What is “spiritual”?

26 Oct 2018

#Godinallthings, #outsideinside

Less than a month has passed since the entry into the novitiate of the group of young men I belong to. A time certainly too short to draw meaningful considerations on the life of a novice, but at the same time enough to offer me some food for thought.

At first glance a typical day at the novitiate seems to be marked by two types of different activities: the more “spiritual” ones, such as prayer (personal and communal), the Eucharistic celebration and adoration, and the more “practical” ones, like food, work and leisure.

It is precisely on this last category that I wish to dwell, trying to share some small reflection on the spiritual meaning that I think I have seen even in the most concrete actions.

Let’s start from the basics: the power supply. We eat to live, not the other way around. Not infrequently however, food risks becoming an idol in people’s lives, a palliative with which to gratify anxieties and discomforts. The novitiate, however, helps to develop a more mature relationship with it, through a simple habit: we do not eat outside of mealtimes. Yes, there is everything necessary but not the superfluous; and above all, one learns not to indulge every little desire or whim that assails our person. What a great value it would be to apply this principle to our inner life. How many mistakes could be avoided by learning to be patient, not impulsively gratifying the various voices that our soul not infrequently has to face.

A second category of activity is that of work. Household chores are objectively necessary and involve most of a novice’s morning. In a certain sense, however, they did not seem to me to constitute a rigid interruption of the actual morning prayer. I had this impression ever since the first chore I was asked to do. I was sweeping the leaves and pine needles in the courtyard; first I tried to identify and remove the larger leaves, then, in later stages I tried to clear the yard from even the smallest and most hidden needles. All with the knowledge that it was a work destined to be repeated as soon as the first rain had rendered the courtyard untidy again.

But does this not also happen with our interiority? Always and continually we need to examine our soul trying to identify and remove that dirt that, big or small, tends to blur a beauty that is already present (we are in the image of God), but is waiting only to be liberated from the evil which we allow to live there.

Finally, leisure. I take as a small example a beautiful walk that we made in the mountains towards an abandoned fortress. Walking is not always easy, the climb can be tiring, but the beauty of the destination, the company of people with you are able to make even the most difficult journey enjoyable.

Once again the parallelism with the interior life did not escape me: we are perpetually journeying (those who stop are lost), through difficulties and joys; but we are not alone, and far less so are we without a goal. We proceed towards the Lord, walking with him and with the people we find next to us.

The external reality therefore seems to represent a mirror, a precious opportunity to understand something more about our inner life. One might therefore ask: “what is spiritual?” Everything, one might say; provided it is done in synergy with and listening to the Holy Spirit, allowing him to take us by the hand.

– Stefano Guadagnino, Novice of the First Year

Sullo stesso argomento

When prayer becomes…preparing breakfast

by Alessandro Di Mauro

During novitiate life it happens, on a rotating basis, that we have to prepare breakfast for everyone before starting individual morning prayer. In such cases, one of us needs to wake up a little earlier than the others to be able to reconcile preparation time and meditation time. I have sometimes wondered if it is really necessary for us to be present when doing this service or if there is a deeper reason for doing it.

For some time now, when the alarm clock rings in the morning, I often feel, in my heart, the desire to meet the Lord during my personal prayer and in the Eucharistic celebration that we live daily. I have, however, realised that even when I have to anticipate the alarm clock for breakfast, the desire does not change and it almost seems to me that this also enters into the dynamic of meeting Him. A question then arises for me: is it possible that even the act of preparing breakfast for everyone is somehow part of a form of prayer? To answer this question, I immediately ask myself another: what is the meaning of Christian prayer? I believe that prayer is an encounter with the Lord to deepen more and more the communion of life with Him. As St Teresa of Avila used to say, it is the moment when I meet the Beloved. On the other hand, if we read the Gospels, Jesus himself often stopped to pray alone in the intimacy of dialogue with the Father, so much so that it triggered the Apostles’ desire to understand how to pray: ‘Lord teach us how to pray’. What needs prompted them to make this request? Certainly the example of Jesus must have been a driving force: as the Master prays, it is good that we also pray; but I believe, first and foremost, they had the desire to experience the same encounter as Jesus with God the Father. In prayer, therefore, two freedoms meet, that of the believer who seeks the Lord and that of God who has the desire to be heard by those who pray to him. This is also the reason why it is, often, complicated to pray, because on the one hand there is a supernatural dynamic, whereby prayer is a gift from God, for which one’s heart must be prepared; on the other hand it is a human encounter that takes place in ordinary life, a challenge to recognise God’s voice that is often covered by the din of everyday life.

But back to breakfast! What does this have to do with its preparation? Nothing, if one approaches preparation thinking that the purpose is to have some milk, coffee and tea ready on time. But if one lives this operation savouring every single moment of it – from picking up the coffee pots to preparing them, to hearing the whistle of the coffee ready and enjoying the heat that the vapours give off when it is poured into the thermos – thinking that this gesture will be of help to the brethren, to those whom the Lord has placed beside him, something changes. By living the preparation in this way, even these gestures can become an encounter with God the Father, for whom I recognise in the other a brother for whom it is well worth losing half an hour of sleep.