What does a distinctively lay spirituality look like?
This is a question that I have been interested in for a while. Of course, there can be just about as many spiritualities as there are people, but the idea of distinctive spirituality for the lay state and mission is something that the Church needs and, as with all schools of spirituality, it is the Church's saints that articulate it.
I have been reading The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day edited by Robert Ellsberg and have discovered in them a spirituality that bears reflection and possibly imitation for those of us who seek to live faithfully in the world. In late 1935 Dorothy wrote out a "rule" for 1936, which offers some fascinating insights. She pledged to go to Mass daily, make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, pray a portion of the Divine Office (the old morning office of Prime and Compline, which are most suitable for lay persons and families because of their brevity), pray the Rosary each day, to recollect midday for just few minutes, to do plenty of spiritual reading, "to practice the presence of God", make a daily examination of conscience, and "to be gentle and charitable in thought, word, and deed" (and that she certainly was!). This is a very simple rule and is accessible to people in all walks of life. It doesn't seek to imitate the life of a religious or remove her from the world, but takes the prayer and devotion of the Church right into the world in order to sanctify it. When we read what exercises she took on we must bear in mind her context: she was constantly surrounded and visited by the poor and destitute of New York who were often very far from the world of the institutional church.
Perhaps this post will generate some discussion. What elements do lay spiritualities contain? What lay saints are you most drawn to? What is distinctively lay about their spirituality? How does our spirituality and spiritual practice as lay persons interact with the world we encounter when we leave the house in the morning?
Labels: lay apostolate, spirituality
posted by Joe Waters @ 1:01 PM
13 Comments
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13 Comments:
Steven, Bobby,
Interesting conversation. To Steven, I would say that Vatican II did not "issue the universal call to holiness" in response to a complaint that laity were being treated differently from clergy. The Council described a teaching that was there from the beginning, but had been overlooked in some quarters for some time.
Indeed, in some ways, the laity and the clergy are on exactly equal footing: we all are equally required to discern God's call and to pursue sanctity in our life in Christ. In some ways, every individual, regardless of state as cleric or lay, will look different from every other. Each of us has a unique relationship with Christ, because God created each of us uniquely. In still other ways, different "organs" in the Body of Christ will resemble each other; so clergy will have some common aspects to their spirituality and relationship with God, and laity will have some other different aspects common to them.
Bobby, if I understand you correctly, you are trying to articulate some of the aspects of spirituality common to laity that are different from the spirituality of clergy or religious. If so, you will have to be more specific than "-The Mystery of the Incarnation -The Paschal Mystery -The Blessed Trinity," because these are common to all Christians, of whatever state. And while I agree that specific spiritual disciplines are not the whole of the spiritual life, every spirituality expresses itself through action and discipline of some sort. So you will have to describe the place of "spiritual practices" in the life of a lay person. For example, are different kinds of disciplines appropriate to the secular vocation rather than to the clerical or consecrated vocations? Would some practices be used differently? What kinds of spiritual habits would be suggested specifically by the secular character of the laity?
All that said, I think your goal of writing a book on lay spirituality is a noble one, and if I can support you in any way, let me know. At the very least, I will pray for you.
Bobby,
Thank you for your prayers! I am utterly dependent on the prayers of many friends, family, and strangers for any success I have in my work. I think I could safely say the same of any who have given their lives to the worship and service of God -- lay, cleric, or vowed religious.
Let us all continue to pray for each other.
Ah Joe, you have asked “the” question. I have been contemplating writing a book on lay spirituality and have gone as far as a synopsis for each chapter. Without going into the whole thing, and thinking through the theological content fully, here are some scrapped tidbits and thoughts (with, I’m sure some grammar and spelling errors):
What is most central to a lay spirituality is not spiritual disciplines and practices, but rather the mystery of the incarnation and the paschal mystery!
The elements that are essential to a lay spirituality are centered around:
-The Laity’s Secular Character
-The Mystery of the Incarnation
-The Paschal Mystery
-The Blessed Trinity
The book will try to help others:
See how their secular life experiences, decisions, and relationships can incarnate
the paschal mystery and make Christ’s saving power present within the world.
Engage the secular character of the laity with the disciplines of the contemplative life through theological reflection.
a.Silence
b.Solitude
c.Prayer
d.Penance
e.Work and recreation
f.The duty of the moment & discernment
g.Charity
Invite and challenge the laity to reflect on their life experiences and engage their culture in theological reflection, through the incarnation and stages of the paschal mystery.
Some thoughts:
-If the secular character of the laity is their distinctive mark, than it is the means by which a lay person can each union with God. The secular character is at the heart of the lay vocation and mission. When the laity embrace their mission in the world they act as a living sign of the unitive and integrative process the world is undergoing within the kingdom of God. The secular character attests that the temporal order does not only unveil the sacred but is sacred.
-Through the laity the mystery of the incarnation penetrates temporal activities, imbuing them with the leaven of grace. It is precisely through the secular nature of their state that the laity can be conformed to the incarnation. As the lay man or woman undergoes there own kenosis they are able to identify themselves with every man and woman.
-Our salvation has been accomplished already, but the fruits of our salvation and of the world are distributed through the sacramental economy of the Church and the ordinary events of our lives. Besides naming off a few doctrines, very few lay men and women understand what the paschal mystery and incarnation have achieved for them personally. Even fewer can tell you how these sacred mysteries are lived out and impact their everyday life experiences within the secular world.
Etc, etc, this post is getting waaaaay to long!!!!
Bobby
I don't think the Lord would want us to specify beyond emphasizing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and if we are catholic, to follow the precepts of the Church, such as attending mass on Sundays.
I believe that the Lord is very concerned about Christians who try to export their own walk with God into a set of rules or precepts which can be followed by everyone else. This does not work, and God will intentionally thwart any such attempt. At least, that is my own experience.
I have gone through various seasons of prayer. I used to attend daily mass, daily Rosary, all the things mentioned by Dorothy Day. Presently, my spirituality is Scripture, taking walks in nature, and spontaneous prayer. Tomorrow, who knows?
The important question: Is God working in your life? I mean, is he changing you, making you into a Gift of Self to others? If so, keep doing what you are doing. If not, only a fool keeps doing the same thing, expecting a different result. A feeling of intimacy is a wonderful gift from the Lord, but not necessarily the goal, since one might be in a Dark Night. However, I used to think that I was in a Dark Night because I was not experiencing God, when, in actuality, I was being legalistic and self-rightoues and God hates prides and He will withdrawal His Presence, all the while, I was practicing all the traditional catholic things, such as Rosary and daily mass. I think that, just as I did myself, some traditional catholics will keep practicing those devotions in smug self-rightouesness and justifying the dryness in their life as a Dark Night.
On the other hands, there are catholics who are humble and practice the traditional devotions with great fruitfulness and blessing. I pray that one day I can return to traditional catholic devotions.
There's my two cents, for what they are worth!
Bobby,
The idea that you can't base a lay spirituality on "only spiritual disciplines and practices" is something that no one ever said. Even monks don't do that. Remember the Benedictine maxim is "ora et labora." And the idea that our spiritual disciplines and practices have no relationship to Christ is, in my view, way off base. Just because one has a vocation in the world does not mean one cannot engage in spiritual disciplines and practices. In my view, one is even more obligated to engage in them because one works in the world. No one's divorcing the spiritual from the world. The monks of the middle ages didn't divorce them, either. And I think you're repeating a canard about people going to Mass just so they can think they're "good Catholics." No one's forcing you to go to Mass. There' sno coercion. So, if you're going to Mass, you're probably going because you have an authentic friendship with Christ. And, yes you ARE called to be a "good Catholic." And a saint.
Steven Florent
Steven,
Thanks for the comment. I am not saying that a lay spirituality can't incorporate spiritual disciplines and practices, and I am sorry if I gave that impression. What I mean to say is we can't base a lay spiritulity (or any catholic spiritualtiy for that matter) on only spiritual disciplines and practices. Rather the spiritual disciplines and practices should flow out of our relationship to Christ and be a means to foster that relationship. Its very easy for us to think all is well with our relationship with Christ as long was I do a,b,and c. We can easily use spiritual disciplines and practices as an end in and of itself. (For example I go to mass every day so I am a "good catholic." We are not called just to be a good catholic but rather a saint.)
With regards to the secular character and how it ties in with lay spirituality. What I mean to say is as laity we can't divorce the spiritual from the world, nor can we separate our spiritualities from our state in life, occupations, etc.
Christifideles Laici says,
" The Council is able then to indicate the proper and special sense of the divine vocation which is directed to the lay faithful. They are not called to abandon the position that they have in the world. Baptism does not take them from the world at all, as the apostle Paul points out: "So, brethren, in whatever state each was called, there let him remain with God" (1 Cor 7:24). On the contrary, he entrusts a vocation to them that properly concerns their situation in the world. The lay faithful, in fact, "are called by God so that they, led by the spirit of the Gospel, might contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their own particular duties. Thus, especially in this way of life, resplendent in faith, hope and charity they manifest Christ to others"(37).Thus for the lay faithful, to be present and active in the world is not only an anthropological and sociological reality, but in a specific way, a theological and ecclesiological reality as well. In fact, in their situation in the world God manifests his plan and communicates to them their particular vocation of "seeking the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God"(38)."
Bobby
Bobby,
You keep saying things like "after I say a Rosary am I different?" Of course, it's not a duty. If it's not something that brings you closer to Christ, no one's forcing you to do it. It's not dogma. You act as though the Church is mandating it. It's not.
The things you list - marrying the spiritual and the "secular" have already been done, and done well, by St. Therese of Lisieux - she called it the "little way." And many people follow her spirituality and example. And as I said before, that was monastic practice as well.
You seem to be fixated on the fact that there are a group of people called "lay people" and they should be segregated and treated differently and classified differently from the "clergy." Before Vatican II, lay people complained that they were treated differently from the clergy. So Vatican II issued the universal call to holiness. And now it's come full circle, apparently, with lay people wanting their own spirituality.
You might reread St. Paul on the various gifts, but only one Spirit. I do think there is a marked difference between lay (including those in religious orders) versus priests, who are ordained, we who are the Body of Christ are all interrelated (cf. Lumen gentium 10: "Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ.")
Steven Florent
Steven,
Thanks again for your comments. Maybe I am not making myself clear (which can very well be the case!)
"The idea that you can't base a lay spirituality on "only spiritual disciplines and practices" is something that no one ever said."
It may not be something someone has never said, but it is certainly a temptation we can fall into. I for one fall into that temptation constantly. After I am done praying the rosary for example, am I truly different? Was I merely praying it to get it done as a duty? Or was it a means of encountering Christ? More importantly, am I responding to the graces God is giving to me as I pray to make my life a living rosary?
We can easily do things for Christ and learn about Him and never really meet and encounter Him or fully respond to His transforming love.
"Just because one has a vocation in the world does not mean one cannot engage in spiritual disciplines and practices. In my view, one is even more obligated to engage in them because one works in the world. No one's divorcing the spiritual from the world"
I am not saying, that because one has a vocation in the world one can't engage in spiritual disciplines and practices. I am saying that in a lay spirituality the secular character and the contemplative disciplines should be married. Again there is a temptation for some to compartmentalize their lives to spiritual things and worldly things (and the two shall never meet).
A good example of what I am trying to say can is found in a book by Caryll Houselander on Mary entitled the Reed on God. She says Mary by her cooking and her cleaning, by her nursing Christ and going into the marketplace participated in the redemption of the world."
How many lay people do you know think in those terms. That when they unite their ordinary events of the day with Christ they are helping to bring about His saving grace to the world?
Bobby
Bobby,
I really disagree with your notion that lay spirituality cannot incorporate spiritual disciplines and practices. They are given to us by the Church to aid us in our journey to God. There is nothing specifically clerical or lay in them. They are for all Catholics. Many lay Catholics, myself included, read the Liturgy of the Hours, say the Rosary, go to Mass daily, etc.
Just focusing on the secular character of the laity and abandoning the spiritual practices of the Church leads to no practices at all. You can meditate till Kingdom Come on our secular character, but it all becomes very abstract and non-prayerful ultimately and sort of prideful, if you're willing to discount all that the Church has provided.
Steven Florent
Steven,
I am oblivously not clear in replying to your comments. As you keep misunderstanding what I am saying, or somehow read into it to say something I am not. I don't blame you, if you knew me in person you would know why! I am the most scattered brain person you can imagine! I tend to think in multiple ideas all at once and try to say it all in one sentence! Put in another way I am the greatest penance a person can encounter with regards to communication! My staff even call what I write and say at times Bobbyism. I have a whole language and way of relating thoughts that is uniquely my own and at times very hard for people to understand and follow.
All I am trying to do is highlight what Christifideles Laici and other church documents are saying about the laity.
I am in no way saying here is something new. And St. Therese, (aaahhh!) she is another example of what I am trying to say.
Bobby
Br. Robert,
Thank you for your kind words and offer. I will definately take you up on your offer! As I said I am very scattered brained. With regard to the Paschal Mystery and Incarantion, what I mean to hightlight is along the same lines of what Pope John Paul II said,
“In their own lives lay people can be conformed to the mystery of the Incarnation precisely through the secular nature of their state….For whoever lives in the light of faith, as lay Christians, the mystery of the Incarnation also penetrates temporal activities, imbuing them with the leaven of grace. In the light of faith, the laity who follow the logic of the Incarnation, which took place for our redemption, also share in the saving mystery of the cross. In Christ's life the Incarnation and the redemption are one mystery of love. The Son of God became incarnate to ransom humanity by his sacrifice: "The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve--to give his life in ransom for the many"” General Audience November 10, 1993.
With regards to spiritual disciplines. I am painting with a very, very broad brush (at least to begin with). I want to get to the very root and core of the laity's spiritual life so as not to say that a lay spirituality must for example practice some specific devotional, etc. As Joe said there can be as many different lay spiritualities as laity. What I would like to begin with is to focus on the nitty-gritty, bare bone realities, that embrace all lay spirituality. That is why I think its important to begin to have the contemplative disciplines be engaged by the secular character. When this happens than I can talk about spiritual disciplines, but in its proper context that is unique to each lay man and woman's vocation(s).
By the way Br. Robert, you don't know me but, I have been praying for you. I remember a comment you placed on this blog sharing the dark experiences you were undergoing in your prayer, etc. You were asking how is it possible to proclaim the good news when one is in that state. What comes to mind Brother is Christ's words, "When I am lifted up I will draw all things to myself." It seems to me that His being raised up on the cross was the greatest work of evangelization.
The then Cardinal Ratzinger said with regards to the New Evangelization,
" With these few words, he wished to say: Jesus had to acquire the disciples from God. The same is always true. We ourselves cannot gather men. We must acquire them by God for God. All methods are empty without the foundation of prayer. The word of the announcement must always be drenched in an intense life of prayer. We must add another step. Jesus preached by day, by night he prayed—this is not all. His entire life was—as demonstrated in a beautiful way by the Gospel according to St. Luke—a path toward the cross, ascension toward Jerusalem. Jesus did not redeem the world with beautiful words but with his suffering and his death. His Passion is the inexhaustible source of life for the world; the Passion gives power to his words."
Br. Robert, the passion gives power to your words.
Bobby
One thing that has brought me to a greater awareness of my distinctively lay spirituality is Marriage Encounter. Let's face it, most adults who are part of the Catholic laity are married. (Except for those who are living together without the commitment and vow...but for our purposes I think we can exclude them, for now.) One of the novel concepts I learned on the ME Weekend was matrimonial spirituality, which is tied into our sacrament and our sexuality. The idea is that we as a matrimonial couple have a distinctive responsibility in this world - to reflect Christ's love for the Church. In our daily "yes" to each other in love, in our commitment to deep and intimate communication in spite of all the constant drains on our time, in making our relationship a priority for the sake of our children, our church and our world, we are living out our matrimonial spirituality. Praying together, loving each other passionately, getting beyond those feelings that are way past infatuation and are closer to annoyance. :-) We are busy raising our families, earning money to provide them with food, clothes, shelter and hopefully books, toys, modest entertainment too, and also supporting our parish financially, and other ways through our talents and charisms. We don't have a lot of time for much else. We bring each other to Christ in our sacrifices for each other, our family, our church. God gives us grace through our sacrament of matrimony to see each other with His eyes when it seems more tempting to walk away. That grace is powerful enough to keep us united in the face of so many forces threatening to pull us apart - it's tied closely with graces of the other sacraments - especially the Holy Eucharist and Penance. My parents will never be canonized by the Church, but they were saints who showed me what true sacramental love is all about in their daily lives that included time for fun as well as hard work and prayer. Our children have hopefully seen that in us and will pass that example on to their own children too.
Hello,
I think you should read Jacques loew : "As if he had seen the invisible;: A portrait of the apostle today". Very good and inspiring !
He descrides day by day his mission (in France) in the book : "Mission to the poorests"
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