The Sister's year-long monthly recollection every second Sunday of the month at 10am-12nn via zoom with Fr. 3. An important decision or a task of great dignity is ahead of us. The characteristics previously established, naturally, hold good here. Transformation in Christ. Recollection being as decisive for our transformation in Christ as it is, how are we to achieve it? Still more, it can be said that the attitude of habitare secum, as well as a primarily contemplative rhythm of life, are no mere conditions but actual elements of the process of transformation in Christ; they form part of the goal which Christ has called us to attain. Days of Recollection - Arnold Hall Conference and Retreat Center During this evenings retreat we will reflect on how we find ourselves living this flame of hope in our daily lives and how we might fan it to greater strength.As usual, we will use music, poetry, short talks, images and quiet moments to support us as we reflect and pray.There are no sharing groups in these evening retreats. Nor is the relaxed state which denotes recreation - a state of mere rest, without any actual direction towards an aim - in any sense in the nature of contemplation. Thus, Mary Magdalene not only listened to the words of Our Lord but in loving adoration immersed herself in the beatific presence of Jesus. A piece by Sr Teresa White fcJ in Thinking Faith, the Jesuit journal, to mark the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Thus, the object not merely happens to be a person but formally confronts us qua person, which renders possible a far greater intensity of contact. Im speaking as if Consecrated Life is a uniform thing and somehow we are all the same. The four adults in this story are not powerful or famous in their time, they are simple human beings who find themselves beholding the extraordinary grace of God in an ordinary-looking, (undoubtedly-cute) baby boy. And, secondly, no thing discloses its own deepest meaning and unique value until it is seen in conspectu Dei: "And in Thy light we shall see light" (Ps. 25+ Great Themes for a Great Retreat - Refreshing Mountain Retreat Here, the normally latent - or, superactual - depth of our personal essence undergoes an actualization. At every moment it is present to our mind (however discreetly) that what we are just doing is not the real thing that fills and guides us; that we are not centered in this petty, peripheral section of our life but continue dwelling in the depth. In order to find our way to religious contemplation, we must, before all else, have renounced everything that cannot be upheld before the face of Christ. Pope Francis invites everyone to join the Laudato Si Week 2023, which will take place from May 21-28 with the theme: "Hope for the Earth. Monday, 2-Mar-20 By Sister MaryAnne,fcJ A reflection given at Manchester Universities' Catholic Chaplaincy on the World Day of Prayer for the Consecrated Life, 2nd February 2020 Today the Church prays for us religious women and men. Finally, contemplation contrasts with action owing to its basic trait of receptivity. A reflection by Teresa White, fcJ to mark the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 2021 September-October: Homilies & Reflection - Portsmouth, RI More, we must possess an essential readiness to renounce any legitimate good, if that be God's will. Such preference is understandable given the . This means a permanent struggle which we must renew again and again, in the spirit of St. Peter's words: "Brethren: be sober and watch" (I Pet. Dismissing all preoccupation about aims, I am then only directed towards the beloved, entirely immersed in his being and I nevertheless do not withdraw from the framework of temporal actuality but experience a more condensed, a fully valid actuality. We may dwell in God with that absolute, changeless tranquillity which is alien to the precious, condensed supreme moments in the spiritual relationship between finite personal beings joined in mutual awareness of one another. Contemplation, not being thus tied to imperfection, will subsist even where "God shall be all in all" (1 Cor. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! St. Augustine distinguished uti (the use of a thing) and frui (the blissful penetration of a thing, the happy communing therewith) as two basic forms of our attitude toward the good. Through 12 themes, you will find a wide range of spiritual resources to expand your perspective and enrich your search for meaning. Recollecting ourselves for necessary, but relatively superficial tasks. On the contrary, it embodies activity of the highest degree, the fullest actualization of the person, and the most wakeful, genuine, and intense form of spiritual life. (Jeremiah 18:6) F r. E va ns S ha ng, S D A T A L K D E L I V E R E D D U R I N G T H E K U M B O D E A N E R Y For first, it is filled by a tension towards the future: the thought of something which does not yet exist and which is to be brought about. We then mean that we are unable to concentrate our attention on one point; we are controlled by the automatism of our associations; our mind is flying from one object to another; the images of our fantasy fitfully displace one another. Thus, recollection is more than the absence of distraction in the narrower sense of the term. In the first type of contemplation, then, it is the world of true and ultimate reality which enters our life; whereas, in the second, it is we who emerge from our actual life into that world. Recollection Talk: AM I OBEDIENT?, by Rev. Dr. Benny - YouTube They glimpse Gods hand at work. The fact that the person we are contemplating by virtue of his love for us actually enters our own personality and pervades our own soul, confers a new dimension on the aspect of communing inherent in contemplation. See MoreSee Less, FCJ Centre Community Garden - Faithful Companions of Jesus, This content isn't available at the moment SCHOOL chaplain Sr Geraldine Lennon was celebrated at a special ceremony at Laurel Hill Secondary School in Limerick. But the quality of our attitude of contemplation is itself essentially determined, in part, by the nature of the object. Sisters Conclude Monthly Recollection with Fr. Robert Manansala, OFM Not only would the idea of an I-thou contemplation be meaningless; there would be no place either for the experience of resting securely in God's arms -an experience that can be granted to us by an infinitely superior absolute Person only, never by the phantom of an impersonal force. A new community garden has been developed by the, Read about how this new space has been developed by the FCJ Learning and Development Center in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. That habitare secum, that dwelling with oneself, ought never to be forsaken. Hope for Humanity" that leads all to action. Then I withdraw, as far as the center of my consciousness is concerned, from my actual life, emerging towards the world of genuine and ultimate things which I now see ordered in the perspective of eternity, located as it were in their topos uranios ("celestial place"). To be sure, objects of this kind also can be envisaged in themselves, in their essence, instead of being merely utilized regardless of any aspect of them besides the abstract, functional one which is their availableness for a definite purpose. Today a few of us have come to Manchester Chaplaincy to spend this day with you. Far from exhausting ourselves in that peripheral concern and in spite of concentrating on it in the required measure, with our integral personality we dwell in another region. (Cf., the first book of De doctrina christiana, and De civitate Dei 19. Beyond that, however, work proper must not be wholly foregone even in contemplative orders - a principle expressed in the monastic device ora et labora ("pray and work"). Whereas in the contemplation of the created good, the different perfections of contemplation cannot be actualized simultaneously, they can be and are united in one in the contemplation of God. In recollection and contemplation - kindred but not identical attitudes - we encounter two more basic constituents of religious life. Not unless we again and again pause to take breath, abandoning ourselves to contemplation, can we escape the danger of losing ourselves in the peripheral and of allowing the deeper meaning of our life to be swamped. Teresa is widely known and revered for her teachings on prayer and contemplation. How can you help yourself have eyes that see Gods grace, Gods goodness at work in you and around you? In it-contemplation, which presents the object strictly qua object (even though it be a person), a broader, a more serene, a more purely contemplative attitude of spiritual immersion is realized than is possible in I-thou contemplation. 3. It has been pointed out on an earlier occasion that these trivial things enclose a danger to us, inasmuch as they hamper us in attaining true simplicity. If you would like to attend this retreat online, please email: bookings.fcjcentre@fcjhouse-somerstown.co.ukThe Zoom link will be sent to you on Wednesday 19 AprilThe image I have used is from Pixabay I cannot become transformed in Thee unless that holy stillness spread out in me; unless Thy gifts of grace and the calls of Thy love slowly expand and mature in my soul. When in the mutual spiritual interpenetration we drink, as it were, the being of the beloved, the rest of the world fades away around us. We must also cultivate an inward stillness. In all these ordinary cases, not only our attitude towards means but also our attitude towards ends (though, in a formal sense, the latter implies an essentially higher appreciation) are characteristically non-contemplative. The first is the act of recollecting ourselves, of rising towards God and recovering ourselves; of setting ourselves at a distance from all present concerns; of ordering all things before the face of God, and referring everything to the great common denominator, Christ. To be sure, we are then no longer empty of all present details or cares; we again divert our vision from God to some concrete creaturely thing, and actualize a partial aspect of our being. In order to describe the characteristics of contemplation, we may start from its contrast with the position we take towards the means when engaged in a purposive activity. Everything belongs to Him: all burdening worries and all great concerns, both mine and those of the souls I love. Unless it be supplemented by contemplation, an action directed to high and relevant aims is liable to become a hollow, cramped pursuit, lacking genuine fruitfulness. Thou, Lord, who once said to Martha, "thou art troubled about many things: but one thing alone is necessary, " grace my soul with holy simplicity, so that it be filled with yearning love of Thee; so that I await Thee with burning torches and girt loins; so that I stand awake before Thee; and let all else be merely a fruit of this holy life, a super-abundance from this inexhaustible source. 111 5.7K views 1 year ago This talk is on the Vow of Obedience. It may be that what Caravaggio wanted to depict in 'The Taking of Christ' is the compassion of Jesus towards Judas, whose betrayal we hear about on Tuesday and Wednesday. Of this we shall easily convince ourselves if we consider the fact that all moral action has its basic root in charity, which is contemplative in essence. Recollection and contemplation are goals for us to attain. THE WAY WE SEE OUR WORK Being Clay in the Potter's Hand. To be sure, by silence we do not mean here a mere outward abstaining from speech, coupled with its mental continuance. From the center thus secured, everything can be brought to a common denominator, so that we may achieve unity in our life and our personality. Thanks to Sisters Mary Ellen Gevelinger OP and Joy Peterson PBVM Carol's talk, Religious Life: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, is now available to us. Set the stamp of greatness and breadth, of holy freedom and wakefulness, upon my soul. Talk of this kind is always an antagonist of concentration, stultifying that high mission of human speech which the Psalmist had put into these words: 1 have believed, therefore have I spoken" (Ps. Each month, we highlight a relevant topic and offer a Bible passage, a short reflection, some starter questions, a prayer, and an activity to help live into what . The preceding enquiry has demonstrated, then, the privileged position of contemplation as against action, and the specific dignity of religious contemplation proper. Thus alone can man attain to a real habitare secum (dwelling with oneself), as the Rule of St. Benedict calls it. This does not mean that God must be its formal object; that all true contemplation must be religious contemplation proper. Yet, we must guard from performing the inner prayer as though we were dispatching a business among others, assimilating it to the rhythm of current tasks. We must, in contemplation, meet that world as such, so as to acquire suddenly a comprehensive new attitude towards all things. I do not, in this case, realize an express moment which is only raised above the rest of life by virtue of its specific quality of inward wealth and depth; rather I ascend, so to speak, a high peak soaring above my actual life and beyond the level of time experience. Religious communities either constitute an evangelical leaven within society, announce the Good News in the midst of the world, the here and now proclamation of the heavenly Jerusalem, or else they succumb by decline quickly or slowly, simply because they have conformed to the world. See MoreSee Less, Paskah membawa kebebasan baru (new freedom), kegembiraan baru (new joy) & harapan baru (new hope)! That bears evident witness to the truth that contemplation as against action represents the higher, more final, and more proper form of our spiritual life. Contemplation is reposeful attention to an object. In his homily this weekend, Pope Francis says to us: You too, dear consecrated brothers and sisters, you are simple men and women who caught sight of the treasure worth more than any worldly good. Retreats - Catholic Preaching MK :31 "Come away by yourselves and rest awhile..". Recollection may be voluntary or involuntary. Suppose we are dealing with some essential task of high rank, which we cannot even approach in an adequate manner unless we are recollected. This is distraction in a relative sense only. In recollection and contemplation - kindred but not identical attitudes - we encounter two more basic constituents of religious life. Whereas, in action, including even its final phase, we only touch the object from the outside intent on accomplishing it rather than facing it in all its plenitude. The aspect of immersion, though it belongs to the formal structure of the contemplative attitude in general, acquires a more preeminent and literal meaning in religious contemplation. Nothing considered as purely instrumental can be an object of contemplation. Behold what shall be in the end without end!" At nightfall, he was there alone." (Mt. But to mankind in general, God has entrusted a more definite task of activity. This process (which, to be sure, is not provoked by every value experience, however genuine) even constitutes a deeper and more organic form of recollection than the method of recollecting ourselves by a voluntary act. If the periods of purposeful tension and relevant action require the balance of intervals of relaxation and recreation, the contemplative attention to high values, again - with the intense spiritual experience and elevation it implies - must be followed by pauses without any kind of intensity, during which the impressions received may thrive in stillness and strike root in our soul. One cannot, properly speaking, contemplate what is par excellence an article of use - a bicycle, for instance. When we face God in adoration and surrender, we again realize that relinquishment of the world of purposeful processes, that halt in our vital activities, and that restful immersion which are the marks of contemplation in general; only all this happens in a more perfect way. The halt we make will no longer mean a mere interruption of the stream of purposeful actuality but a triumphant soaring above it, an essential liberation from its fetters. Prayerbook for Religious: MONTHLY DAY OF RECOLLECTION: A time to be Unless it helps us to establish a contact with God, the contemplative attitude cannot attain a complete unfolding of its specific character. Day of Recollection - St. Josemaria Institute Here lies the chief threat to our leading a recollected life. Today we have spent this day seeking a conversion of our hearts, minds and wills. It may continue to be present while we are active, if not as an express act of recollecting ourselves, at least as a general attitude of being recollected. From that point of vision I perceive all things in their remoteness and their timeless being, independent of their real presence, penetrating their essence entirely at rest, in a specifically contemplative mode of consciousness. Transformation in Christ: Recollection and contemplation | EWTN We must cultivate silence and inner stillness. The magnificent words of Aristotle regarding the dianoetic (cognitional) virtues in the conclusion of his Nicomachean Ethics sufficiently testify to this. Even as regards our contemplative attitude in relation to creaturely objects, the law of our primary receptiveness holds good. Also, we must interpolate free moments in the course of our day; moments in which we raise our eyes to God, forgetting everything for a second and experiencing His presence. Spiritual recollections are often evaluated through the effectiveness of delivery, rather than the outcomes of the recollections. We are thus called on to acquire an increasing knowledge of the world; to create material and spiritual goods; to elaborate and order a life in common. We must get sufficient rest to remain mentally alert. "No one attains salvation alone, since we are all in the same boat, amid the storms of history; and certainly no one reaches salvation without God, for only the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ triumphs over the dark waters of death. This renders a further important characteristic of contemplation easier to understand. There is further implied, however, an unconditional delivery of self. It is sharply distinct from all contemplation directed to a non-personal object which, correspondingly, might be termed it-contemplation. Walking to the place in question - or taking a train for that destination, buying tickets, etc. For, while charity as such is contemplative, in the situation of the status viae it necessarily generates action, according to the words of St. Paul: "For the charity of Christ presseth us" (2 Cor. In religious contemplation alone - which, whatever be the special mystery we are viewing, is always in essence subsidiary to the worship of God is it possible for us to fling ourselves, so to speak, into the object of our contemplation with our entire being. The importance of recollection for the process of a transformation in Christ need hardly be pointed out. So also does a state of distraction, owing to a deficiency of psycho-physical vigor, interfere with recollection, with that recollected state of mind which is meant by the term habitare secum ("dwelling with oneself"). For apart from its regenerating and enriching influence on personality in action, it represents by itself the higher and more enduring part in the soul's life, the one that is to subsist alone in eternal life. 10. | Irondale, AL 35210 |. Should someone even exercise a specifically recollecting influence upon us, should a noble attraction emanate from his nature, drawing us nearer to God, the necessity for solitude will not thereby be eliminated but rather confirmed. Then only can the prayer of Thy Church become a love song of my soul. A Holy Week reflection by Sr Teresa White fcJ using The Taking of Christ, by Caravaggios. We might describe this, if such a technical term be allowed, as I-thou contemplation. Without recollection, all good resolutions - all honest endeavors to overcome a defect or to achieve a supernatural transfiguration of natural virtues - are bound to remain impotent and sterile. We had about 30 young women come for the day focused on "Treasure in a Field: How Jesus Sees you and Leads You" at the Sisters of Life convent on Sunday January 20. We then react too impulsively; we are more than usually inclined to be irritated; we lose control over our reactions. It requires that the object should help us to approach the world of valid and noble reality, which again involves, as a background at least, our awareness of the presence of God. Recollection is not merely the antithesis of reverie, of loose flights of fancy, and of the state of being swayed by the play of associations, but also of all submersion in trivial activities or interests. He must firmly refuse to let himself be dragged into a whirlpool of activities in which he is driven incessantly from one task to another, purpose succeeding purpose, without a pause. We live in uninterrupted tension, never ceasing to be concerned about what has next to be settled; and many of us no longer know any alternative to work except recreation and amusement. Recollection is a condition of all truly wakeful and deep modes of living, and hence indispensable for our transformation in Christ. God the omnipresent, who pervades all presentness, is also the eternal Being, towering above time in its entirety. That is especially true of today's saint, Saint Jerome, the great fourth and fifth-century Doctor of the Church, the great translator of scripture, interpreter of scripture that we saw in today's prayer, the Collect.