This assignment required several professional readings and reflections.
RE102
INTRODUCTION
TO SPIRITUALITY FOR TEACHERS
TASK 1
LOUISE
MACKAY
Task 1A: What is Christian Spirituality?
Christian Spirituality refers to our
religious experience and to that “dimension or dimensions of human experiences
which provide the spiritual aspect of our lives by enriching and giving
“thickness” to our ordinary existence.” (Cunningham and Egan, p6). Cunningham and Egan also define Christian
Spirituality as the” lived encounter with Jesus Christ in the Spirit.”
Spirituality means different things to different people but is
about a connection with a greater being. For Catholics it is an intricate
association with God and the meaning surrounding the holy trinity.
Our spiritual journey can be ever changing according to where we
are at in our life and what is going on in our lives. At times we can
feel closer to God than we do at other times.
Spirituality is what feeds our souls. It can be experienced
in several different ways. It is the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
The depth of our spiritual experiences can be as simple and
incidental as appreciating the nature around us or reading a thought provoking
quote to being more structured such as meditating or attending mass.
However spirituality manifests itself in our lives it is ever changing
and enriching to help us both physically and emotionally through our journey of
life.
Cunningham and Eagan refer to
the six markers of Christian Spirituality.
These markers are: Way of life, discipleship, Community, Eucharist, In
the Spirit and Inclusivity.
Christian Spirituality accepts
a “way of life’ which implies that we
are all on a journey or a pilgrimage that will encounter good times and
challenging times, but every journey begins and ends with God. We have not yet reached our destination, we
are merely on the way.
The second marker is
Discipleship whereby we, as Christians, are called to follow Jesus. This means more than simply learning or
following his teaching – we must follow the person of Jesus.
The call to discipleship is in fact a call to community.
It is through our Baptism that we are born in to the community of
believers and we must make a personal response to the call of Jesus
The highest expression of
discipleship in community is the sharing of the Eucharist. This is the sacred time when we come together
to remember, reenact and proclaim the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
T…[It] will either lead to a
greater integration or disintegration within our bodies, minds, and souls, and
to a greater integration or disintegration in the way we are related to God,
others, and the cosmic world. (Rolheiser (1998) p.11)
Task
1B: Images of God
Images of God for everyone is
different. It can be pictures, words,
phrases or scripture. There are several
different images of God. www.smilegodlovesyou.com discusses
the importance of names and states “God has many names and each reveals Him in
a different way. God’s names represents
His attributes, His nature. Therefore it
is important that we know God by His many names.’ In the Bible, for instance, Leonard suggests
that there are, in fact, over 230 different names or images that are used for
God. (smilegodlovesyou.com)
Leonard suggests that The Images of God that
are given to us in the Scriptures use three categories. He breaks the three categories into that of a
political leader (king or judge), someone who is present in our day to day life
(parent, friend or lover) and nature (a light or a rock).
These different
images will impact differently with us, depending on what stage of our life we
are at or what challenges we are experiencing.
Apophatic
is a term used to describe prayer, theology or spirituality which avoids the
use of images and can use negative language such as incomprehensible and
invisible. Kataphatic is a term used to
describe prayer, spirituality or theology that uses images and positive
language such as God of Love or God of light.
(O’Connor 2016)
As a
Christian, the images of God we have when we are praying of going about our
daily lives, are important as this is how we come to know God. For me, I have several images of God in my
head when I am praying, at mass, going about my daily routine or listening to
scripture. At mass I see the stained glass windows which help me build my image
of God and also the statues and visible icons of God in church for example
Jesus on the cross. I particularly like the image of God I get when I listen to
the loaves and the Fishes. For me, I see
a gentle caring God who will always ensure we have everything we will need, and
a God who cares the people in their entirety.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
reminds us that God transcends all creatures.
We must, therefore continually purify our language of everything in it
that is limited, image-bound or imperfect, if we are not to confine our image
of God. “The inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, (CCC42) (O’Connor
2016)
In our role as teachers and
parents, it is important that we provide and expose our children to many different
images of God. This is supported by Bowen
who states “God can never be captured in single title, metaphor or name. Rather, this God can only be known in the
continual unfolding of revelation day by day, a revelation that in the biblical
story will finally bring us face to face with Jesus, the only son who has…made
(God) known (Jn1:18)”
For whatever image or word we
use God is always more than we can ever say
(Richard Leonard)
Task 1C: Praying in a Christian way means…
Prayer is many things. There
are many wide and varied definitions of Prayer. They all refer to a
relationship with God and which can involve talking to him and bringing our
petitions to him and putting our trust in him.
It is important that we make time for prayer in our everyday lives. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to prayer as the “raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things
from God." (CCC Para 2559)
"Great
is the mystery of the faith!" The Church professes this mystery in the
Apostles' Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the
sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful
may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the
Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful
believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital
and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is
prayer(CCC
2558)
Praying can happen many different ways and in many
different situations. It can be an
individual experience or one we share with others. Jonathan Doyle likens praying to God to
talking to a good friend. We discuss
what is happening in our lives- both the good and the bad, our worries and our
hopes. In so doing, we have gained
another friend in our life.
There are five different forms of prayer at the
forefront. These are Adoration,
Thanksgiving, Praise, Petition and Intercession. These prayer forms can be expressed in
three different ways:
Vocal prayer is using words to pray and talk to God.
An example of vocal prayer is the Lords Prayers – praying in the way
Jesus has taught us.
Meditation – This is where we connect with God using our emotions and our
imaginations. An example of this prayer
form is the Lectio Divina. This involves
thinking more deeply about the scriptures so we can listen to what God is
asking of us.
Contemplation- this is a time of silence with the Lord. Prayer is a time of waiting and listening to
God
Father John in his video clip discusses Meditation and contemplation. He talks
of Meditation being a search for a deeper encounter with God and Contemplation
being about God stepping in and quietening the soul. (Spiritual Direction,
2012). It is important to remember that
contemplation emerges from meditation
We can use these prayer forms or parts of these in isolation
or can contain elements of each.
Finally, it is so important to make time for prayer
and I will always recall the late Bishop Barry saying that we should put
praying into our daily routine and we should make time to pray- even if it is
talking to God on the way to work. My
children and I say a decade of the Rosary on our way to school each day and
although we are not in silence on our knees- we are making prayer a priority in
our daily life.
“Prayer changes those who prays as well as those for
whom they pray. Believers or not, we can
be the answer to other’s prayer.”
References:
Barron, R. (2016). Images of God – Words on Fire. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/ceochchteaching/cushla/re-102-introduction-to-spirituality/module-2-images-of-god
Bowe, B. E. (2003). God beyond all names. In Biblical foundations
of spirituality: Touching a finger to the flame (pp. 23-31). Lanham, Maryland:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. (1994). Retrieved from http://vatican.va/archive/ENG10015/_INDEX.HTM
Cunningham, L. S.
and Egan, K. S. (1996). Christian Spirituality. In Christian Spirituality: Themes from the Traditions. (pp. 5-29). New
York, NY and Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press
Leonard, R.
SJ. (2013). To Whom we are praying. In Why
bother praying. (pp. 19-27). Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press.
Leonard, R. SJ. (2013). What is
distinctive about Christian prayer. In Why
bother praying. (pp. 28-45). Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press
O’Connor, C. (2016). Module 3. [Handout]
Spiritual
Direction. (2012). What is the difference
between meditation and contemplation? [Video] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cEvJ4R4Qhc
Rolheiser,R. (1998). SeekingSpirituality.
London:Hodder &Stoughton
.
The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version
Bible© 1989,by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the USA.
he Christian faith is
Trinitarian. We come to know God best by
looking at Jesus who is reveals the Father in
the Spirit.
The final marker of Christian
Spirituality is Inclusiveness. There are
to be no exclusions regardless of gender, race or social status. To find Christ, one must find him in hungry,
thirsty, naked and imprisoned of the world. (Mt25).
Spirituality is what we do
with the fire inside of us, about how we channel our Eros
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