Episode 115: Three Ages of the Spiritual Life

Episode 115: Three Ages of the Spiritual Life
Join Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress and Fr. Bonaventure Chapman as they discuss the three ages of the spiritual life, taken from Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange's The Three Ages of the Interior Life : Prelude of Eternal Life.
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[@paix1234]

Love your shows. Thank you Frs.

[@perhael]

Thank you for the introduction to Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange!

[@amaraheising4672]

Thank you both for the encouragement and clarification of this subject, given with supportive wisdom and a spirit of charity.

[@Godsplaining]

Thank you!

[@ks7343]

You two are so encouraging! Persevering with God's grace, and your Good Shepherding!

[@Godsplaining]

Karen, thank you for your kind words! God bless!

[@BlessedisShe]

Thank you!

[@ks7343]

With you on Fall! You can have cider and pick apples! Hike in the Fall foliage! God is good! Thank you for this help "splaining"!

[@speroconstantine9957]

Thanks so much

[@karenglenn2329]

Thank you. I am comfortable in my physical and spiritual skin..I am 77.2 . Wrinkled and just just striving to stay focused. I start the joyful mysteries and forget what decade l am on....l am not worried about the interior castle. Just tell where to find something in Walmart. I so appreciate the Thomistic Institute presentations.

[@jenelms905]

Loved your comment, you are funny. I am right with you at 62. Thomistic Inst is pretty great. God bless you!

[@keitharcher5723]

Thank you Fathers. This was another helpful and interesting topic.

[@carolinepatton132]

For the grace to be always docile to the Holy Spirit 🙏🔥❤

[@therese_paula]

Love the analogies cited by Fr. Chapman and Fr. Kress, definitely helpful! And I appreciate the humility and honesty when Fr. Chapman said he is, despite having been in the order for 10-11 years, still mostly in the "purgative/active stage". Darn, I as about to say, "I think I am now entering the illuminative stage", but when I heard Fr. Chapman said he's still well into the first stage, I thought "retreat!" 😁 I should be humble, pride should be purged first. Thank you, Fathers. Love this episode! Praying for your fidelity to Him 🙏🤍🤍🤍

[@SMRogers]

I am sorry gentlemen. I was anxious to get to the central theme and the really wish the infield chatter could happen before the podcast. Time is precious and the title starts to feel like click bate. Apologies to all who enjoy ten minutes of the warm chatter. I just need to regrettably move on.

[@peytonsmith8256]

I'm attempting to this book right now, but I'm afraid that much of the material is going right over my head. How would you suggest reading this in a productive way rather than powering through the denser subject matter while not really grasping the concepts?

[@markpatterson2517]

You won't learn contemplation or know it by reading about it. You will only learn superficial things about it when you only read about it. You have to practice it in order to experience it. Read enough about it to get started. As you practice and experience it, what you read about it will then make more sense. Reading about contemplation activates the mind. Practicing contemplation rests the mind. They are opposites. Reading, active verbal prayer, active mental prayer, and emotive pray are like working 6 days a week. Contemplative prayer is the Sabbath or 7th day of prayer of resting the tongue, quieting the mind, and calming the emotions. It is being alert, aware, and watchful for the presence of God without engaging your attention in the images, thoughts, words, dialogue, feelings and urges in the mind. Those are created, imagined things. They are images veiling your awareness from God. Your attention ceases to be drawn to or captured by or raptured by or carried away by them. Your attention remains with your awareness which is naturally a restful, quiet, unperturbed or undisturbed state of mind. You aren't averse to these images either. You don't desire to engage them or disengage from them. You are neither pulled towards them, nor do you desire to push away from them. You are in a healthy state of indifference to them. You show no deference towards them. You realize you don't need to desire anything. All your needs are met by God. All your wants can wait an hour. Any urge that arises can wait. Any emotion or feeling that arises can wait. They don't need to be satisfied. Any thoughts in images or words or inner dialoguing don't need attending. They can wait. Your attention doesn't need to follow from one thought to another to a conclusion. Your attention doesn't need to jump on a train of thoughts and be carried away. Your attention can remain and rest with your awareness. Your mind doesn't need to differentiate one thought after another. Your mind doesn't need to show deference to one urge or feeling or emotion and then unto another. When the emotions, thoughts, words and images, all created things, in your mind no longer carrying away your attention, your mind can then become aware of or experience the Uncreated who is veiled behind the created which has been removed. The parable of the woman who lost the silver coin is a good illustration. She recognized she lost something of value in her cluttered home. She lit a lamp to illuminate or expose the clutter. She swept the house clean. She reorganized the clutter. She found what she had lost. She rejoiced. The woman represents the mind. The house represents the soul. The lamp represents self awareness. The light represents contemplative introspection illuminating the soul. The cleaning represents purgation or purification. The finding of the lost coin represents reunion of the mind with the heart where the Spirit dwells unseen in our dark and cluttered souls. There are many veiled references in scripture to the contemplative soul. Contemplation in theory is simple. You don't have to do anything. Contemplation isn't working or striving or struggling of the mind in order to possess something. It is resting of the mind. It is the straight and narrow path to the promised land. But we don't understand it, or see it, or believe it that way. We lack its simple faith. We insist on wandering the desert for 40 years. We desire it as a possession and therefore insist on working our minds to make it happen. So the practice of contemplation becomes complex when in theory it is simple. Our minds need disciplining. This is where various techniques come into play. Some use a sacred word to return to everytime their attention wanders, as in centering prayer. Some use the repetition of the Jesus Prayer to focus their attention and quiet their thoughts and emotions. Some use a meditative image from scripture to attend to in order to focus the mind. Some have a sense of God's presence they return to when their mind wanders. Anything that is not God that comes to mind, they apophatically disregard. If the mind wanders gently effortlessly bring it back without frustration or discouragement. If it wanders 7 times, return 7 times. If it wanders 70 x 7 times, bring it back 70 x 7 times. Patience, humility, poor-in-spiritness, willingness, but not willfulness are learned. This is part of the purgation or purification. In time you will see the makeup of the soul. You will see the inner dynamic in the psyche. You will be inner illuminated or enlightened. The clutter in the soul will be cleaned out, and the activity or working in the soul will be organized and put to rest. There will be peace and quiet and rest. With the distracting clutter out of the way, the inner chamber of the soul will be found. The veil of the inner temple's tabernacle will be torn where the Spirit rests and awaits. You will say, "I have been searching for you. Where have you been?", and he will answer, "Where you lost and left me. What took you so long?"

[@jenelms905]

@@markpatterson2517 excellent unexpected explanation of contemplation. Comments can be a great thing. God bless you!

[@dorcas4035]

@@markpatterson2517Powerful info, Many Thanks 🙏💜