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Spirituality

Spirituality. How God calls you & how you call God. What is Spirituality?. Spirituality is how God calls you and how you respond to God. How God calls you is unique because you are unique and how you respond to God is as unique as all of your other human relationships.

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Spirituality

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  1. Spirituality How God calls you & how you call God.

  2. What is Spirituality? • Spirituality is how God calls you and how you respond to God. • How God calls you is unique because you are unique and how you respond to God is as unique as all of your other human relationships. • Spirituality is personal, it is active, and it needs to be developed and cultivated like all other relationships. God is not a spiritual ATM where you insert your prayers and He spits out what you want! God is a Person, He needs time with you in conversation. A conversation with God is called prayer. But how do we pray?

  3. Prayer • Prayer is a conversation with God, and as many types of conversation there are, there are just as many types of prayer. • Vocal prayer is simply prayer out loud. Many people recite memorized prayers out loud, like the Hail Mary or the Our Father. • Mental prayer is prayer through thought. People generally recite memorized prayers mentally or just have a conversation with God as if they were speaking to a friend. • Meditative prayer is usually accomplished by focusing the mind on a Scripture passage or a spiritual reading and allowing the story or the words to communicate to you. Lectio Divina is a great means of meditation. Lectio is done by taking a Scripture story and placing yourself into the story and trying to see the practical message which you can apply to your life. • Contemplative prayer is merely resting with God. In its simplest terms, contemplative prayer is shutting up enough to let God speak. • But what type of prayer should I use? There is no answer to this … you have to decide what method of communication works for you!

  4. Lectio Divina • The Bible is the best source for meditation (especially the Psalms) but is there anything that I ought to read besides the Bible to meditate? • Here are some suggestions:

  5. Spirituality Types • There are many types of personality: some are introverted, some extroverted, etc. So naturally there are several types of spirituality: • 1) The Contemplative – you like solitude, praying alone, meditative prayer. You don’t pray as well in group settings. You like routine and self-discipline. The life a monk does not sound so bad to you. “After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.” Mt. 14:23 Some religious groups to look into: Carthusians Cistercians Benedictines Carmelites

  6. The active – you enjoy service and use it as an opportunity for prayer. • You pray best with others and enjoy group settings. • You don’t have one set style of prayer, you tend to move from one style to the next. • You enjoy vocal prayer and prayers that you have memorized and just having a friendly conversation with God. • Most of all you enjoy finding God in other people. Some religious groups to look into: the Franciscans Friars of the Renewal, Capuchins, Alexian Brothers, the Basilians, Missionaries of Charity, etc.

  7. The Intellectual • -You like problem solving and thinking about God through study. • When a theological topic interests you study all you can about it. • You like reading and mental prayer, but you also feel comfortable discussing what you’ve learned and prayed with others. Some religious groups to look into: the Dominicans, Jesuits, and Benedictines.

  8. What is my Spirituality? • You won’t perfectly fit into any category. If you are really interested there is a decent online quiz to find out where you may fit in at: http://vocation-network.org/articles/show/63 • You have to develop a spirituality, work on it and don’t give up. • Here are some simple tips to get a spirituality started: • Pray everyday – you can’t have a relationship without time spent with the Person. Use different styles of prayer to find out what works best; try the Rosary or the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” • Don’t be afraid – once you have a relationship with God don’t be surprised if you have to give up some control over your life. Don’t be afraid to let go and let God. • Go to the Sacraments – the sacraments are the difference between talking to a friend on the phone and seeing them in person; the sacraments are personal encounters with God and we grow more by these encounters. • Keep moving – if you pray and allow God to take over you will feel growth; never be satisfied with where you are with God, keep moving, keep getting closer.

  9. The Journey • What can I expect on the journey toward God? • 1.) Purgation – spiritual “weight-loss”; God is going to call on you to trim the “spiritual fat” from you life – cut out sin and imperfections. Confession/reconciliation comes in handy here. • 2.) Enlightenment – you begin to get into a spiritual routine, you feel yourself improving in your relationship with God, it is easier to pray, and you feel things with God are going great. • 3.) Darkness – after awhile God’s presence will slowly fade away, you struggle to pray, God feels a million miles away. Why would God do this? God tests those who He loves. If you never had a challenge, you could never improve – this stage is the big game, the big struggle which if you get through you become a better person. • 4). Union – God and you are tight. You can feel His presence, you have deeper experiences of prayer and greater insights into your life and into God. These steps on the journey rotate and there is no set time frame for each; they are personal and vary according to the individual and God.

  10. Why make the trip? • Life with God fulfils every human desire and wish. Think of the world today, what do people strive for: fame, money, lust, and selfishness. • Think of what God has to offer you: eternal fame (not just temporary), a life of real worth (not just money which you spend and it is forever gone), love (which lasts to eternity, not just for a moment), and selflessness (where you live for God and for other people, not just for yourself). • You have to ask yourself … what do I want? • Do you want the real deal? • Or, a cheap imitation? Rolex vs. Folex

  11. The Real Deal • Of course you want the real deal, that is what God has to offer you! • It’s going to take work and sacrifice and prayer, but the struggle is worth the reward! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Revelation 21:6-7

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