Categories: study, spiritual-writings, spiritual-journey
Date: 04 March 2010 10:53:06
Tonight was the 5th week of the Moral Life in Christ course and last night was the 1st week of the Reading the Classics: St Teresa of Ávila and St John of the Cross course.
The Moral Life in Christ Course, run by the Catholic Adult Education Centre, is proving to be rather more intense than I had thought [though some dedicated souls continue on and do the course on the Nicene Creed immediately afterwards!] But the intensity is a good thing: it is in-depth and calls on much work from the grey matter, but it is also grounded in reality which is what I need. I am drawn to books and reading and learning, and sometimes the fact I should be putting theological knowledge into practice passes me by; 'tis far easier for me to read and "know about" something than effect the changes necessary in my life. The lecturer, Fr John Flader, is engaging and entertaining; as was Fr Peter Joseph tonight who took the course while Fr John was attending the installation of a new Bishop of Parramatta.
The course is based around Part III [Life in Christ] of the Catholic Catechism. As I mentioned in previous posts, we have looked at the Dignity of the Human Person made in the image if God, and in that looking at our call to a life in union with God, as well as looking at the passions and sins that assail us, as well as the virtues we, through the help of God, strive to grow in. We then looked at the Human Community, our call to a life lived with others and our duties and responsibilities towards others. After a look at Law, natural [that written in creation and in the hearts of all people], Old Testament [summed up in the 10 Commandments] and New Testament [expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount], were sections on Grace and Justification, and the call to Christian Holiness. A in-depth look at the 10 Commandments, adding to them the spiritual commandments expressed by Christ in the New Testament, has been the focus of the last two sessions and will be the focus of the final three sessions of this eight-week course also.
There is much covered in the paragraph above, and I may speak on some other sections as I am able [I am having difficulty focusing currently: the end of the working week has been a time of great mental and emotional exhaustion since I returned to work], but a particular blessing has not only been a greater understanding of many of these issues -- of course from a Catholic perspective; but also from an Orthodox perspective as, while I in my little knowledge attempt to bear in mind the differences between Catholic and Orthodox thought, I do not believe there has been a great deal of difference -- but also the understanding in perceiving the majesty of God's plan for and His involvement in Creation from the time he brought the universe into existence. And of all Creation, particularly the call to us humans, created in the image and likeness of God and given the great blessing of being called to a relationship with God.
This relationship is a personal call to holiness; the personal call to work at the virtues and overcome the passions; the personal call to see beyond the "letter of the law" and look to its spiritual, and thus complete, meaning, which does involve repentance, a change of mind, a change of heart, and shown in works as we respond to God and to the life He calls us to. And these laws, these commandments, are not to be seen as restricting our freedom, but rather granting it to us, for God, Who created us and Who loves us profoundly, and indeed does know what is best for us, gives us these commandments to free us from the tyranny of sin and lead us to a life of true freedom, being who we were created to be, as children of God. This has also made me see many practices of the Orthodox Church, which especially at this time of Great Lent may seem burdensome to me [may you forgive me, and please pray for me], are in fact practices that reflect and call me to the unity in God I was created for; calling me, as the Catechism states in ¶2063, quoting St Irenaeus of Lyons, to be a friend of God:
The Lord prescribed love towards God and taught justice towards neighbour, so that man would be neither unjust, nor unworthy of God. Thus, through the Decalogue, God prepared man to become his friend and to live in harmony with his neighbor. . . . The words of the Decalogue remain likewise for us Christians. Far from being abolished, they have received amplification and development from the fact of the coming of the Lord in the flesh.
This great privilege of and desire to be a "friend of God" makes an easy transition to the first night of the Reading the Classics course and St Teresa of Ávila, but as mentioned above the mental exhaustion has hit me somewhat [yes, I know this exhaustion may not be clearly visible given my verbosity here!], so I will leave that for another day.