A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity

This is a very well written and documented account of spiritual growth and development through adolescent to elder years. The book is one for careful reading and reflection. Readers of HOLY LONGING will be delighted with Rolheiser's follow up account of further spiritual progress for serious Christians

A well-developed elucidation of what it means to be a mature individual.
The chapter on blessing is itself a blessing. You will find yourself blessing everyone and everything.
I look forward to his book on the sunset years.

Provides an interesting perspective on our aging process and our spirituality, but heavily opinionated. Me thinks the author draws a wee to much on this personal anecdotes and overly generalizing to beat the band. Still, it's a new-ish perspective that some might find interesting. It's wordy but easy to read.

Author Ronald Rolheiser, has once again, created a compelling, informative, guide to spiritual maturity and discipleship. I became a fan after reading “Our Deepest Longing.” This book continues from the deepest longing to spiritual maturity. He takes us from our young adult stage, into mid-life, to the fully mature adult that is approaching the end, capturing all of the stages in a psychological, theological and practical step by step progression. Once you get started, you won’t want to put this book down until you are done.

In the beginning of our spiritual journey we often question our call to discipleship, mostly, because our perception of the kind of person that should be called, looks very different than the ones that are. This is why, I appreciate what Rolheiser shared and had to share with all of you. He says,

Not even Jesus found “the ready.”

Jesus called Nathaniel….Nathaniel lacked openness, Nathaniel wasn’t ready.

Jesus called Philip….Philip lacked simplicity. Philip wasn’t ready

Jesus called Simon, the Zealot….Simon lacked non-violent. Simon wasn’t ready.

Jesus called Andrew..Andrew lacked a sense of risk. Andrew wasn’t ready.

Jesus called Thomas…Thomas lacked vision. Thomas wasn’t ready.

Jesus called Judas…Judas lacked spiritual maturity. Judas was definitely not ready.

Jesus called Matthew…Matthew lacked a sense of social sin Matthew wasn’t ready.

Jesus called James the Lesser…James lacked awareness. James wasn’t ready.

Jesus called James and John, the sons of thunder….James and John lacked a sense of servanthood. James and John were not ready.

James called Peter, the Rock….Peter lacked courage Peter was not ready….

The point, you see, is that Jesus doesn’t call the ready. Jesus calls the willing.

I loved this, because I believe we are never ready, never prepared the way we think we need to be and that is okay. Most of us walk in chaos, imbalance in our spiritual lives, toxic relationships, sin and discord and God still calls us, for he knows the heart and God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.

Rolheiser, has a way of painting us a visual picture into his reflections by using scripture and then tying them to personal experiences. This technique gives us a deeper meaning into the psychological and moral aspects of living discipleship in our daily complex lives. He shares with us, innate propensities that can get in the way of our spiritual development called the 7 deadly sins. He refers to these as the religious faults of mature adults. He defines them so well, that you will be able to avoid falling into their power. I will expand on them in further detail in future blog posts, so keep watch.

I especially enjoyed “looking for Christ on the Road to Emmaus.” Wow….how often have I felt distanced from God walking between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? When the resurrection has not yet fully sunken into our imaginations, so that we can recognize God who is walking beside us. Just look at Mary Magdalene who also didn’t notice him right beside her and thought he was the gardener. We all have periods of walking in the fog unable to see.

One of my favorite parts of this book, has to do with Jesus death on the cross surrounded by humiliation and hate. We all have questions about this and how it caused the degradation of Jesus’ ministry and followers. He gives us an understanding through the eyes of a civil rights worker that suffered injustice, violence and hatred and relating his experience to Jesus on the cross. At his interview he admitted that there was much hatred, viciousness and punishment by violence. He was spit upon, beaten with fists, with pipes, with chains and left a bloody mess. He admits that he was a big man able to protect himself yet, he didn’t fight back. He said, he did at first, but realized that it didn’t get him anywhere. He finally realized that the hatred coming at him when he didn’t fight back, bounced off of him, into the air and this bouncing stopped it from spreading like electricity. He let his body absorb the hatred, so that some of it would die in his body and not bounce back into the world. He now sees that his job in the midst of evil is to make his body a grave for hate. I found his story so powerful and it opened up for me a better understanding into Jesus silence through his pain.

Rolheiser ends his book, talking about the power of death and our last stages of spiritual life. He gives personal testimonies of how we can give our lives away to our families, our church and our world. He explains the dark night of the soul, that we all will experience, as St. John of the Cross described it to be. This book is a good guide on the path of spiritual maturity and discipleship. A good summer read that I highly recommend.

http://dawnsfaithconnection.wordpress.com/
http://ronrolheiser.com/en/#.U9LHWo1dV5k

Ronald Rolheiser, author of Holy Longing has returned after 15 years with another wonderful guide to living a mature Christian life.

I found many rich quotes and passages in Sacred Fire that help me understand on a deeper level what it looks like to grow as a disciple of Christ. I know I need to and I want to but sometimes I struggle with knowing how that looks. What am I supposed to do?

Sacred Fire takes us from being an essential disciple, one who is struggling to get their life together, to becoming the mature disciple, "one who gives their life more deeply, more generously. Rolheiser leads the reader through stories from scripture, stories about John the Baptist, Mary and Jesus himself, he relates these stories to our own lives.

One of my favorites in this section was about Mary standing under the foot of the cross. "In the Gospels, standing is a position of strength....She was strong there." Mary was not "in emotional and moral outrage" at the injustice. She did not repay violence with more violence. Instead, she knew that "there are times when things have gone so far that shouts and protests are no longer helpful, darkness is going to have its hour, and all we can do is stand under its cross and help absorb its bitterness by refusing to participate in its energy....I can't stop this, but I will not conduct its hatred." Rolheiser continues to talk about this position of Mary's and that it is not the same thing as despair or helplessness.

Rolheiser continues with prayer, what it is and how to do it, and blessing and being a blessing to others. He tells us, "we are mature only when we are compassionate as God is compassionate-namely when our sun shines both on those we like and on those we do not." Rolheiser continues with how we can accomplish the command to love like Jesus loves us.

This was not a quick read. There is a lot to ponder and reflect upon. My only dislike was Part One where he discusses the stages of our lives. He compares our discipleship to being a teenager. I'm no longer a teenager and am past that point so I was bored by it and skipped to Part Two where I found a treasure trove of insight and guidance.

More Info
Read Chapter One

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

This is a wonderful book, especially as you begin New Year's resolutions. It teaches you in a theologically-sound, yet approachable way how to be the person Jesus has called you to be. He goes through 3 different stages in life and how to strive for Christian maturity in each. I think everyone will find themselves in the pages of this book and learn how to turn that restless inner fire into a fulfilling, generous life on the path to becoming a saint.

This book is rich with metaphors and examples about what it means for one to grow more deeply into one's humanity as well as one's spirituality. What struck a chord in my heart was Fr. Ron's definition and description of what it means to give another a blessing and what it means to give another a curse. It is well worth reading.