus, the son of Herod ruled in Judea, he withdrew to Nazareth.”

271. THE LIFE OF CHRIST OUR LORD THE AGE OF TWELVE TO THE AGE OF THIRTY
St. Luke 2, 51-52
FIRST POINT. He was obedient to His parents.
SECOND POINT. “Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace.
THIRD POINT. He appears to have practiced the trade of a carpenter, as St. Mark seems to show in chapter six: ” Is not this the carpenter? ”

272. JESUS GOES UP TO THE TEMPLE AT THE AGE OF TWELVE
St. Luke 2, 41-50
FIRST POINT. Christ our Lord at the age of twelve years goes up from Nazareth to Jerusalem.
SECOND POINT. Christ our Lord remained in Jerusalem and His parents did not know it.
THIRD POINT. After three days they found Him disputing in the temple, and seated in the midst of the doctors, and when they asked Him where he had been He answered, “Know you not that I need to be about my Father’s business? ”

273. THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST
St. Matthew 3, 13-17
FIRST POINT. After Christ our Lord had bidden farewell to His Mother, He went from Nazareth to the River Jordan where St. John the Baptist was.
SECOND POINT. St. John baptized Christ Our Lord. When he wished to excuse himself because he thought himself unworthy to baptize Him, our Lord said to him: “Let it be so at this time; for so it becometh to fulfill all justness.”
THIRD POINT. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him and the voice of the Father from heaven testified, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

274. THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
St. Luke 4, 1-13; St. Matthew 4, 1-11
FIRST POINT. After He had been baptized, Jesus went to the desert where He fasted for forty days and
forty nights.
SECOND POINT. He was tempted by the enemy three times: “The tempter drew near and said to Him, If thou art the Son of God command that these stones become loaves. …Cast thyself down. … All these things I will give thee if falling down thou wilt worship me!'”
THIRD POINT. “The angels came and ministered to Him.”

275. THE VOCATION OF THE APOSTLES
FIRST POINT. St. Peter and St. Andrew seem to have been called three times. First, to some knowledge of our Lord. This is evident from the first chapter of John. Secondly, to a following of Christ in some way, but with the intention of returning to the possessions they had left. St. Luke tells us this in the fifth chapter. Thirdly, to follow Christ our Lord forever, Matthew, chapter four, and St. Mark, chapter one.
SECOND POINT. He called Philip, as we read in the first chapter of St. John. He called Matthew, as is recorded by St, Matthew himself in the ninth chapter.
THIRD POINT. He called the other Apostles, of whom no special call is mentioned in the Gospel.
Three other points must also be considered:
1. That the Apostles were uneducated and from a humble condition of life.
2. The dignity to which they were so gently called.
3. The gifts and graces by which they were raised above all the Fathers of the Old and New Testament.

276. THE FIRST MIRACLE PERFORMED AT THE MARRIAGE FEAST OF CANA IN GALILEE
St.John 2, 1-11
FIRST POINT. Christ our Lord and the disciples were invited to the marriage feast.
SECOND POINT. His Mother calls attention to the shortage age of wine, saying to Him, “They have no wine. She bids the servants, ” Whatsoever He shall say to you do.
THIRD POINT. He changed the water into wine, “And He manifested His glory and His disciples believed in Him.

277. CHRIST CASTS THE SELLERS FROM THE TEMPLE
St.John 2, 13-22
FIRST POINT. With a whip made of cords He casts all those who sell out of the Temple.
SECOND POINT. He overturned the tables and scattered the money of the wealthy money-changers who were in the Temple.
THIRD POINT. To the venders of doves He said, “Take these away! Make not the house of my Father a house of traffic.”

278. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
St. Matthew 5
FIRST POINT. He proposes the eight beatitudes to His beloved disciples apart: “Blessed are the poor in
spirit. ..the meek. ..the merciful. ..they that mourn. ..they that hunger. ..the peace-makers those that suffer persecution.”
SECOND POINT. He exhorts them to use their talents, ” So let your light shine before men in order that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
THIRD POINT. He shows Himself not a transgressor of the Law but a fulfiller. He explains the commandment not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to swear falsely, and commands us to love our enemies: “I say, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you.

279. CHRIST CALMS THE STORM
St. Matthew 8, 23-27
FIRST POINT. While Christ our Lord was asleep boat on the sea, a great storm arose.
SECOND POINT. His terrified disciples awaken Him. He reprehends them for the little faith they have, and says to them, ” Why are ye afraid, O ye of little faith?
THIRD POINT. He commanded the wind and sea to cease, and they obeyed, and the sea became calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?

280. CHRIST WALKS UPON THE WATERS
St. Matthew 14, 22-33
FIRST POINT. While Christ our Lord remained on the mountain, He commanded His disciples to go away in the boat, and after He had dismissed the crowd, He began to pray alone.
SECOND POINT. The boat was buffeted by the waves. Christ came toward them walking upon the waters, and the disciples thought they saw an apparition.
THIRD POINT. Christ says to them, “It is I, fear not. St. Peter at His command walked upon the waters and came to Jesus, but when he doubted, he began to sink. Christ saved him and reprehended him for his little faith. They entered into the boat and the wind ceased.

281. THE APOSTLES ARE SENT TO PREACH
St. Matthew 10, 1-16
FIRST POINT. Christ calls His beloved disciples and gives them power to cast out devils from the bodies of men, and to heal all their infirmities.
SECOND POINT. He teaches them prudence and patience, “Behold I send you forth as sheep into the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and guileless as doves.”
THIRD POINT. He tells them how they should go, “Do not possess gold or silver.” “Freely ye have received, freely give.” And he told them what to preach: “As ye go, preach saying, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand.'”

282. THE CONVERSION OF MAGDALENE
St. Luke 7, 36-50
FIRST POINT. Magdalene, carrying an alabaster vase full of ointment, enters the house of the Pharisee where Christ is seated at table.
SECOND POINT. She stood behind our Lord near His feet, and began to wash them with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. She kissed His feet, and anointed them with ointment.
THIRD POINT. When the Pharisee accused Magdalene, Christ spoke in her defense, saying, “Her many sins are forgiven because she has loved much.But He said to the woman, ‘Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace.’ ”

283. CHRIST FEEDS FIVE THOUSAND
St. Matthew 14, 13-21
FIRST POINT. Since it was getting late, the disciples asked Jesus to dismiss the multitude of people who were with Him.
SECOND POINT. Christ our Lord commanded them to bring the loaves of bread to Him, and ordered the people to sit down. Then He blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to the disciples who gave it to the multitude.
THIRD POINT. “And they all ate and had their fill, and they took up the fragments that were left over, twelve full baskets.”

284. THE TRANSFIGURATION
St. Matthew 17, 1-9
FIRST POINT. Jesus took with Him His beloved disciples, Peter, James, and John, and He was transfigured before them. His face became resplendent as the sun, and His garments like snow.
SECOND POINT. He spoke with Moses and Elias.
THIRD POINT. When St. Peter said that they should build three tabernacles, a voice was heard from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son. …Hear ye Him. When the disciples heard this voice, they fell down for fear, their faces to the ground. Jesus came and touched them, and said to them, “Arise and fear not. … Tell not the vision to anyone till the Son of Man be risen from the dead.”

285. THE RAISING OF LAZARUS
St.John 11,1-45
FIRST POINT. Mary and Martha inform Jesus of the sickness of Lazarus. After He was informed of this, He delayed for two days that the miracle might be more evident.
SECOND POINT. Before He raised him, He asked faith of both Mary and Martha, saying, ” I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me even though he die shall live.”
THIRD POINT. Jesus raises him after He had wept and said a prayer. The way in which He raised him was by a command, ” Lazarus, come forth.”

286. THE SUPPER AT BETHANY
St. Matthew 26, 6-10
FIRST POINT. Our Lord eats in the house of Simon the leper together with Lazarus.
SECOND POINT. Mary pours out the ointment upon the head of Christ.
THIRD POINT. Judas murmurs with the words, “Why this waste?” But Jesus defends Magdalene again, saying, “Why do you trouble this woman? She hath wrought a good work upon me.”

287. PALM SUNDAY
St. Matthew 21, 1-17
FIRST POINT. Our Lord sends for the ass and the foal, saying, ” Loose them and bring them to me, and if anyone say ought to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord hath need of them,’ and straightway he will let them go. SECOND POINT. After the ass was covered with the garments of the Apostles, Jesus mounted it.
THIRD POINT. The people came forth to meet Jesus, and spread their garments and the branches of trees in the way, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! ”

288. JESUS PREACHES IN THE TEMPLE
St. Luke 19,47-48
FIRST POINT. He was teaching daily in the temple.
SECOND POINT. After His teaching, since there was no one in Jerusalem who would receive Him, He returned to Bethany.

289. THE LAST SUPPER
St. Matthew 26, 20-30; St. John 13, I-30
FIRST POINT. He eats the Paschal Lamb with His disciples, to whom He predicts His death: ” Amen I say to you, one of you shall betray me.”
SECOND POINT. He washes the feet of the disciples, even those of Judas. He begins with St. Peter, but St. Peter, considering the majesty of the Lord and his own lowliness, does not want to permit it, and says, “Lord dost thou wash my feet?” St. Peter did not know that Christ was giving an example of humility in this, and therefore, Jesus said to him, “I have given you an example that as I have done you also ought to do.”
THIRD POINT. He institutes the most holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist, the greatest proof of His love. He says to them, “Take and eat.” When the supper was finished, Judas went forth to sell our Lord.

290. FROM THE LAST SUPPER TO AGONY INCLUSIVE
St. Matthew 26, 30-46; St. Mark 14, 32-44
FIRST POINT. When the Supper was finished, and after the hymn was sung, Jesus, full of fear, goes forth with His disciples to Mt. Olivet. He left eight of them in Gethsemane, saying, “Sit you here whilst I go yonder and pray.”
SECOND POINT. Accompanied by St. Peter, St. James and St. John, He prays three times to the Father, saying; “My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will but as thou wilt.” ” And falling into agony He prayed the more earnestly.”
THIRD POINT. So great was the fear that overwhelmed Him that He said: ” My soul is sorrowful unto death. And He sweat blood so copiously that St. Luke says, “His sweat became as drops of blood falling to the ground.”

291. FROM THE GARDEN TO THE HOUSE OF ANNAS INCLUSIVE
St. Matthew 26, 47-58; St. Luke 22, 47-5 Mark 14,44-54 & 66-68
FIRST POINT. Our Lord allows Himself to be kissed by Judas, and to be seized as a robber. He says to ” Are ye come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to arrest me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching and you seized me not.
SECOND POINT. St. Peter wounds the servant of High Priest. The meek Lord says to him, “Put back
thy sword into its place.” And He healed the wound of the servant.
THIRD POINT. Deserted by His disciples, He is led to Annas. There St. Peter, who had followed Him from afar, denied Him once. Christ was struck in the face and asked, “Do you answer thus the High Priest?

292. FROM THE HOUSE OF ANNAS TO THE HOUSE OF CAIAPHAS INCLUSIVE
St. Matthew 26; St. Mark 14; St. Luke 22; St. John 18
FIRST POINT. They led Him bound from the house of Annas to that of Caiaphas, where St. Peter denied twice. When our Lord looked upon him, he went out and wept bitterly.
SECOND POINT. Jesus remained bound the whole night.
THIRD POINT. Those who kept Him bound scoffed at Him, buffeted Him, covered His face and struck Him with the palms of their hands, and asked Him ” Prophesy who it was that struck Thee.” And similar things they said, blaspheming Him.

293 FROM THE HOUSE OF CAIAPHAS TO THE HOUSE OF PILATE INCLUSIVE
St. Matthew 27; St. Luke 23; St. Mark 15
FIRST POINT. The whole multitude of Jews took Him to Pilate, and accused Him before the governor,
saying, ” We have found this man subverting our nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar.
SECOND POINT. After Pilate had examined Him several times, he said: “I find no crime in this man.”
THIRD POINT. Barabbas, the robber, was preferred to Him: “They, therefore, shouted again, saying, ‘Not this man but Barabbas.’ ”

294. FROM THE HOUSE OF PILATE TO THE HOUSE OF HEROD
St. Luke 23,6-11
FIRST POINT. Pilate sent Jesus, the Galilean, to Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee.
SECOND POINT. Herod curiously asked many questions, and Jesus answered nothing, though the scribes and priests accused Him constantly.
THIRD POINT. Herod and his court mocked Jesus and clothed Him with a white garment.

295. FROM THE HOUSE OF HEROD TO THE HOUSE OF PILATE
St. Matthew 27; St. Luke 23; St. Mark 15; St. John 19
FIRST POINT. Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, and because of this they became friends, though before they were enemies.
SECOND POINT. Pilate took Jesus and had Him scourged, and the soldiers made a crown of thons and placed it upon His head. They put a purple cloak about Him, and came to Him and said, “Hail king of the Jews!” “And they gave Him blows.”
THIRD POINT. Pilate led Him forth before all: “Jesus, therefore, came forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And He said to them, , Behold the man! ‘” When the chief priests saw Him they out,” Crucify him, Crucify him! ”

296. FROM THE HOUSE OF PILATE TO CROSS INCLUSIVE
St. John 19,13-22
FIRST POINT. Sitting in judgment, Pilate delivered up Jesus to be crucified after the Jews had denied that He was their king, saying, ” We have no king but Caesar.
SECOND POINT. He carried the cross upon His shoulders, and when He was no longer able to do so, Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry it after Jesus.
THIRD POINT. They crucified Him between two thieves. The title placed over the cross read: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

297. JESUS DIES UPON THE CROSS
St. John 19, 23-37; St. Matthew 27, 35-52, St. Mark 15, 24-38; St. Luke 23, 34-46
FIRST POINT. He spoke seven words upon the cross: He prayed for those who crucified Him; He pardoned the thief; He recommended St. John to His mother; He said with a loud voice, “I thirst,” and they Him vinegar to drink; He said that He was forsaken; He said, “It is finished”; He said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
SECOND POINT. The sun was darkened, the rocks rent, the graves opened, and the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
THIRD POINT. They blasphemed Him saying, “Thou who wouldst overthrow the temple come down from the cross.” His garments were divided, His side was pierced with a lance, and blood and water
forth.

298. FROM THE CROSS TO THE SEPULCHER INCLUSIVE
Ibid.
FIRST POINT. He was taken down from the cross by Joseph and Nicodemus in the presence of His sorrowful mother.
SECOND POINT. The body was borne to the sepulcher and anointed, and buried.
THIRD POINT. Guards were stationed.

299. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST LORD-THE FIRST APPARITION
St. Mark 16, 1-11
FIRST POINT. Very early in the morning Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome go to the tomb. They say to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?
SECOND POINT. They see the stone rolled back and the angel who says to them: “Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth …He is risen, he is not here.”
THIRD POINT. He appeared to Mary who remained near the tomb after the others left.

300. THE SECOND APPARITION
St. Matthew 28
FIRST POINT. The two Marys go from the sepulcher with great fear and joy to announce the Resurrection of the Lord to the disciples.
SECOND POINT. Christ our Lord appears to them on the way, and says to them, “Hail!” and they went up to Him, and fell down at His feet and adored Him.
THIRD POINT. Jesus says to them: “Fear not! Go tell my brethren to depart into Galilee. There they shall see me.”

301. THE THIRD APPARITION
St. Luke 24, 9-12 & 33-34
FIRST POINT. When St. Peter heard from the women that Christ had risen, he went with haste to the tomb. SECOND POINT. He entered the tomb and saw only the linens with which the body of Christ had been covered and nothing more.
THIRD POINT. While St. Peter was thinking of these things, Christ appeared to him. That is why the Apostles said, “The Lord is risen and has indeed appeared to Simon.”

302. THE FOURTH APPARITION
St. Luke 24
FIRST POINT. He appeared to His disciples who were going to Emmaus and were talking of Christ.
SECOND POINT. He reprehends them, showing them by the Scriptures that Christ must die and rise again: “O senseless men and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so to enter into his glory?
THIRD POINT. At their request He remains there with them till He gave them Holy Communion. Then He disappeared. Thereupon they returned to the disciples and told them how they recognized Him in Holy Communion.

303. THE FIFTH APPARITION
St.John 20,19-25
FIRST POINT. The disciples, except St. Thomas, were gathered together ” for fear of the Jews.”
SECOND POINT. Jesus appeared to them, the doors being locked, and standing in their midst said, “Peace be to you! ”
THIRD POINT. He gives them the Holy Spirit, saying, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit, whosever’s sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven.”

304. THE SIXTH APPARITION
St.John 20,24-29
FIRST POINT. Since St. Thomas was not present at preceding apparition, he would not believe and said ” Unless I see. …I will not believe.”
SECOND POINT. Eight days after, Jesus appeared to them, the doors closed, and He said to Thomas, ” Reach here with thy finger and see. ..and be not unbelieving, but believing.”
THIRD POINT. St. Thomas believed, saying, ” My Lord and my God.” Christ said to him, “Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed.”

305. THE SEVENTH APPARITION
St.John 21, 1-17
FIRST POINT. Jesus appeared to seven of His disciples who were fishing. They had fished all night and caught nothing. But casting the net at His command “they were not able to haul it in for the multitude of fishes.”
SECOND POINT. Through this miracle St. John recognized Him, and said to St. Peter, “It is the Lord.” Peter cast himself into the sea and came to Christ.
THIRD POINT. He gave them bread and part of a broiled fish to eat. After He had first tested three times the love of Peter, He recommended His sheep to him with the words, “Feed my sheep.”

306. THE EIGHTH APPARITION
St Matthew 28, 16-20
FIRST POINT. The disciples at the command of Christ go to Mt. Tabor..
SECOND POINT. Christ appears to the and says, “All power is given to me in heaven and earth.
THIRD POINT. He sent them throughout the world to teach, saying, “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

307. THE NINTH APPARITION
1 Corinthians 15,6
“After that He appeared to more than five hundred at once.

308. THE TENTH APPARITION
1Corinthians 15,7
“After that He appeared to James.

309. THE ELEVENTH APPARITION
He appeared to Joseph of Arimathea, as is read in the Lives of the Saints.

310. THE TWELFTH APPARITION
1Corinthians15, 8
He appeared to St. Paul after His Ascension: “Last of all, as to one born out of due time, He appeared to me.

311. THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST OUR LORD
Acts 1, 1-12
FIRST POINT. After He had manifested Himself for forty days to the Apostles, and had given them many proofs, and worked many miracles, and had spoken to them of the Kingdom of God, He commanded them to await in Jerusalem the promise of the Holy Spirit.
SECOND POINT. He led them to Mt. Olivet “and He was lifted up before their eyes and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
THIRD POINT. While they were gazing up into heaven, the angels said to them: “Men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up into heaven? This Jesus who hath been taken up from you into heaven will come after the same manner that you have beheld him point up into heaven.

ON COMMUNITY by Jean Vanier

COMMUNITY AND FREEDOM

Community is the place where we ideally learn to be ourselves without fear or constraint. Community life deepens through mutual trust among all its members.

The more authentic and creative a community is in its search for the essential, the more its members are called beyond their own concerns and tend to unite. A community becomes truly and radiantly one when all its members have a sense of urgency.

It is when the members of a community realize that they are not there simply for themselves or their own sanctification, but to welcome the gift of God, to hasten His Kingdom, and to quench the thirst of others, that they truly live as community.

The process of becoming a community happens when the majority of its members make the transition from ‘the community for myself’ to ‘myself for the community.’

Loving means to want others to fulfill themselves according to God’s plan. It means
wanting them to be faithful to their own calling.

The more community deepens, the more vulnerable and the more sensitive its members become.

Community is established by the simple, gentle concern that people show each other every day. It is made of the small gestures, all the services and sacrifices which say ‘I love you’ and ‘I’m happy to be with you.’

COMMUNITY AND FORGIVENESS

Community reaches its height in celebration and its heart in forgiveness.

Community is the place of forgiveness. There are always words that wound, self-promoting attitudes, situations where susceptibilities clash. That is why living together implies a certain cross, a constant effort and an acceptance that comes from daily and mutual forgiveness.

If we come into community without knowing that the reason we come is to discover the mystery of forgiveness, we will soon be disappointed.

If we are to make the passage to acceptance and love of others we must start by recognizing our own blocks, jealousies, prejudices and hatreds.

Our antipathies towards others is a thorn in the flesh that perhaps the Holy Spirit may someday liberate us from. But perhaps He will let us go on walking with this thorn which humiliates us and forces us to renew our efforts each day, careful not to offend again.

Patience, like forgiveness, is at the heart of community life; patience with ourselves, with the laws of our own growth and with others.

COMMUNITY AND IDEALISM

A community is not simply a group of people who love each other. It is a current of life, a heart, a soul, a spirit.

We shouldn’t seek the ideal community. It is a question of loving those whom God has set beside us today. They are signs from God. We might have chosen different people, people who were more cheerful or intelligent. But these are the ones God has given us, the ones He has chosen for us. It is with them that we are called to create unity and live in covenant.

It is difficult to make people understand that the ideal community doesn’t exist and that the equilibrium and harmony they imagine possible are things that come only after years of struggle, and that even then come only as flashes of grace and peace.

COMMUNITY AND UNITY

Community is the place where each person grows towards interior freedom. It can never take precedence over the individual. In fact, its beauty and unity come from the radiance and diversity of each individual when its own light, truth and love come into free union with others.

The gift of community, of unity, will come only when all members of the community are truly themselves, living as expression of God’s love within them in the exercise of the gifts He has given them. The community becomes one because it is fully under the influence of the Holy Spirit who unites it.

Almost everyone finds their early days in a community ideal. It all seems perfect. They seem unable to see the drawbacks, they see only what is good. Everything is marvelous. They feel they are surrounded by saints, heroes, or at the least, most exceptional people who are everything they want to be themselves. And then comes the let-down. During this time everything becomes dark; people no longer see anything but the faults of others and of the community. They feel they are surrounded by hypocrites. Life becomes intolerable. The greater their idealization of the community at the start, the greater the disenchantment. If people manage to get through this second period, they come to a third phase; that of realism and of true commitment. They no longer see other members of the community as saints or devils, but as people; each with a mixture of good and bad, darkness and light, each growing and each with their own hope. The community is neither heaven nor hell, but planted firmly on earth, and they are ready to walk in it, and with it. They accept the community and the other members as they are; they are confident that together they can grow towards something more beautiful.

Many people who have lived together for years and whose love for one another has been often tested know that community has not resulted from the fact that they were able to hold together but from the knowledge that they were somehow held together by a greater force. We are a community not because we happen to like each other, or share a common task, but because we have somehow been called together by God.

All members of a community must be on their guard against sowing discord, whether consciously or unconsciously. All of them must constantly seek to be instruments of unity.

COMMUNITY AND PURPOSE

A community is there not only for the growth of its members, but for the growth of the people for whom it is destined. When we know these people, and our responsibility towards them, then we are able to go beyond ourselves.

A community gradually discovers as it grows that it is not there simply for itself. It belongs to humanity. It has received a gift which must bear fruit for the sake of others.

When it begins, a community is like a seed which must grow to become a tree. As it matures, and becomes a tree that bears fruit, it also must be a place where birds of the air can come to make their nests.

COMMUNITY AND GROWTH

Community is always in a state of growth. The growth of a community depends on the growth of each of its members.

Communities need tensions if they are to grow and deepen. There are a thousand reasons for tension. And each of them brings the whole community, as well as each individual member, face to face with its own poverty, its inability to cope, its weariness, aggression and despair.

There is nothing more prejudicial to community life than to mask tensions and pretend they do not exist, or to hide from them behind a polite facade and flee from reality and dialogue. But people are not necessarily helped to overcome their limitations, egoism, jealousy and inability to enter into dialogue simply by being made conscious of them. In fact, this can sometimes shut people off in an even greater despair.

People can generally only become conscious of their limitations if at the same time they are given the strength to overcome these by being helped to discover their own capacities for love, goodness and positive action, and to regain confidence in themselves and the Holy Spirit.

Tensions in a community should neither be hidden nor be brought prematurely to a head. They should be taken on with a great deal of sensitivity, trust and hope. They should be approached with deep understanding and patience, with neither panic nor naive optimism, but with a realism born of a willingness to listen and a desire for truth.

An individual’s growth towards love and wisdom is slow. A community’s growth is even slower. Members of a community need to be great friends of time. They have to learn that many things will resolve themselves if they are given enough time. It can be a great mistake to want, in the name of clarity and truth, to push things too quickly to a resolution.

Each member of a community who grows in love and wisdom helps the growth of the whole community. Each person who refuses to grow, or is afraid to go forward, inhibits the community’s growth. All the members of a community are responsible for their own growth and that of the community as a whole.

Perhaps the most essential quality for anyone who lives in community is patience: a recognition that we, others and the whole community, take time to grow. If we are to live in community, we have to be friends of time.

COMMUNITY AND RELATIONSHIPS

We all carry our own deep wound, which is the wound of our loneliness. Some people think their wound of loneliness will be healed if they come into community. But they will be disappointed.

We have to realize that this wound of loneliness is inherent in the human condition and that what we have to do is walk with it instead of fleeing from it. We cannot accept it until we discover that we are loved by God just as we are, and that the Holy Spirit, in a mysterious way, is living at the center of the wound.

One of the signs of life in a community is the creation of links with others. An inward-looking community will die of suffocation. Living communities are linked to others, making up a huge web of inter-relationships for the world.

Some people cannot see what nourishment they are and refuse to become bread for others. They have no confidence that their word, their smile, their being or their prayer could nourish others.

There is external growth in community which is nearly always in expansion. But there is also internal and secret growth. In monasteries and houses of prayer, this growth is a deeper rooting in prayer in Jesus. This is invisible, but it creates a tangible atmosphere wherever this growth is present: a lighter joy, a denser silence, a peace which touches hearts and leads people to a true experience of God.

Through the experience of providence communities, in time, discover how God has watched over them in times of trial which could have destroyed them. Serious tensions have been resolved, people have arrived exactly when they were needed, there has been unexpected financial or material help, someone has found inner freedom and healing. This growing awareness enables the community to accept difficulties, times of trial, need or weakness with a new serenity because it knows from experience that God is present and creative within them.

The first sin of a community is to turn its eyes from the One who called it to life, to look at itself instead. The second sin is to find itself beautiful and to believe itself to be a source of life.

Some communities should stay small, poor and prophetic, signs of the presence of God is a world which is become more and more materialistic. But other communities are called to grow in order to show the world that it is possible to create structures which are sensitive to people and to exercise authority in a way that is both humane and Christian.

COMMUNITY AND PRAYER

We are nourished in community by everything that stirs the essential in us and brings it to consciousness. This may be a word, a reading, a meeting or a suffering: all these can reawaken our deepest heart and give hope.

Solitude and community belong together; each requires the other as do the center and circumference of a circle. Solitude without community leads us to loneliness and despair, but community without solitude hurls us into a void of words and feelings.

If we do not pray, if we do not evaluate our activities and find rest in the secret part of our heart, it will be hard to live in community. We will not be open to others. We will live only from the stimuli of the present moment and we will lose sight of our priorities and of the essential.

A community which prays together, which enters into silence and adoration, is bound together by the action of the Holy Spirit. God listens in a special way to the cry which rises from a community.

The Eucharist links communal and personal nourishment because it is itself both at the same time. The Eucharist is celebration, the epitome of the communal feast, because in it we relive the mystery of Jesus’ gift of his own life for us. It is the time of thanksgiving for the whole community. There we touch the heart of the mystery of community. But the Eucharist is also an intimate moment when each of us is transformed through a personal meeting with Jesus.

ON CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

Contemplative prayer is a conversation in which God’s word has the initiative and we, for the moment, can be nothing more than listeners.
Hans Urs von Balthasar

The contemplative has to be clay in the hand of the potter, a clay which is molded through prayer itself, content not to know in advance where it is going, only sensing it, as the process is actually taking place, from the disposition of the potter’s shaping hands, confident that it is a good and loving work taking place.
Hans Urs von Balthasar

Great simplicity of heart sustains contemplative prayer.
Brother Roger

In the silence of contemplation we begin to observe the process whereby we actively choose and create what we pay attention to. That is why the first twenty minutes are usually so tedious. For the first twenty minutes only the primary agenda shows itself.
Richard Rohr

We don’t know just how ephemeral our thoughts and feelings are until we take the time to sit and observe. That’s the early stages of contemplation; where you begin to notice how this feeling grabs you, how that identity grabs you, how that hurt grabs you, and even so, you want to identify with it because in some way it gives you some ground to stand on.
Richard Rohr

Pure contemplation lies in receiving.
St. John of the Cross

Contemplative prayer deepens in us the knowledge that we are already free, that we have already found a place to dwell, that we already belong to God, even though everything and everyone around us keeps suggesting the opposite.
Thomas Keating

Contemplative prayer is a process of interior transformation, a conversation initiated by God and leading, if we consent, to divine union. One’s way of seeing reality changes in this process. A restructuring of consciousness takes place which empowers one to perceive, relate and respond with increasing sensitivity to the divine presence in, through, and beyond everything that exists.
Thomas Keating

Contemplative prayer is the world in which God can do anything. To move into that realm is the greatest adventure.
Thomas Keating

Contemplative prayer is not so much the absence of thoughts as detachment from them. It is the opening of mind and heart, body and emotions ‘our whole being’ to God.
Thomas Keating

Receiving is one of the most difficult kinds of activity there is. To receive God is the chief work in contemplative prayer.
Thomas Keating

Contemplative prayer is not on the level of thinking. It is consenting with your will to God’s Presence in pure faith.
Thomas Keating

The principal discipline of contemplative prayer is letting go.
Thomas Keating

ON SPIRITUAL DIRECTION by Eugene Peterson

In looking for spiritual direction, I wanted someone who would take my life of prayer and my pilgrimage with Christ as seriously (or more seriously) than I did, who was able to hear the distinct uniqueness of my spirituality, and who had enough disciplined restraint not to impose an outside form on me.

The first thing that I noticed after I began meeting with my spiritual director was a marked increase in spontaneity. Since this person has agreed to pay attention to my spiritual condition with me, I no longer feel solely responsible for watching over it.

The problem in the past was that I was always the disciplinarian of my inner life, the one being disciplined, and the supervisor of my disciplinarian; a lot of roles to be shifting in and out of through the day. I was immediately able to give up being the supervisor, and was soon able to share the role of being the ‘disciplinarian’ with my director.

I found I trusted my intuitions more, confident that my self-deceit would be called to account sooner or later by my director.

Another thing that I became aware of is that there are subject matters that I rarely, if ever, talk about with other people in my life that I regularly bring to my director.
The line that divided my structured times of prayer and meditation from the rest of my life also became more blurred. I no longer had the entire responsibility for deciding how to shape and monitor the disciplines in my life. I found myself more spontaneous, more free to innovate, more at ease in being nonproductive and playful.

By expressing interest in who I am (not what I do) and directing attention to what is (not what ought to be), my director makes reflection possible in any conversation.

Another thing that struck me was that I was now much more in touch with an oral tradition as compared to a written one. There is a radical difference between a book and a person. A book that tells me about the soul, and a person who comments on my soul, even though the words are the same, are different.

I can read with detachment but I cannot listen as easily with detachment. And it is this immediacy and intimacy of conversation that turns knowledge into wisdom

Spiritual direction is not a subject that you learn about, it is an organic life that you enter into.

In meeting with my spiritual director I am drawn into a living, oral tradition. I am in touch with a pool of historical and experienced wisdom and insight into the life of faith and the practice of prayer in a way that is very different than when I am alone in my study.

Out of the scores of writers on prayer, the hundreds of truths about faith and the spiritual life, which one is true for me, right now? Searching through indexes to find the page where a certain subject is presented is not the same as having a person notice and name the truth that I am grappling with right now in my life.

In spiritual direction I am guided to attend to my uniqueness in the large context of spirituality, and to discern more precisely where my faith development fits into it.

Our primary task is to be a pilgrim. Only a life committed to spiritual adventure, personal integrity, honest and alert searching prayer is adequate for the task of spiritual direction. Our best preparation for the work of spiritual direction is an honest life.

Prayer and the developing capacity for adoration and joy authenticate our growing Christian experience.

To proceed in spiritual direction I must cultivate an attitude of awe. I must be prepared to marvel.

The primary orientation of spiritual direction is towards God, looking for grace. As we cultivate the practice of spiritual direction we find ourselves working in a field where the Spirit is inventive and the endless forms of grace are never repeated.

Spiritual direction is conducted in a growing awareness that it takes place in God’s active presence, that our conversation with our director is therefore always conditioned by God’s own speaking and listening, His being there.

A Christian’s need for personal spiritual direction cannot be delegated to books or tapes or videos. The very nature of the life of faith requires the personal and the immediate. If we are going to mature we need not only the wisdom of truth, but someone to understand us in relation to this truth.

In the first century St. Paul observed, “Though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers” (1Cor. 4:15). It is easier to find guides, someone to tell you what to do, than someone to be with you in a discerning, prayerful companionship as you work it out yourself. This is what spiritual direction is.

Meditations from St. John of the Cross 1

icon of Christ on cross

Contemplation is nothing less than a secret, peaceful and loving infusion from God. The road of contemplation is where God himself feeds and refreshes the soul directly, without the soul’s help or meditation.

There is a remarkable transformation of the heart’s desires as a result of surrendering to God in our soul’s center. Our desire and God’s desire now join in a consonance of desire.

The nature of love is to be united, linked up with and at one with the object of its love. Only love unites and cements the soul with God. The soul lives in that which it loves.

Prayer, by its nature, involves a sense of incompleteness and thus of longing in truth.

The more God wants to give us, the more He makes us desire–even to the point of leaving us empty in order to fill us with goods. Be careful that you do not lack the desire to be poor and in want.

In following Christ in the contemplative way, without laying down one’s own ground rules and conditions, we grow into dimensions of the reality of God’s love which lie beyond what we can comprehend, experience or place in any systematic order. We are stripped of all guarantees which are rooted in the self, and we begin to live on the faith, trust and love that we have for God. We now experience God more as he is–as sheer Mystery.

Prayer ultimately leads us to go beyond anything that can be known. We travel unknowing into an unknown land and we learn how to stay there, knowing naught.