18 July 2023 · 2023-07 newsletter
Means to attain it?
Every week there are many sources of nourishment for the faith if looked at with an open mind and believing that God’s divine providence is guiding my life. Today for instance I was informed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Bible, particularly 1 Timothy 6:2-10, prayer from the Daily Office as well as my usual Schoenstatt prayers. How can such disparate sources all come to have a common theme particularly that of ‘contentment’?
St Paul whom Timothy is quoting believes that contentment and godliness go hand in hand. To be content means I am grateful to God for who I am and what he has given me. It means I trust God to meet my needs in food and clothing and therefore I can focus more on others than myself. Because I have sufficient, I can give to others more needy than myself because I feel that God is caring for me. Faith in God’s providence leads to genuine contentment.
The Catechism backs up this line of thinking in Paragraph 313, quoting Dame Julian of Norwich, who states, that because of the Lord, and her steady keeping of the faith, she is content that from this belief, comes the strength to take “my stand on and earnestly believe in what the Lord shewed in this time – that all manner (of) thing shall be well” (The Revelation of Divine Love Ch.32, 99-100).
One of the lines from the ‘Morning Prayer’ of the Divine Office today declares that God’s “peaceful presence, giving strength, is everywhere” and when felt “fallen men may rise again on wings of prayer”. It is this state that Fr Kentenich was talking about when he wrote in the morning prayer in ‘Heavenwards’ that led by God’s wise plans we can achieve the ideals we believe God wants of us and they will shine brightly before us if we can achieve contentment knowing that we are doing it all in love and striving with all our strength to achieve them.
What many do not have in this life is a Personal Ideal (the conscious identification of what I believe is the reason why God created me – God’s ideal of me – and therefore what I want to strive to achieve in this life). At the recent ‘Women’s Breakfast’ held at Mulgoa, Elizabeth Le Breton pointed out many reasons why we might not be able to find one – Elizabeth called it the “best me”. On her ‘Wheel of Life’ model she basically showed why we cannot achieve the contentment that recognising a Personal Ideal brings, because of a lack of health and wellbeing; relationship disturbance; career/business not being satisfying; not enough fun and recreation; spirituality and faith not up to scratch and personal development not being undertaken. It all adds up to an inability to be grateful for all the emotional and spiritual blessings we are not aware of around us; an inner acceptance of the fact that God made me unique, and he loves me this way. This gives me such a feeling of contentment, of being happy and grateful for who I am.
When life gets out of kilter, never is there more of a need for it all to be examined i.e., using the particular examen. If I can name what is hindering my spiritual and mental wellbeing, I am already back on the path to finding contentment. Sr. Emilie suffered in many of the areas I have mentioned above particularly her health and wellbeing, and fun and recreation wouldn’t have been high on her list either. Yet because of her ability to use the ‘particular examen’ she focussed on attributes of ‘Mary’ that she thought she could spiritually strive for. Those attributes I’ve mentioned before if put into a ‘spiritual wheel of life’ would mean I would examine how much:
- I’m being aware of God’s Providence in a day;
- I feel I’m following God’s lead rather than letting my wilful inner child rule the roost;
- I am trusting in God’s will as the best for me at this time;
- How much courage do I have to go on;
- How calm I am in the present time;
- How much attention I’m devoting to prayer;
- How apostolic am I being;
- How much am I being a path to God?
Like areas on the ‘Wheel of Life’ which are all valid as contributors to contentment, Mary’s (and Sr. Emilie’s) attributes are necessary contributors to keeping the spiritual life in balance (content) as well as the psychological life we all lead as well.
One thing’s for sure, true contentment is when I feel like I’m glowing like a brand on fire, ready to go out to the nations to give witness to redemption and I’m leading the people I associate with to the Triune God. (Heavenwards pg. 15). Angela
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