HOPEFUL CATHOLICS

When I wrote of St Paul of the Cross’ redemptive suffering, I was unaware of Hugh Owen’s assertion that there is a development in mystical activity in the world in our time. If it is true, from the ‘exemplars’ he quotes, that God is inspiring a deepening of mystical union with God in our day, and, if that it is the tool by which the new age of the Church will be activated, we need to consider this. I will give an example of one of the ‘exemplars’ he quotes who made most sense to me: Bl. Dina Belanguer. She was a Canadian nun who lived for 32 years, from 1897 to 1929. She describes in her writings amazing conversations with Jesus and how that influenced the development of her soul. She speaks of being immolated to such an extent that Jesus is the one who lives and acts in her. 'Immolation' is the process by which we allow ourselves to become "less and less" like John the Baptist (John 3: 30), so that we can be filled with the Spirit, the life force of God. It is what Jesus meant when he said "whoever loses his life for my sake will save it" (Matthew 10:39). She explicitly explains that this losing of her self is not an annihilation of her self, but a true restoration of her self in the Spirit. She explains, for example, that this does not take away temptation, and that it restores her true identity rather than robbing her of it. She speaks of living within the life of the Trinity as in heaven, but still being in the body in this world. She reports that she feels the suffering of Jesus from the beginning of his humanity to the end of time, and is aware that, as she shares in it, her suffering is redemptive of millions of souls. She is living in the eternal now of the Trinity while still in her physical earthly body. Jesus’ suffering is much more due to his love of souls tortured by sin than anything he felt physically during his passion. She endures these with him. The suffering I have found it difficult to identify with the stress on suffering found in the revelations of the modern saints, and how our mother, Mary, talks about suffering at her recent appearances. I have for a long time felt that it is morbid to dwell on it so much. For example, the vision of hell given to the Fatima children did not ring true with the sense that I have, that we are moving away from a religion of fear to that of love. And the stress on hell seemed to downplay the desire of our loving God that all will be saved. But, when I see the situations of hell all over the earth in wars and turmoil, I believe there is also hell here now, and many choose it because they are enslaved to evil and sin. I ask myself: can it be that the redemptive suffering of God’s holy people can overcome and negate all the hell on earth as well as the hell of the afterlife? I fervently hope so. Still, I have to admit that I have hesitated to ask for the intimate union with Jesus, which welcomes suffering. My emotive response to that calling is ‘Please, No!’ Now, though, I am beginning to understand that this suffering is the other side of the passion of love which burns in the Trinity. Such is God’s desire that each soul be saved and healed that it pains God deeply until it is accomplished. These mystic souls sense this, leaving them with the unutterable joy of being so in love with God that they desire to share in his immense pain as a work of intercession in order to liberate souls into his unmeasurable love. They are so bound to God that they burn with his love for all souls. Now, that I can dare to aspire to. Climbing the ladder of holiness But how to climb the ladder to mystical union with God which these souls exemplify? Will I ever make progress there? Why am I so slow? It helps to remember that they are raised up by God as ‘exemplars’ and, even if more and more exemplars appear, theirs is still a special vocation. They were fast-forwarded in spiritual experience in order to give us ordinary people the vision of how redemption functions, and what to aspire to in our gradual progress. They are not raised up by God to make us feel inadequate, but to encourage us. They tell us that all people are called to this incarnation of Jesus in the soul, and that we are entering an age when the experience of that will become more evident and widespread. A truly Christian heart can only long for that to be true, but we have to trust God with the details. “Oh Lord, my heart is not proud nor haughty my eyes. I have not gone after things too great, nor marvels beyond me. A weaned child on its mother’s breast, even so is my soul” (Psalm 131). God will show each one of us our individual part to be played in the restoring of creation St Therese of Lisieux I find a lot of encouragement in the writings of St Therese of Lisieux. She only experienced one mystical experience. She professed that she was a little soul and could only live in intimate union with Jesus by only wanting what he wants. She called it her ‘immolation’. But I think it works out like this: I make the firm decision to cooperate with the grace Jesus offers me, firmly believing that he will aid me to make my will one with his Father’s. Then I begin to attempt to accept all the events of my life as being his will, permitted by him for his own good purposes, which I am normally oblivious to. Sometimes, these events can appear to be Hamlet’s ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’. Often, they seem pointless, or downright crazy. But it is in accepting these as permitted by our Father, and therefore his will, that I grow in identifying my will with his. In that way, we gradually become people who can discern what God is asking of us. In carrying out our part in his plan (his will) the earth is drawn closer to heaven. There is no greater joy than involving ourselves completely in his will. We need to discern how to respond to the daily incidents which God has permitted. It takes some pondering. Here’s an example: Brother Leo and St Francis were on a journey and Leo asked St Francis ‘where do we find perfect joy?’ Francis replied that some might think it would be found in converting all unbelievers, but perfect joy is much more to be found were they themselves to remain humble and silent if they were refused admittance at the friary they were approaching, and also were violently abused by the door keeper. Then he said they could glory in the cross of Jesus Christ as St Paul advised ( Little Flowers of St Francis , Everyman edition, Pages 15 -16).  Flowers of St Now that differs from how, Jesus at his trial before the Sanhedrin, turned to the soldier who struck his face and asked him why he did that. Often we have to challenge abuse and injustice for the sake of the abuser, but quietly accept the pain for the sake of one’s own being filled with God’s love, which always channels the flow of God’s love into the rest of the world. What St Therese exemplified with her ‘little way’ was that abandonment to Jesus’ will produces a growing sense of his love for all mankind and a desire to make each moment an offering of one’s self for the salvation of all. I think that her little way is the straight path for those of us living in a busy, perplexing world who are not graced with high mystical experiences. Not muscular Christianity I had difficulty with all this talking about our will and willing. I have always been wary of muscular Christianity where the will is used to make ourselves pleasing to God almost without real recourse to grace. It is a form of self-glorification. But St Therese’s use of her will is reactive to the grace of God rather than being proactive out of her own determination. As we increasingly accept his will, we grow in the sense of living within the outpouring love and plan of the three person Trinity. Living in the Trinity is our vocation. We have begun that life through baptism. We are already living in the eternal now. Through contemplation we gradually ‘with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, (we) are filled with the utter fullness of God’ (Ephesians 3: 18-19). [2] Comfort and encouragement Cardinal Hume taught that the most important thing in prayer is to begin. I always found that comforting because it is mostly up to God what happens after that. My part is so often threadbare. Another great encouragement comes from St Charles de Foucauld who taught: ‘Love consists not in feeling that one loves, but in wanting to love; when one wishes to love, one loves; when one wishes to love with all one’s heart and strength, one loves with all one’s heart and strength’ [3]

An unexpected gift In these writings, I have concentrated on how we who are still on earth are called to intercede in order to hasten the spiritual revolution that the Father desires so urgently. I hope I have not seemed to give the impression of underrating the great army of saints and angels who intercede with Christ for us in heaven. Let me tell you what I experienced when I went to Rome in late October 2024. I wanted to pray at the tombs of St. Peter and St Paul. On our first visit to St Peter’s Basilica, it was swamped with tourists and I found it impossible to pray. But another day, after an early Mass, while the basilica was quiet, I prayed near to Peter’s tomb. St Paul’s basilica was more tranquil. I was not sure what I wanted to pray about, except to find God’s will with their help, and to pray for the Church. What I often find in prayer is that God tugs us quietly on to a particular path, and, as we stay on it, it develops a life of its own, and what God is saying to us becomes more clear. In Rome, that happened, I found myself standing at the tombs of great saints that I have known for ages, and becoming aware that they were closer than I had thought. I hadn’t realised that they had grown distant as my life progressed - it just happened. Now I was increasingly struck by their closeness. I could talk to them and knew they were listening hard. I did not hear them speak, but I knew strongly that they were supporting me in my prayer and work. St Josaphat One of them is St Josaphat. His body is in a glass tomb in St Peter’s. He was a bishop of the Ukranian rite Catholic Church of Ukraine, who at the age of 43 was martyred in 1643 at a time of conflict between the Catholics and the Orthodox, a split that still bedevils Ukraine today. What was wonderful about him was that he was a dedicated worker for reconciliation when few people wanted to hear that message. He was willing to go wherever he thought there might be an opening, no matter what personal danger threatened. Eventually he was ambushed and hacked to death with an axe. I have always had a great admiration for him. Our relationship was relit. St Clare In Assisi, which we also visited, everything speaks of that extraordinary man St Francis . Over the years, he has constantly filled my imagination and taught me so much, but it was St Clare who came close when I visited her basilica. Her quiet femininity, ardent love of God and of the Church, and sheer closeness at that moment was awesome. I know she is my supporter and friend. Also, I felt a longing to become acquainted with other less spectacular followers of St Francis. They weren’t comets streaking across the skies like Francis did, but walked the path of increasing love of God, and they transformed many other people through prayer and love. I could go on, but what I am describing is the renewed awareness which captured my mind and heart of how the Saints are very close and surround us as a vast army of protectors and friends. Truly, St Paul’s words powerfully describe this real-life phenomenon: “We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12; 1), and “What you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…with the whole Church in which everyone is a "first-born son" and a citizen of heaven.” (Hebrews 12: 22). They are close here and now I had forgotten how close the saints really are, and how they are truly part of my life as I am of theirs. Maybe I had to make the jump from thinking of them as part of history to knowing them in the present day. I have always been fascinated by history, and it has been so helpful in understanding the present, but maybe I have concentrated on the circumstances of their lives in the past, which has made them seem remote; now I experience them as part of my life, my close kin. They are not always close, but it is like having frequent or occasional visits and calls from my family. And their lives are so relevant today! Take St Clare. She founded the Poor Clares, an order of enclosed nuns who seek to live in poverty and community. Some might say that she was merely a product of her age, and that they ended up enclosed, because they lived in a society which confined women to the home and restricted them more than men. But I believe that did not happen just because of the arrogance of men, but also because society wisely sought to restrict the number of unintended pregnancies and one-parent families, which frequently disadvantages children and wreaks all sorts of havoc in society. Remarkably, Clare boldly stepped out of the template of the Church of her time which placed enormous emphasis on providing security for congregations of nuns. She embraced radical poverty as a means to totally depend on God, and gathered women into communities of love. I n our time, the whole nature of femininity is being questioned and strange role models are being projected. There is much confusion and polarisation, and not a little distress. Where it is all being led by God is hard to tell, except that God's hand is, as ever, at work in all of the process. Certinly, if we let St Clare and so many heroic women of faith come really close to us, they will help us deepen our prayer of love and so come more surely to the understand the meaning and beauty of God's gift of our sexuality. The saints are alive and close to us today, still proclaiming their messages. What vast riches are at our disposal in the economy of God! Our Father has made the whole of humanity to ache for him and for peace and unity on earth, and he so longs for union with us, and to restore communion among his children. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”.

God gradually develops his salvation in stages. Let's take a moment to consider how he does this. His people On Easter night, the risen Jesus entered the upper room to the amazement of his people, and he eagerly breathed the Holy Spirit upon them. That moment was the culmination of 2000 years of God’s preparation for the renewal of creation. He had centred this preparation stage on his chosen people, Israel. Long ago, God took a tribe of slaves out of oppression in Egypt. Then he led them through the desert for 40 years in which these wild spirits gradually made a covenant with him, because they saw his mighty deeds. It was his “right hand” alone that brought them victories. Remember how Joshua and Hur held up Moses’ arms in prayer to bring them victory over the Amalekites? (Exodus 17: 8-12) The walls of Jericho tumbled down as they processed around them just praising God. (Joshua 6: 1-20) He led them to conquer city after city, becoming skilful warriors. Truly, as Psalm 44 says, it was by God’s “right hand and arm” that they gained victories, and it was “because he loved them” . That was an amazing time. Then they settled and cultivated the land, became farmers and gradually their civilization developed; they started recording their history in books. But it was also a long period of centuries in which he stopped feeding them like babies – they had to grow up. They struggled to abandon their own tendency to invent their own gods, and slowly learned to deal with the real God in the way he demanded. All their worst vices came out and they had terrible times of crisis, but after two thousand years, they were at the stage where there were sufficient of them ready to receive the Messiah. After Jesus had ascended to Heaven, God’s chosen people assumed their new name “Christians”. It was time to bring all people into Israel, the people who deal with God. He stunned them with spiritual victories as they converted the Roman Empire and assimilated the wisdom of many cultures especially the Greeks. As they continued their journey of converting new peoples throughout the world, holiness flourished alongside depravity, all the worst vices came out and they struggled each in their day with evils within themselves. A great Christian culture developed. Its fruits were: human rights, university learning, science and democracy, universal education, the founding of hospitals, to name a few. But that too was a preparation stage from which the next development is to take place. God’s renewal of creation is progressive not static. What is the next development in God’s plan? In a prophetic poem, Christopher Fry writes: Thank God our time is now when wrong Comes up to face us everywhere, Never to leave us till we take The longest stride of soul men ever took. Affairs are now soul size. The enterprise is exploration into God. Where are you making for? It takes So many thousand years to wake… (The Sleep of Prisoners) Our own day and age. God has begun a great step forward in humanity, starting in the cradle of Christianity, the West. In order to prepare this next stage he has shaken his Church profoundly. He has exposed ways that were defective, with the result that many whose Christianity was mostly cultural and largely based on custom have slipped away. All this feels like things have deteriorated, but in fact he is renewing us from within. He is calling us to become more spiritual, more authentically Christian. It may appear to some that, in calling us to be more spiritual, God is asking us to downplay the material world, but Christianity is immensely material - God became flesh, and was nailed with iron nails to a cross of wood - wood that had been his primary material as a carpenter. He is in the process of renewing the whole of creation through human collaboration. The spiritual is pressing down on the world so that we and it can be filled with God. Faith seeks understanding God's being is far beyond our capacity to understand him. We are to relate to him through faith and love. But Christian faith always thirsts to understand both God and of the world he has created for us to develop and care for. Over the centuries, God has inspired Christians to discover the laws he has set into his material creation, which has caused the flowering of thought and science in the West. In recent years, much of this flowering of knowledge has become separated from its Christian roots, and we are faced with enormous potential for improvement which is deeply frustrated because, in isolating ourselves from the love of God, we have sealed the fountain of grace which enables us to properly love each other. Enormous love, which only flows from God's love is required to enable us to collaborate effectively in bringing creation to its glorious liberation . This can only be remedied by human beings maturing spiritually. God is busily leading us into that remedy. He is causing the whole world to be shaken. Our knowledge of each other and the world has increased, leading us into a challenging time of flux. Cultures are mixing and also clashing. We are enthralled by the differences, and yet frightened of losing our identities nationally and as groupings in society. God has led us to this time in order to call us more deeply into our most profound identity - children of his created in his own image and likeness, called to bring the earth to flourishing. Theories of everything There are many false "theories of everything" which offer world-views of how humanity is to advance. Only Christ is the answer. Only Christ suffices. The vision of the future offered by the so-called "progressive" philosophy has shown itself as brutalising, bogged down in overconsumption and endless "self-fulfillment"; it is hopelessly inadequate and visionless. The next great remedy offered for the world's ills, Islam, is adhered to by many wonderful and loving people who loath the violence, misogeny and fanaticism advocated by other Muslims. They are similar to Christians who, not so long ago, were moving away from violence inflicted in the name of Christ. We have to pray that the peaceful vision of so many of these good people wins the day. Yet fundamental to their belief is the principle that the Koran must be literally interpreted with no provision for rational analysis. It produces a type of faith which impedes understanding rather than seeking it. Christianity, despite the bogus claims that rational people left it behind at the time of the "Enlightenment", has, since the early middle ages, strenuously struggled to clarify and develop the relationship between faith and reason. This has led to the massive expansion of thought and science in recent times. This process has taken many centuries of debate, and the marriage of faith and reason is stronger today than ever. The process has been especially described in Newman's teaching on the development of doctrine where the basic revelation does not change, but its implications are continually being explored. One can only conclude that both the "progressive" and the Muslim world views are constructs of brilliant but typically defective human thinking. The other dominant system, authoritarian dictatorship, seldom claims to be anything but human. In places like Russia today, it may borrow religious trappings, but, in demeaning people, and choking them it demonstrates its real failure. Only the Spirit of Jesus moving in the Church proclaims that God has entered our world so that humanity can be incorporated into God. As the new stage in humanity's progress is being tumultuously born. God has been preparing his Church. The process of Christian renewal in the West is God’s way of recalling us to rely more deeply on "his right arm" and his "love" . Human development was reaching soul size. He is calling us into the exploration into God. Only as that progresses, will the world find the true secret of progress which is not primarily in the discoveries of science, but in the maturing of the human heart in Christ.