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Spiritual
Direction
The best
"general" spiritual direction comes from studying the Bible, the inspired word
of God and from the official teachings of the Catholic Church such as in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. We can also find good spiritual direction
from studying the official teachings of the Church, Prayers and the lives and
writings of the Saints. (See
links.) God's word in Scripture can also be used as a basis for prayer in
that we not only read Scripture but we ponder it prayerfully. One technique
for doing this is
Spiritual Reflection as in
Contemplatio from
the Pilgrim’s Sanctuary.
SCRIPTURE
BRINGS LIFE
Jesus was not a rebel, he was a good Jew
and an obedient son of an ancient faith - the faith of Abraham, Moses, and the
prophets. All of Jesus’ actions and teachings were based on the law. Although he
sometimes seemed to break the law, he always fulfilled the heart of the law, and
he supported his action with scripture.
JESUS: THE LIVING WORD
Jesus, the Living Word, appointed the
apostles and preach his word of salvation. They were anointed by the Spirit of
the living God at Pentecost and empowered to fulfill their commission. Thus it
was that the living God sent a living Word to a living people through the life
of Jesus Christ and the apostles. The word is not written in stone, it is
written in the life of Christ! "He is the God of the living, not of the dead."
EXAMPLE OF THE EARLY CHURCH
The early church of Acts 2 did not follow
scripture alone, it followed "apostolic instruction." From this living apostolic
tradition, the Old Testament was interpreted, and the New Testament itself was
brought forth. It is because of this living tradition that Paul was able to say,
"Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another. He who
loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law ... love never wrongs the neighbor,
hence love is the fulfillment of the law."
RETAIN THE SIMPLICITY OF LOVE Do the laws of Scripture and the church become complicated and burdensome to us, or do we retain the simplicity of love through them all? Remember, Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with your whole mind ... you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the prophets as well." |
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This site & Its contents, Copyright © 2004-2007 BC Redd & 2007- Fr. Marcis Heckman for the Reformed Catholic Church. All Rights Reserved. DISCLAIMER: The unauthorized use of the Reformed Catholic Church is a violation of copyright & trademark laws, Federal Trademark #77377344. No art or print can be used without permission of the Vicariate of Communications. Only those individuals or communities included on this website are officially recognized as validly ordained clergy , lay leadership or authorized member parishes of the Reformed Catholic Church.
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