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PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY

PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY. How our spirit enters into communion with God. PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY AND PRAYER.

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PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY

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  1. PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY How our spirit enters into communion with God

  2. PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY AND PRAYER • Spirituality is concerned with how our spirit enters into communion with God. It is concerned with our "disposition" of spirit in our relation with God. E.g. I might want to communicate with God bymy art - that is a question of prayer style. • How I make that communication through my art (do I seek the God in the world around me or use the art to transcend what I see about me, for example) is a question of spirituality.

  3. STYLES OF PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY • Spirituality is subject not only to the particular needs of the individual but is subject to local culture. • The present age of Catholic spirituality is filled with statues, structured devotions and centered on sacraments and sacramentals. • Preceding ages of Catholics, however, have used other techniques such as asceticism, bridal imagery and prayers of emptiness. • The measure of any style of spirituality lies in its ability to enable the individual in journeying more deeply into the heart of God in their life.

  4. CLASIFYING PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY • There are two ways of classifying spirituality. First, we can understand it according to whether the prayer is filled with words, images, feelings and emotions. This is a prayer of fullness, known technically as kataphasia. • Alternatively, the goal of the prayer can be to empty oneself of all thoughts and feelings, called emptiness or apophasia.

  5. CLASIFICATION OF PRAYER • Prayer can also be classified according to whether it is principally an exercise of the mind, thought and imagination which is known as speculative (mind) prayer or an exercise of the heart, feelings and emotions referred to as affective (emotional) prayer. • Traditional Catholic devotions could be classified as an instance of kataphatic affective spirituality (prayer of fullness and emotion).

  6. VARIATIONS OF PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY • Augustinian: Looks at God's action in world events ('grace') while drawing on a historical salvation perspective. Tends toward fullness and utilizing the mind and uses scripture as a prominent source of its meditative material. • Benedictine: Characterized by offering all deeds of the day as part of the communion with God, both formal prayer and simple tasks and labors. Also nourished by the scriptures, particularly when read and applied to ones life in the daily context. • Charismatic: A highly affective (emotional/heart) spirituality focused on the place and role of the Holy Spirit. It is energetic and seeks to awaken the "gifts" of the Spirit in the individual for better communication with God. It draws strongly on the acts of the apostles and community is very important. • Franciscan: Another 'emptying' and 'heart' style of spirituality, this is the source of much of what is now thought to be "typical' Catholic spirituality. It is focused on the person of the human Christ and on the events of his life and what they might have to say to us. • Ignatian: 'Mind' and 'emptying' are the emphases in this tradition which seeks to put you "in the shoes of Jesus", e.g. imagining yourself being the blind man or bleeding woman being healed, or present at the wedding at Cana. The goal is that by doing so, you might become more attuned to the mind and spirit of Jesus.

  7. MY PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY • What is my personal spirituality? (“the disposition" of my spirit in my relation with God—how I make my communion with God) • What is my prayer style? (by what means do I communicate with God)

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