Following is a series of posts originally written and published by Michael Dubruiel in 2002 - almost twenty years ago.
Monday, June 21, 2021
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis - part 7
Sunday, June 20, 2021
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis - part 6
Following is a series of posts originally written and published by Michael Dubruiel in 2002 - almost twenty years ago.
Saturday, June 19, 2021
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis - part 5
Following is a series of posts originally written and published by Michael Dubruiel in 2002 - almost twenty years ago.
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis The items that are filling the newspapers daily now, are the same items that I had to deal with daily almost twenty years ago when I was involved in the daily life of the church. I came very close to losing my faith. I contemplated joining the Orthodox Church among other things, but ultimately through a very trying period, that tested the very core of everything that I had been taught and believed--I have remained a Roman Catholic. Now, it is like reliving a nightmare, only everyone is in on it this time. I would like to share some points to contemplate on if you, like me, find yourself at a loss in the present situation in the Church. None of them by themself will convince you to stay, but I think if you try most of them you'll find that God has a mission for you; to rebuild and to enliven the Church, that as St. Francis was told years ago by Christ, is falling into ruin.
(5) Practice the Prayer "God Alone"
On the right hand column of this blog is a picture of the entrance to the cloister of Gethsemane, most known by people in this country for having been the monastery where Thomas Merton was a monk. Over the gate are simple words that the monk would encounter as he makes his way into the cloister. They are also words, that the visitor to the chapel also encounters. They have left a mark in my consciousness.
In my better moments they haunt me. It is a good thing. Too often we create idols that interfere with our worship of God. Often these idols come crashing down around us. Jesus told the rich young man that the greatest commandment was to, "Love God with your whole heart, mind and soul." The rich young man went away sad, because his "possessions" were many.
Our possessions, the things that we either possess or possess us can keep us from God. All it takes is a blow to our health, the suffer of some financial loss, or some other malady to befall us for us to be faced with the truth of which they all are for us--items we own or are owned by.
The practice of keeping "God Alone" always before us, can keep us focused on what really matters. It can help us to treat our fellow human beings with the dignity that they deserve, it can help us to see meaning in what other wise seem meaningless events. If we focus on the strength of the winds, the enormity of our problems we will sink. If we focus on "God Alone" nothing can defeat us.
Friday, June 18, 2021
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis - part 4
Following is a series of posts originally written and published by Michael Dubruiel in 2002 - almost twenty years ago.
Thursday, June 17, 2021
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis - part 3
Following is a series of posts originally written and published by Michael Dubruiel in 2002 - almost twenty years ago.
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis - part 2
Following is a series of posts originally written and published by Michael Dubruiel in 2002 - almost twenty years ago.
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
How Not to Lose Your Faith During the Present Crisis - part 1
Monday, June 14, 2021
73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God 3c
This is part three of step 3
The Third Step of the 73 by Michael Dubruiel
3. Then, not to kill...
Sunday, June 13, 2021
73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God 3b
This is part two of step 373 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God 3a
The Third Step of the 73 by Michael Dubruiel
3. Then, not to kill...
This counsel follows after the first two; love God and love your neighbor. Now we are told not to kill. God is the source of all life and the Scriptures make it clear from the first pages of Genesis that to take back the spirit of Life is the domain of God and that blood spilt cries out to heaven.
It is also clear that in the first pages of Genesis that our neighbor is not only the people that surround us but every being in creation. We should respect all of creation in the same manner.
The hippie who allowed the fly to live on that vacation day in New Hampshire does not remain in my memory as some nut but rather as a prototype of a holy man who understands this fundamental truth. If you and I want to grow in holiness then we must reverence the life force that God has placed in all of creation.
“Not to kill” also extends beyond physical murder. We are to be a life force in God’s creation. Building up rather than tearing down. Uplifting rather than destroying.
I remember a friend in school who was fond of bringing up in the midst of conversations that were less than charitable about others a simple question, “How is this building up the body of Christ?” It really ticked off everyone at the table but like the hippie with the fly it has remained in my memory whereas the topics of our table conversations have long passed on into obscurity.
There are many ways to kill without actually taking someone’s physical life. Unfortunately there are too many walking dead in our midst who have had their spirit killed by those who were not careful in their speech or their judgments.
Saturday, June 12, 2021
73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God 3a
This is part one of step 3
The Third Step of the 73 by Michael Dubruiel
3. Then, not to kill...
I still remember vividly an incident that happened when I was a child and my family was on vacation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. On a particular day we had just arrived at the summit of the mountain where the “Old Man of the Mountains,” a natural rock formation is located (it is on the New Hampshire quarter). We were sitting on some rocks and nearby was a long haired bearded guy—a hippie.
There were plenty of hippies in New England in the 1960’s, so there was nothing novel about that, but the action of this one was very memorable. He kept brushing away flies that were surrounding him. The more they continued to land on him, the more he would gently urge them to find another place to alight. His gentle tone and the words he spoke to the pests made it clear that he did not want to harm them.
My mother bent down to say that she had figured out that he felt that it was wrong to kill even a fly. Later I would read about people of various Eastern religions that shared this belief, “that all life was sacred," which of course is what we believe too--but we usually make endless distinctions.
St. Benedict’s counsel is simple. He does not elaborate about who or what we are not to kill. He keeps it simple and allows us the simple injunction to simple “not kill.”
Friday, June 11, 2021
How to draw closer to God - Part 2c
2c. Love one's neighbor as one's self (cf Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27).
I remember a man who had undergone a conversion experience telling me in front of his family that he had never been that bad of a guy even before his conversion.
His daughters disagreed, as they in unison cried out, “yes your were dad, you were horrible!”
He then went on to explain how before his conversion he had “acted” in a way that he thought he had to, to be accepted; since his conversion he was truly himself.
I can think of no finer testimony of what life immersed in God’s love is like. We no longer “act” but we are who we are. It’s as simple as that.
Thursday, June 10, 2021
How to draw closer to God - Part 2b
2b. Love one's neighbor as one's self (cf Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27).
What of the most despicable people on the earth, how can we love them? What about those who ________ and __________(fill in the blanks with your favorite unforgivable sins)?
The answer is simple, we love them in the same way as we would if they were are own child.
I remember when the serial murderer Theodore Bundy was being executed in the State of Florida that his mother was interviewed. She was asked the question, “Do you still love your son?”
She answered, “Yes, I don’t like what he has done, but I still love him.”
I think it is easy to understand why she would. No matter what anyone of us do in our lifetime there is a part of us that is deeply lovable. No matter how hateful we are or what terrible things we do for whatever God known reason, there is a part of us that God has created and that is good, call it the “true self.”
The true self might be likened to that part of us that is the plan of God for each of us. It is that true self that we love in our neighbors and ourselves, because it is most truly who we are.
Wednesday, June 09, 2021
How to draw closer to God - Part 2a
2a. Love one's neighbor as one's self (cf Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27).
It is ironic but the way we treat our neighbor in many ways reveals what we think about ourselves. Whenever I run into a parent berating the child I always find myself equally feeling as sorry for the parent as the child. Negative views of oneself often lead to a negative view of others. This maxim follows the first that we love God above all things. It is from that maxim that a true sense of ourselves flows.
If I believe that God has a mission for me, then it is only a short distance of thought to believe that he has a mission for everyone else on the planet.
Daily we encounter opportunities to love our neighbor as ourselves.
The other day a woman carrying a bag of groceries bumped into me rushing to her car. She apologized and I immediately had the uncharitable thought of what in the hell is your hurry? But then I started to list the reasons for why she might have been in a hurry in my mind. Perhaps she was late for an important appointment or there was someone in dire need of something that she had just purchased at the store. In other words I strove to think of why I might be in a hurry and to afford her the same privilege.
Love our neighbor as ourselves ultimately means wishing them success. Success in their mission in life means success for us all. In the same way that loving God is foundational to the Spiritual life, so too is the love of neighbor. They all are pieces that fit into the same puzzle.
What of the most despicable people on the earth, how can we love them? What about those who ________ and __________(fill in the blanks with your favorite unforgivable sins)?
The answer is simple, we love them in the same way as we would if they were are own child.
I remember when the serial murderer Theodore Bundy was being executed in the State of Florida that his mother was interviewed. She was asked the question, “Do you still love your son?”
She answered, “Yes, I don’t like what he has done, but I still love him.”
I think it is easy to understand why she would. No matter what anyone of us do in our lifetime there is a part of us that is deeply lovable. No matter how hateful we are or what terrible things we do for whatever God known reason, there is a part of us that God has created and that is good, call it the “true self.”
The true self might be likened to that part of us that is the plan of God for each of us. It is that true self that we love in our neighbors and ourselves, because it is most truly who we are.
I remember a man who had undergone a conversion experience telling me in front of his family that he had never been that bad of a guy even before his conversion.
His daughters disagreed, as they in unison cried out, “yes your were dad, you were horrible!”
He then went on to explain how before his conversion he had “acted” in a way that he thought he had to, to be accepted; since his conversion he was truly himself.
I can think of no finer testimony of what life immersed in God’s love is like. We no longer “act” but we are who we are. It’s as simple as that.
Tuesday, June 08, 2021
Michael Dubruiel
This is part two of step one:
(1) In the first place to love the Lord God with the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole strength...
.....
The attitude we have toward God is all-important if we are to love God with our whole being. We must believe that God loves us first and want what is best for us. It is hard to do anything but love God with our whole being if we believe that God loves us. In an older translation of the New American Bible the words of Jesus are applicable here, “Fear is useless, what is needed is trust.” The words of the supplicant must be our words also, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.”
It may seem obvious that the first step that anyone would make toward perfect communion with God is to place God at the very center, but how many times we look everywhere else for the way? If we wish to have communion with God we must enter into God’s presence and offer our entire being to God.
Most of us have given the allegiance of part of our being to God but not the whole. I can say that intellectually I have always believed in God and placed my soul in varying degrees to the love of God, but my heart well that is another story. There have been countless times that what my heart has desired has been anything but God. I have thought that this or that would make me truly happy and I have gone down many paths ignoring God in the process.
If I believe that God has created me and knows me best and what is in my ultimate interest, I will seek God above all things.
I still remember the first time I encountered the simple engraving over the entrance of the Monastery of Our Lady of Gethsemane in Kentucky. I stood there for some time looking at the simple words etched in stone that seemed bigger than life, “GOD ALONE.” There was something shocking about the simplicity of the statement, but at the same time a truth that touched me deeply.
Monday, June 07, 2021
How to be close to God
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This is the first part of step one:
(1) In the first place to love the Lord God with the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole strength...
Benedict begins what will be a list of simple practices with one that is above all others, the practice of a complete love of God. A love that is one that desires only God, symbolized by the heart; a love that meditates only on God symbolized by the soul; and a love that focuses all of its energy on exhibiting this love of God symbolized by my strength.
If we are honest, this is exactly what we all fear the most, an unconditional surrender of all to God.
I remember when I taught high school theology at a Jesuit School the response that I would always receive from my students whenever I would present to them Saint Ignatius’ First Principle and Foundation which teaches that the purpose of our lives is to know, love and serve God and that everything else is secondary and is here to help us attain that purpose. Most of the Catholic students would become outraged, usually a few non-Catholic students in some cases nonbelievers would say it made perfect sense to them.
The issue of acceptance of this foundational attitude in spirituality is one of trust. Do we trust that God wants what is best for us. In our fears is an agenda that thinks that God will only get in the way of our happiness. Unfortunately it takes a long time for most of us to realize that what we think we want changes almost hourly.
We need direction in our lives. Our lives need to be oriented in some direction. The question is where will we seek that guidance?
The map pocket of my car is full of maps. The maps are only helpful to me if I know what my ultimate destination is and if I know where I am at the present moment. Recently while driving in a strange city with the map opened to that city, I knew where I wanted to go but had no idea where I was. Someone in the neighborhood I was in had torn down all of the street signs. I continued to travel up the street until finally I was able to locate a street sign.
Our lives can be the same confused mess that I felt on that day driving aimlessly up and down a city street. Who are we? Why are we here?
The Baltimore Catechism gave us a simple answer. We are here because God loves us. That is the starting point of the spiritual quest is to believe wholeheartedly that we are loved. A subtle but key ingredient to the fear that we feel in surrendering to God is that we do not believe that we are loved but fear that we are hated.
I remember as a child whenever I would be on my way to confession on a Saturday afternoon secretly fearing that God would try to see to it that I was killed before I arrived there. Where this fear came from I do not know, but it was real and it was only much later that I finally realized that God was the redeemer not the enemy.
The attitude we have toward God is all-important if we are to love God with our whole being. We must believe that God loves us first and want what is best for us. It is hard to do anything but love God with our whole being if we believe that God loves us. In an older translation of the New American Bible the words of Jesus are applicable here, “Fear is useless, what is needed is trust.” The words of the supplicant must be our words also, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.”
It may seem obvious that the first step that anyone would make toward perfect communion with God is to place God at the very center, but how many times we look everywhere else for the way? If we wish to have communion with God we must enter into God’s presence and offer our entire being to God.
Most of us have given the allegiance of part of our being to God but not the whole. I can say that intellectually I have always believed in God and placed my soul in varying degrees to the love of God, but my heart well that is another story. There have been countless times that what my heart has desired has been anything but God. I have thought that this or that would make me truly happy and I have gone down many paths ignoring God in the process.
If I believe that God has created me and knows me best and what is in my ultimate interest, I will seek God above all things.
I still remember the first time I encountered the simple engraving over the entrance of the Monastery of Our Lady of Gethsemane in Kentucky. I stood there for some time looking at the simple words etched in stone that seemed bigger than life, “GOD ALONE.” There was something shocking about the simplicity of the statement, but at the same time a truth that touched me deeply.
Sunday, June 06, 2021
Feast of Corpus Christi Michael Dubruiel
Eucharist means..."thanksgiving"
Michael Dubruiel wrote a book to help people deepen their experience of the Mass. He titled it, How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist. You can read about it here.
- Serve: Obey the command that Jesus gave to his disciples at the first Eucharist.
- Adore: Put aside anything that seems to rival God in importance.
- Confess: Believe in God’s power to make up for your weaknesses.
- Respond" Answer in gesture, word, and song in unity with the Body of Christ.
- Incline: Listen with your whole being to the Word of God.
- Fast: Bring your appetites and desires to the Eucharist.
- Invite: Open yourself to an encounter with Jesus.
- Commune: Accept the gift of Christ in the Eucharist.
- Evangelize :Take him and share the Lord with others.
Saturday, June 05, 2021
Do Miracles Happen Today?
There are those who believe that we live in an age when miracles
have ceased, but I know better. Miracles abound—we just
don’t always recognize them. Those cured of physical blindness
perceive the world to be made of light; the same is true of those
cured of spiritual blindness. What seemed dark and hopeless
suddenly becomes a path to glory. The psalmist reflects this spiritual
vision when he prays in perhaps the best-known psalm,
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).
Today there are eye surgeries that allow people to see clearly
without corrective lenses. We need the “surgery of the cross” to
restore our vision, allowing us to see the world as God sees it. The
person filled with the Light perceives light, even in apparent
total darkness. As we read in the Gospel of Matthew: “The eye
is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body
will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body
will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how
great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22–23).
Lord Jesus, touch our eyes that we might see!
Friday, June 04, 2021
How to Go to Confession by Michael Dubruiel
For a brief, pointed and helpful guide,
Thursday, June 03, 2021
Michael Dubruiel
You can listen to an interview program with Michael Dubruiel about his book, The Power of the Cross. The interview is with Kris McGregor of KVSS radio. This is the third episode.
Wednesday, June 02, 2021
Novena to the Sacred Heart