Peace be with you!
Fr. Freeh is back in the studio, and kicks off the next set of reflections with an overview of where we’ve been so far.
As you can see, this effort is still a work-in-progress, as we learn from the best teacher…experience. (The best teacher could use a little help, called “feedback”…which can only come from you, dear friends. Comments welcome. You don’t need to tell us who you are!)
Since this is a summary, packing eight ten-minute sessions into ten minutes, I’d like to try to provide a few signposts along the way.
#1: We begin again with an emphasis on the parish (I swear I didn’t know this when I wrote last week’s post) which saves us from a self-centered, navel-gazing spirituality. The parish shapes our faith toward serving God, our neighbor, and sharing our faith.
#2 Spirituality is the “Why” behind everything we do. What we stand for. Religion and spirituality are not mutually exclusive! Catholic spirituality is an expression of our Catholic faith, a genuine relationship with God…which is why it’s not crazy to go to church, because…
#3 Spirituality is rooted in worship in prayer. If we don’t worship the True God, we’ll wind up worshipping at least one false one. Being in the presence of God is the root of apostolic spirituality.
#4 And prayer–being in the presence of God–begets Piety. Prayer transforms us, gives us an attitude, an awareness of God’s love in all that we are and do.
#5 Sloth is the death of spirituality. An authentic relationship with God conquers sloth, because we understand He is our friend, and we just naturally want to be with Him. We don’t “have to” pray, or go to Mass…we want to.
#6 Bringing an “apostolic spirituality” approach to our Catholic religion can deepen our appreciation of the “Why” of our faith. We go beyond the “What” and “How” to realize that spirituality is about reality, and reality is about Love.
#7 The only way we can love God is to turn away from our own self-interest. In other words, love of God and neighbor requires “sacrifice”–which literally translates as “to make holy.” So sacrifice, holiness, and Love are the same.
#8 The Sacramental life of the Church is the key to Christian spirituality. The Sacraments are Christ’s gift to us, to initiate, sustain, and develop our spiritual lives…the comprehensive health care plan for our souls.
Whoo! Next week, we’ll complete our summary, and then see what Fr. Freeh has in store for us next!
Good News Spirituality 