School of Holiness 2014 - A Must Read!

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July 1st, 2014 School of Holiness  Day 1

From the notebooks of Annie and Tommy

The first talk today was given by Anne. Every time period in church history has challenges and one which we are currently facing is mind pollution. By comparison, in the early 1900’s entertainment was not readily available in the way it is today. Today, we are flooded with stimuli which distract us from our spiritual journey. Some symptoms of mind pollution can be unruly thoughts, impulsivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and also negative thinking. Just as we wouldn’t put a poisonous substance in our bodies, we shouldn’t put poisonous things in our minds. To combat mind pollution, we can make a commitment to silence and contemplative prayer in our day to day lives.

We talked about co-responsibility as described in Christifideles Laici, meaning the laity is co-responsible along with clergy. Co-responsibility, when fully integrated, will lead to renewal of the church. Pastores Dabo Vobis is an apostolic exhortation which outlines formation for priests and includes human formation, spiritual formation, academic formation and then pastoral formation. We, the lay people, if we are to become co-responsible, also need formation and we, the laity, require human development in order to effectively be formed spiritually.

The next topic we covered was “climbing the mountain” in terms of our spiritual journey. We must remember, while climbing, that the Lord takes delight in his people. As such, the Lord delights in each one of us, even though we are imperfect. We had an in-class exercise where we listed things that helped us climb the mountain such as humility, self-acceptance, fellowship, purity, love, and trust, silence, contemplative prayer. We also discussed things that hold us back from climbing the mountain: envy, hatred, addictions, fear, and shame.

Margaret reminded us that jealousy and even envy can be experienced by all of us and that gratitude is the antidote for envy.

Anne instructed us to think about our prayer lives and what they should look like. Anne finished by saying, “If you are concentrating on hating the darkness, you may grow in hate. If you concentrate on loving the light, you will grow in love.”

-Mind pollution is a serious challenge we face today.
-We must fill our minds and souls with silence and prayer, not with things that poison it.
-Co-responsibility of the laity and the clergy will lead to renewal of the church.
-The Lord takes delight in his people.
-Climbing the mountain of holiness will help us to grow in humility, acceptance of self and others, fellowship, purity, love, and trust.
-Envy, hatred, addictions, fear, and shame hold us back from reaching the top of the mountain.
-“If you hate the darkness, you will grow in hate. If you love the light, you will grow in love.”

Fr. Darragh Connolly today has referenced Gaudium et Spes (below)

§5. Today’s spiritual agitation and the changing conditions of life are part of a broader and deeper revolution. As a result of the latter, intellectual formation is ever increasingly based on the mathematical and natural sciences and on those dealing with man himself, while in the practical order the technology which stems from these sciences takes on mounting importance.

This scientific spirit has a new kind of impact on the cultural sphere and on modes of thought. Technology is now transforming the face of the earth, and is already trying to master outer space. To a certain extent, the human intellect is also broadening its dominion over time: over the past by means of historical knowledge; over the future, by the art of projecting and by planning.

Advances in biology, psychology, and the social sciences not only bring men hope of improved self-knowledge; in conjunction with technical methods, they are helping men exert direct influence on the life of social groups.

At the same time, the human race is giving steadily-increasing thought to forecasting and regulating its own population growth. History itself speeds along on so rapid a course that an individual person can scarcely keep abreast of it. The destiny of the human community has become all of a piece, where once the various groups of men had a kind of private history of their own.

Thus, the human race has passed from a rather static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evolutionary one. In consequence there has arisen a new series of problems, a series as numerous as can be, calling for efforts of analysis and synthesis.

Margaret, Psychotherapist and Human Development, notes below:

Empirically speaking those who are idealistically rigid tend towards being:

-pessimistic

-threatened by those who do not believe exactly the same as they do

-dogmatic

-close minded

-unable to tolerate ambiguity, mystery, or not knowing

-having negative perceptions of others

- intolerant of others beliefs, aggressive, or smug towards them

(Newberg,2012).

 Characteristics of less mature thinkers:

 -a need for certainty and control

-limited recognition of complexity and and an inability to incorporate opposites

-a lack of openess to unconscious processes

-the Beleif that all the important information necessary to make a decision is apparent

-lower empathic abilities

-less mature psychological defences

-more denial, blame, and projection

-less humour, sublimation, and suppression (Cozolino 213:2014)

Characteristics of Mature thinkers

-increased recognition of complexity and ability to incorporate opposites

-an understanding that not all important information is apparent

-an increased openess to unconscious processes

-more information gathering

-less concern about being in control

-an ability to tolerate personal limitations and ignorance

-more realistic expectations and forgiveness of others

-increased empathy and maintained connectedness

-more mature psychological defences

-less denial, blame, and projection…

-more humour

Ability to tolerate their strong emotions without necessarily taking action. (Cozolino, 214:2014)

Summary:

-we need mature minds from which to express our spirituality

-trauma and Woundedness leads to immature thinking

-we work on developing mature thinking in which to contemplate ourselves, others, and God

-people who practice contemplative prayer are proven to be able to generate compassion in situations in which almost nobody else can

-three active relationships: 1) with ourselves (self-awareness) 2) with others-friends, family, colleagues, etc 3) with God

-we contemplate all of these Relationships