Posted on by Kurt Bodling

secrets revealed

“While it is unclear just how the Greek concept of mystery influenced early Christianity, the concept of mystery as ‘hiddenness’ appears in the writings of the apostle Paul and other early Christian mystics–even as it has an entirely different flavor from the pagan contexts out of which the language of mystery emerged. The earliest Christian mystics don’t talk about ritual secrets that only initiates can access; rather they talk about secrets that are revealed–through Christ, through the Bible, through the Christian sacraments, and eventually, through personal experiences of the presence of God.”

McColman, Carl. The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: an Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023, p. 59

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

deep meaning of Baptism

"Here, then are our principles: We are baptized into the whole Christ. Baptism implies a responsibility to develop one’s supernatural life, to nourish it by love of God, to reproduce and spread it by love for other men. All this is ordered to the final perfection of a plan that extends far beyond our own individual salvation: a plan for God’s glory which lies at the very heart of the universe. This mystery we must believe and seek to understand if we would make anything of conversion and vocation.

“I might add that every baptism implies a distinct individual vocation, a peculiar function in the building up of the Mystical Body.”

Merton, Thomas. “The White Pebble.” (1950) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 7.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

trinitarian root of contemplation

Note: Word and Sacrament are the foundation of the Christian spiritual life. So say the Camaldolese and the Lutherans. Christianity is not a works righteousness religion. And, importantly, the spiritual disciplines are not works righteousness practices.

Quote:
“But who is this Jesus Christ? Our response to this question is the spiritual life, a life animated by the Spirit. Monastic life is ‘spiritual’ not because monks pray so much or perform asceticisms, but only because they seek the Father in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Therein lie the roots of monastic contemplation.” (p. 49)

and this “seeking God”? on p. 48 he explains that “It is Christ who draws near to us, who seeks us out and enters into our lives” (as on the road to Emmaus); that “We are not yet with him, but he is with us. … Only the grace of the Word and the gift of the eucharistic bread open our human eyes to the contemplation of the risen Lord.” So this isn’t us seeking Him before He seeks us.

Source: Barban, Alessandro. “Lectio Divina and Monastic Theology in Camaldolese Life” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002, pages 48-49.