Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: February 2022

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Open a way in the desert

For the first time ever the Vatican has officially published some guidelines regarding the vocation of Diocesan Hermits according to Canon 603. I have not been able to find an official link on the Vatican website and this is a Google translation of the document I have been provided by from a Facebook group I belong to, but it’s mostly intelligible.

It is a blessing to know that much of this document affirms what I am currently doing, the process I have been following and how I have written my Rule of Life

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

A soul in love with the Beloved

St John of the Cross is such a wonderful teacher in the spiritual life. You can see that when you fall in love with God, nothing else will ever be able to satisfy you - only God himself.

I pray that today you will be able to fall deeper in love with Jesus and grow in Divine Intimacy with the Beloved

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Adoring the Bridegroom of your soul

When you love someone you want to spend time with them. How then can I not sit with my Beloved who is mine and I am his (Song of Songs 2:16) who loves me and gave himself up for me? (Galatians 2:20).

Jesus, I love you

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Friendship with God

Friendship with God is something that is often overlooked in our spiritual life. Yes we believe in God and we follow the teachings of Jesus - but often we keep God at a distance, a formality. But do we see him a a friend?

Jesus calls us his friends “ I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

In the Old Testament the prophets or righteous men were often called the “friends of God” but this was something rare. Jesus call us ALL his friends, because by knowing him, spending time with him and being intimate with him he then brings us into relationship with the Father.

A friend is someone you trust, want to spend time with, you look forward to seeing them. Is this how you see God in your spiritual life?

Take some time today to spend with God as your friend and companion because he wants to spend time with you

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Catholic spirituality must be based in the sacraments

I cannot stress this enough. Any other form of mysticism that teaches “union with the divine” or your “divine inner self” is not Catholic. As Catholics our union with God must always flow from prayer and the sacraments, this is authentic catholic spirituality and mysticism. Anything else is counterfeit.

We have been blessed with the Catechism, writings of the saints and more specifically approved Doctors (teachers) of the Church, and of course the Bible itself. Stick with the basics.

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Prayer as resting at the feet of Jesus

Prayer can be a struggle, often we over complicate things more than they need to be. We can be scared to pray or not have the time to pray. But ultimately prayer is about relationship - spending time with God and talking to him, as well as listening to him. Saying “I love you” and the sitting in his presence allowing yourself to feel loved by him in return.

Often throughout the day when I’m struggling with my anxiety or feeling frustrated I try to take a moment, breathe in and say “Lord you know I love you, help me to love you more” and then just relax in his presence.

Prayer is not about lot of words and saying the right things, it is about purity of heart and having the right intention. Take some time today to tell Jesus you love him and then rest in His healing presence.

Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.