Detachment... Holy Indifference

[Oneofthewomen]

:clapping: Excellent post, JR! This should be a stickie here.

I second this!!!
Br. Jay, thank you, this is awesome, and EXACTLY what I needed to read this morning! I have a feeling my session with my spiritual director later today is going to be quite productive!!

 

[TrueLight]

Let’s move along. Let’s say you can now ask for the EF and silence your negative feelings about the OF. You’ve taken the first step in detachment, without giving up the desired good. You have detached from your need to make that little dig or to express your hostility or useless anger. There is an anger that is useful, such as that which protects an innocent from harm. There is an anger that is useless, that which does not achieve the desired good, but only provokes an hostile response.

I find that as I am growing in the faith, I am becoming more detached and less likely to get into arguments on CAF over the EF versus the OF. That doesn’t mean I don’t have certain opinions, or that I will not do my part in promoting the EF.

However, I am getting better at spotting CAF threads that are more likely to devolve into vitriolic sputterings, so I avoid those. What does it say about my walk with God when I begin to respond uncharitably to others?

Our goal should be to become saints and if we spend our time arguing, sometimes uncharitably with others on the internet, we are allowing these discussions to become stumbling blocks for us.

I’d much prefer to spend a greater part of my online time speaking of topics such as this, discussing the Saints and wonderful Catholic traditions and prayers.

So I will continue to focus on my spiritual life and since I believe a lot of people would be blessed by the EF if they had the opportunity to attend a mass, I will spread the word, hopefully humbly.

 

[JReducation]

I find that as I am growing in the faith, I am becoming more detached and less likely to get into arguments on CAF over the EF versus the OF. That doesn’t mean I don’t have certain opinions, or that I will not do my part in promoting the EF.

However, I am getting better at spotting CAF threads that are more likely to devolve into vitriolic sputterings, so I avoid those. What does it say about my walk with God when I begin to respond uncharitably to others?

Our goal should be to become saints and if we spend our time arguing, sometimes uncharitably with others on the internet, we are allowing these discussions to become stumbling blocks for us.

I’d much prefer to spend a greater part of my online time speaking of topics such as this, discussing the Saints and wonderful Catholic traditions and prayers.

So I will continue to focus on my spiritual life and since I believe a lot of people would be blessed by the EF if they had the opportunity to attend a mass, I will spread the word, hopefully humbly.

This is wanting the desired good, while detaching from the negative. Often, people fear that if they lose the negative, they will be caving in or giving up on the desired good, which is not true.

Look at men like Dominic, Francis and Anthony of Padua who lived during the height of the heresies of the Middle Ages. I know that you have read the writings of Teresa of Avila who lived during the height of the Lutheran reform and the Spanish Inquisition. I hope that you will read about Mother Teresa next.

These people transformed their world and are still influencing our lives. However, I challenge anyone to find a single line in their writings or in their actions where they make a single statement about anyone or any group that is problematic or with which they disagree. You won’t find it.

They were attached to the good and detached from their opinions about the good. They avoided self-importance.

When I do spiritual direction with people who have too many opinions I always ask them the same question.

“What is the difference between a gardener and a landscaper?”

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TrueLight]

I know that you have read the writings of Teresa of Avila who lived during the height of the Lutheran reform and the Spanish Inquisition. I hope that you will read about Mother Teresa next

I want to. For some reason I totally ignored her while she was alive. I knew she was a good person, but wasn’t that interested in learning more than the snippets I saw on the news.

I think you might have recommended a book before of her life. I don’t remember what it was. Can you recommend something? Thanks.

 

[JReducation]

I want to. For some reason I totally ignored her while she was alive. I knew she was a good person, but wasn’t that interested in learning more than the snippets I saw on the news.

I think you might have recommended a book before of her life. I don’t remember what it was. Can you recommend something? Thanks.

Begin with Something Beautiful for God. It’s an easy read for the person who is very busy. It is an overview of he life and work.

Then proceed to Come Be My Light. It’s her writings about her spiritual journey.

The latter makes very little sense if we don’t know her story. Because these were letters and notes that she wrote to people who knew her. She did not have to explain the context.

There is a wonderful DVD with Olivia Hussey called, “Mother Teresa”. You can find it at www.amazon.com or www.ewtn.com. It worth seeing. Ms. Hussey even imitates Mother’s accent perfectly. It’s very historical. It takes you through her life beginning when she was a nun, then her transition from being a nun to becoming a sister, the foundation of the Society of the Missionaries of Charity and her struggles with the Church and the secular world.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TrueLight]

Begin with Something Beautiful for God. It’s an easy read for the person who is very busy. It is an overview of he life and work.

Then proceed to Come Be My Light. It’s her writings about her spiritual journey.

The latter makes very little sense if we don’t know her story. Because these were letters and notes that she wrote to people who knew her. She did not have to explain the context.

There is a wonderful DVD with Olivia Hussey called, “Mother Teresa”. You can find it at www.amazon.com or www.ewtn.com. It worth seeing. Ms. Hussey even imitates Mother’s accent perfectly. It’s very historical. It takes you through her life beginning when she was a nun, then her transition from being a nun to becoming a sister, the foundation of the Society of the Missionaries of Charity and her struggles with the Church and the secular world.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Thank you!

Edited: I actually don’t like easy reads, but since you have always recommended excellent books in the past, I took a step of faith and ordered Something Beautiful for God.

 

[JReducation]

Thank you!

Edited: I actually don’t like easy reads, but since you have always recommended excellent books in the past, I took a step of faith and ordered Something Beautiful for God.

I liked this book, because I always have a stack of books waiting for me. Right now, I’m working through three at the same time. When I find a good one that is an easy read, I praise God and thank the author.

Something Beautiful for God does not cover her entire life. It was written many years before she died. However, I thought that you might like it, because the author was Protestant when he wrote it. I loved this, because he approached his subject without the Catholic bias and all of the stereotypical pious platitude. He’s not telling the story of a saint. He’s talking about a real woman. At the time that he wrote this book, she was not a finished product. Yet, he converted to Catholicism after he wrote the book. He would later say that she converted him and never knew it until after the fact, when he visited her again.

He did a wonderful interview about his work. Apparently, he was allowed to spend a lot of time with her. At first, she resisted the idea of a book about her. It took some persuading. Finally, she caved in, as long as he promised to draw people’s attention to the plight of the poor.

He said that what converted him was that she did not try to convert him to Catholicism. She would often ask him why he was such a lousy Anglican. LOL

Having met her, I can imagine her asking such a question. For Mother, fidelity was everything. The way that she came at people was to confront them with, “If you truly believe that God is in [insert religion], then you have moral duty to be faithful. You can’t say that you’re [insert religion] and not be faithful, because either you don’t believe or you don’t truly love God.”

When unfaithful people heard her, they had to ask themselves tough questions about their faith or lack thereof.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF