23 September 2022 · 2022-09 newsletter
An ‘Authentic Mission Consciousness’ demands an honest appraisal of our own selves
It is fair to say that you cannot be an authentic witness if your own self is out of kilter. Yes the world is full of ways to calm oneself, trying to recover from the busyness of life, even the meditative practice of yoga exercises fit into this category. Yet these according to Fr. Kentenich who was aware of it as far back as 1912 will not help us one bit if our spiritual life is even slightly out of kilter. The way we have to fix ourselves demands attention to our own uniqueness both in person and mission that God has known for us for all eternity, from the time of our birth. If we have security in God’s fatherly heart and move, as was suggested last month, into a childlike understanding of what God designed for us there is only one thing to do, and that is to set up and hold onto the guiding principle that aids a centred spirituality and that is a Personal Ideal. One of the chief challenges to centeredness is hypocrisy. Ask yourself how honest you are with yourself. When I ask something of one of my children/grandchildren am I personally living out what I am asking of them or are they going to turn around look me in the eye and say “you ask that of me but you don’t do it yourself!”
There is no one in the world to stand you up and challenge your foibles more than grandchildren! Christ himself criticizes those who “tie up heavy burdens on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with as much as a finger” (Mt 23:4).
The following story tells something of this concept of ‘hypocrisy’:
A mother once asked Gandhi to tell her child to stop eating sugar. Gandhi told the mother to go home and to come back in two weeks. Though the mother was perplexed, she came back with her son two weeks later. This time, Gandhi said to the boy: “You should stop eating sugar. It is not good for your health.” After the boy agreed, the woman asked Gandhi why he waited two weeks to chastise her son. He replied: “Mother, two weeks ago I was still eating sugar myself.”
https://thetablet.org/the-need-for-authentic-witnesses
Gandhi and Fr. Kentenich both understood the need to have a Personal Ideal. As ethical teachers and authentic witnesses they could not preach and do what they did themselves without a deep understanding of ‘practising what you preach’, and neither should we. So to keep us on the straight and narrow spiritually we need to find, like them, a ‘Personal Ideal’. Building on those natural desires as suggested above ‘staying calm’, slowing down from our busyness, and meditating can all help to lay the groundwork of the “unique and original image and personal mission in life God has known for us from all eternity”. (Fr Kentenich, 1912) Now the operative words are ‘our own uniqueness’ and ‘our own Personal Ideal’ that truly help us go out to be authentic witnesses. From personal experience one place you could start is to look at the most annoying part of yourself that upsets others and turn it into a challenge to work on. Early in my Schoenstatt life by way of example I was particularly taken with a reading about sunflowers. I liked the principle of how they are ‘heliotropic’ meaning they follow the sun around from dawn to dusk.
Fr. Kentenich understood this principle and in the ‘Heavenwards’ prayer book likened it to following Christ all day, doing his will, listening for God’s Providence and being driven by the wind of the Holy Spirit. Translating this to a Personal Ideal means being balanced, courageous, creative, and patient and fighting against the many weaknesses in yourself that threaten to “blow you over in the wind”. You can find a list of those weaknesses as well as strengths at: https://www.theschoenstattcloud.com/formation/formation-of-ideal
One thing is for sure only you can sort it out by much prayer and reading that leads you to be able to cope spiritually with your life. Schoenstatt’s method of education is to ‘get oneself in order before going out and preaching to others and the “Covenant of Love” is the surest way to hold you to the straight and narrow path although Father also believes, “The only thing decisive for you is your personal ideal. Then you will remain the carefree child at the hand of our heavenly Mother that you were before. Mater Habitat Curam” 6/10/1920 in: Fatherly Care in letters: quoted in “Security in a challenging world – Pendulum Security talk given by Sr. M. Elizabeth August 2022.
Angela Benson
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