Over the last several weeks, I’ve been leading some workshops for two groups at my church. It’s been a lot of work, but in the end, I’ve been pleased with the feedback I’ve received.
The first group is made up of volunteer religion teachers. The second group consists of professional educators who teach in Catholic schools. While the content is the same, my approach to each group has been slightly different. The subject is spirituality, and I was grateful to be able to weave in a lot of the thoughts of St. Ignatius and his approach to God and our relationship with Him.
The following quote comes from a daily devotional I turn to often entitled Grace In Every Season written by Catherine Doherty. I hope it gives you something to ponder this weekend.
A Dangerous Adventure
Prayer is an adventure, but it is a dangerous one. We cannot enter without risk. As Scripture says, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Hebrews 10:31).
Prayer must lead us to total surrender, or it will lead us nowhere except back to ourselves. It is this surrender that we fear so much, and this is why prayer is such a fearsome and dangerous thing. This is why following Christ is indeed a risky business. He calls us to enter a revolution- like the fight for a cause, but one that is infinitely more powerful. This revolution takes place inside of us, for heaven is taken by violence to oneself.
Prayer is a part of this adventure. Do not fool yourself: once you encounter God, you will no longer be the same person you were before.
Today, almost two thousand years after the birth of Christ, Christianity still does not live in our so-called Christian hearts. Why is that? Why is the world not turning to Christ? It is not doing so because Christians are not living the Gospel. We Christians have not followed Christ. Somewhere along the road we have compromised, and we continue to compromise…
