Ascetic Theology for Beginners

Inspired by the great lay theologian Frank Sheed's "Theology for Beginners" (highly recommended!), this sub-blog introduces "Ascetic Theology" (or, the "scientific exposition of Christian asceticism" as per the Catholic Encyclopedia).  [And yes, late 19th and early 20th century theologians loved their technicalities]!

So, in the 21st century (where our collective understanding is a bit more watered down), what does all that mean? 

In less complex terms, "asceticism" (derived from the Greek word for "polishing", "smoothing", or "refining") is the spiritual analogy to athletic training for Olympic events; except the pursuit is not, according to St. Paul, "a crown that will not last", but "to get a crown that will last forever" (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

Using authoritative sources of Scripture and Tradition, this sub-blog lays out the materials and the training regimen to increase discipline in your life and to strengthen the soul. 

What makes this blog unique?  The author is not an authority at all, but also just another beginner!

The Program:

ASCETIC THEOLOGY FOR BEGINEERS: Putting the Teachings into Practice

 

GENERAL INTRO: As beginners in the spiritual life, we must start with the basics.  Discipline means living in accordance with a "rule."  Now, for Christians, the rules have largely been laid out foundationally in the following forms: (1) The Decalogue (or, Ten Commandments) which outline the minimum criteria for what God expects and what a just society demands simply to function; (2) The Eight Beatitudes (of the "New Covenant") which go beyond this legal minimum and speak of the kind of person who enters into the Kingdom of God; (3) The Fourteen Works of Mercy that define how to follow the Second GREATEST COMMANDMENT ["Love your neighbor as yourself"] and detailing further how that is to be specifically followed; (4) The Seven Deadly Sins and Their Contrary Virtues to allow us the terms to root out the viciousness of sin (as any physician will tell you, one needs a diagnosis before a treatment plan); (5) The Five Precepts of the Holy Church which outlines again the bare minimum for being part of the Mystical Body of Christ. 

 

These five bodies of spiritual and moral knowledge comprise the beginning of perfection that Christ's ultimately expects of us (see Matthew 5:48) while depending fully upon Himself as the source and summit of that lifelong conversion of heart (see Matthew 19: 23-26)].  But we are the spiritual equivalents of "couch potatoes", so let us start easy and increase our training, little by little!

 

PART I.

THE PLAN:

(1) Daily "Mental Prayer" [See Resource Below] (w/ A MARIAN VOCAL PRAYER);

(2) Daily "Examination of Conscience" [See Resource Below];

(3) (Bi-)Monthly Confession of Mortal and Venial Sins;

(4) Weekly Reception of the Blessed Sacrament;

(5) Monthly "Holy Hour" of Adoration.

(6) Prayer of Abandonment [by St. Charles de Foucauld] (Twice Daily)

 

For now, THAT IS ALL. 

DO JUST THIS FOR A YEAR.

 

 

PART II.

The Materials (Primary Substance for (1) Meditations; (2) Examinations and Confessions; (3) Offerings at Mass):

 

TIER 0(a): THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

  1. Thou shall not have strange gods before Me.
  2. Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

  3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

  4. Honor thy father and mother.

  5. Thou shalt not kill.

  6. Thou shall not commit adultery.

  7. Thou shall not steal.

  8. Thou shall not bear false witness against they neighbor.

  9. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife.

  10. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods.

[CHURCH FATHERS – Gregory of Nyssa’s “Life of Moses”; Augustine’s “On the Spirit and the Letter”]

[CATHOLIC THEOLOGY – Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae I-II, Questions 90-108 & II-II, Questions 57-122; CCC Part III, Section 2, The Ten Commandments].  

 

 

TIER 0(b): THE EIGHT BEATITUDES [Matthew 5: 3-12]:

  1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  2. Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
  3. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
  4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
  5. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
  6. Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
  7. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
  8. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[CHURCH FATHERS: Augustine’s “On the Sermon of the Mount”]

[CATHOLIC THEOLOGY – Aquinas’ ST I-II, Question 69 – “The Beatitudes”; CCC 1716-1729]

 

 

TIER 0(c): The Fourteen Works of Mercy:

  1. Corporeal [That is, regarding material needs]:
  • Feed the hungry
  • Give drink to the thirsty
  • Clothe the naked
  • Shelter the homeless
  • Visit the sick
  • Visit the imprisoned
  • Bury the dead

 

"The whole human person, body and soul, is the subject of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. The body has special meaning and is due special reverence as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” destined for eternal life.

The body has been assumed by God himself and made holy. For this reason, the Church is called to show special reverence for the dignity of the embodied person and take care that each human person’s bodily needs are met in a way that corresponds to his dignity as created in the image of God. From this deep reverence for the body of each person flows the corporal works of mercy. “The Scriptural basis for the corporal works of mercy is the parable in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus teaches his disciples about God's criteria for the Last Judgment (cf.Mt.25:35-42). In this parable, the just and the unjust discover that in their merciful actions on behalf of the neighbor they have been merciful to the Lord Jesus, who identifies completely with the hungry, homeless, sick, imprisoned and even the dead. God, who is rich in mercy, invites His sons and daughters to imitate his abundant mercy and loving kindness towards His children.”

 

  1. Spiritual [That is, regarding spiritual needs]:
  • Admonish the sinner
  • Instruct the ignorant
  • Counsel the doubtful
  • Comfort the sorrowful
  • Bear wrongs patiently
  • Forgive all injuries
  • Pray for the living and the dead

 

In Luke 5, when Jesus healed the paralytic, the first healing he announced was that of the forgiveness of his sins. From this, healing of the man’s paralysis followed. In this moment, Christ showed us that the true and deeper healing of the human person is the spiritual one, healing and deliverance from that which keeps us from sharing in God’s own life, namely, sin. The greatest suffering of man is his spiritual suffering, being deprived of the fullness of life in God for which he was made. The spiritual works of mercy draw their power from 7 Diocese of Juneau http://www.dioceseofjuneau.org/corporal-and-spiritual-works-of-mercy Archdiocese of Philadelphia · Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy Christ’s own zeal for the salvation of souls. “I have come to cast fire upon the earth and how I wish it was already burning!” (Lk 12:49). The fire for souls with which Christ was consumed is the same fire that fuels of the Church’s spiritual works of mercy, the impulses that aim to help unburden others from the spiritual burdens that can so often prevent someone from finding the path to life with Christ. “The spiritual works of mercy are drawn from a variety of Old and New Testament sources: My brothers, if someone is detected in sin, you who live by the Spirit should gently set him right. (Galatians 6:1); Let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you. In wisdom made perfect, instruct and admonish one another. (Colossians 3:16); Correct those who are confused. (Jude 23); As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you. (Isaiah 66:13); Help carry one another’s burdens; in that way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2); Because you are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. (Colossians 3:12); Pray constantly and attentively for all. (Ephesians 6:18).”

[COMMENTARY FROM THE USCCB]

[CONTEMPORARY RETRIEVALS OF TRADITION- “Crux of the Matter: the Fourteen Works of Mercy” by Wade Menezes, CPM; “The Works of Mercy” by Benajmin Allen Kautzer]

[TRADITIONAL SOURCES – “Homilies on Matthew” by St. John Chrysostom; The Works of Gregory the Great; Speculum Ecclesiae & Summa de Poenitentia]

 

 

TIER 0(d): THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS:

PRIDE: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18).  “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2).

ENVY: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” (James 3:16).   “And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another.  This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4).

WRATH: “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.” (Proverbs 29:11). “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1: 19-20).

SLOTH: “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (Proverbs 13:4).  “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

AVARICE: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10).  “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36).

GLUTTONY: “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31).  “But if we have food and clothing, we will be continent with that” (1 Timothy 6:8).

LUST: “Flee from sexual immorality.  Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).  “For everything in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--- comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16).

[SOURCES – Moralia in Job by Gregory the Great; The Conferences and Institutes of John Cassian]

 

 

TIER 0(e): THE PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH - "The context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life. The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor.

(1) "The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.") requires the faithful to participate in the Eucharistic celebration when the Christian community gathers together on the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord" (CCC 2042)

(2) "The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year.") ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism's work of conversion and forgiveness" (CCC 2042).

(3) "The third precept (“You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.") guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord's Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy" (CCC 2042).

(4) "The fourth precept (“You shall keep holy the holy days of obligation.") completes the Sunday observance by participation in the principal liturgical feasts which honor the mysteries of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, and the saints" (CCC 2043).

(5) "The fifth precept (“You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.") ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts; they help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart" (CCC 2043).

(?) "The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities" (CCC 2043).

 

[Classical SOURCES – The Didache; Cyprian of Carthage’s On the Unity of the Church & On the Lapsed; Basil the Great’s On Fasting; Lenten Sermons of Leo the Great; Gratian’s Decretum; Josef A. Jungmann, S.J.’s Handing on the Faith, Jean Gaudemet’s History of Canon Law; The Historical Works of Roger E. Reynolds, etc.]

[HISTORICAL – Johannes Quasten’s Patrology; John A. Hardon, S.J.’s History and Theology of Grace and Modern Catholic Dictionary; Pierre Jounel’s The Church at Prayer;

[CURRENT – CCC 2041-2043]

 

PART III.

 

The Next Level:

CAPSTONE OF TIERS 0 & 1 --- First, Liturgical Observance through the Divine Office [Life of Christ & The Gospel]; Second, Meditation upon the Law & Faith (a-e); Third, by examination of conscience (daily) à the sacrament of Penance (weekly) à reverent reception of the Blessed Sacrament.

  1. Benedictine Oblate [Novitiate]: Wear the Scapular & the St. Benedict Medal, Read the Holy Rule & Commentary (in idle moments), Say the Monastic Diurnal [Vespers & Compline], Practice Sacred Chant [Kyriale, Schola, GCA, etc.]
  2. MI & KFC --- Say the Daily Prayers and Renew Your Consecrations Yearly [Retreat to Focus on Progress]
  3. Sodality Prayers (Being Part of a Prayer Group, etc.)
  4. HELP BUILD CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AND THE ALIGNMENT OF THE DOMESTIC CHURCHES THROUGH ADMINISTRATION AND WRITING (!)