ZECHARIAH PROPHESIES AS TO THE COMING MESSIAH WHO WILL BE A FIRSTBORN OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID, WHOM THEY WILL PIERCE, AND FOR WHOM THEY WILL MOURN AS ONE MOURNS FOR AN ONLY SON

"In that day ... the House of David shall be "as God"... And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon "him whom they have pierced," and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his "only son," and shall be in bitterness for him, "as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:8.)

THE CREATOR REVEALS A MYSTERIOUS PLAN BY WHICH EVIL, CRUELTY, AND SUFFERING BECOME A POWERFUL FORCE FOR LOVE, GOODNESS, AND ETERNAL LIFE

Catholic Catechism

"The human nature of God's Son, not by itself but by its union with the Word, knew and showed forth in itself everything that pertains to God." By its union to the divine wisdom in the person of the Word incarnate, Christ enjoyed in his human knowledge the fullness of understanding of the eternal plans he had come to reveal. What he admitted to not knowing in this area, he elsewhere declared himself not sent to reveal. The Son in his human knowledge also showed the divine penetration he had into the secret thoughts of human hearts.(Catholic Catechism, Part I, Section II, Chapter II, #473)

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A famous, and well-beloved, environmentalist and world traveler says that he can’t believe in, or talk of God to his followers, in spite of the awesome beauty he finds throughout the world, because of the cruelty and suffering he finds in the same world. From his perspective he believes that a Good God could not create a world in which such evil and suffering exists. He, of course, speaking the truth about his universe, where faith has been excluded. For faith is the key to understanding why evil was allowed to exist in such a world. Faith must come first, and then God's glorious plan is seen through the eyes of Wisdom, which defines the role of suffering as it provides the evil necessary for overcoming love to manifest its glorious power. The perfect example is, of course, Christ taking sin and suffering upon Himself on the Cross that we might know eternal joy through the power of love in overcoming all the evil, cruelty and suffering, from the beginning of the ages.

Christ says that this is His Father’s world, and He came into it because of the Father's love for us, and that we might have Life, and have it more abundantly. He tells us to “embrace suffering.” He says that in suffering, a consequence of Original Sin, there is, as a result of His overcoming death and resurrection, a motive force for self-giving love and life...supernatural life. He says that it’s true that suffering radically upsets our plans for a permanent home and a happy life in this world. It shows us the hatred and ugliness resulting from a life without God It makes us look elsewhere, beyond this world, for the answer to the presence of evil in a world of awesome beauty. But, most mportantly, He says that, when embraced through love, suffering becomes “the Way” of transformation, through Him, from natural to supernatural life.

SPIRITUALITY EAST AND WEST, JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO THE FATHER

Abbot Marmion tells us:

"For it is through Jesus Christ alone we can be raised up to God. The Incarnate Word tells us decisively: "No man cometh to the Father, but by Me." It is as if He said: "You will never attain to the Divinity save in passing through My Humanity." Never forget He is the Way, the only way. Christ alone, God and Man, raises us up to His Father. We here see how important it is to have a living faith in Christ Jesus. If we have this faith in the power of His Humanity, as being the Humanity of a God, we shall be assured that Christ can make us enter into contact with God. For, as I have often told you, the Word in uniting Himself to human nature, has, in principle, united us all to Himself. And if we are united to Him by grace, Christ bears us with Him as St. Paul says, into "the Holy of holies," the sanctuary of the Divinity where, as Word, He is before all ages: (Prayer, by Abbot Columba Marmion, O.S.B.)

As contemplatives, like St Paul, “We always carry about in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body...Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day...So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. ...We live by faith, not by sight.(2Cor5)

The meditators of the East enter into themselves and end up, after years of up and down psychological experiences, still spiritually "within themselves," with no new capacity for love of neighbor. The Christian enters within himself and finds, through grace, the spiritual doorway out of himself, leading him to his Divine Beloved, and a new dimension of love of neighbor capable of reaching out to those who were previously unlovable.

And these modern "seekers," influenced by the East, write ponderous articles discussing this and that guru, and wondering if, perhaps, they have the truth. They spend years, and huge amounts of money, with "world-class spiritual teachers" who promise the reward of spiritual joy through "permanent enlightenment," but who turn out to be phonies, giving them nothing in the end, but a "permanent headache." They study books that show that the knowledge found in the latest science is somehow the same as the knowledge found through mystical experience. And this knowledge always proves that, guess what, spirit and matter are ths same thing, and the Universe is just one big "Cosmic Consciousness." And since we're part of it, there's no point in praying to God, because we're really God when we learn to recognize it, and why pray to ourselves when we've really already got everything? Other books tell them that spirituality and enlightenment and mystical experience are just forms of the sexual orgasm. So, wonders to behold, a regular supply of "great sex" and spirituality are really "the same thing." Moreover, they say, when you throw in psychedelic drugs, you get "instant access" to God and the spirit world whenever you want. So the drug-addicts have apparently stumbled onto the secret of a happy life!

And Almighty God uses all the so-called "bad things" that happen to those who love him, to free their will from worldly attachment so that it will be available for His Love. For worldly success, although it may exist in the life of a devout believer, is not the criterion of true spirituality. For, as we have already noted, it is more likely through suffering, through failure in the eyes of others, and through the humiliation of the Cross, that the authentic follower of Jesus Christ will be stripped of his self-centered egotism so that he may live as a "new creation," his true-self.

HUMILITY IS NEAR THE TOP OF NECESSARY VIRTUES FOR THE CONTEMPLATIVE

And therefore, the "Way of the Cross" is the normal process underlying spiritual growth by, and the powerful process, ever leaning on "humility," the corner-stone, which enables us to keep going no matter how painful our failulres and shame might be. And while we must do our best in "putting on humility," it is for the most part infused into the substance of the soulby the Holy Spirit, preparing it for union with Christ. For humility is the truth of our relationship to Almighty God, and the key to understanding the Love to which we are called. For Divine Love is characterized by gracious Humility and Self-Giving. Only a Personal Divinity, Whose inner Life is a Relational Love of Persons, is capable of the Ecstatic Love found in the Humility of self-emptying surrender to the Beloved. And this must become the nature of our love. For as John of Ruysbroeck relates, hlumility is the foundation of all the virtues. It establishes the true nature of the relationship between God and man. And St Catherine of Siena tells us, it is the mother of charity toward one's neighbor. And it is this virtue, the virtue of humility, which the Church looks for when examining the lives of believers for sanctity.

Only the saints appreciate how profound must be the humility of the soul that seeks intimate friendship with God. Some have characterized it as "the profound realization that one is on one side of a divide, and that God and all goodness are on the other side." For, while climbing the spiritual mountain, one is most vulnerable to pride, and to the falsehood that one is becoming holy by one's own efforts. For the edifice of Christ, God builds with our cooperation, rises from His supernatural power. And, as Christ told St. Paul, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, avers Paul, "I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses...for when I am weak, then I am strong."(2 Corinthians 12:7-l0)

ST TERESA OF AVILA AND ST JOHN OF THE CROSS ARE THE GUIDES, PAR EXCELLENCE, THE CHURCH PLACES BEFORE US IN THE PURSUIT OF CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY

Myles M. Bourke, S.T.D., makes the following point regarding the authority of St John of the Cross and St Teresa in matters dealing with contemplative prayer:

"There is a last argument to which those who would like to reject the authority of Saint John of the Cross and of Saint Teresa readily have recourse. It is drawn from the diversity of ages in history(and diversity of religious orders). Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross, they say, were saints of the reflex age(or saints of a particular order's point of view) They probably had to write as they did, given their historical epoch. What they wrote was probably good for that age of history, but it has no value for our age, which has suffered only too much from individual introspection and whose essential need is in the social and communal order. (Or it might be said what they wrote has no more value than what someone else wrote on mystical theology)

"Such a reasoning contains many errors. The fundamental error consists in forgetting that if there are in the spiritual life a development and modalities which are linked with the movement of history, the substance itself of this life depends neither on time nor on history but on supra-temporal truths. Why is it that one does not see that it is essentially the same doctrine which, taught in the sixteenth century by Saint John of the Cross in the perspective of the practical science of the spiritual life, was taught in the thirteenth century by Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Bonaventure in the perspective of theology? Why does one forget the teachings of the Fathers and of the medieval Doctors on the primacy of contemplation, the decisive importance of which we stressed above? And why does one forget the mysterious continuity in which, in the "Living Flame of Love" of Saint John of the Cross, the darkness of Saint Gregory of Nyssa finally recognizes its true nature? By what strange blindness does one fail to recognize the testimony given by the saints and the great spiritual writers, all through the Christian centuries, to that very experience of the depths of God whose states and degrees Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross only succeeded in describing in a more analytical and more explicit manner?(Miles M. Bourke, LITURGY AND CONTEMPLATION, Jacques & Raissa Maritain, Part IV)

Fr. Thomas Dubay confirms the above:

"Real people have confirmed whatI've learned from John, Teresa, Garrigou-Lagrange and other writers. They've confirmed it because what John and Teresa say about contemplation is the gospel. It's not just a Carmelite thing. John and Teresa are the best we've got on the subject in what they've written about deep prayer and communion with God. They are both Doctors of the Church for that reason. People I've met confirm what I've learned because it works. (Fr.Thomas Dubay)

Two other excellent spiritual guides are: "Introduction to the Devout Life" by St. Francis of Sales, and "Imitation of Christ"" by Thomas a Kempis. And then, St Alphonsus de Ligouri, presents us with a simple, courageous spirituality that any Contemplative, religious or lay person, can follow, and that goes directly to the heart of what spirituality is all about: "uniformity with the will of God." By doing one thing in all circumstances, He says, anyone may become a saint. He says that we must "Praise or Bless God," in all the events and circumstances of our lives, good or bad. In Romans 8:28 we are told, "To those who love God, all things work together for good." That means so-called bad things work for our good just like good things. So, one who would be perfect, has but to give his complete trust to God, and demonstrate perfect love, by commiting himself,always and everywhere, from moment to moment, to remain in complete accord with His will. One accomplishes this by giving up all self-pity and complaining, and praising God for everything in one's life, and as each event of His providence enfolds itself during the day. One blesses God for everything good and bad about oneself, and for all events, whether they bring joy or suffering. {See "Uniformity with the Will of God" St Alphonsus de Ligouri}

GOD'S GIFT OF CONTEMPLATION COMES MORE READILY TO THOSE WHO REGULARLY PRACTICE "THE PRESENCE OF GOD."

And finally, while always giving proper attention to our duties and responsibilities, what method could be more simple and effective as part of a Contemplative foundation than the "Practice of the Presence of God" or keeping one's attention on thoughts of being in the presence of Almighty God. This process is greatly facilitated by repeating the Holy Name of Jesus, interiorly to oneself, throughout the day. While in that presence, one makes acts of love and acknowledgement of dependency and sorrow for past sins.

One honors Almighty God with praise while maintaining oneself in thoughts of being in His presence. One drives away distractions and all other thoughts, (with the help of the Holy Name) except when other thoughts connected with business or duties are necessary. And after duty or business, one returns to the interior repetition of the Holy Name, which facilitates resumption of thoughts about being in God's presence and loving Him. To the extent possible, one keeps one's attention on these loving thoughts throughout the day. Thoughts of immorality, hatred, pride or delusion, which strengthen the false ego-self, can gain no foothold, and gradually lose their power in one who "practices the presence of God." And this is what is meant by St. Paul who tells us to "Put on the mind of Christ."(see "Practiceof the Presence of God")

JACQUES MARITAIN SPEAKS OF THE CALL TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

"The thesis that all souls are called," states Jacques Maritain, "not doubtless in a proximate manner but in a remote manner, to mystical contemplation considered as a normal flowering of the grace of the theological virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, a thesis in line with Christian tradition and with the spiritual teaching of Saint Bonaventure and of Saint Thomas, has been masterfully expounded by Father Garrigou-Lagrange. And to the extent that it is well understood we mean, with all the nuances and all the adjustments which it requires, it is, despite some passing opposition, well on the way to becoming classical."

"As to "the proximate call to the mystical life," it "exists only when the three signs mentioned by Saint John of the Cross, and before him by Tauler are clearly present: 1) meditation becomes impossible; 2) the soul has no desire to fix the imagination on any particular object, interior or exterior; 3) the soul delights in finding itself alone with God, fixing on Him its loving attention."

"...In order to attain to the perfection of love, is it necessary for the soul to enter in one way or another (typical or atypical, open or masked) into the ways of infused contemplation, which comes to saying: 'Is infused contemplation, to one degree or another and under one form or another, in the normal way of sanctity?' The answer must be in the affirmative. For we must remember that heroic Charity is the foundation of sanctity. And such intense Charity is only possible through the direct intercession of God by actuation of certain of the mystical gifts which, alone, are capable of raising Charity to such perfection. See "Actuation of the mystical gifts"(Jacques & Raissa Maritain, "Liturgy and Contemplation," Resources)

MEDITATION PROVIDES THE FOUNDATION FOR THE GIFT OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER, WHICH PRAYER GOD WILL PROVIDE WHEN THE SOUL IS PROPERLY PREPARED

So we see that Contemplative Prayer is necessary for the ultimate perfection of Love in our lives. And at a more practical, day to day level, serious prayer is seen as a necessity for one's mental and spiritual survival, and for coping with the demands of modern life. However, it is not always an easy thing to achieve in one's life, and, once begun, demands real courage in order to persevere. For to want to enjoy contemplative joys and blessings without understanding the price one must pay, and without being willing to "embrace the Cross," and cooperate with grace in "overcoming" our selfishness, as well as the many obstacles we will find on the journey, is to mock and "trivialize" the whole process.

In his work, "The Ascent of Mount Carmel," St John of the Cross pointed out the folly of undertaking a spiritual path leading to Contemplation without a foundation based on discursive meditation on the life of Jesus Christ:

"For while the one who has received the supernatural gift of infused Contemplation may lay aside discursive meditation during the actual prayer time he experiences the deep inward absorption of God drawing him to pure Contemplation "it is no less needful for him not to lay aside the said imaginative meditation before the proper time lest he should turn backward. For, although the apprehension of these faculties serve not as proximate means of union to the proficient, "they serve nevertheless as remote means to beginners in order to dispose and habituate the spirit to spirituality by means of sense, and in order to void the sense, in the meantime, of all the other low forms and images, temporal, worldly and natural." (St John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Book II, Ch. 13)

Moreover, natural art, form, color, shape, musical sound, and beauty give intimations of a Greater, Immortal Beauty. And when properly conceived through contemplatuve prayer, poetic or Biblical language touched by grace, or great works of visual art, created being speaks of the Glory of that Eternal Beauty, Which Reveals Itself in an Infinite Profusion of visible works of Art, the created being of the Universe, all made by the Creative, Master Artist for our enjoyment and benefit.

And so, our prayer and our participation in the Supernatural Life of God may be greatly facilitated when we make use of the beautiful gifts of created being to foster worship, while gazing at a holy image during cataphatic supernatural contemplation, praying the Mass, communing with God through inspired music, the Rosary, vocal prayer, spiritual reading, the Psalms of David, the visions of Daniel, Isaiah, and John, and when pondering quality works of Art. And these gifts, when seen through the Eyes of God, convey reflections of Truth and Beauty, and may lead us to supernatural contemplation. For, by means of the Incarnation, created being participates in the "supernatural dimension" through Incorporation in the Sacred Humanity and the Hypostatic Union of Man and God. And through the God-man's Sacred Humanity, it becomes our guide to our True Home in the Mystical Body of Christ, which is in the Heart of the Trinity: "That in the dispensation of the fullness of time, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth." (Ephesians l:10)

So through this Incarnational dispensation, created being, "groaning and laboring with birth pangs" in the goodness of its natural existence, becomes transformed in finite perfection, and in its liberation from futility, giving Glory to God as it participates in the Life, Death and Resurrection of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. "Because the creation itself will also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."(Romans 8:21).

And, we must not forget, in our most advanced state of spirituality, in the next life, we will spend Eternity with ever deeper knowledge of Incarnational mysteries, and with an unending variety of finite thoughts, images and forms in the Heavenly Kingdom, where we will possess resurrected, spiritualized bodies, and where, in addition to the Beatific Vision, our supreme source of happiness, we will know, and love, and share banquet, and enjoy breathtaking visual beauty with the citizens of the this Celestial Country. For there we shall embrace the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, His Mother, and all the members of the Church Triumphant. And, in our resurrected bodies, we shall enjoy all the wonders of a never-ending Creation of finite natural beauty, a New Heavens and a New Earth, an Eternal Paradise given to us to enjoy as a gift from Our Father's Infinite Treasure. But above all, we will pay eternal honor to the Body, Form, Image, Sacred Heart, Sacred Wounds, and Sacred Presence of the Lamb of God, the Eternal Bridegroom, Who has paid the ultimate price for our personal admission to this Heavenly Banquet.

So meditation on the Life of Christ leads one to true contemplation of God, and one should never supplant this cornerstone with words and phrases taken from Eastern religions, or non-Christian sources, as a natural "technique" for finding God. (See "What's in a Word," Eddie Russell, fmi) According to Fr. William Most, "...any kind of prayer without the support of mortification and humility would be almost , if not entirely, devoid of value...This sound advice is especially needed today, when some are trying to reach advanced stages of prayer almost solely by means of special techniques, without the needed accompanying spiritual development." {Fr. William Most: Mental Prayer, para.3(Resources)

RATHER THAN VARIETIES OF EASTERN CHANTING, THE ROSARY, SPIRITUAL READING, AND MEDITATION ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST, THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, AND THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS SHOULD BE THE CHRISTIAN'S DAILY BREAD, WHICH GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT CAN RAISE TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER THROUGH THE INFUSED POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

When all one's prayer is chanting, one's respect for Christian doctrine and the role of Jesus in the spiritual life is gradually undermined. And if all one's spiritual reading is comprised of Buddhist or Eastern religious tracts seeking "enlightenment," and preaching the illusion of the ego, and the "I am God" concept, one should not be surprised if one no longer sees the need for going to Church. In such a case, one's neglect of Scripture and the writings of the saints and masters of True Christian Spirituality, will inevitably, and culpably, lead to contempt for the solid Truth of Jesus Christ, in favor of doctrines based on man-made errors. In the words of John C. Wu:

"No, nothing 'human' can be greater than Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, but Christianity is 'divine.' It is a mistake to regard Christianity as Western. The West may be Christian (I wish it were more so), but Christianity is not Western. It is beyond East and West, beyond the old and the new. It is older than the old, newer than the new. It is more native to me than the Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism in whose milieu I was born. I am grateful to them, because they have served as pedagogues to lead me to Christ [Galatians 3:24]. Christ constitutes the unity of my life.... God used the teachings of Confucius, Lao Tzu and Buddha as instruments to open my eyes to the 'Light of the world.'"(John C. H. Wu, Beyond East & West 1951)

And in the words of Fr. Sophrony, a Christian prelate who has personal acquaintance with the dangers of Eastern techniques..."He is deluded who endeavors to divest himself mentally of all that is transitory and relative in order to cross some invisible threshold, to realize his eternal origin, his identity with the Source of all that exists, in order to return and merge with him, the nameless, transpersonal Absolute. It is man's own beauty, created in the image of God, that is contemplated and seen as divinity, whereas he himself still continues within the confines of his own creatureliness. Man is then drawn to the idea of his own divinity, the cause of the original Fall."{Critique of Centering Prayer(Resources)}