This is fantastic! I wish I could write like this!

Aside from Sr Joanie the Groovy, your last two lines were very, very helpful. Simple, direct, and completely accurate. Thank you for that.

YES- I am SOOOOO happy I am not God or that my life isn’t about getting to know myself. Can I say LOL to poor sister’s quotation- and let’s offer some Lenten sacrifices for her soul- she is misguided. Jesus loves you sister!
remnantofremnant.blogspot.com

Not having to listen to her inane babble - that might be worth dying for.  The nuns who live with her must be dedicated alcoholics.

Panthodox. It’s funny because it’s boring.

...as we hold certain untruths to be self evident.

another classic line that proves once again that the pen is mightier than the sword.

I take her quote completely different.  I see the center of self is God, that God space, and I must continue to examine myself through prayer and sacrifice to root out the vices so that I can let God fill that space.  I do know it will take me a lifetime to to get rid of all my vices and learn to serve God completely, more than a lifetime.

when I was a Novice… (bored yet!) my spiritual advisor would harp on about finding the centre of self and that I was an onion and I had to remove the peels.. (wake up!) All it did for me was to make me leave religion after many years of Solemn Profession and now after years of living in the centre of self.. I am bored… God waked me, and I renewed those vows.. and now the journey is about HIM! (ya I said HIM!)

Socrates taught that an unreflected life is not worth living.  Reflection has some level of introspection but does not stop at the self.  I would give the sister some benefit of the doubt that she intended that either.  I think she tries to do way with the old school jargon in an attempt to make spirituality relevant and appealing.  Then again I may be wrong seeing the fruits of rebellion from the LCWR and their covens.  By their fruits, you shall know them. 

FWIW, here’s is a post about asceticism seen in the light of love, hence a means to true holiness. 

http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/11/sweetness-of-pain.html

“I take her quote completely different.  I see the center of self is God, that God space, and I must continue to examine myself through prayer and sacrifice to root out the vices so that I can let God fill that space.”

I may not be St Thomas of Aqaunis, but if God “IS” at the center of “self” than what is “self”? It seems that the History of Redemption is meaningless. If Christ “IS” God, and God “IS” at the center of all of us, what was the point of the Crucifixtion? We are all God! Right?

I think it was Swift who point out that Moderns are all Cartesians - we have one eye fixed on our Egos and another fixed on distant stars. We give no thought to what happens in between

write on, jp

Very well written and well worth the read!  Thanks!  (P.S. Your article was NOT boring!)

When someone’s “catholic” writing becomes indistinguishable from the lyrics to a Yes song, maybe it’s time for them to retire. I keep expecting her to starting talking about flying purple wolfhounds.

I can’t place it at the moment, but I’m reasonably sure that a number of magisterial documents argue that Christ reveals man’s true nature to himself. A number of spritual manuals advocate getting to know oneself, and informing one’s understanding in the light of Christ. While God is necessarily infinitely more fascinating than we are, to say that our deepest selves are boring is, I suspect, to overlook some fundamental teachings of the Church on the dignity of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God, and destined (in the words of the apostle John) “to be like [God], for we shall see him as he is.”

I agree that following Christ means self-denial, but to deny oneself as a conscious act necessarily requires knowing what one denies. It’s not for nothing that the early Christians held up the Greek philosophers as proto-Christians.

@Jack:  “but to deny oneself as a conscious act necessarily requires knowing what one denies.”  Exactly.  One cannot give up oneself unless one has a self to give up.  Otherwise, people will be like Muslims who are coerced into submission.  Such denial is not meritorious;  it is degrading.  It is not salvific like the obedience of Jesus;  it is punitive like the subservience of a prisoner.

“Lent is not an event. It is not something that happens to us.”
I cautiously agree with this.

“It is at most a microcosm of what turns out to be a lifelong journey to the center of the self.”
If the center of the self were God, she might have an argument. But, God is wholly other. He is not us, and we are not Him. We can abide in Him, and He in us, but there is a very crisp distinction. As it is that statement is recycled 1960’s hippy nonsense.

“The purpose of Lent is to confront us with ourselves in a way that’s conscious and purposeful, that enables us to deal with the rest of life well.”
Erm - no. The purpose of Lent… gosh I have tired head - is that the same as boredom?

So many great lines in this…self evident utruths? Ha! Pathodox…love it!

It is appropriate on occasion to select a choice musing of Sr. Joan and hold it up for everyone to see, in the light of truth.

I compare this to posting a warning sign near a deep dark pit.

Thanks.

What a terrific lineup of comments. Mr Archbold probably had little idea how much thought and reflection his piece would occasion.

RIDER: When someone’s “catholic” writing becomes indistinguishable from the lyrics to a Yes song, maybe it’s time for them to retire. I keep expecting her to starting talking about flying purple wolfhounds.

That’s shining flying purple wolfhounds…yes? Besides, Yes lyrics are much better!

While I agree that the spirit of Sr. Chittester’s “journey to self” is almost certainly a narcissistic one (though only God can really judge that), the fact is that both she and you have misunderstood the issue, in opposite directions. The human being is made in the image and likeness of God. The spirit of a man, where the image of God is always preserved, is dead in sin and transgressions until it is reborn. But when it is reborn in God’s Spirit through Baptism, it is renewed and we can relate to it in a new way. Any Roman Catholic who is even passingly familiar with the great tradition of prayer and the lives/writings of the Saints, should know that the spiritual life is indeed an effort to go deep within one’s self, to trample underfoot the false selves, false emotional constructs, harried thought life, etc., and so find himself - his real self - reborn in God and made in His image. When this is done, he may begin the real work of restoring God’s likeness in himself - i.e., making the outside look like the image of God inside. Indeed, the Fathers of the Church would tell us that a man who does not know himself, examine himself, go deep inside himself (with God’s grace), cannot really even repent, because he doesn’t know where to start. He makes all kinds of false beginnings and undertakes all kinds of futile efforts, because he has not done the preliminary groundwork of understanding himself and mapping out a battle plan, with God’s grace. In the Tradition of the Church, this is what our spiritual fathers/confessors are supposed to help us with. We also have the writings of the ascetical or hesychastic Fathers (like St. John Climachus)to help us in this endeavour.

So, in other words: yes, get to know yourself. Yes, go to the center of yourself. Just don’t be a hippy-dippy liberal, and assume that your conceits and self-flatteries are actually your center. Whenever a liberal or new-ager “goes to the center,” what they always mean is “flattering myself.” “I spent an half-hour walking my prayer labyrinth, thinking about how I could help transgenedered persons gain admittance to the priesthood; I feel realy centered and spiritual, and I’m sure someday soon the Church will validate my very real spiritual experiences.” In reality, it is only through blood and pain, and only in utter fidelity to the Tradition of the Church, that we may come to fulfill the words of Scripture: “And if Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead, because of sin; but the spirit liveth, because of justification.” So, yes, go inside yourself “if Christ be in you;” if He’s there, where else would you rather be? Nothing boring about it! There’s a lot that’s boring about “the center” when liberals do it, but authentic spirituality should not undercut itself in an attempt to distance itself from them.

Hah! I first read that as “three drink minimum” and had to do a double take. Then, when I saw who you were quoting, I thought my misreading was aptly appropriate.

The two paragraphs (by Joan, not by Pat!) are the most sophomoric drivel I’ve seen since I last looked at a Facebook entry.  This poor woman is locked into a NeverNeverLand where she is eternally 16 and the year is forever 1968.

Last Lent I went deep inside myself and discovered my Inner Child Spit-Roasting my Pancreas. This Lent I am reading Carlos Casteneda and trying to make a Lava Lamp using real Lava but I am having trouble finding a reliable shipper.

Father Abbot of Clear Creek once told me, “Ultimately, only God is interesting.”

That about sums it up.

I’m pretty sure Sr. Chittester is the role model for the nun who teaches “Women’s Spirituality” at our high school.  Several of my students told me that all they do is talk about themselves and do projects designed to build their self-esteem.  These same seniors denied ever hearing about natural law, accused me of letting someone else do my thinking for me when I commented I would check the catechism on a certain issue, and told me that the magisterium was just a bunch of old men - this after 7 semesters of Catholic high school.
I wouldn’t at all be surprised to discover that Sr. Chittester is a member of the LCWR.  A few years back their president bragged that some of their members (sisters) have “moved beyond Jesus.”
I am convinced that this nun is dangerous to one’s faith in God.

I do not know Sr.Joan but I can say that in my lifetime it seems that the meanings of Lent,(& other Liturgical seasons) change to the will and mind of the person giving the homily, lesson or writing a published piece.

As a child I was taught Lent is a season ogiving up things like ice cream or fighting w/my sister.  However I ‘ve grown to see, thru my own sinful self, that what I sacrifice in Lent I immediately return to the day after Lent.  So I was never sure if I ever got anywhere with Jesus during Lent.  Now that I am older and have a little God-given wisdom, I try to see what is in myself that needs changing, to go deep into my soul and confront it, to conform my mind and will to that of God forever, not just for Lent.

Therese,

Your post was informative, and I am afraid, predictable. Could it be that it was BECAUSE of 7 semesters of particular kinds of religion classes that they have come to their current state of mind, classes which either ignore or actively undermine the Catholic Faith?

Thank you New Yorker!
    You captured the sense of what it means to be a Roman Catholic Christian during lent. I witness everyday to fallen away Catholics every day! It is about stepping outside oneself, especially during lent, sacrificing for the “niggers” in Haiti, The “slant eyes” in Japan and every other racist bias that exists in the world. We are Roman Catholics and I hope that our contributions to Roman Catholic charities at least doubles during lent because we don’t really have anything else to hang our hat and coat on except the protestant perspective of “by faith are we saved and that is a very frail faith!
    God bless You all during this lenten season,
        kd5dvm
weeks98

God shows some of us places in our own hearts that need weeding and clearing. Places where there are - not serious sins, necessarily - but where there are troublesome habits and unwholesome inclinations that need to be firmly rooted out: smallish instances of thoughtless selfishness, of an undercurrent of pride, of laxity, a spirit of lukewarmness, a reflexive scornfulness toward our neighbor, perhaps. These inclinations, if not dealt with, may become more serious later on, and dealing with them now is important in order that we may no longer be poor and stony soil, but that we may instead become good soil in which His word may take root and yield a hundredfold.

It would be so much easier for us if the good God would effect the necessary transformation for us, without our cooperation or awareness - if He would transform us while we sleep, so to speak. But, it appears, with some souls, God in His mercy and wisdom does require of us that we lay hold of the pitchfork and the spade, and undertake to labor in the gardens of our own hearts by the sweat of our brow, always, of course, with fidelity to the Magesterium of the Church, with the counsel of a wise and holy director, with prayer, and with the sacraments. And this process does require and foster self-knowledge, and an increasingly intimate knowledge of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Perhaps it might be said that, for some of us, we seek to acquire self-knowledge in light of the knowledge of God so as to more closely unite ourselves with Him.

The good God may not deal in this way with every soul, but I believe He has dealt in this way with some of the saints such as Saint Catherine of Siena. And He seems to do so with some sinners, like me, as well.

I appreciate everyone who has tried to read Sr. Joan’s comments in the most generous way possible.  I do.  But I think that her comments are only defensible in the way that a fake psychic’s comments are defensible.  As in they are so silly and so vague that you twist them to mean what ever you hope them to mean.

In my opinion, Sr. Joan’s history does not warrant such a generous reading.

I’ve been pondering this matter. It seems to me there are at least two forms of self-knowledge: the self-focused kind that finds onself infinitely fascinating, and the God-focused kind, that seeks to place oneself in a correct relationship to the Lord.

Although some Catholics belittle counseling, it can be a valuable tool for the latter, especially if the therapist is Catholic, or respectful of the Faith. Same with other means of self-exploration.

I would go so far as to say that sanctity is not possible without profound self-knowledge, for what is God-centered self-awareness but humility?

We’re a family of converts and we love Lent ~ self denials and all.  With our dinners, we pray, “Please take this little sacrifice of no desserts and our humiliation at how difficult it is (some kind of navel-gazing) and let it be a prayer for someone with no dinner at all tonight.”  We already know what’s worth dying for ; doesn’t she?  It is so too penitential, and the Church has the graces and sacraments to build us back up, in the name and love of Jesus ~ Praise Him.

Ha! April Fools? Can’t believe anything with the 4-1 date posted. Cannot have it both ways, NCR.

So, after reading this quote from Sister Joan, can we now break another of your rules and have more than three drinks?

Terrye posed the question: “what is God-centered self-awareness but humility?”

Beautifully said. Or to put it in another way, what is humility but self-awareness, always illuminated by the creature’s awareness of the glory and majesty of the Creator?

“pantsuit pantheists”

Priceless!

I find it difficult, Pat, to understand your reaction to Sr. Joan’s remarks and also the flood of approvals your piece unleashed.
You said, ‘I do not intend to critique Sr. Joan’s statement, per se, as we hold certain untruths to be self evident.’ Surely a biased statement. It would have been much less boring if you had given us a critique.
What did Sr. Joan say? Her opening statement ...It is at most a microcosm of what turns out to be a lifelong journey to the center of the self…. is certainly off-putting. But she goes on to explain what she means in three or four short sentences.
1. Lent, she said is ‘a growing season’. A season when we grow as persons, as she makes clear in her next statement…
2. ‘It requires us to determine what is worth dying for in our own lives..’ I fail to understand how anyone could quarrel with this as a programme for Lent. Isn’t the erosion of values, even in the ‘Church’, a cause of anxiety for all of us from Pope Benedict down? 
3’....and what it may be necessary for us to become if we really want to live’. This is the perpetual challenge made by Christ, who said he had come that we may have life and have it more abundantly.
Surely, Pat, you have been unfair to Joan.You took her opening sentence and proceeded to lampoon it with jingoism, completely ignoring her explanation. Frankly, I would expect more from a co-founder of a “Creative” Minority Report.

To Mr. Cushnan:

My general difficulty with writers such as Sr Joan is that she has little specifically Catholic to offer. What she writes could be - and is - regularly churned out by liberal Protestants, and to some extent, by devotees of spiritual luminaries such as Krishnamurti. Much as I respect his thought,  I would hesitate to read him on the subject of Lent. But allow me to respond more specifically to your three points:

1. Aren’t ALL seasons of life “growing seasons” (whatever that means)? How is Lent any different?
2. Isn’t every Mass an invitation to consider what is worth living and dying for? Also, a consideration of that question is relevant to all world religions, so what is Catholic about this? The local rabbi could do as well (and probably better).
3. More platitudes.

My problem with Sr Joan is that she still maintains an affiliation with the RC Church, but regularly dissents, and writes in a manner that is either more consistent with either the mainline liberal Protestant seminaries or Theosophy. She could hardly do better than joining the Episcopalians where should could be ordained (but she would have to give up grousing about alleged discrimination - a mighty sacrifice), and would find abortion an option for women that is uncontested. She would doubtless be offered a major professorial chair in one of their seminaries. What is she waiting for? She would find peace and community there, in a fuller way than she experiences at present.

On with the dance!

I couldn’t agree more with most of what you have written, Virgil. I have not been able to read a lot of Sr. Joan’s work and so cannot comment on your last paragaph. But I wholeheartedly agree with your criticism of purveyors of pop psychololgy in the name of religious instruction. However I don’t see any harm in integrating some of the insights of modern psychology into our catechesis. It is true that at every Mass we are confronted with life’s choices. But Lent is a good time to renew this commitment to a deepening of our faith. While we need not agree with all that Sr. Joan says and writes, it is surely unfair to rubbish everything she says.

It reminds me of a retreat they gave us in college, where the spiritual leader in charge sat us in a circle of chairs and had us do a meditation on our hands.  It was the boringest meditation ever.