Newsletter 

No.26                                                                                                                October 2005

SIMPLICITY

St Thomas Aquinas is known for his profound doctrine about the nature of God. For him, what lies at the heart of the nature of God is simplicity. This means that in God there are no parts, no change, no confusion. For us humans, the call to holiness involves a growth towards simplicity in our lives.
We may recall how, during the 1960's, young people in various countries led a movement back to simplicity in life. They were rejecting their parents' emphasis on the production and accumulation of goods. Hippies, as they were called, soon realized the tremendous difficulties in going 'back to nature'. 

That period of recent European history represents a continuing thirst in the twentieth century for a way of life that is simple. This trend explains why many people, even nowadays, are finding they have a need to clear out all the accumulated litter of their lives. They yearn to allow themselves for the first time in a long while to see the world with a clearer vision. This is not easy. For many of us in affluent societies, the situation is such that we have so many things that we've lost sight of their use. Immediate satisfaction of superficial needs has dominated our lives. There are even shops that specialize in selling things that have virtually no practical use. To free ourselves from this situation, it is imperative to know how to stop and reflect. The number of choices we face is always getting higher. We need to change from blind consumers to educated consumers, with the firm conviction that, in society, higher numbers of educated consumers will ultimately push towards a responsible economy. 

How should we proceed? The way forward is clear. Buy fewer things, only those that are essential. Decide for yourself what you need. Outsmart the advertisements by recognizing the superficiality of their rhetoric. Find pride in coping with less rather than with more. Strangely enough, religion itself may be associated with a life-style that is far from simple. Religion is sometimes associated with complex institutions replete with rules and rituals. Many of these may end up complicating our lives instead of liberating us. 

St Ignatius writes that all the things on the face of the earth are created for the use of human beings, to help them in the pursuit of the end for which they are created. It follows, he says, that we ought to use these things to the extent that they help us toward our end, and free ourselves from them to the extent that they hinder us from it. For St Ignatius, the expression 'all things on the face of the earth' means literally all things: not only those that we find in nature, but also those that we produce ourselves through the use of our reason and technology. This point therefore should make us reflect on our use not only of food and drink, but also of all the instruments, gadgets, and innumerable other items imposed upon us by aggressive advertising. Ignatius bases his doctrine on the end we seek. This end should be the major criterion for a simplification of our life-style. And what is the end we seek? St. Augustine reminds us that our human heart is always seeking. Nothing seems to be large enough to satisfy our deepest longing. Our heart is made for God. We will only find rest when we rest in God. 

Louis Caruana SJ

A Treasured Friend

• One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives. Euripides, Orestes.
• One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible. Henry Adams.
• The only way to be a friend is to be one. Emerson "Friendship" Essays: First Series.
• Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you. Elbert Hubbard The Note Book.
• A new friend is like new wine; when it has aged you will drink it with pleasure. Ecclesiasticus.
• Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.
• Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of friends. Euripides, Hecuba.
  

Book Review:

Before the Living God - Prayer and Practice
Ruth Burrows

Sr. Ruth Burrows is a contemplative nun gifted with a profound skill for self-analysis. Although this skill is clearly a psychological tool, for Sr. Ruth this mental capacity is her “way” of building and understanding her deep relationship with God, others and the world.

Sr. Ruth entered Carmel young. Life at Carmel was never plain sailing. She had to learn to ride and calm many a storm as they come. Before the Living God is a journey of a soul eager to find the beloved. It is a search in depth of our being. As Sr. Ruth confesses, she is not writing about something new. The purpose of our existence is to learn to trust and let God love us. 

However, knowing this spiritual “theory” is not the same as living it. To integrate this spiritual truth and letting it seep in, in every fibre of our thinking, feeling, behaving, relating… is another matter. In this spiritual autobiography Sr. Ruth describes vividly the spiritual inheritance which has marked her so deeply. 

What Sr. Ruth has to say is not exclusive to contemplatives or religious. Her journey is open to ordinary people as well. Irrespective of any status of life we choose, we all, every single soul has to struggle to find love and live life to the full.

This outstanding autobiography is no guarantee to instant holiness but it is a great spiritual companion to deepen our prayer.
 
Vincent Magri SJ 

Sheed and Ward, London. 1975

ISBN 0 7220 7290 6

To Love… and to Follow (1)

Wherever you go, I will go;
wherever you live, I will live.
Your people shall be my people,
and your God shall be my God.
Where you die, I will die;
and there I will be buried.
Heaven forbid it 
that even death should part me from you!

The Son of Ruth (Ruth 1:16-17)

To Love… and to Follow (2)

Thanks be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits you have given me,
for all the pains and insults
which you have borne for me,
O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother.
May I know you more clearly,
love you more dearly
and follow you more nearly

St. Richard of Chichister (1197-1253)

To Love… and to Follow (3)

Here I ask for what I desire:
I ask for an intimate knowledge of our Lord
who has entered the human race for me,
that I may love him more 
and follow him more closely.

The Spiritual Exercises, 104

From the CIS Programme 

We would like to remind you that the Centre for Ignatian Spirituality offers personal spiritual direction to all those who would like to have any kind of spiritual experience like Ignatian retreats in every day life. Retreats can be tailored according to the needs and circumstances of the retreatant. CIS can call on experienced Jesuits, other religious and trained lay people to accompany retreatants through these experiences. 

Anyone interested can contact the Director on 21344349 or 99864561 or email vince@maltajesuitretreats.com.