FROM THE 1854 SPIRITUAL NOTEBOOK OF FATHER HECKER:
It is the will of God that we should leave undone what we cannot do without trouble. There is a point in the spiritual life when God does most for us when we do the least for ourselves. There are two shoals against which we may make spiritual shipwreck: self-activity and idleness. Freedom of spirit will guide us safely between these. For without interior freedom there can be no fidelity to divine grace… for this liberty is of God. As Paul writes in Romans (8:15) “For you have not received a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship whereby we cry Abba Father.”
All that the soul can ask, and what ought surely to be granted, is to follow faithfully the invitations of grace and the impulses of God’s Spirit. If the soul is guided by the Holy Spirit, it would not do the least thing contrary to faith or the church, for we are taught inwardly by the Holy Spirit and outwardly by the holy church in the same grace.
RESPONSE: FR. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP
There are so many forms of Catholic spirituality, it can be hard to choose a particular form to practice. There are classic traditions of spirituality such as Benedictine, Franciscan, Carmelite, Redemptorist and Ignatian. There are new approaches from movements like Opus Dei, Focolare, San Egidio, Communione e Liberatione, and the Neocatechumenate. In the richness of our Catholic faith, just where do we begin to develop a spirituality to guide your prayer and actions?
Servant of God Isaac Thomas Hecker goes back to basics. Christian spirituality begins with the individual soul’s encounter with God. Jesus has give us the extraordinary gift of calling God our Father who has given us in our creation, the further gift of interior freedom which allows us to respond to the invitations of God’s grace. Use these gifts says Father Hecker and if your general conduct is attuned to the spirit of God or if you work at a specific form of spirituality and it draws you closer to God, than be assured you are on the right path.
He goes on to say that two mistakes people make in the spiritual life is attempting to do too little or too much. The answer lies somewhere in between the two. Father Hecker reminds us that our spiritual lives are a living relationship with God, sometimes God calls us to act and sometimes God invites us to stop and be still. It is in our living with God that the dynamics of faith grow guided by the Holy Spirit.
This holy season of Lent provides an opportunity to deepen our spiritual lives in preparation for the celebration of the death and rising of Jesus in Holy Week. Perhaps we might take a lesson from Father Hecker and examine just how we doing in our response to God’s grace in our lives. Does our present practice draw us closer to God? Are we doing too much or too little? Lent is not over yet but Easter is not far off. Use these closing weeks of Lent to deepen your relationship to God.
Fr. Paul Robichaud, CSP is Postulator of the Cause for Canonization Isaac Hecker.
It is the will of God that we should leave undone what we cannot do without trouble. There is a point in the spiritual life when God does most for us when we do the least for ourselves. There are two shoals against which we may make spiritual shipwreck: self-activity and idleness. Freedom of spirit will guide us safely between these. For without interior freedom there can be no fidelity to divine grace… for this liberty is of God. As Paul writes in Romans (8:15) “For you have not received a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship whereby we cry Abba Father.”
All that the soul can ask, and what ought surely to be granted, is to follow faithfully the invitations of grace and the impulses of God’s Spirit. If the soul is guided by the Holy Spirit, it would not do the least thing contrary to faith or the church, for we are taught inwardly by the Holy Spirit and outwardly by the holy church in the same grace.
RESPONSE: FR. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP
There are so many forms of Catholic spirituality, it can be hard to choose a particular form to practice. There are classic traditions of spirituality such as Benedictine, Franciscan, Carmelite, Redemptorist and Ignatian. There are new approaches from movements like Opus Dei, Focolare, San Egidio, Communione e Liberatione, and the Neocatechumenate. In the richness of our Catholic faith, just where do we begin to develop a spirituality to guide your prayer and actions?
Servant of God Isaac Thomas Hecker goes back to basics. Christian spirituality begins with the individual soul’s encounter with God. Jesus has give us the extraordinary gift of calling God our Father who has given us in our creation, the further gift of interior freedom which allows us to respond to the invitations of God’s grace. Use these gifts says Father Hecker and if your general conduct is attuned to the spirit of God or if you work at a specific form of spirituality and it draws you closer to God, than be assured you are on the right path.
He goes on to say that two mistakes people make in the spiritual life is attempting to do too little or too much. The answer lies somewhere in between the two. Father Hecker reminds us that our spiritual lives are a living relationship with God, sometimes God calls us to act and sometimes God invites us to stop and be still. It is in our living with God that the dynamics of faith grow guided by the Holy Spirit.
This holy season of Lent provides an opportunity to deepen our spiritual lives in preparation for the celebration of the death and rising of Jesus in Holy Week. Perhaps we might take a lesson from Father Hecker and examine just how we doing in our response to God’s grace in our lives. Does our present practice draw us closer to God? Are we doing too much or too little? Lent is not over yet but Easter is not far off. Use these closing weeks of Lent to deepen your relationship to God.
Fr. Paul Robichaud, CSP is Postulator of the Cause for Canonization Isaac Hecker.
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