Author: Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSP

The image that has drawn me in my ministry is Touching the Sunrise. I believe each person, no matter where they are and what they have lived, is a temple of the Trinity and can, indeed, taste the presence of God within. You can find resources for healing and prayer and follow me at touchingthesunrise.com.

The Gift of Counsel – A new season of your life…

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“Get ready, Kathryn. A new season of your life is about to begin….” I heard those words about five years ago when I took refuge in the chapel after a particularly difficult experience. Actually, it wasn’t the first time I had heard those words whispered in my heart by God or experienced a changing season of life.

Twenty years ago, to identify one of these transition periods, everything was going wrong in my work in the mission, everything blocked by another I was working with. For a year I seemed to be treading water…or more accurately I was sinking. However, I remember speaking with my spiritual director at the time saying to my surprise, that as useless and counterproductive as the experience was, I also had a sense that everything was exactly as it should be. I couldn’t explain it. It made no sense. But a part of me was crying out to God that he certainly would do much better in evangelizing the world if the situation were different. Another part of me sank beneath his mighty hand and blessed him for my undoing.

Remember a time when circumstances left you confused, deflated, angry, unsure of the best way forward? It takes a lot of prudence to reason out the best steps to take, which options to choose, the most effective words you could say…. Without realizing, we could make these decisions based on what is fair, or what we feel, or what we want for ourselves. When we are hurt we can strike out at another even as we think we are responding virtuously.

When we need more than our own devices to understand what is happening in particular events in our life or judgments we need to make, it is the Holy Spirit’s gift of counsel that comes to our assistance. The gift of counsel operates under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, not according to what makes the most sense or is the most comfortable or gives us the most pleasure. The Holy Spirit can lead us to do or say or desire things for which our reason could never explain. Thus, even though the surface of the situation would seem to warrant an angry response that would set things straight for the improvement of the mission, there was a voice within me that said, “Get ready, a new season of your life is about to begin.” A season of contradiction and newness and loss and surprising transformation. A good season….

Sometimes a judgment is required that is beyond us at the time. Perhaps we don’t know how to combine firmness with mercy or there seems no way for us to guard a secret and at the same time meet the obligation of telling the truth. We might be responsible for other people and it is often difficult to know what is best for them. At times we don’t have time for sufficient research or reflection before a decision must be made. It is at times such as these that we want our decision to be the result of the operation of the gift of counsel.

So what habits in daily life will help us grow in responsiveness to the voice of the Spirit who is the Guest of our soul? Incorporate these two qualities of heart and you will prepare your soul for the more intense activation of the gift of counsel in your life:

  • Develop the habit of speaking directly to the Holy Spirit, telling him that you don’t know what to do, which option is best, how to most effectively address another or a situation. And then beg the Holy Spirit for light and guidance. Begin to admit that despite every good intention and all our talents and gifts, in some circumstances only the Holy Spirit can bestow on us the wisdom we need to decide aright. We cannot snap our fingers for the Spirit’s guidance. We often will need to wait upon the Lord with patience and humility.
  • Observe your experience when you are attached to your own judgments. St. John of the Cross in his Spiritual Maxims advises us: “Renounce your desires and you shall find that which your heart desires. How do you know if what you desire is according to God?” Notice how you experience is different when you act under the impulse of the Spirit. What is different? What are signs that tip you off that you are following your own judgments, and signs that indicate that you are obeying the Holy Spirit, moved by the gift of counsel? These can help you correct your path mid-stream so that you more frequently are seeking to please the Spirit.

Prayer

O Holy Spirit, I adore you present in my soul. I need you. Guide me. Show me the way to please the Father. Counsel me. Give me a wisdom beyond what I can figure out on my own. I promise to obey you. Only let me understand your will. Amen.

Pin Pricks and Pet Peeves

Published on by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSP1 Comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-5rfq4-140edcd

We’ll be addressing the million-and-one pin pricks that we receive and give to others every day. Though these aren’t dramatic or traumatic in themselves, when not attended to they can lead to drama and trauma and to the need for forgiveness in order to restore peace in a relationship.

When minor annoyances are not addressed over time, they can have serious effects on a relationship. The way someone who lives or works close to us chews, or piles things on their desk, or hums while they work, or leaves the newspaper on the table, or insists on giving their opinion rather categorically about just about everything, can make us feel misunderstood, not appreciated, unimportant. And we so often do things that make others feel the same way or worse.

Here are some practices you can develop that will keep those pet peeves from ruining your day and your relationships.

I hope you stay in touch. Sign up for my newsletter here: https://touchingthesunrise.com/newsletter/

 

Surprised by the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:44-52)

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Every few years or so the discovery of lost treasure troves makes the news. As technology has improved it has become more common that gold coins, gemstones and priceless jewels worth millions of dollars are found in sunken ships that hundreds of years ago once sailed the seas. Using metal detectors people stumble upon hidden bags of coins, and buried religious artifacts and decorative items in fields, caves and excavations. Finding lost treasure requires a lot of persistence, technology, research, financial outlay, and luck.

In the Gospel, however, Jesus tells us that we don’t need special technology nor even a lot of planning and effort to find the Treasure of all treasures. We don’t need to dive to the bottom of the sea or scout out caves or investigate archaeological digs to find the kingdom of heaven.

“The kingdom of heaven,” Jesus said, “is like a treasure buried in a field.”

I remember the day almost 20 years ago when I first heard Jesus’ voice in my heart—not an inspiration, but a quiet voice. I was monitoring the front desk of our motherhouse and was taking advantage of the time to read for a paper I had been assigned on the Gospel of John in the homilies of St. Augustine. There were a couple hundred pages to wade through, but that day, in one moment, one particular line shone out like a treasure and caught my attention. Years of struggling with powerful temptations had deadened my heart to hope that I could ever be good enough for God to love me. Just as Augustine was converted by reading one verse of Scripture, in one sentence I felt that God saw me, just as I was. That he knew me through and through with nothing hidden from him. I felt like there was someone else in the room looking at me, so I looked up to see who else was in the room. There was no one there. As I continued reading I felt again that there was someone gazing at me but now from within my soul, eyes that pierced and loved at the same time. Then I heard the voice: “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you ever fix yourself and become perfect with regard to this temptation. Just keep looking at me, and letting me look at you. If you just allow us to look at each other, continually, trustfully, always, I will take care of it for you.” We all know when we’ve heard a voice by which we seem to touch the kingdom of heaven. We are pierced by the truth and often are given the gift of tears. We become attentive. We are filled with joy. We want more of what we have received. We would give everything to possess this treasure of treasures always.

“The kingdom of heaven,” Jesus said, “is like a treasure buried in a field.” This statement would have been very familiar to Jesus’ audience. Since at that time there were no banks as we know them, people would keep their “treasure” safe by burying their valuable possessions in the ground.

To the people listening to this parable, walking through fields was something they did every day. It was such an ordinary event that there would have been nothing special about a field. It would be as if Jesus said  to us today: “The kingdom of heaven is a like finding a bag of a billion dollars accidentally along a sidewalk.”

I can imagine that Jesus sparked their attention with this parable and they would have had all kinds of questions: How do we know in which field the treasure has been stashed? What are the telltale signs that a treasure has been buried in a certain place? How can I be more attentive so I don’t miss the treasure? These questions turn the discovery of the kingdom into a plan.

Isn’t it true, however, that we often find the most precious things in life by accident? We stumble upon them, and they seize our imagination and steal our hearts!

The kingdom of heaven surprised me that day at the motherhouse when I heard his voice. The words of the Lord have become a touchstone in my life, a treasure by which I measure all other treasures.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

In this parable, Jesus is telling us five things about the kingdom of heaven:

  • the kingdom of heaven is the most valuable of treasures, the treasure of treasures
  • the kingdom of heaven is hidden in our midst, we’ll find it in the ordinary places of our life where we often forget to look
  • the kingdom of heaven will surprise us as we go about our daily life—it is a gift
  • the kingdom of heaven is a treasure so wonderful that the joy of having discovered it makes every sacrifice to possess it well worth it
  • the kingdom of heaven costs everything because it radically changes our lives and our loves.

The kingdom of heaven is here, right in our midst, ready to surprise you. If you find it, sell all you have to possess it. You will not be sorry.

Praying with this passage of Scripture

Lectio Divina is a way of listening to God as he speaks in his Word. It is a practice of communicating with God through Scripture and attending to God’s presence and what he wishes to tell us. In this slow and prayerful reading of the Word of God, we allow ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit who forms us into the image of Christ.
There are four movement in Lectio Divina: Read (lectio), Meditate (meditation), Pray (oratio), Contemplate (contemplation).

Begin by finding a still space to pray. Breathe deeply and become quieter within. Abandon any agenda, worries or thoughts you bring to this prayer and entrust these things to the merciful care of God. Ask for the grace to be receptive to what God will speak to you through this Scripture reading. Grant me, Jesus Divine Master, to be able to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God and your unfathomable riches. Grant that your word penetrate my soul; guide my steps, and brighten my way till the day dawns and darkness dissipates, you who live and reign forever and ever Amen.

Read (lectio)
Begin by slowly and meditatively reading your Scripture passage out loud. Listen for a particular word or phrase that speaks to you at this moment and sit with it for a time.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

Meditate (meditatio) – Read the same passage a second time. As you re-engage the text, let the word or phrase that stood out become your invitation to speak from your heart with God who wishes to share his heart with you. Allow this word or phrase to wash over you and permeate your thoughts and feelings. You may wish to repeat this phrase quietly and gently for a period of time.

Pray (oratio) – Read the text a third time. Listen for what God is saying to you. Speak heart to heart with God. Notice the feelings that this conversation with God raises up within you. Share with God what you notice about your response to this conversation. You may wish to return to repeating the phrase quietly and gently, allowing it to permeate you more and more deeply.

Contemplate (contemplatio)
Read the text a final time. Now be still and rest in God’s embrace. Ask God to give you a gift to take with you from this prayer. You might ask God if he is inviting you to do some action, for instance, make some change in your thoughts, attitudes or reactions, in the way you speak or how you treat others. Thank God for this gift and invitation as you conclude your prayer.

Image Credit: Possibly Rembrandt, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Gift of Understanding – Veni, Sancte Spiritus…

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The Taize chant was soft. Slowly the choir began to implore the Spirit to descend on the ten adults to be baptized at the Easter Vigil.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus…

I closed my eyes. The chant moved through the congregation, rising stronger. The concelebrating priests gathered around the catechumens as the assembly invoked the Holy Spirit.

Veni, Sanctae Spiritus…

Warmth. Tears. O God…

It wasn’t a prayer. It was joy. Pure joy. Amazing wonder….

The gift of understanding is infused in the soul with sanctifying grace, by which the intellect, under the illuminating action of the Holy Spirit, grasps revealed truths with penetrating and profound intuition.

The “plus” of the gift of understanding is a simple intuition of truth, a type of infused contemplation. Our intellect is incapable of seizing the infinite, even though it lives of faith. The gift of understanding surpasses our human way of comprehension and enlightens us in a divine way. By the gift of understanding we “experience” what is true, we grasp the divine mysteries with the understanding of the Spirit himself in a way that produces a profound effect in the soul. It is a swift, deep penetration which makes us understand the inner meaning of the revealed truth.

By this gift we can understand the hidden meaning of Sacred Scripture. We can grasp the spiritual realities of created things. St. Thomas stated: “In this very life, when the eye of the spirit is purified by the gift of understanding, one can in a certain way see God.” As a result, we begin to see all things through the prism of faith, almost guided by divine instinct.

Here are two ways you can dispose yourself with the help of grace for the activation of the gift of understanding:

  • The Holy Spirit is the friend of recollection and solitude. Jealously preserve times of spiritual rest and intentional silence. Invoke the Holy Spirit frequently.
  • Be faithful to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and the movement of grace within. Avoid thoughts, words, and actions that would sadden the Holy Spirit, and second every movement of the Spirit within you until you can say with Christ: “I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29).

Prayer

O divine Spirit! I beg you with confidence to illumine me. Reveal to me the divine greatness and the divine mysteries, so that I may adore and acknowledge them. Reveal to me what you wish of me so that I may correspond with complete fidelity. O loving Spirit, sustain me in this fidelity until death. Amen.

How to make forgiveness a part of your life

Published on by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSPLeave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-w2bpk-140edca

Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting or even pardoning an offense. It means changing our response to the offense. Some ways to practice what I call “everyday forgiveness” are: forgive yourself, forgive the “stupid stuff” that happens every day, forgive the people and institutions that have hurt us, forgive the unmerited suffering that seems so unfair like an illness or failure. Instead of bitterness, choose to offer compassion and empathy to the person or institution or event that wronged you.

People who forgive tend to be more satisfied with their lives and to have less depression, anxiety, stress, anger, and hostility. People who hang onto grudges, however, are more likely to experience severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as other health conditions. That doesn’t mean that they can’t train themselves to act in healthier ways. We talk about a method of forgiveness that you might try.

I hope you stay in touch. Sign up for my newsletter here: https://touchingthesunrise.com/newsletter/

Image by Jeong Eun Lee from Pixabay