The Catholic Hermit: The Problem with (or for) Mystics

 I've had ministers give me the squinted glare, also (one told me to leave and take my child with me), but as long as some Protestants or anyone could consider me "psychic", that helped ease their angst. Yet others, of course, were convinced I was new age or like the seers of the OT who connived and communed with the dead in dangerous ways.  Catholics seem to be expecting some type of person of which fantastical dreams are made--hagiographical- embellished "saints".  

It does help if there is some utilitarian mystical gift comes with the person, such as the gift of healing, clairvoyance,  or the visible stigmata--once the person has been put through the wringer to have the phenomenon proven legitimate and not of their own doing.  (I do understand that for the sake of others who can take things out of context, those with especially visible phenomenon need to be discerned as well as to discern, themselves, if a mystical phenomenon is a chronic condition in the mystic's life.)  

I have come to accept that this lack. of acceptance is part of the suffering God has allowed me, andI ought to bear it with kindness, gratitude, and grace.  I so loved Mass;  Mass was a joy and privilege that lifted me up from bed of pain each morning despite the difficulty then of sitting. But after the ecstasies began in later 2008,  troubles ensued with  people not understanding and those who did, were envious or resentful.  Those who did not understand would become angry at my rudeness for seeming to sleep through Mass. 

Others would injure me by trying to waken me, or call 911 and the fire truck, police, and EMS would show up and be coming into Mass with the gurney about the time Mass had ended. The final time this occurred, I tried to imitate Jesus His last time in Nazareth when the people were readying to throw him off a cliff.  "He walked through their midst."  

My spiritual da later reminded me that Jesus never went back to Nazareth after that.  I never returned to Mass at the Cathedral; for one thing, my neck was so severely injured I was unable to drive for several weeks and took 8 weeks to function per usual.  But the monsignor did not want me to return; he'd been letting me know for months and months prior.  I simply did not want to give up the beauty and glory of the Mass!  

The deeper the ecstasy the more bliss, but I had to finally consider charity to others and that of not being an occasion of sin to them. I began to consider that perhaps God allowed the situation because He preferred me to Himself in the hermitage. I considered the ancient hermits as well as the desert dwellers who often stayed hidden and in silence of solitude and did not participate in Mass  nor receive the tangible consecrated Host for the rest of their lives.  

I sacrificed the sacrifice of the Mass; I knew this was at least until shown and allowed otherwise, the charitable thing to do for others. Charitable?  Yes.  Part of suffering is to forsake what we  love in order to protect others from doing, thinking, and speaking (gossip, criticism) wrongly.  It had become too much of a problem for priests to navigate personally and with their flock, as well.  I had to grapple with why would God have this happen--that I'd not be able to participate in Mass?  

But then I factored that two weeks prior to the ecstasies commencing, my angel appeared in a dream.  He placed his hand on my righti arm and said as he led me, that he was taking me to the Stairway to Heaven.  He took me to the foot of an immense stairway; we stood at the foot and gazed up to where I could see no farther.  In considering this event, I finally understood that the Mass is the stairway in a spiritual way, and the ecstasies have a powerful message in that reality.  

Stairs lead us onward, upward, and that designates a transition from one level or place of being to another.  We must let go of where we had been and what we had known and even loved, and begin the ascent to that which we know not yet must trust that God is taking us to where He wills and of that which we need for the glory of His will and desire for our souls and for His Body, the Church. 

The Catholic Hermit, or Christian Catholic Mystic Hermit: Prayer Asking St. Joan of Arc's Intercessions

 

A spiritual friend gave me this prayer; I've asked St. Joan of Arc to pray with me and all of us, this prayer.

The Prayer of invoking St. Joan of Arc: In the face of your enemies, in the face of harassment, ridicule, and doubt, you held firm in your faith. Even your abandonment, alone and without friends, you held firm in your faith. Even as you faced your own mortality, you held firm in your faith. I pray that I may be as bold in my beliefs as you, St. Joan. I ask that you ride alongside me in my own battles. Help me be mindful that what is worthwhile can be won when I persist. Help me hold firm in my faith. Help me believe in my ability to act well and wisely. AMEN

The Cathoic Hermit: Words of Wisdom and Advice from St. John Vianney

 

These words written by the late St. John Vianney struck me as invaluable especially for one or others who might have become years ago, prone to ugliness from the surreptitious viper of pride that can slither about, unsupervised and unknown to those who are to be supervising such a one.  The viper bites the one who seemingly does not flinch due to a numbing desire for self-importance and misplaced hopes of being an authority in something, anything, that to the bitten and smitten appears grandiose.  Such a one might embellish their backgrounds and time lines, exaggerates (cousin to deceive) and then proceeds to demean and detract any other who such a person fears threatens their supremacy even in such a vocation as hermit--the vocation intended for the least of these, the lowly nothings to God's ALL.  

For any of my blog readers who been deceived and demeaned by such a one, you likely realize the poisoned one may be incapable of ceasing. Rather, such a one has become more devious and clever (distinctive trademarks of the devil who is often referenced as a snake), and most all of us do all to avoid such a one by keeping the armor of God on us at all times, including the added layer of humility to strengthen the armor.   These wise words of advice from St. John Vianney are for any of us who have been victim to such a snake-poisoned person, for we know it is by the grace of God that we have not fallen likewise to the viper's poison. We pray never to become like those who fall to temptation to prestige, position, and power--as ridiculous as that would seem for a hermit to succumb to deception in that desire.

For our protection and reminder to not follow in the scandalous, scurrilous words and actions of those who persist in mean-spirited treachery, no matter how cleverly masked or plead false denials of wrong-doing, let us keep these words of St. John Vianney close at hand-and-heart.  Let us re-read often, for as is true of those sad souls, bitten by pride and poisoned by narcissism (and other vices)--we are vulnerable ourselves to the devil-viper of evil, and must do all to protect ourselves from a likewise demise of character.  We know from such examples of those bitten and poisoned, from all the damage they have done to those they chose to denegrate--that before long such ones became or become habitual, poisoned, disordered personalities, transparent to humankind and God alike.   

Likewise we know as hermits of God, we would instead of risking all to the fate of those poisoned by the demon viper, we pray do all to ask God to receive the implanted Tree of Humility, whose roots God implants in our minds and hearts.  We vow and strive by God's grace to nurture God's Tree of Humility so it can sprout up and outward  from our very souls regardless the cost of this Tree of Humility--priceless to any Christian but especially desired by true and devoutly seeking hermits of God.  We pray and never lose hope for those bitten and poisoned by the demon-viper, for conversion and reversal from such ugliness. But we know to practice in earnest the avoidance of what St. John Vianney reminds us that will tear down others--as he states below--and instead to seek words and actions of loving kindness that build up each and every soul and thus uplift the Body of Christ. These uplifted souls of the Body of Christ are given to God Is Love in the Person of Jesus Christ, the Head.  Thereby His Church is elevated.  

Let no one be detracted, attacked, libeled or slandered, meanly criticized, by us.  May we learn from the woes of the evil doers, bitten and. poisioned by the demon-viper; may we pray for them and attempt Chrsitian, fraternal correction.  If that fails, keep praying but stay clear of the evil-doers.  They may be so poisoned they know no what they are doing.  Forgive, take back our peace, shake he dust as testament against them, and move on to the next place which for us is to live the most holy and devout of hermit or other vocational lives we will be graced to live with the Tree of Humility and by the love of the Trinity. 

Saint John-Mary Vianney (1786-1859)

priest, curé of Ars

Sermon for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost

"His ears opened and his mouth opened and he spoke correctly" Mk 7:35

How desirable it would be, my brothers, that we could say of each of us what the Gospel says of this mute that Jesus healed, that he spoke very well. Alas! My brothers, could we not, on the contrary, reproach that we almost always speak badly, especially when we talk about our neighbor. What is the conduct of most Christians these days? Here it is. Criticize, censor, blacken and condemn what the neighbor does and says: these are all the most common, the most universally widespread vices, and, perhaps, the worst of all. Vice that you can never hate enough, vice which has the most fatal consequences, which carries disturbance and desolation everywhere. Ah! May God give me one of these coals of which the angel used to purify the lips of the prophet Isaiah (cf. is 6, 6-7), in order to purify the language of all men! Oh ! How many ailments would be banished from the earth, if we could chase away this backbiting! May I, my brothers, give you so much horror, that you have the happiness of correcting you forever! I finish saying that, not only, it is bad to depreciate and slander others, but also to listen to backbiting and slander with pleasure; Because if no one listened, there would be no sown. (…) Let us often say: "My God, give me the grace to know myself. "Happy ! A thousand times happy, the one who will only use his tongue to ask God for forgiveness for his sins and sing his praises!"

Christian Catholic Hermit Mystic: corrected version

 I haven't posted much on social media in awhile, other than responding with likes and hearts and hopefully encouraging comments to what others post, but I do want to share that I had a major turn around 12 days ago. The knee pain is so horrible and no one willing to do anything about it, and I was the only one researching and asking for this or that procedure which I've read will help even if temporarily, like injections that can soften the hard fibrotic growth that has covered me knee and hardened now, and injections also are known to reduce the pain.

That has been refused; the surgeon has a serious fear of infections. That is why I was not allowed to go to a Medicare-full-paid rehab facility after the knee replacement surgery. I had a PT the surgeon sent who did not recognize or claims he didn't know about arthrofibrosis post-op; the surgeon's PA did not recognize it, either. My pain doctor has tossed it back to the surgeon who he knows does not want to bother with it, but the pain doctor does not want to, either. (And he shouldn't have to, except that in past he has helped me when bad things have happened.).

The only thing the surgeon will do is send me for yet more PT, after the other PT's said nothing to be done; they showed me many stretches I'm tokeep doing through out the day for however long my earthly bodily duration. I'm to go for deep tissue knee massage, said the surgeon to the pain doctor. The surgeon has not even seen nor touched my knee since June 20, the day of the knee replacement surgery. There is no way anyone can massage the hard stone that is my knee. I'll go, but the frustration level shot up, the anger and darkness and sadness and ugliness pervaded to a point that the Holy Spirit reached in those 12 days ago. He turned me around, placed me on a far better path.

In addition to Love and Pray (what I've been reminded to do in other situations ongoing that are unjust, persecutorial, sorrowful, and unkind), I was told to FORGIVE! Forgiveness is so crucial in addition to love and pray for others and for situations themselves--and I know this, and you all know this! But I didn't really, really know it, not know it deep down in the fullness of my soul as it needs to be known, felt, an enacted. The shift was within two or three minutes. I have the needed ingredients for traversing the rest of this life and into the next of which Love, Pray, and Forgive are learned if not already, or an automatic "breath and heartbeat" if not.

So I've been existing on Love, Pray, and Forgive ever since. Then, of course, there are the temporal whammies, just little things that present themselves like should I send a card or not, or when I've been told my social media comments aren't acceptable, don't have the proper "social media vibe" so I'm not to comment, not even short and positive ones because they are "different", there is that adaptation to letting go of social media, definitely not to leave comments for those who are bothered by mine. So more Love, Pray, and Forgive.

One must consider all in life--situations and persons--with the lens of pray, love, and forgive. But also, one must consider the temporal-spiritual aspects of "who". Who is it that God desires for us in this life? Who tolerates us, who accepts us as we are and for what we have to offer? This means, even if we are gimped and grumped with severe, non-stop pain, or we cannot be active, or we perceive in ways not seemingly the societal norm but yet accurate, can be thoughtful, insightful....

This means, who is it that God desires for us, who accepts or tolerates us--in a way that we don't have to cease to be or do who and what we are and how God created us, unless it is that which is best for us to cease being or doing. However, when another is bothered enough to make requests of negation or who view us negatively as odd or weird, or think we over think, or find this or that in us that needs to change (or says we are demonically oppressed)--are these persons enjoying us, comfortable with us, or do we frustrate them, cause them to fear we will embarrass them or to what their friends might think of us? Are these persons like the apostle John, listening to us, standing at the foot of our crosses, or do they seem to wish and prefer we be made in their own image, or an image of what they deem acceptable or per society or social media's tolerated image of acceptability, of social and their view of "normality"?

This brings us to bridges, and burning or not burning them. I recall a vision dream years ago in which I was shown a burning. bridge, and I was told that some bridges are worth being burned. Burning a bridge sometimes is invaluable in that it keeps us from going back over when it is better we never go back again. But burning bridges also brings up the point of who burns the bridge? Is it one of the persons making conditions of relationship, criticizing the other, wishing without maybe consciously realizing that the other is frustrating to be around or know?

Or is the bridge burner the one who doesn't conform to the wishes or image the other wants in his or her relationships? And again, maybe some bridges are better off being burned regardless of who lights the match or who is the wood being lit?

We now come to sifting the ashes. What remains if we do not accept or cannot tolerate others for varying reasons? Does it matter? Persons come and go in relationships as well as in the temporal world; people die, one after another. On the other side, out of the ashes come souls who are shown truth, beauty, and goodness.

The showing then leads to learning. We learn we are to love, learn to pray, learn we are forgiven; we learn how to love those who didn't fit into our scheme of social norms. we learn to pray to accept what it is we could not change. We learn that it does not matter that everyone perceives the same, or is in our own likeness and image, or that they are frustrated by us because they could not control how they were, how we are. We learn to love, we learn to LOVE to learn to love. And then we love others with this love of which when we love as God loves, we are loving with God's love.

We learn to forgive--forgive ourselves and to forgive these others because they couldn't make themselves be as we wanted them to be--or we couldn't make ourselves be as they wished us to be--in some image of normal or successful or calm or at peace or light-hearted or more serious, or whatever it is our or their image of normal and right they, or we, were and are not. We forgive them because we recognize how God forgives us--without conditions.

As for social media or temporal friendships, those will read or post or try to be what is wanted and which fits whatever image based upon the person who posts it. Those who don't like it because it is too long or too deep or does not fit the "social media vibe" can block the unacceptable-to-them poster's posts. Or, the poster can choose to share thoughts and insights on any number of other media options not as open to the mainstream as the usual, the typical.

Or not. As for people as in acquaintances and friendships, there is always God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as well as manifold holy personages existing on the other side with free-access to us (and us to them) any moment day or night. They exist as we ought--in the Order of the Present Moment. They love to help us find our way through this life and hopefully to exist here also as in eternity, if we are so inclined.

There is no one more perfect a friend than is Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. Just depends upon strength of faith as to the degree of reality these personages exists as a true friend in need and in deed. We do not have to be concerned, for example, about Jesus being bothered about our comments seemingly "different." His words and insights were deemed that, was called worse, called "crazy." Jesus therefore understands those of us who have been thus called. Jesus will never burn a bridge with us, and if we are finding in Jesus a true love, there is never a need, not even a temptation, to burn bridges with Him.

Bottom line, if someone finds himself a sign of consternation to others on earth, no worries--he or she will be welcomed by the souls on the other side who are always with us, eager for friendship and conversation, of sharing their insights and holy lives with us.

If the folks in this world who are frustrated by or find us unappealing, cannot tolerate or accept when there is no actual means to altar our minds, hearts, and souls or our temporal, bodily conditions, they or we can choose to expand the bounds of relationship. Or when in essence the temporalites burn bridges with us by their choosing, we (or even they) may pick up with those who already know how to pray, love, and forgive; align with those who are into building bonds--align those who can perceive beyond what constrains others here and now.

This is a totally non-vibe, non-acceptable piece ofof social media whatever genre. Guaranteed only a handful or less than less will read it. I'm not into burning any bridges, but I've learned to let the bridges out there bring those who are interested in thosesuch as me, to walk over on the various media modalities available.

And I lovingly welcome those who have a need or desire to burn bridges with me, to do so. This aspect is a gift from God to me. Those who find me not to their total liking need to be freed from frustrations and worries, exasperations and embarrassments they perceive--and maybe rightly so--that such as myself can cause them in the ways and wilds of the temporal world.

God is forming me; God is progressing me and perfecting me in His way and time, considering God recognizes and accepts my imperfections as He's developing me as He wills. He's doing that with anyone who wants and asks, even if they have as many flaws as myself.

Life becomes much easier, the path less ugly, dark, and fiery when we learn to love to love, pray, and forgive. (And there may be more key words added to this initial list, but these are basic and essentials) Plus, there is no time chart nor chains involved once one steps off the bridge, so to speak, so that others don't have a need to burn it out from under us, or keep us from walking over to interact with them.

Christian Catholic Hermit Mystic: Helpful Quote of St. John Henry Newman

 

God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He as not committed to another. I have my mission; I never may know in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling. 

St John Henry Newman 

The Catholic Hermit: St. Leonard of Noblac

 SAINT LEONARD OF NOBLAC

(† c. 550)

        St. Leonard was one of the chief personages of the court of King Clovis I. He was also sponsored by the Monarch in baptism. St. Leonard was so moved by the discourse and example of St. Remigius that he relinquished the world and became a priest.

        St. Leonard was an apostle to the Franks. He preached in Aquitaine and ministered to prisoners. He distanced himself from influential roles and eventually trained disciples as a hemit. Thus, St. Leonard withdrew to the monastery of Micy near Orleans and afterward to the solitude of Noblac near Limoges. He founded an abbey there, and the town of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat is named after him.

        St. Leonard's charity accustomed him to remain active in works of mercy: comforting hospital patients and visiting prisoners. He is alive today in the presence of God and receives prayers for intercession. He is the patron saint of captives and prisoners.

Thoughts on the Mystic Portal (from March 31, 2011)

 

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Thoughts on The Mystic Portal

I am living the temporal humanity of Christ.
I bear His temporal pain and breathe His soul's suffering.
Yet only when the human is subsumed in His mystical Divinity
is there one Joy, one Love, the one Reality: God-Man.

Only then do the two worlds, temporal and mystical, 
become one reality, the Divine Reality.
The temporal is a shadow of the full humanity of Christ   
if without union in the mystical reality of His Divinity.

The temporal Catholic world is a holding cell 
for passage through the mystic portal, 
to become the full humanity of Christ in His Divinity, 
to be fully one in the One in the one true reality.

(I hope I am stating it meaningfully, accurately; 
words are incompetent secretaries to insights.)

It is something like this, and I must get through 
the mystic portal with His physical and soul suffering,
in order to be in the true reality: one reality of oneness in God.

Do you see that the Sacraments, all of them, 
but most frequently Eucharist in Mass 
and Reconciliation in Confession,  
are portal passage points 
for the temporal to enter into the mystical, 
and that without the One in reality of the mystical,
in these sacraments, there would be false reality? 

Jesus in His full humanity 
is the Divine ever-flowing into within the temporal.  
He is not the temporal occasionally touching the mystical.
 
When we pain-bearing soul-suffering humans pass 
through the mystic portal to be subsumed in His Divinity, 
we awash the temporal in and by His living waters.  
We then may fully live His humanity mystically Divine 
as we are become one with the One Reality.

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to the one who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who [d]wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will [e]mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.