St. John of the Cross gives three signs for discerning whether God is in fact leading someone into the dark night towards contemplation.
According to the work called "The Dark Night", these 3 signs are:
1. These people do not get consolation or satisfaction from the things of God, nor do they get anything out of anything else.
2. The person wants to pray but cannot. There is a painful sense of not serving God and turning back because of this distaste for the things of God. This dryness does not come from laxity for a lukewarm person does not care much for the things of God.
3. The 3rd sign for the discernment of this night of the senses is the powerlessness, in spite of one's efforts, to meditate and make use of the imagination, as was one's previous custom.
God come as darkness and dryness and the divine presence is more commonly experienced as absence. so consolations become a thing of the past and there is a pervasive sense of dryness in prayer and in daily life. The reason for this is that God is beginning to change my motivation. when we have no satisfaction in prayer, we are still asked to be faithful to prayer and when there is no more satisfaction in our good deeds, we are asked to continue doing them.
FOR REFLECTION:
1. Are you experiencing darkness or dryness usually when you pray?
2. If you answer to number 1 is yes, you must check your spiritual pulse: Are you praying regularly? In your prayer do you try to listen to God? Are you holding on to some sin? Are you holding on to some attachment of which you know you are being called to let go? Put right whatever you feel is wrong.
3. If your dryness and darkness persists when you pray after you have tried your best to let go of anything that may be impeding your relationship with God, just wait patiently in the darkness
Carmelite spirituality is so rick
ReplyDeleterich
Delete