Revisiting That Narrow Path

Having never entered religious life, I haven't experienced a potential nun's journey toward a cloistered world.

But oh, I have daydreamed it.  Not in the sense of dreaming with desire, and not exactly daydreaming with dread, but with a sense of wondering.  How would it feel, I've asked myself, to make a serious, determined decision to leave the world and enter a life where I live totally for Christ.  Not just partly, not mostly, but totally.  Fully embracing His will with no compromise, no watering down what He asks of me; "yes" with no ifs, no ands, no buts.  Entering the world of His will, and turning my back on all that tries to lure me away from Him.

"Most people cannot leave the world in a bodily sense, but every follower of Christ who is serious about genuine growth must leave the spirit of the world."  (Thomas Dubay SM, Fire Within, Ignatius Press, 1989, p. 81)

Am I serious about genuine growth?  I ask it of myself.  Immediately, I know my answer.  The desire to move beyond ho-hum Christianity is what inspires my life as a cloistered heart.

The desire to "move beyond" drives me onward, yet a large part of me wants to dig in my heels and stay right where I am.  I'm not so bad, I tell myself.  I pray and receive the Sacraments and try to be nice.

Thankfully, there is more to a Godly life than that.

"One cannot give Christ a limited place in one's life," writes Louis Bouyer of the Oratory (The Meaning of the Monastic Life, PJ Kenedy and Sons, NY, 1950,  p. x).  And that is the crux of it, for me.  I am not content to be a "just in case" Christian.  I don't want to simply follow the rules and try to avoid mortal sin just in case God is real (by His grace, I'm convinced that He is).  I'm not satisfied to throw some prayers in His direction now and then and call that a life of faith.

The truth is:  I'm engaged in much more than an imaginary exercise.

I AM serious about genuine growth.  I AM on a real, vital, narrow path to union with God. "The main business of the beginner, therefore, is to make a determined turnabout from preoccupation with this worldly world to a life centered in the Trinity."  (Dubay, p. 82)

The world beckons. I live in it, and I can be joyful as I do so, for this is where God calls me to serve Him.  But preoccupation with the world?  It is from this that I must turn.

I don't turn, however, for the mere sake of turning.  I do not leave the "worldly world" and march forward in pursuit of nothing.  I go along that narrow path - "to a life centered in the Trinity."

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit wait for me.




This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

Painting: Caspar David Friedrich (detail, digitally altered)

© theCloisteredHeart.org

This Road, Or That?

"Oft, as he jogs along the Winding Way,
occasion comes for every man to say
'this road - or that?' and as he chooses then,
so shall his journey end in Night or Day.

"We can easily understand that we would never be contented with a God or with a Religion fully within the scope of our limited comprehension. We may possess what appears to be vast knowledge and extensive learning, but we must not forget that we are finites governed by the Infinite...

"We need not preach; we need do nothing extraordinary. We need not be in the public eye; we need hold no important position. Each one is important in his own right, for we have a great work to do, if we are to be Warriors and fight heroically for Christ."

(from Listening to the Indwelling Presence, compiled by a Religious, Pellegrini, 1940, pp. 201-202)

Hold Onto the Map

'There is always hope for the man who knows that he is doing wrong, 

but there is no hope for the man who is doing wrong and calls the wrong right. 

The Catholic gets off the road like anyone else, but he never throws away the map.'

Fulton J. Sheen, from the Wartime Prayer Book

Our map can be found here or here. And here or here.

Start Over...

'Don't despair over your shortcomings. 

Start over each day. 

You make spiritual progress by beginning again and again.'

St Francis de Sales

The Steady Gleam

"In the formation of conscience, the Word of God is the light for our path; we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice."  (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1785) 

"Learn to fix the eye of faith on the divine word of the Holy Scriptures as on 'a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the day-star arises in our hearts' " (St. Augustine) 

"All the lights of this world, radiant in their brilliance and wealth and flashing splendour, cannot compare with the pure, steady gleam of Faith. No earthly light can show us God. No blaze from the fires of this world can light up the mysteries of life, or reveal Eternal Truths. No! It is the fixed, constant, and unchanging Ray of Faith that turns darkness into day, and exchanges doubt for certainty. Faith gives not only light, but understanding and acute vision also. All that we can see, we know was made from invisible things. 'Faith pierces the visible and gives a glimpse of the Invisible.' (from The Living Pyx of Jesus by A Religious, Pellegrini, Australia, 1941,  p.120)

   

Photo: Pixabay

As Long as We Have That Map

'There's a tremendous satisfaction in having a map. That is what the truth of Christ is like in the Church. We may get off the road; we may get off it by sin; we may get off it by error. But as long as we have that map, we can get back on the road.'

Archbishop Fulton Sheen



















Painting: Julius Sergius Klever, 1908

God Has Marked the Path

'Be at peace....and walk faithfully along the path which God has marked out for you.'

St. Francis de Sales

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The Lighted Path

Our friend Joy went on retreat recently, and brought back the following rays of light...

"In the monastery, there were lit pathways and grounds with the safety and security of the tall brick wall surrounding us.  I can just see in my mind these lit pathways all around the enclosure within God's will, and how we are called to walk these paths that would otherwise be too dark, uneven and dangerous in places. 

"But by depending on the glow that comes from the ever so gentle light that washes over our way and guides us safely though the obstacles that lie on our path to the finish, we are thankful and even happy that this obedience is there for us.  It is easy to see when we have the light guiding us along, but if we veer off on our own and without this light, we are on our own to face whatever difficulties lie in the unseen.  

"Because of our free will and self love, we think we know best and we become a little adventurous - breaking free of the loving way that God has prepared for us.  Hopefully we soon realize our mistake and see our fault and run back to the loving safety of the light that has never gone out.  It has ever remained where it was, calling us back to the easier path, the way that is lit with God's love."  

"A lamp to my feet is Your word, a light to my path."  (Psalm 119:105)

"If we walk in light, as He is in the light,we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin."  (1 John 1:7)

"Let us walk in the light of the Lord!"  (Isaiah 2:5)

Text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

  

(Georges de la Tours painting public domain)  

By the Light of Obedience

If our enclosure is within the will of God, obedience is what keeps the paths lit.  After all, without obedience to God there is no such thing as “enclosure in God’s will.”  Enclosure in the will of God without obedience TO the will of God would be impossible; it would be a contradiction. 

Cloistered nuns and monks vow obedience to the will of God as stated in their rules and constitutions, and as discerned by their superiors.  They do not do this blindly, but with their eyes fixed upon Jesus.  It is out of love for Him that they choose to obey. "The novice promises not just to obey orders but to ‘live IN obedience.’  The phrase has a splendid ring to it, as though she were throwing up imposing castle walls around her whole life…” (Mother Mary Francis PCC, A Right to be Merry) 

We who wish to live for God in the midst of the world are called to obedience.  Our Rule is Scripture.  Our “constitutions,” if we are Catholic, are found in the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church.  Our superiors are the Pope and bishops teaching in union with him.  God has given us free will; we can choose to obey or not obey Him.  Out of love for God and by His grace, we are free to make the loving choice:  to obey all that He asks of us.  We can then look upon obedience not as a burden, but as a precious opportunity to express our love for God.

Hesitant and questioning though I may be, I am invited to embark upon the road of obedience, trusting that the ways and the whys will become “illuminated” as I move along. I am invited to watch self-love crumble beneath each obedient footstep. 

This is no small gift, for as the darkness of self-love scatters, I shall have more room in my life for the illuminating love of God.

For prayer and reflection:

"A lamp to my feet is Your word, a light to my path."  (Psalm 119:105)

“The love of God consists in this: that we keep His commandments - and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

“God loves your tiniest act of obedience more than all other homages you might think of offering Him.” (St. John of the Cross)

“He who obeys the commandments he has from Me is the man who loves Me; and he who loves me will be loved by My Father.  I too will love him, and reveal Myself to him…. Anyone who loves Me will be true to My word, and My Father will love him; we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.” (John 14:21 & 23)

(Georges de la Tour painting public domain) 

Text © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org   

the path back home

Sometimes the enclosure of a monastery is a vast place, encompassing fields and woods as well as gardens.  I was once a retreatant in such a location, and found myself caught in the meadow during a sudden storm.  One minute I was strolling along under partly cloudy skies, and the next I was hearing cracks of thunder.  As I trudged up a long hill on the edge of a patch of woods, flashes of lightning streaked overhead.  

I think of this and wonder.  What if I strayed to the farthest edges of my enclosure?  What if I became so distracted by things outside God's will that I drifted off to its farthest limits?  What if something just beyond looked so enticing that I wandered right outside? 

I would then be stuck outside the cloister.  Maybe in a snowstorm, cold, on a slippery slope, away from the safety of my monastic home.  Oh why did I ever leave it, why did I drift so far?  

Is there a way back in?

The answer, in a word, is YES.  I know this through experience, and I'd bet that everyone reading this has had touches of mercy as well.  It we look around today and find we've strayed outside the enclosure of God's will, Lent is a good time to take a step back in.  

God has not left us "pathless."  "I am the way, and the truth, and the life," says Jesus (John 14:6). 

It is time to come Home.

For reflection:  
"The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with Him in an intimate friendship."  (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1468)

For prayer:  

"Though your sins be like scarlet, they will become white as snow."  (Isaiah 1:18)

"If we acknowledge our sins, He who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from every wrong."  (1 John 1:9)

"Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths.  Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and for You I wait all the day."  (Psalm 25:4-5)

(snow photo on this post © copyright 2012 E. Shuman.  All rights reserved.)  

Text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org