On Wisdom, Prayer, Courage and Faith
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In last week’s post, we featured information on a variety
of topics: on the life of Mary as seen by four women
mystics, on the person of St. John the Baptist whose
feast day was on June 24, and on stories of bravery
and courage during the Rwandan holocaust of 1994.
For those who wish to review or to know more in detail
about these topics, you can visit it by clicking here.
The current post for today contains: the Lectionary
Readings for the 13th Sunday of the Year, Year C,
DVDs and stories on “champions of faith” such as
St. Thomas of Beckett, two book reviews: one on the
spirituality of the Eastern Church [Orthodox], and
the other on the importance of Faith: As the Key
to the Heart of God, and there is also an article
on Augustinian Prayer - the prayer method used by
the Augustinian monastics - and a prayer often used
by those who were canonized into sainthood.
This post features:
- Site News on Partner Site, Gospel
and Culture - In Search of True Wisdom: Visits to
Eastern Spiritual Fathers - Augustinian Prayer - the Prayer
Method of St. Augustinian and His Monastic Tradition - Faith: Key to the Heart of God - A
Book Review - DVDs and Stories of St. Thomas Becket,
Sports Champions of Faith, and Immaculee, the Rwandan girl
who survived the 1994 Holocaust - Lectionary Reading for the 13th
Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time, Year C
Site News on our Partner Site
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For those of you who have not availed yet of the free Catholic
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and faith in the vision and mission of holiness of John Paul II -
while he was still working as pontiff in the Catholic Church -
going to missionary jaunts all over the world to win the hearts
of many people to the importance of the Catholic vision and
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In Search of True and Eastern Wisdom
The Eastern schism of 1054 that split Catholicism into the
Roman West and the Eastern churches such as the Orthodox church,
split Christian thinking into two theologies. However, in terms
of spirituality and religious practices, especially in the contemplative,
prayerful and monastic traditions, there is still a basic and common
understanding that is seen among both Eastern and Western traditions.
This book helps us to discover this common tradition of prayer, with
a special feature on “The Jesus Prayer” - a prayer that is very
much an important foundation in Eastern spirituality. Aside from the
teachings on prayer and contemplation, the book also teaches very
important spiritual wisdom that is applicable also to our Roman Catholic
spiritual context. The book is interesting since the reader will be
immersed in a world of Eastern monasticism [spanning the Russian mainland
and the surrounding area like Finland and the others]. It also
refreshes the mind with its descriptive and graphic scenic narrations
of conversations with old holy monks of high quality sanctity amidst
the background of ancient monasteries situated in still, tranquil
and peaceful forests with big conifers and pure skies.
Augustinian Prayer
The best spiritual legacy that leaders and founders of
religious life have on the Church is their teaching on prayer.
St. Augustine and the monastic tradition he has founded has gifted
us with a method of prayer to help strengthen and improve our
relationship with God in His Trinitarian person. Using much
feeling, intuition and creative imagination, the method involves
reading Scripture passages or excerpts from spiritual readings and
then, in moments of prayer and quiet meditation, the exercitant aims
to discover what God is telling him through the words of Scripture
in his present situation. This method of prayer is most fully effective
when integrated with the classic use of lectio divina. This article
gives a basic guide on how to go about this method of prayer and has
an example suggestion at the bottom of the article to assist those
interested to practice this method. It is to be noted that more
than half of the saints who have been canonized in the Catholic
Church use this method in their prayer and spiritual life.
Faith: Key to the Heart of God
If in the gospel, there is a line that says “faith can move
mountains”, then this book is simply a long description and
explanation of how that can be done: through supernatural faith -
one that is rooted solely in the promise of God and not on any
appearances or external sign. John Hampsch writes this very encouraging
and inspiring book to all who want to grow in their faith in God.
His writing style is simple and incorporates stories from the bible
and from contemporary living. One of his basic themes on faith
is: a true faith is one that is akin to the faith of Elijah in 1 Kings 18.
There was a great drought in Israel and Elijah was the prophet who was to
lead the King to have faith in God - who will soon bring rain to the land.
Making a long story short, Elijah went on believing in the Lord that
He will indeed send the rain even when there is no cloud in sight - even
when there is nothing to prove that it will indeed take place. That is
the kind of faith that John Hampsch says God wants us to have in Him
- a total trust and confidence even when we don’t “see” anything
that would tell us that indeed it will come to pass.
DVDs and Stories on Becket, Imaculee and More
The story of St. Thomas Beckett is very deeply affecting, especially
when one sees it on DVD or any media of film. Beckett is a man who
initially lived a pleasurable life in the court of England. However,
when he was appointed as Chancellor by his friend, King Henry II, he took
the appointment seriously and engaged in much praying, fasting and other
monastic austerities. His seriousness eventually got on the nerves of the
King and suddenly their friendly relationship grew sour and bitter. On
a political matter that deeply divided their commitment, through King Henry’s
insinuation, Beckett was killed while saying Mass in the cathedral. His
martyrdom inspired many in the country that his bones and other relics
were sought after exactly right after the execution. Becket, the sports
heroes in the other DVDs, and Immaculee - the Rwandan girl who wrote a
diary on the genocide and holocaust between the Hutus and the Tutsis in
1994, are some of the stories which are featured on this page. They teach us
that, with God as the source of our strength and life, nothing can ever
separate us from His love - not even death or suffering or pain or defeat.
Lectionary Readings
The readings for the 13th Sunday of the Year, Year C, are
taken from: the first book of Kings, the letter of Paul to the
Galatians, and the gospel of Luke. In the first reading from the
book of Kings, we have the story of how Elijah the prophet chose
as his successor, Elisha. There is a note or urgency in which Elijah
is calling Elisha. As regards the second reading from the letter
to the Galatians, we hear St. Paul teaching about freedom, love,
service, and following more a life in the spirit rather than the
cravings of the flesh. This passage typically states what Paul says
in many of his letters: that of the war between the spirit and the
flesh within us. For the gospel reading, we have a passage taken from
Luke. The passage tells of Jesus setting His direction towards
Jerusalem - the place where He will be sentenced to death and then
glorified by the Father. In their journey to Jerusalem, Jesus takes
the occasion to teach about the urgency of the mission of building
the Kingdom of God - an urgency so intense that “there is nowhere
to lay one’s head”, “no time to bury the dead”, and “no opportunity
to take leave from one’s people”.
