Lumen Deificum
Light that Makes us Divine: Lumen Deificum
by Fr Michael Casey
The National Church Life poll of 2001 found that 42% of Australians cited boredom as the reason why they did not go to Church more often. No doubt there are numerous explanations for this. The most obvious cause, however, is that many were not finding in the churches what they came seeking.
In the past church-attendance indirectly satisfied all sorts of needs: community, moral guidance, political comment, a weekly break in routine, even entertainment. For some people when these aspects of their lives were met by other means, church-going became redundant and was gradually abandoned.
The practice of religion sometimes serves many good purposes but its primary and essential purpose is to help us to make a connection with the spiritual world, in other words to make contact with God. The mission of the Church is to assist humanity in its search for the transcendent. This is done especially by providing the opportunity, guidance and support for a life in which prayer is important.
Tranformation
The intensity of faith is more than an unappetising combination of pious cliche, morality and doctrine. The reality in which we place our hope needs to be experienced. Faith is sustained by moments of light which activate our latent spiritual energies: Like Nicodemus we are called to be reborn. Like the man born blind, our eyes are opened. Like Lazarus we are raised from the spiritual death brought about by our sins. We are called to new life, we become God’s new creation, even sharers in the divine nature.
Our spiritual growth is propelled, above all, by the times in which God breaks into our normal life at a very deep level. By the energy of the Holy Spirit we are helped to see ourselves as God’s dear sons and daughters, and empowered to live as his children in the midst of contrary attractions.
At such times we are like the disciples whom Jesus took to the mountain of his Transfiguration. Perhaps we are imperfect, inexperienced and a little confused. Yet we find ourselves introduced into a timeless world where all is light. For the first time we begin to see the glory of God normally hidden from our gaze. We hear the Father’s voice. The cloud overshadows us.
The vision fades and we go forth still far from perfect, but a little strengthened to face the challenges normal for those who try to live in the spirit of the Gospel. We will fail often, but the grace of God and the memory of these privileged moments will sustain us.
Ascending the Mountain
The first lesson that we can learn from the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration is to heed Jesus’ invitation to come up the mountain. To leave behind the occupations and cares that constantly fill our mind and withdraw to the solitude and silence of the mountain. This is what Jesus himself did throughout his life.
Most of us will find that prayer comes more readily when we take the trouble to create a time and a space in which we can give ourselves entirely to God without a divided mind or interruption. Nobody else can do this for us. It may be a quiet moment of the day and a special corner of the house; it may be a few minutes spent in solitary prayer in a church, a rosary in the park or a meditative walk at sunset. Maybe an effort to make quality time for morning and evening prayers. There are no rules or regulations, it is just a practical matter of inventing opportunities for ourselves.
Of course we all experience difficulty in finding time for prayer. That is because there is no time to be found. Instead we have make time. Usually this means that we have to cut into other activities that, on reflection, seem to us less important than giving God some daily entrance into our lives. In particular, we will probably find that reducing our exposure to mass media, particularly television, will not only give us more time than we need, but will also help keep our minds and hearts in more pristine condition.
The key to all this is regularity. If we do not build prayer into our everyday lives it will speedily slip away when the going gets tough. We do not have to be rigid or tyrannical so that prayer becomes a misery. Common sense is usually a good guide. If the time has come for us to pray more, then the only way that this can happen is by a bit of self-organisation.
Listen to Him
While Christ’s glory shines on us all is well. At other times we express our fidelity through struggling with the particular temptations that are part of our personal story. To persevere in this we need to allow ourselves to be re-formed at the level of belief and value, to put on the mind of Christ, as St Paul
As disciples we are always learners in the school of Christ
A quiet meditative reading of the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, begins the process of prayer; it is food for the soul which sustains us in our search for God. So many of the stories of the saints begin with a moment of conversion generated by the empowering words of Scripture. The Spirit that inspired the writers of the sacred texts also assists the readers of those texts. There is an energy latent within the pages of the Bible that can enable us to leap over obstacles that we had long thought impossible to master.
For us too there will be moments of enlightenment, guidance, correction and re-direction. Mostly, however it will be like water dripping on a rock. Nothing much seems to happen on a particular day, but over the years the water wears away the rock. Think of what the Colorado River did in creating the Grand Canyon . A lifetime’s fidelity to reading of the Scriptures (or lectio divina as it is traditionally called) will work even greater wonders in our lives. Maybe nothing spectacular will happen immediately, but cumulatively these few daily minutes given to God will amount to very much.
A Mystical Church
Of 50 clip art images provided by Microsoft Word on the topic of “prayer” only six are even vaguely Christian: Islam, Judaism and Buddhism are the source of most of the pictures. Why is it that Christians are not thought of specifically as people of prayer?
Perhaps we should emphasise just how strong is the contemplative emphasis in the Catholic Church. It is not a narrow tradition, but it is represented by many different schools of spirituality, often associated with different religious orders or movements within the Church and suitable for different vocations. Some of these are mystical traditions which pay great attention to the experiential elements in Christian life, with practical teaching about the ways in which God can not only be sought but also found, even in this life. There is available an abundance of Christian teaching on mysticism, though you would never guess it from browsing the shelves of even large bookshops.
It is important that we recognise that the Church not only provides the visibility of an international organisation, with a teaching authority and a range of necessary ministries. The Church is also a teacher of prayer, a teacher of mysticism. Through its sound traditions, its range of spiritualities and the possibility of spiritual direction, the Church is able to support ordinary people in their search for the God who created them with a burning desire for the realities of the spiritual world.
We are creature of the light, attracted to the divine light made visible in Christ, called to be transformed by that light and to live in the glorious freedom of God’s children.
