Here is a video we would like to share with you from our class today. Fr. Darragh spoke about the 4th spiritual practice of our Apostolate: Monthly Confession. Also, below, is a brief recap of week two from the students notebooks. Many thanks for your prayers as we head into this final week!
(Click the photo to play video)
Day 6 Notes:
Every child is taught that your conscience is the little voice that calls you out when you are doing something wrong. While this is great for a seven-year-old, adults need a deeper understanding of conscience. Your conscience is a place for contemplation of your thoughts, words and actions in the safety of Christ's love and mercy. Your conscience is the safest place a person can go because you will never be condemned there. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, “Conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary, there he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths” CCC 1795. If you are ruminating on your sins then it is like being in a hall of mirrors where everything is distorted. You will never become a saint if you only look at the sins you struggle with. It's like saying: "there is nothing good in the Good News." Rather the conscience teaches you how to combat the sin in the future.
This builds off of everything we learned last week dealing with neuroplasticity. Our distorted beliefs affect the Limbic System. Things that trigger the Limbic System are stress, anxiety, someone/something aggressing, and trauma, whereas a resilient person has coping mechanisms that help keep them in their Neocortex. We learned about the hormone oxytocin, which comes from bonding, safe relationships, and self-awareness. Barriers to self-awareness are denial and judgment. This ties into your conscience because your conscience brings you awareness of wrongdoing and counteracts denial but also prevents judgment of self and others. Your conscience is a place to stop negative looping cycles and recognize God's mercy rather than condemning yourself.
Neuroplasticity allows you to rewire your brain to take a new path after you have formed a habit. Often people can be focused on stopping the bad habit rather than replacing it with a good habit. This is not always the most helpful way to change a habit. For instance, one could focus on replacing the habit of smoking with something such as chewing gum or sunflower seeds.
Contemplative prayer is extremely helpful in developing our relationship with self, others and God. In a culture of instant gratification and noise, we must chase peace! Some people have referred to this fast-paced world as a place where everyone is grappling for a spot at the top. It is hard to calm yourself when you feel like your mind is constantly racing to keep up with the world. God can sustain us at this fast pace but we may be preventing Him from working fully through us. The enemy cannot scatter God's sheep if we are close to the Shepherd. Contemplative prayer is a way to stay connected to our Shepherd. Contemplation is the apex of prayer and heals us, protects us, and keeps God's interests alive in our hearts. There are seven different rooms that you can enter in the contemplative prayer structure: the conscience room, the relationships room, the forgiveness room, the courage and consolation room, the temptations room, the work of the day room, and the characteristics of the Divine Will room. The important thing to remember while walking through these rooms is that Jesus is with you in every room and He can be the busy one in this experience. You can ask God what He wants you to do in certain relationships, how to deal with your temptations, and so many other beautiful experiences with our Lord in contemplative prayer. You can enter into your courage and consolation room, remembering snapshots of moments when you felt God and were comforted. Spending time in contemplative prayer is like learning little lessons in love!
Today was a day of putting into practice the contemplative prayer structure that we learned about yesterday. In order to prepare ourselves for contemplative prayer we worked on relaxing our bodies. For the first class period, we were walked through a technique called progressive muscle relaxation. This relaxation technique began with deep belly breathing which slows the body's heart rate down. Then we were told to focus on different areas of our bodies, such as face, neck, or shoulders, notice feelings and sensations across the surface and in the muscles, and then relax those areas. After this we were brought through the process of contemplative prayer structure. Then we were each given a carpet square to symbolize our own space and a time for us to practice the Contemplative Prayer. We used this day as a reflective day without so much social activity to allow ourselves to receive what God wants us to have.
The classes today were on relationships. Modern society tells us that the only way for us to be happy is to be in a romantic relationship. This can lead us to objectify people and treating them as accessories. As a class we came up with a list of things that we would want in a person: humble, honest, faithful, moral (same core morals) open to another perspective, open to discernment of God's will, flexible, attractive (chemistry), fun, wants a family, able to communicate, independent, able to adapt, able to suffer, respectful, self-aware, mentally and financially well (stable), resilient, forgiving, encouraging, supportive, patient, committed to the relationship, hard working, loving, thoughtful, energetic, and positive. Rather than focusing on finding the right person, it is best to work on becoming the right person.
In order to form more nourishing relationships with self, others, and God, we must also understand boundaries. Boundaries are lines no one should cross, instinctive, and a comfort zone. It is important to realize that boundaries shift over time: some boundaries become more relaxed and others become firmer. Boundaries are shaped by culture, spirituality, and faith. Intimate relationships are a paradox because, while needed, they leave you vulnerable and require more boundaries. Boundaries help to build trust in relationships. There are four types of boundaries: physical, psychological (mental and emotional), sexual, and spiritual. There are many ways that our boundaries can be broken. Most times when our boundaries are crossed we will feel angry, confused, disorientated, upset, and/or shamed. The goal with boundaries is to be clear despite the fact that this can be difficult at times.
One of the five spiritual practices of Direction for Our Times is monthly Confession. Confession is a healing sacrament. St. Augustine called the Confessional ‘The Medicine Box’. It is important to remember that even though a priest acts In Persona Christi while administering the sacrament of Confession, he is also a penitent himself. There is no reason to fear a priest or the Confessional because what a priest remembers most is the honesty and the relief after absolution not the sins a person confessed. The Catechism tells us that God will never allow us to be tempted beyond our power to resist. Good can come from temptations because they can teach us more about ourselves. To sin or to resist temptation is a decision of the heart. God gives us the grace to have custody of our hearts if we ask Him for it. Penance also comes from our hearts. Interior conversion towards God expresses itself outwardly. Confession to a priest is also a necessary part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is comparable to telling a doctor what makes you feel unwell. If a patient is too embarrassed to tell the doctor where his or her wound is, the doctor cannot heal it. Finally it is important to remember that the Confessor is not the master of God's forgiveness but the servant of it. The priest is simply there to mediate a conversation between you and God and to mediate God's grace.
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Direction for Our Times (DFOT) is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to spreading God's messages as revealed in the Volumes.
Direction for Our Times (DFOT) is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to spreading God's messages as revealed in the Volumes.
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