Admin
There are many roads that result in the Catholic religion. For most converts (or reverts) we’ve been beloved into our sacred faith. Be it a grandparent who zealously prayed for us, a girlfriend who accompanied us in Pre-Cana and into Baptism, or a missionary who manifested God’s saving energy to us. This is (and must be) by far the best means by which we carry individuals into the Church.
Others expertise an mental conversion. Think G.Okay. Chesterton, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Henry Newman for instance. Their love for Christ was rooted in examine be it philosophical, scriptural, or tutorial, they discovered their means into Christ’s household by means of the by way of of their minds.
Once introduced into the fold of Jesus’ one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church, converts (and reverts) manifest His graces into the world by practising their religion in a myriad of the way. One means specifically has born quite a lot of fruit for at this time’s saints-in-training, particularly, the observe of non secular journaling.
The historical past of journaling is a subject of nice fascination. According to scriveiner.com (a well-liked writing platform just like Microsoft Word or Mac Pages), “The trendy diary has its origins in fifteenth-century Italy the place diaries had been used for accounting. Gradually, the main target of diaries shifted from that of recording public life to reflecting on the personal one.” And as historical past was the current, well-known journalers like Henry David Thoreau, Anne Frank, Mark Twain, and Lewis Carroll would file their heroic lives in order that we may reap the advantages of their most private ideas, feelings, bullet-list concepts, even their poetry.
The Saints weren’t exempt from this observe both. On high of itemizing the occasions of their lives, holy women and men wrote intimately about their rising relationship with the Lord. Where would our Faith be with out St. Therese of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul, Merton’s Seven Story Mountain, St. Faustina Kowalska’s Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, or St. Catherine of Siena’s Dialogue?
Spiritual journaling, then, is a wonderful pathway to sanctity for 2 causes:
1) It is contemplative– Writing about your non secular hills and valleys requires an examination of 1’s self interiorly. When coupled with prayerful meditation and silence, the need to write down down what is occurring to your soul turns into a contemplative observe.
2) It is energetic– St. Thomas Aquinas as soon as wrote that Catholics should “first ponder, then share the fruits of their contemplation.” Spiritual journaling is a method by which we manifest our Faith into fruitful phrases. While not all of our diaries will probably be revealed (and even seen by anybody else), the act remains to be meritorious. It turns into evangelistic when God decides that your phrases should be seen.
St. Gemma Galgani’s diary was so private that she hoped no person would ever discover it. History tells us that sooner or later, it got here up lacking, apparently stolen by the satan himself. God clearly didn’t need her phrases to go unseen as a result of, to today, Gemma’s Diary is on show in Rome the place you possibly can see the burn marks from the satan’s fingers and all!
So, how do you do it? How does one get began with non secular journaling?
As a author, I’d reply by saying “I’m so glad you requested!”
As a Catholic, and a reasonably poor one at that, I’d reply “Why are you asking me?”
Truthfully, there’s nobody approach to non secular journal simply as there isn’t any one approach to observe your Catholic religion. In actuality, there are literally thousands of methods you possibly can doc your non secular journey by means of writing. Here are just some:
- Write out your conversion/reversion story
- Draw your ideas, add poetry to accompany the drawings
- Copy down quotes of knowledge you’ve garnered by means of the years
- Write the principles you reside by to be able to reside a contented, Catholic life
- Author quick tales (fiction or non)
- Reflect on Bible verses
- Document the day by day occasions of your life
- Create prayer lists
- Write letters to the Saints
- Develop a “How to” booklet coping with a side of the religion individuals wrestle with (How to Pray When Nobody is Looking, How to Defend the Faith, How to Meditate, and so on.)
- Write out your sins
- Recall recollections from way back that you just want to keep in mind
- Make a “Catholic Bucket List”
- Write opinions of non secular books you learn
- Plan your funeral Mass
There are so some ways to write down about your religion. Chose one (or select many!) and pray that the holy Spirit fill you with the phrases that can enliven your non secular life and, God prepared, these of us who will finally get to learn it.
Now, go write!
