The Illuminative Way

By Fr Ian 

This is the third of four articles on the three main stages of Christian spiritual life, as understood in the tradition of Catholic spiritual theology

‘The second duty of man is to apply his energies chiefly to advance in virtue; this belongs to those who are making progress and who are principally concerned that charity may be increased and strengthened in them.’ [1]

Jesus said: ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life’ (Jn 8:12). Pride, greed, lust, the will to power, or any kind of sinful, self-serving desire clouds our spiritual vision. If we allow appetites like these to take root and dominate our heart and conscience we become spiritually blind (Mk 7:21-23). Similarly, the tendency that some people have to to rationalise and deceive themselves about the essential virtuousness of their motives is another form of clouded spiritual vision.

The Purgative Way

By Fr Ian

This is the second of four articles on the three main stages of Christian spiritual life, as understood in the tradition of Catholic spiritual theology 

‘The first duty which is incumbent on man is to give up sin and resist concupiscence, which are opposed to charity; this belongs to beginners, in whose hearts charity is to be nursed and cherished lest it be corrupted.’ [1]

The initial phase of Christian spiritual growth is the period of consciously and deliberately dying to sin and self. It’s a process of eliminating sinful tendencies and moderating our attachment to various pleasures, which aren’t necessarily sinful in themselves, but which easily lead to self-indulgence and obstruct our ultimate goal of living in a close communion of love with God. (Our natural attraction to pleasure, which can over-ride the demands of love and our moral duties towards others, is what the Christian spiritual tradition calls ‘concupiscence’).

Conversion: awakening to God, awakening to love

by Fr Ian 

This is the first of four articles on the three main stages of Christian spiritual life, as understood in the tradition of Catholic spiritual theology   

 

Preaching of St John the Baptist by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494)

Metanoia, repentance, conversion

Christian spiritual life begins with what Jesus and the gospel writers called metanoia, a Greek noun usually translated into English as repentance or conversion. They also frequently used the verb metanoein, ‘to repent’.