Surrender, A Book Review

Surrender, Fr Larry Richards, 2011, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

My first attempt at a book review and I’ve chosen a difficult subject. It’s just like me, if there’s an easy way and a hard way, I choose the hard way.

I’ll get the difficult part out of the way first. It’s difficult because it may seem a criticism, and it’s not. It’s a caution: If you are strongly prone to scrupulosity, read the book carefully, try to avoid your scrupulous tendencies. I think, to someone inclined that way this book will make them crazy. At first glance, it seems Fr. Larry presents rule after rule after rule of things you must do in order to go to heaven. You must spend 5 minutes a day in prayer, at a minimum, you must learn to offer things up, you must intercede in prayer for people, you must spend 10 minutes in prayer. Every chapter ends with a list of things you must do to surrender to God.

It may because I’ve been influenced too much by the Benedictine tradition, and because, too, I tend a bit to scrupulosity, but especially at the start, this book made me uncomfortable. All I could think of was, “I couldn’t possibly do all this!” However, I was able to take a step back to try to see what was going on. I remembered that while advice like this can be good, I needed to keep in mind the words of Dom John Chapman, “Pray as you can, not as you cannot.” A certain routine and direction in the spiritual life is good, but is not the point. Anyone who reads this book, needs to keep that in mind

Having said that, now the good news. Fr. Larry is clear on what the point of all this is. Each of us has a choice to make, whether we will love God or whether we will run from Him. We make that choice consciously and then, having made it, we must live it. Catholics can’t say they love God and not go to Mass or participate in the other sacraments. They’re giving lip service to their beliefs. No Christian can profess to love God and not spend time in prayer, according to the duties of their station in life, as the spiritual masters point out. You have to live what you believe. It’s Fr. Larry’s goal to make this clear, crystal clear.

He also, in fairness, makes it clear that when we do live out our love for God, we don’t do it with excessive scrupulosity, in fear and trembling. In the first chapter he writes, “Because God loves us, we do not have to be afraid. We talk about the fear of the Lord as being the beginning of wisdom, but the fear of God isn’t terror; it’s awe. ” Exactly right.

Fr. Larry has written a book that would be a good one for all Catholics to read. Surrender helps us to realize what is at stake as we make the central decision of our lives, how we will live and what we will live for. It’s too easy to take the issue lightly and not be mindful of the importance of making that decision now, today, for the rest of our lives. I would only add the caution, for those who focus too much on such things, that the rules presented are meant as a guide, not as a one size fits all regimen of how to become holy.

 

Early Church Fathers, Sunday, October 7, 2012, St John Chrysostom

English: John Chrysostom (Georgian miniature, 11th century) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"I know my own soul, how feeble and puny it is: I know the magnitude of this ministry, and the great difficulty of the work; for more stormy billows vex the soul of the priest than the gales which disturb the sea."
John Chrysostom

Friday Florilegia, Friday, October 5, 2012

This week we have the first reading for the 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1 Wis 7:7-11

I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.

 

 

Will You Know Them by Their Clothes (or body piercings)?

Dr Charleton has revisited a topic he wrote about, say, a month ago. The question is whether Christians should make their faith known (self-identify), for example, by wearing a Crucifix.  In a post earlier this week, he took a different tack on the question, and between fighting a miserable head cold and working to get some wood floors installed, I've been trying to decide if I agree or disagree.   I've struggled with it, I can't completely disagree, but it brought another aspect of the question to mind.

To begin, his point is that Christians don't have to self-identify because those who aren't Christians, who are anti-Christian are doing a pretty good job of identifying themselves. Those who dress in ways, for instance, that fail the test of modesty or who display anti-Christian symbols on their clothes, or who have Wiccan bumper stickers on their cars, or body piercings in all the wrong places, are very evidently non-Christian.

Yet, I can think of cases that come close to disproving his theory.  In the last few years, I've seen many teens, who don't dress very modestly and who proudly (I guess) display such things as tattoos and body piercings, at Mass. They aren't anti-Christian, but you couldn't say they're fully Christian, either.   They are holding on to some sort of Christian customs, if not to faith, or maybe just trying to please their parents.  They've been pretty well absorbed by the culture and have no idea of the significance of what they're doing.

Also, for many of the people who deck themselves out as Professor Charlton describes, they're must also be at least some of them who aren't anti-Christian but non-Christian. They likely would not disagree with what Christianity teaches, but they totally disagree with what they think Christianity teaches.

To some extent, I think these factors make an argument against what he's saying being true.  But not entirely.  What is true, is that, to the extent they're valid, it's a horrible indictment against Christians and their churches.  It means Christians are failing completely in being witnesses to their faith and in showing others what it means to be a Christian. It  means that many Christians are allowing themselves to be absorbed by the culture rather than living,  their faith. It also means there's a good chance they have no idea that there's anything wrong, since they've never been taught what's right. I think this borne out in a poll I saw today that said 53% of Catholics who attend Mass regularly favor Obama. They don't seem to understand it's a mortal sin to do so. It's appalling.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but it would seem to be a call for Catholics and their bishops to become much more concerned about the state of catechesis in their dioceses. It also means, as I know another blogger suggested, though I can't remember who, that bishops need to clarify the messages they are sending out to the faithful. They don't need to, probably shouldn't, issue a statement on every conceivable issue, they should focus on the few most vital issues and stay with them.  It's also a call for all Christians to educate themselves on their faith.  If you don't know what you believe, how do you know you believe it?

I will have to say that I still like the idea of Christians self-identifying, I can't help it I'm anal, I'm an accountant, I want to see the documentation.

A Word on Wednesday, Wednesday, October 3, 2012, Bl John Paul II

Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.
Blessed John Paul II

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It Will Work Out All Right in the End

Matthew Warner has an interesting post about the HHS Mandate, he says it’s a good thing after all.

 

Every attack on Christianity — every attack on Truth — is an opportunity.

It's an opportunity to respond with Love. It's an opportunity to point out error and to teach Truth. It's a chance to talk about something that would never have been a part of the conversation. It's a chance to become holier than we were when we woke up this morning.

Think about how many more people are learning not to take for granted our religious freedoms. And learning the dangers and risks of giving too much power to amoral governments. What a good reminder that tyranny is not only an ancient ancestor to freedom, but a potential step-child. That "freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."

What a chance to test our faith and to therefore grow in it. It's easy to believe in things that go unchallenged, but Grace abounds when our faith is put to the test. Like iron in fire, we come out stronger than before.

And through the whole ordeal, how many more Catholics have been reminded that things like sterilization and contraception (and abortion, of course) are not (like for real, for real) compatible with our Catholic Faith? And have, hopefully, learned a little bit more about why we believe that (If they haven't, then we've wasted this opportunity).

 

He’s right, of course, the recent actions of the Government should cause us all to wake up to the freedoms, and God given rights we can too easily take for granted.  But, what I really like about his post is that it is deeply refreshing to see someone take a long term view of all the issues we face, a view informed by faith and trust in God alone.  In this election season, it’s been so hard to do that, at least for me, sometimes I think I’ve even forgotten how to do that, I get so caught up in day to day events.  Please read his entire post, and, even better, say a Rosary for our country.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/matthew-warner/thank-god-for-the-hhs-mandate#ixzz289Mf1hQB

Don't Forget to Set the Alarm

The Church has some definite teachings on work and what it means.  For example, in the Catechism, the following statements can be found:

2427 Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another. Hence work is a duty: “If anyone will not work, let him not eat.” Work honors the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him. It can also be redemptive. By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish. Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ. (307, 378, 531)

2428 In work, the person exercises and fulfills in part the potential inscribed in his nature. The primordial value of labor stems from man himself, its author and its beneficiary. Work is for man, not man for work. (2834, 2185) Everyone should be able to draw from work the means of providing for his life and that of his family, and of serving the human community.

 Yikes!  Work is given us by God; we are to be creators in the image of God a duty.  Work is a “primordial value.”  It honors God.  If all that is true, then why am I leaving a perfectly good job?  Is it wrong to retire?

 Well, here’s a case where monastic practice, as outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, can help people understand what is going on here and what the Church means by “work.”. 

 First, notice that the Catechism doesn’t discuss having a job or earning a wage, it refers to work.  Next, remember that Benedictine monks live by the motto ora et labora ¸ prayer and work.  But obviously, a monk isn’t out there in the job market earning a wage.  What’s going on? 

St Benedict was quite definite in his requirement that his monks should work, that they needed to work in order to be good monks.  He was wise enough to see that no one could spend all day, every day, doing nothing but praying.  Things would fall apart in the monastery in very short order.  Therefore, Benedictines spend their day with certain well-defined times for prayer interspersed with periods of “work,” they have an horarium, or daily schedule.    A monk “works” by going to the kitchen to make fruitcakes for sale at Christmas.  Or he may write books, like Thomas Merton, or study or do hard manual labor on the monastery farm or spend time doing janitorial duties around the monastery.  He might also cook meals for the other monks or tend the monastery gift shop, or he might be a professor in the college run by his monastery.  He might even be engaged in making a very good beer.

My wife and I’ve given this a lot of thought to this to apply it to the routine we’ll follow after retirement.  We’ll develop an horarium that fits our needs.  We’ll set the alarm and rise at the same time every day, schedule times for doing house work, cooking meals, working around the yard, much as would be done in a monastery (we won’t bake fruitcakes, though).  During work times I might spend time doing volunteer activities or even working some part-time.  I also hope to use “work” times to study, to write for this blog, and to do more outdoor photography.  It all fits and all qualifies as “work;” the creative use of the talents God has given me.

And, our schedule will include specified times for praying the Divine Office and doing lectio.  Ora et labora.

In case this sounds like we might become enslaved to our plan, fear not, we’re not setting up a hard and fast rule.  True to St. Benedict’s intent, we fully intend to adapt this schedule as circumstances dictate.  If something comes up that causes us to have to move things around during the day, so be it.  If we feel like taking a day trip up to the mountains, we’ll do it.  Moderation in all things.

I’m constantly amazed that a monk who lived in the 6^th century was so wise and could develop a way of life that can be of great benefit to people today.  Many retirees would find greater joy and fulfillment in doing something like this because it would prevent them falling into the trap of just sitting on the couch all day watching Oprah, or whatever.  They might come to see that retirement isn’t really about quitting work or about never again doing something that is productive and useful.  Retirement is really about finding different ways “work”, while having the luxury of doing it to their own schedule.

So, it’s not wrong to retire; I may be ending one type of work, but I’ll be doing another.  I look on it as just changing jobs.