B
BobCatholic
Guest
OK, maybe there is someone out there, but I’ll never find them, so how does that make my situation different?
The most depressing thing about Catholicism - no mystics living on earth
- Status
P
pianistclare
Guest
THIS^^^
Get a spiritual director. Inquire at the nearest Monastery or Retreat House.
God bless.
Edited to add:
After reading your responses…I gather you want something.
Perhaps you are praying for the wrong things? Perhaps what you are praying for is not God’s will and therefore, not good for you in the long run?
God responds to every prayer. Sometimes the response (in a loving way) is “no”. Not now. Not right for you. Wait and see. I’ll do something better for you. Just say you love Me.
Carefully discern (with the help of a good Spiritual Director) where your prayer life is going amiss. Many of us on this thread will pray for you. I know how discouraging things can get. But God is THERE WITH YOU.
your guardian angel is there with you. The Saints are praying for you. We can’t really grasp what we can’t see…but that does not mean that you are alone in this.
Don’t despair.
here’s one of my favorite prayers:
You are wisdom, uncreated and eternal,
the supreme first cause, above all being,
sovereign Godhead, sovereign goodness,
watching unseen the God-inspired wisdom of Christian people.
Raise us, we pray, that we may totally respond
to the supreme, unknown, ultimate, and splendid height
of your words, mysterious and inspired.
There all God’s secret matters lie covered and hidden
under darkness both profound and brilliant, silent and wise.
You make what is ultimate and beyond brightness
secretly to shine in all that is most dark.
In your way, ever unseen and intangible,
you fill to the full with most beautiful splendor
those souls who close their eyes that they may see.
And I, please, with love that goes on beyond mind
to all that is beyond mind,
seek to gain such for myself through this prayer.
St. Denis, From The Cloud of Unknowing, 14th century
M
Memaw
Guest
I would suggest you spend some time with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It’s amazing the inspirations and thoughts, the peace when you talk to God one on one. I have had a Holy Hour for 30 years and love it. Also Daily Mass if possible. We can be busy but should never be to busy for God. So many things to talk to Him about! God Bless Memaw
H
hazcompat
Guest
Abandonment to Divine Providence
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
… SECTION III.—The Work of our Sanctification.
All you who strive after perfection and who are tempted to discouragement at the remembrance of what you have read in the lives of the saints, and of what certain pious books prescribe; O you who are appalled by the terrible ideas of perfection that you have formed for yourselves; it is for your consolation that God has willed me to write this. Learn that of which you seem to be ignorant. This God of all goodness has made those things easy which are common and necessary in the order of nature, such as breathing, eating, and sleeping. No less necessary in the supernatural order are love and fidelity, therefore it must needs be that the difficulty of acquiring them is by no means so great as is generally represented.
…
The world is full of infidelity. How unworthy are its thoughts of God! It complains continually of the divine action in a way that it would not dare to use towards the lowest workman about his trade…
Peace
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
… SECTION III.—The Work of our Sanctification.
All you who strive after perfection and who are tempted to discouragement at the remembrance of what you have read in the lives of the saints, and of what certain pious books prescribe; O you who are appalled by the terrible ideas of perfection that you have formed for yourselves; it is for your consolation that God has willed me to write this. Learn that of which you seem to be ignorant. This God of all goodness has made those things easy which are common and necessary in the order of nature, such as breathing, eating, and sleeping. No less necessary in the supernatural order are love and fidelity, therefore it must needs be that the difficulty of acquiring them is by no means so great as is generally represented.
…
The world is full of infidelity. How unworthy are its thoughts of God! It complains continually of the divine action in a way that it would not dare to use towards the lowest workman about his trade…
Peace
H
hazcompat
Guest
Pope Saint John Paul II
Crossing the Threshold of Hope
Man is the priest of all creation; he speaks in its name, but only insofar as he is guided by the Spirit. In order to understand profoundly the meaning of prayer, one should meditate for a long time on the following passage from the Letter to the Romans: "For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved" (Rom 8:19-24). And here again we come across the apostle’s words: “The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (cf. Rom 8:26).
In prayer, then, the true protagonist is God. The protagonist is Christ, who constantly frees creation from slavery to corruption and leads it toward liberty, for the glory of the children of God. The protagonist is the Holy Spirit, who “comes to the aid of our weakness.” We begin to pray, believing that it is our own initiative that compels us to do so. Instead, we learn that it is always God’s initiative within us, just as Saint Paul has written. This initiative restores in us our true humanity; it restores in us our unique dignity. Yes, we are brought into the higher dignity of the children of God, the children of God who are the hope of all creation.
One can and must pray in many different ways, …
Peace
Crossing the Threshold of Hope
Man is the priest of all creation; he speaks in its name, but only insofar as he is guided by the Spirit. In order to understand profoundly the meaning of prayer, one should meditate for a long time on the following passage from the Letter to the Romans: "For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved" (Rom 8:19-24). And here again we come across the apostle’s words: “The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (cf. Rom 8:26).
In prayer, then, the true protagonist is God. The protagonist is Christ, who constantly frees creation from slavery to corruption and leads it toward liberty, for the glory of the children of God. The protagonist is the Holy Spirit, who “comes to the aid of our weakness.” We begin to pray, believing that it is our own initiative that compels us to do so. Instead, we learn that it is always God’s initiative within us, just as Saint Paul has written. This initiative restores in us our true humanity; it restores in us our unique dignity. Yes, we are brought into the higher dignity of the children of God, the children of God who are the hope of all creation.
One can and must pray in many different ways, …
Peace
P
petra22
Guest
This is so true!!!
H
hazcompat
Guest
Mystical Prayer in the Holy Spirit
This reading on mystical (contemplative) prayer, taken from Bonaventure’s Omnia, 5, 312
Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant, and the mystery hidden from the ages. A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on the cross, full of faith, hope and charity, devoted, full of wonder and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation. Then such a man will make with Christ a pasch, that is, a passing over. Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea, leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden manna, and rest with Christ in the sepulchre, as if he were dead to things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside Christ: Today you will be with me in paradise.
For this Passover to be perfect we must suspend all the operations of the mind and we must transform the peak of our affections, directing them to God alone. This is a sacred mystical experience. It cannot be comprehended by anyone unless he surrenders himself to it; nor can he surrender himself to it unless he longs for it; nor can he long for it unless the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent into the world, should come and inflame his innermost soul. Hence the Apostle says that this mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit.
If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer in God’s grace, not in doctrine; in the longing of the will, not in the understanding; in the sighs of prayer, not in research; seek the bridegroom not the teacher; God and not man; darkness not daylight; and look not to the light but rather to the raging fire that carries the soul to God with intense fervor and glowing love. The fire is God, and the furnace is in Jerusalem, fired by Christ in the ardour of his loving passion. Only he understood this who said: My soul chose hanging and my bones death. Anyone who cherishes this kind of death can see God, for it is certainly true that: No man can look upon me and live.
Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness, silencing our anxieties, our passions and all the fantasies of our imagination. Let us pass over with the crucified Christ from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father has shown himself to us, we can say with Philip: It is enough. We may hear with Paul: My grace is sufficient for you; and we can rejoice with David, saying: My flesh and my heart fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my heritage forever.
Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: Amen. Amen!
Peace
This reading on mystical (contemplative) prayer, taken from Bonaventure’s Omnia, 5, 312
Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant, and the mystery hidden from the ages. A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on the cross, full of faith, hope and charity, devoted, full of wonder and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation. Then such a man will make with Christ a pasch, that is, a passing over. Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea, leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden manna, and rest with Christ in the sepulchre, as if he were dead to things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside Christ: Today you will be with me in paradise.
For this Passover to be perfect we must suspend all the operations of the mind and we must transform the peak of our affections, directing them to God alone. This is a sacred mystical experience. It cannot be comprehended by anyone unless he surrenders himself to it; nor can he surrender himself to it unless he longs for it; nor can he long for it unless the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent into the world, should come and inflame his innermost soul. Hence the Apostle says that this mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit.
If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer in God’s grace, not in doctrine; in the longing of the will, not in the understanding; in the sighs of prayer, not in research; seek the bridegroom not the teacher; God and not man; darkness not daylight; and look not to the light but rather to the raging fire that carries the soul to God with intense fervor and glowing love. The fire is God, and the furnace is in Jerusalem, fired by Christ in the ardour of his loving passion. Only he understood this who said: My soul chose hanging and my bones death. Anyone who cherishes this kind of death can see God, for it is certainly true that: No man can look upon me and live.
Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness, silencing our anxieties, our passions and all the fantasies of our imagination. Let us pass over with the crucified Christ from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father has shown himself to us, we can say with Philip: It is enough. We may hear with Paul: My grace is sufficient for you; and we can rejoice with David, saying: My flesh and my heart fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my heritage forever.
Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: Amen. Amen!
Peace
H
hazcompat
Guest
The Philokalia
Nikiphoros the Monk
(13th century)
(Volume 4, pp. 192-206)
[V4] 194
If you ardently long to attain the wondrous divine illumination of our Savior Jesus Christ; to experience in your heart the supracelestial fire and to be consciously reconciled with God; to dispossess yourself of worldly things in order to find and possess the treasure hidden in the field of your heart (cf. Matt. 13:44); to enkindle here and now your soul’s flame and to renounce all that is only here and now; and spiritually to know and experience the kingdom of heaven within you (cf. Luke 17:21): then I will impart to you the science of eternal or heavenly life or, rather, a method that will lead you, if you apply it, painlessly and without toil to the harbor of dispassion, without the danger of being deceived or terrified by the demons. Terror of this kind we experience only when through disobedience we estrange ourselves from the life I am about to describe. This was the fate of Adam when he violated God’s commandments: associating with the serpent and trusting him, he was sated by him with the fruits of deceit (cf. Gen. 3:1-6), and thus wretchedly plunged himself and all those who came after him into the pit of death, darkness and corruption.
You should, then, return; or - to put it more truly - let us return, brethren, to ourselves, rejecting once and for all with disgust the serpent’s counsel and our deflection to what is base. For we cannot be reconciled with God and assimilated to Him unless we first return or, rather, enter into ourselves, in so far as this lies within our power. For the miracle consists in tearing ourselves away from the distraction and vain concerns of the world and in this way relentlessly seizing hold of the kingdom of heaven within us.
That is why the monastic life has been called the art of arts and the science of sciences. For this holy discipline does not procure us what is corruptible, so that we divert our intellect from higher to lower things and completely stifle it. On the contrary it offers us strange, indescribable blessings, that ‘the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and man’s heart has not grasped’ (1 Cor. 2:9). Henceforward ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world’ (Eph. 6:12). If, then, this present age is one of darkness, let us flee from it. Let us flee from it in our thoughts so that we may have nothing in common with the enemy of God. For if you choose to be a friend of this present age you are an enemy of God (cf.Jas. 4:4). And who can help an enemy of God?
Let us therefore imitate our fathers and like them let us seek the treasure within our hearts. And when we have found it let us hold fast to it with all our might, both cultivating and guarding it (cf. Gen. 2:15); for this is what we were commanded to do from the beginning. And if another Nikodimos should appear and begin to argue, saying, ‘How can anyone enter into his own heart and work or dwell in it?’ - as the original Nikodimos, doubting the Savior, said, ‘How can someone who is old enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ (John 3:4) - let him in his turn hear the words, ‘The Spirit blows where He wants to’ (John 3:8). If we are full of disbelief and doubt about the practice of the ascetic life, how shall we enjoy the fruits of contemplation? For it is practice that initiates us into contemplation.
Peace
Nikiphoros the Monk
(13th century)
(Volume 4, pp. 192-206)
[V4] 194
If you ardently long to attain the wondrous divine illumination of our Savior Jesus Christ; to experience in your heart the supracelestial fire and to be consciously reconciled with God; to dispossess yourself of worldly things in order to find and possess the treasure hidden in the field of your heart (cf. Matt. 13:44); to enkindle here and now your soul’s flame and to renounce all that is only here and now; and spiritually to know and experience the kingdom of heaven within you (cf. Luke 17:21): then I will impart to you the science of eternal or heavenly life or, rather, a method that will lead you, if you apply it, painlessly and without toil to the harbor of dispassion, without the danger of being deceived or terrified by the demons. Terror of this kind we experience only when through disobedience we estrange ourselves from the life I am about to describe. This was the fate of Adam when he violated God’s commandments: associating with the serpent and trusting him, he was sated by him with the fruits of deceit (cf. Gen. 3:1-6), and thus wretchedly plunged himself and all those who came after him into the pit of death, darkness and corruption.
You should, then, return; or - to put it more truly - let us return, brethren, to ourselves, rejecting once and for all with disgust the serpent’s counsel and our deflection to what is base. For we cannot be reconciled with God and assimilated to Him unless we first return or, rather, enter into ourselves, in so far as this lies within our power. For the miracle consists in tearing ourselves away from the distraction and vain concerns of the world and in this way relentlessly seizing hold of the kingdom of heaven within us.
That is why the monastic life has been called the art of arts and the science of sciences. For this holy discipline does not procure us what is corruptible, so that we divert our intellect from higher to lower things and completely stifle it. On the contrary it offers us strange, indescribable blessings, that ‘the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and man’s heart has not grasped’ (1 Cor. 2:9). Henceforward ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world’ (Eph. 6:12). If, then, this present age is one of darkness, let us flee from it. Let us flee from it in our thoughts so that we may have nothing in common with the enemy of God. For if you choose to be a friend of this present age you are an enemy of God (cf.Jas. 4:4). And who can help an enemy of God?
Let us therefore imitate our fathers and like them let us seek the treasure within our hearts. And when we have found it let us hold fast to it with all our might, both cultivating and guarding it (cf. Gen. 2:15); for this is what we were commanded to do from the beginning. And if another Nikodimos should appear and begin to argue, saying, ‘How can anyone enter into his own heart and work or dwell in it?’ - as the original Nikodimos, doubting the Savior, said, ‘How can someone who is old enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ (John 3:4) - let him in his turn hear the words, ‘The Spirit blows where He wants to’ (John 3:8). If we are full of disbelief and doubt about the practice of the ascetic life, how shall we enjoy the fruits of contemplation? For it is practice that initiates us into contemplation.
Peace
G
Gertabelle
Guest
A couple of comedic views on this topic that have actually helped me in my prayer life:
"Coffee With Jesus"
"Mornings With Jesus"
Sometimes, the problem isn’t that God isn’t talking with us, but rather that we expect Him to talk with us in OUR way instead of the way He is actually talking with us.
Praying for you.
"Coffee With Jesus"
"Mornings With Jesus"
Sometimes, the problem isn’t that God isn’t talking with us, but rather that we expect Him to talk with us in OUR way instead of the way He is actually talking with us.
Praying for you.
P
pianistclare
Guest
Yes. Exactly right.
F
franklinstower
Guest
Bob-
I have been practicing contemplative prayer for three hours a day since I was 19 years old. I’m 43 now so its been a while. I have a lot of experience with mysticism. Maybe you could send me a private message and we could get in touch with one another by pm and eventually by telephone? I would love to talk to you.
Being able to abide in the presence of God as opposed to getting direct answers is absolutely not depressing- it is totally freeing. One of the effects of contemplative prayer is a growing sense of not needing to know- a deep appreciation for mystery comes from having a profound intimacy with God and all of the security and comfort and peace that it brings. It is quite wonderful. Going further-- the higher end of mystical experience is intense and infinitely fulfilling.
Another kind of knowing is born in the silence of contemplation – an intuitive knowing that while still not answering all of your questions does seem to provide just what is needed for gaining more wisdom, humility, surrender, acceptance, peace, joy etc.
I have been practicing contemplative prayer for three hours a day since I was 19 years old. I’m 43 now so its been a while. I have a lot of experience with mysticism. Maybe you could send me a private message and we could get in touch with one another by pm and eventually by telephone? I would love to talk to you.
Being able to abide in the presence of God as opposed to getting direct answers is absolutely not depressing- it is totally freeing. One of the effects of contemplative prayer is a growing sense of not needing to know- a deep appreciation for mystery comes from having a profound intimacy with God and all of the security and comfort and peace that it brings. It is quite wonderful. Going further-- the higher end of mystical experience is intense and infinitely fulfilling.
Another kind of knowing is born in the silence of contemplation – an intuitive knowing that while still not answering all of your questions does seem to provide just what is needed for gaining more wisdom, humility, surrender, acceptance, peace, joy etc.
I
InLight247
Guest
Prayer is a two way communication, not a monologue. God speaks to us through his Words, environment, situations, nature, and other people. God also directly speaks to us with the still small voice in our soul and spirit. What you need to do is to develop a closer relationship with God - by prayer, Scripture reading, spiritual reading, Eucharistic adoration, daily Mass, regular confession… If you are able to find a good spiritual director, that helps too. God bless you!
V
Vic_Taltrees_UK
Guest
Interpret the events of life. God is laconic, like Pope Francis.
There is also the saying, “God writes straight with crooked lines”. That’s a kind of talking.
There is also the saying, “God writes straight with crooked lines”. That’s a kind of talking.
H
hazcompat
Guest
How foolish to refuse to breathe the open air! to search for a spot on which to place the foot when there is the whole countryside before you; to be unable to find water when there is a whole deluge at your service, nor to possess and enjoy God, nor to recognize His action when it is present in all things.
You search for hidden ways of belonging to God, good people, but the only way is that of making use of whatever He sends you. All leads to union, to perfection, except what is sinful or not a duty. All that is necessary is to accept everything, placing no obstacle in the way of its action but letting it accomplish its work. All things are intended to guide, raise, and support you, and are in the hand of God whose action is vaster and more present than the elements of earth, air, and water. Even by means of the senses God will enter, provided they are used only as He ordains, because everything contrary to His will must be resisted.
There is not a single atom that goes to form part of your being, even to the marrow of the bones that is not formed by the divine power. From it all things proceed, by it all things are made. Your very life-blood flows through your veins by the movement this power imparts to it, and all the fluctuations that exist between strength and weakness, languor and liveliness, life and death, are divine instruments put in motion to effect your sanctification.
Under its influence all bodily states become operations of grace. From this invisible hand come all your opinions, all your ideas on whatever subject they may be formed. What this action will effect in you, you will learn by successive experiences, for there is no created heart or mind that can teach it to you. Your life flows on uninterruptedly in this unsounded abyss in which each present moment contains all that is best for you, and as such must be loved and esteemed.
It is necessary to have a perfect confidence in this action which of itself can do nothing but what is good. Yes, divine Love! To what heights of supernatural, sublime, admirable and incomparable virtue would all souls arrive if they would but be satisfied with Your action! Yes, if they would leave the matter in this divine hand they would attain to an eminent degree of perfection! Everyone would arrive at it because it is offered to all.
No effort is required because the work accomplishes itself. Every soul possesses in You an infinitely perfect model, and by your action which works ceaselessly to this end, is rendered like this model. If all souls were faithful copies of this divine example they would all speak, act, and live divinely. They would not require to copy each other, but would be singled out by the divine influence, and each would be rendered unique by the most simple and ordinary things.
By what means, O my God, I can make your creatures appreciate what is offered to them? Must I who possess so great a treasure with which I could enrich the whole world, see souls perish in poverty? Must I behold them withering like plants in a desert when I can show them the source of living waters?
Come, foolish souls, you who have not an atom of sensible devotion, you too who possess no talent nor even the rudiments of education, you who cannot understand a single spiritual term, who stand astonished at the eloquence of the learned whom you admire; come, and I will teach you a secret which will place you far beyond these clever minds.
I will make perfection so easy to you that you will find it everywhere and in everything. I will unite you to God, and make you walk hand in hand with Him from the moment that you begin practicing what I will teach you. Come, not to study the map of the spiritual country, but to possess it, to walk in it at your ease without fear of losing your way.
Come, not to study the theory of divine grace, nor to find out what it has accomplished in the past and still continues to accomplish; but to become simply subject to its operations. It is not necessary that you should understand what it has said to others, nor to repeat the words intended only for them and which you have overheard, but you, yourself, will receive from it what is best for you. The divine action alone can sanctify us, for that alone can make us imitate the divine Example of our perfection.
Abandonment to Divine Providence
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
Peace
You search for hidden ways of belonging to God, good people, but the only way is that of making use of whatever He sends you. All leads to union, to perfection, except what is sinful or not a duty. All that is necessary is to accept everything, placing no obstacle in the way of its action but letting it accomplish its work. All things are intended to guide, raise, and support you, and are in the hand of God whose action is vaster and more present than the elements of earth, air, and water. Even by means of the senses God will enter, provided they are used only as He ordains, because everything contrary to His will must be resisted.
There is not a single atom that goes to form part of your being, even to the marrow of the bones that is not formed by the divine power. From it all things proceed, by it all things are made. Your very life-blood flows through your veins by the movement this power imparts to it, and all the fluctuations that exist between strength and weakness, languor and liveliness, life and death, are divine instruments put in motion to effect your sanctification.
Under its influence all bodily states become operations of grace. From this invisible hand come all your opinions, all your ideas on whatever subject they may be formed. What this action will effect in you, you will learn by successive experiences, for there is no created heart or mind that can teach it to you. Your life flows on uninterruptedly in this unsounded abyss in which each present moment contains all that is best for you, and as such must be loved and esteemed.
It is necessary to have a perfect confidence in this action which of itself can do nothing but what is good. Yes, divine Love! To what heights of supernatural, sublime, admirable and incomparable virtue would all souls arrive if they would but be satisfied with Your action! Yes, if they would leave the matter in this divine hand they would attain to an eminent degree of perfection! Everyone would arrive at it because it is offered to all.
No effort is required because the work accomplishes itself. Every soul possesses in You an infinitely perfect model, and by your action which works ceaselessly to this end, is rendered like this model. If all souls were faithful copies of this divine example they would all speak, act, and live divinely. They would not require to copy each other, but would be singled out by the divine influence, and each would be rendered unique by the most simple and ordinary things.
By what means, O my God, I can make your creatures appreciate what is offered to them? Must I who possess so great a treasure with which I could enrich the whole world, see souls perish in poverty? Must I behold them withering like plants in a desert when I can show them the source of living waters?
Come, foolish souls, you who have not an atom of sensible devotion, you too who possess no talent nor even the rudiments of education, you who cannot understand a single spiritual term, who stand astonished at the eloquence of the learned whom you admire; come, and I will teach you a secret which will place you far beyond these clever minds.
I will make perfection so easy to you that you will find it everywhere and in everything. I will unite you to God, and make you walk hand in hand with Him from the moment that you begin practicing what I will teach you. Come, not to study the map of the spiritual country, but to possess it, to walk in it at your ease without fear of losing your way.
Come, not to study the theory of divine grace, nor to find out what it has accomplished in the past and still continues to accomplish; but to become simply subject to its operations. It is not necessary that you should understand what it has said to others, nor to repeat the words intended only for them and which you have overheard, but you, yourself, will receive from it what is best for you. The divine action alone can sanctify us, for that alone can make us imitate the divine Example of our perfection.
Abandonment to Divine Providence
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
Peace
A
AKDee
Guest
I believe there are still mystics. For one, I have had mystical experiences, my sponsor has, and I know a woman who has had major visions when in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. That’s just in my parish, with my very limited knowledge (I only joined the Church at Easter this year), and none of us are Religious.
I will say that I think, if you don’t already, that you should try regular Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. It’s made a big difference for me on being “in tune” and being able to hear the Lord’s answers.
Edit to add: I saw in another of your posts that your local Parish does not offer perpetual adoration. Perhaps you could be the one to start the ball rolling on that? It is an amazing blessing to a Parish that has perpetual adoration. Does your Parish at least have a weekly Exposition? Perhaps you could build from that?
I will say that I think, if you don’t already, that you should try regular Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. It’s made a big difference for me on being “in tune” and being able to hear the Lord’s answers.
Edit to add: I saw in another of your posts that your local Parish does not offer perpetual adoration. Perhaps you could be the one to start the ball rolling on that? It is an amazing blessing to a Parish that has perpetual adoration. Does your Parish at least have a weekly Exposition? Perhaps you could build from that?
D
Deo_Gratias42
Guest
I don’t think you have a correct understanding of what a mystic is. Furthermore, what you speak of is something we aren’t supposed to seek because it can bring on the demonic.
D
Deo_Gratias42
Guest
And true Mystics don’t make their mysticism public knowledge. They suffer d greatly from the attention they received when God permitted them to go into ecstasy or levitate in public.
N
nodito
Guest
God rarely speaks to us in a burning bush. More often, I’ve found, that I learn God’s will by praying about something and listening and seeing if I feel uneasy about something or if a decision brings peace.
But Scripture does give personal answers. It’s a personal letter written to you, and if you can’t find the very specific answer you’re looking for in it, maybe you’re asking the wrong questions. Sometimes the answers we find don’t seem to speak directly to our questions, but they do address our needs.
So for example, suppose a man was praying for a wife and asking God why he had not found someone yet. Maybe he’d like God to speak aloud to him: “Well, Jim, you haven’t been shaving lately and that’s a real turn off for women. if you go to this bar Friday night and wear your green shirt, you’ll find the one I’ve picked out for you.” Could God do this? Sure. But more likely, God would speak to this man through Scripture. Perhaps he reads Proverbs, for example, finds a description of what a holy wife should act like and begins to see the women he interacts with in a new way and evaluate them based on criteria that will make him happy in the long run and help him get to heaven. And maybe that’s what he needed to learn at that moment in time.
If there’s something particular you’re struggling with, you really should try praying about it in front of the Tabernacle and searching Scripture. You’re unlikely to find a direct address to you: “Lo, then God said, BobCatholic, go in and do this about your tricky work situation…” but you will get an answer of some kind, a sense of what God is asking you to do.
B
BobCatholic
Guest
If God talks to me in Chinese, I’m not going to understand it. If God talks to me in a way I cannot understand (i.e. morse code) I’m not going to understand it. I’m stupid. I need him to talk to me in a way I can understand.
If I don’t have to know then there is no such thing as a sin of omission. I disagree with that. I have to know.
I’ll send you a PM.
When God is not talking back, that’s him giving me the silent treatment. An angry wife and an angry God have that in common.
I talk. He won’t. That’s a monologue. That’s prayer to me.
So we’re not supposed to have a personal relationship with God?
A
AKDee
Guest
I suspect this is more of you not knowing how to listen, or what to listen for.
This brings to mind 1 Kings Chapter 19:
I hear God most when I am silent. But it’s not a voice, or a pillar of fire, or a burning bush. It’s a thought that comes, one which I know didn’t come from me. Or sometimes it’s the simple answer to a prayer. Recently, I had been praying for understanding on a certain topic- and the next weekend our Pastor gave his homily on the exact topic and there was my answer. So God can speak to us in our hearts, he can speak to us through scripture, he can speak to us through other people.
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