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Features, General, Homilies, Jubilee, Soul Food, Updates and Activities, Vocation

“For men, this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Homily delivered by Fr. Adrian Danker, SJ on the occasion of Sr Christine Lam’s Perpetual Vows and the 25th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Cenacle Mission in Singapore “For men, this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) These words make so much sense as we gather this morning. We hear in Jesus’s words the wondrous love of God labouring in our lives to make possible the impossible. And we do believe what we hear. Thanks be to God! God who makes possible the dreams of old men come alive and true. Makes possible the visions of young men taking on flesh and form in the world. Make possible the prophecies of our sons and daughters embodied in words we hear and deeds we experience. These are not words of Scripture to hear and know. Today, we witness the truth of these words in Sr Kris making her perpetual vows and the Cenacle mission celebrating 25 years in Singapore. Truly these express God’s good, faithful and generous labour bearing fruit. Individually and together, these two celebrations are the one story of God making possible the impossible. We gather to witness this. We give thanks and celebrate with you, dear Sisters. More than this, we are here to pray that God “who gas began this good work in you may bring it to fulfilment before the day of Christ Jesus.” A perpetual profession Sr Kris makes. This 25th anniversary the Sisters of the Cenacle celebrate. These are not just outcomes of formation and mission. Rather, they are milestones in God’s long walk with each of these good, generous, and holy women. God has set them apart for us and the Church. Their work is not done yet. It continues for the promise of God’s glory is still unfolding through their loving words, their generous hands, and their big-hearted lives offered for everyone. Today God makes possible Sr Kris’s perpetual vows. God has prepared her for this over many years of formation. It began when she encountered God in a Cenacle retreat in Chiangmai many years ago. This is how, you, Sr Kris, described this encounter in your vocation story: “God met me in my brokenness, healed me and drew me into the life and community of the Cenacle.” You added: “My vocation is a response to the healing love and gentle touch of God, and because of personally meeting Jesus, I desire to give myself fully to his mission: to go and tell everyone this is Good News.” Sr Kris, we marvel how God has taken the hope-filled desire of a young woman and today brings it to fruition as you make your perpetual vows. How good God is to you! But Sr Kris can only do this because of the greater good God has made possible – the establishment and unfolding of the Cenacle mission in Singapore. Her story is woven into the richer, larger and more colourful tapestry of the Cenacle presence here. It began humbly 25 years ago when two Cenacle Sisters joined 2 Jesuits to begin spiritual direction training at the Singapore Pastoral Institute. On 2 July 1997, the then Regional Superior of the Cenacle Sisters established the first Cenacle community in Singapore. Today that superior, Sr Linda, with Sr Mel serve us so selflessly and so well. Many Sisters came and went, everyone of them serving so generously to build the Mission. Over the years, God has even made possible 3 Singaporean vocations – Sr Fran, Sr Xiaowei and Sr Kris. The works of the Cenacle today are varied and rich, all of them focussed on the care and salvation of the souls in the Ignatian tradition. How could God have made all this possible? Peter’s example in today’s Gospel passage helps us understand. He, with the other disciples, have given up everything to follow Jesus. “What will there be for us?” He asks Jesus. No one follows Jesus without first encountering him, then surrendering all to follow, and as they follow, to find themselves challenged repeatedly to ask – in the most human, humbled and graced manner – “What will there be?” This is the necessary question facing every disciple. It demands more listening, more surrendering, more trust, even more faith, especially, when the possible no longer seems possible. Such must have been your journey, Sr Kris as you yearned to make these perpetual vows. Such must also have been the trials and tensions of the Cenacle Sisters as they began and grew in Singapore. Sheltered at their first home with the Good Shepherd Sisters at Marymount. Then, sharing space with the Daughters of St Paul at Jurong West. Now at their new home at Jalan Angin Laut in the East. What helped? Not what but who – God. Paul writing to the Philippians reminds us of this. In choosing Christ, Paul proclaimed the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus as Lord; everything else pales in comparison. And they should because to know Christ Jesus is to know that has made us his own, This truth helps Paul to press on because God alone was perfecting him for mission. You and I are called to let Jesus do the same for us. Do we? Will we? Sr Kris and the Cenacle Sisters heard and still hear this same invitation from Jesus. It moved them to say “yes, Lord!” I believe they did then and do now to know Jesus more intimately, love him more intensely and follow him more closely. Their “yes” makes possible today’s celebrations. This is why Sr Kris writes, “This passage describes my formation and growth journey. Difficult as it may have been, like all religious communities and life, there were abundant graces…At the start of my juniorate, I begged the Lord to show me that his grace is ever present.” The grace Sr Kris asked for is the same grace her Sisters echo, I believe. Not for themselves but for everyone they serve. After all, isn’t

General, Homilies, Jubilee, Soul Food

Sr. Mari’s Jubilee

Homily delivered by Fr. Roger Champoux, SJ on the occasion of Sr Mari’s Golden Jubilee Celebration It seems to be the Jubilee Season! I got curious and tried to find out about this word “jubilee” when we “jubilate” and celebrate.  When did we learn to “jubilate”? The term comes from Hebrew and refers to the horn of a ram, which was used like a trumpet to mark important Jewish celebrations. And if you are also curious, you will find the word “jubilee” in the Book of Leviticus (chapter 25), yes, Leviticus, not the most interesting book of the Bible! The Jubilee was actually an amazing invention of Israel. It was first of all related to creation: it came after “seven times seven years,” which makes 49 years, something like the fullness of time. It was meant as a feast for the people, especially the poor. The people were to blow the trumpet in the whole country on that Day of the Great Forgiveness and proclaim “liberation for all the inhabitants.” They were to recall not only the gift of Creation but also the liberation from slavery in Egypt and do various things to restore peace and justice in their Land. This is what Jesus is alluding to during his opening SONA in the Temple of Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (the Spirit of Creation and Re-Creation evidently), he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, (…) to proclaim a year of favor (grace) from the Lord.” This is the Jubilee Year, the Good News, the Year of Grace and Freedom, the time of the Kingdom… Even if in reality, that famous “Jubilee Year” may not have been really celebrated as it was intended, it is important to remember that it was a reminder not only of the gift of Creation but also of the gift of freedom granted by Yahweh to His people—freedom from oppression, from poverty, from injustice, from all forms of evil. It is a celebration of God’s active presence in the life of His people and a reminder that we have to live accordingly, in gratitude and in service. And this liberation, from Egypt and slavery, brought along the gift of the Promised Land. The Jubilee brings with it a grandiose vision of God’s Love for us and of his Dream for us. How far are we from Sr. Mari’s Jubilee? Her jubilee, all our silver and gold and platinum and sometimes diamond jubilees, are small and simple, but they belong to a much bigger story, the presence of God in our lives and history. And today, we honor the gift of Mary, a simple girl in her family and culture but a great gift for us and for our human family. It is her birthday today: one more child born into the world… simple and poor and unknown… But she was to have a major role in God’s dream for us: to let him be even more the “Emmanuel,” the God with us, the God like us who spoke our human language. Every little jubilee re-opens our minds not only to our own stories, simple as they are, but to the presence and action of a loving God who is always finding ways to bring us to Him and to one another. It happened to Mary, it happened to Mari, it happens to each of us. Each one of us has a little part to play in this Great Drama of Holy History, and we “jubilate” with gratitude when we remember this. So our jubilees belong to a much bigger story, from the gift of creation to the gift of Jesus and the Kingdom, and of course, of his Mother, our Mother too. No wonder we “jubilate” in a Jubilee: we remember, and we are filled with gratitude. And we renew our desire to be of the Great Dream of God for each ad everyone of us.   Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roger Champoux SJ Cenacle Retreat House 8 Sep 2022  

Features, General, Homilies, Jubilee, Soul Food

Filomena

Homily delivered by Fr. Jett Villarin, SJ on the occasion of Sr Meny’s Golden Jubilee Celebration I do not know if Meny entered the Cenacle 50 years ago in mini skirt. Minis were in vogue back then. What I heard though was Sr Angie, her novice mistress, chiding her (gently I can imagine) if she could please lengthen her skirt a few more inches. Can you imagine Meny in a mini?  When I first met her, it was in the college chapel, early 80s. I do not remember what she was wearing (wala na yung mini skirt) but something about her exuded feminine elegance. Ay madre, sabi ko sa loob. Madre pala. As the colegiala Bubbles would realize some years later, may ganoon palang madre. Walang belo, eleganteng simple, magandang sapatos.  Meny is probably cringing inside now. Meny will be the first person here to insist that she does not want to be the center of attention today. Yes it is her golden jubilee but today also celebrates the queenship of our Lady. Si Maria, hindi sya ang reyna. Meny would rather recede so we can remember to honor Mary the unpretentious mother of our Lord, who wanted nothing more than to be God’s humble servant offering only her fiat of love.  And so honor Mary we shall. Today’s jubilee is also our thanksgiving to Mary mother of our Lord, queen of heaven and earth. We celebrate her queenship that is unlike any other. Quiet, hidden, maternal, vigilant, as it was in the upper room with the disciples, the first cenacle. We give thanks for such a queenship that is not over us but one marked with deep faith, unassuming service, loving devotion. Mary’s queenship inspires us to offer our own fiat of love. Like mother, like child. Like Mary, like sisters of the Cenacle. Like Mary, like Meny.  And like Meny, we will move off-center. After all, we are not the center of our lives. We will heed her when she tells us, please look, look instead at the One I love. Look to the One who has loved me all these years. Look at the One to whom I have promised all of my life. Turn your heart to the One who has my heart.  This is not to say we are not in Meny’s heart. All of us here today know that we are in hers as she is in ours. Meny will be the first to confess that one of her most cherished gifts in life is our friendship with her. The love of friends, she says, is love that is free. There is no coercion in the giving or receiving, no quid pro quo or entitled exchange when friends love.  Look to the One who has loved me all these years.  The love of Christ has meant all the world to Meny. Her name is Filomena, rooted perhaps in the Greek philoumene, “the loved one”, “beloved”. Beloved of us, beloved of Christ, Meny would dearly want us to believe that this too is our name. We are beloved of each other. We too are God’s beloved. And so, however long it might take us, we will let the love of Christ mean all the world to us.  Look at the One I love, the One to whom I have promised all of my life.  Surely, promising her love has not been without loss or sorrow. Some of us here have been privileged to have caught some of her tears. And yet here she stands, for all her worries and feelings of inadequacy. Despite her anxious and nerviosa self, still she risks her love in return for love. Today once more she professes: here but for the grace of God I am, for the One I love. I am here only because of Him who has my heart.  And so turn we shall to the One who has Meny’s heart. Then might we realize we are here only by the grace of God. Then might we confess how we lose our way, walking the darkness were it not for the light of our Lord. Gladly, generously by the grace of God we live. Faithfully, forever but for the grace of God we love.  In the Gospel today, we hear once more Mary’s fiat of love: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”  After all these years, what has God done to you, Meny? Ano ang ginawa ng Diyos sa iyo, Meny?  Knowing her, most probably she would say, of all the things he has done to me, the only thing that matters really is that he has loved me.  Thank you Meny. Gratefully but for the grace of God, we will turn to the One who has your heart.  Queenship of Mary Jose Ramon T VIllarin SJ Pentecost Church 22 Aug 2022   

General, Homilies, Jubilee, Soul Food

“Stay CALM… and know He is God!”

  What a perfect gospel story as we come together today. Even ever-composed Mary panics and gets anxious as Jesus is not found “with the group/caravan.” 3 days of search, must have been unnerving. But Jesus is calm, oblivious even, at His parents’ anxiety. “Why the worry, didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” And for today, as we gather, amidst so much uncertainty and doubt and fear around, maybe to tell us, “why the worry, I am here, before the Father – for you! If only… you learn to settle down and trust.” So, Sr Susay, as we celebrate this milestone with you, in this time so uncertain, as you move to an unfamiliar new assignment, I’d say, be like Jesus, our model and goal, stay CALM!!! Stay Consistent, Appreciative, Loving, Merciful. C-A-L-M. C – Stay Consistent As you look back to a vocation journey so mysterious, so difficult to explain yet so beautiful, a story with different twists and turns – we are here primarily because of God’s faithfulness beyond our own. And so, the only return we can offer is also to try to live a life of fidelity and consistency to and with Him. Far from perfect yet what we offer, we offer wholeheartedly. Holding close to heart always that which is beautiful, steady – God’s very presence Himself. We are able to live faithfully, consistently when we fix our gaze upon Him and Him alone. Then everything else becomes relative. A- Stay Appreciative In a world that has become more and more toxic, frustrating – there is always the temptation to give in to the negativity, suck life out of people, complain about almost everything. But not in our vocation. We are always invited to bear witness to the joy of faith, the joy of our believing. Our faith is a joyful faith, after all we are children of Easter morn. It is a joy that emanates from grateful hearts, appreciative hearts. And when we begin to see the world with eyes of gratitude, we begin to forge hearts of hope, hopeful hearts – because we can claim nothing as our own – our achievements, our gifts as much as our shadows, everything become but possibilities… because of love. And in gratitude, we go forth, trusting! L – Stay Loving Ster, please don’t lose that gentle heart of yours – always ready to respond, to care, to risk. Eternally grateful I am for your assistance and support those years at APS. How, in your simple ways, you have accompanied students struggling, lost, tired, how you accompanied us. I am sure you will be missed. (teka, alam na ba nila hehe). Yet, isn’t our vocation precisely rooted in love – being loved first of all by the great lover Himself who brought us all here. Undeserved but lovingly conceded to us, for us.. inviting us. And this is the loving we are called to, our keeping others from shattering. Our loving is hopefully to be that pillar of hope and faith for our hurting world today. To allow ourselves to be that presence that keeps others from crumbling, from feeling lost when all else have become so dark and cold and lonely. M – Be Merciful Mercy is the bedrock of our faith. It is what allows us a glimpse of the Divine. We are here today, Sister, witnessing the very mercy of God. Beyond our woundedness, our personal dramas, here we are… And so we are gently invited to allow our hearts that mercy too. That we mirror in our lives the compassion who is Jesus. Our commitments, our yeses, define the persons we become and are. Imperfect, struggling, yet confident in the love and mercy of this God of ours who invites us to His ministry of loving and keeping His people steady, hopeful and true. Sister, yes, be merciful to others but, knowing you, I pray more especially, be merciful, gentler and kinder to yourself. Sr Susay, as you renew your vows, know we are here with & for you. May our united yes to God’s invitation fuel us to a more inspired ministry & mission! And during those dark moments of disappointments & doubt, just remember, ‘ter – “Stay CALM… and know He is God!” In this mass, we pray. May our gathering this morning be a gathering of love, of hope. May we pray for the gift of fidelity in and for our mission that together, we be God’s very heart in today’s daunting times. Amen. Homily of Fr. IJ  Chan-Gonzaga, SJ  on the thanksgiving celebration of 25 years in Religious Life for Sr. Susay Valdez, RC at  Our Lady of Pentecost Parish | 25 June 2022

Jubilee, Soul Food

Road Retreat: A Pilgrimage of the Heart

TRUST At the start of the retreat, we were asked about our expectations. I said that I had no expectations.  I did, however, have a lot of fears and anxiety.  I feared that I was not equipped enough for the trip. I was worried it would rain. I was getting calls left and right about work and I was worried that things would fall apart while I was away.  I was worried about the cold and that I might be miserable during this trip. I wondered how I (and the others) could find the quite to be with God when the road ahead was no walk in the park.   As we gathered at the foot of a mountain to start the trek, we were asked to beg God for these 3 graces: (a) the openness to accept whatever God wants us to experience, (b) the generosity to give of ourselves, and (c) the courage to place ourselves in God’s hand completely.   What was expected to be a 4 hour trek turned out to be a 6 and a half hour trek (about 18 kilometers of walking to the base camp)! It was uphill most of the way.   At the beginning of the trek, I felt the weight of my pack and shortness of breath. I started bracing myself for the long and arduous road ahead.  Sometime into the trek, I felt myself letting go. I told myself that if I did not have what I thought I needed, God would provide it.  God would protect my from harm. Later on, I realized that my initial impression that this trek would not allow me the silence I needed to hear God was wrong. This trek became the best type of activity to make me predisposed to God because here, in the middle of nowhere, I had no option  but to let go and trust God completely.   Along the way, I found the silence I needed to feel God. In this silence, I found a lightness in being and strength to move on. I was even conscious enough to help others and to observe nature. I also noticed how the 10 guides we had were generous in helping many of us.  They would carry the packs of those who found themselves unable to carry their load, hold the hands of those who were scared, assist those who needed to walk though a difficult area, lovingly prepare our food (they even made the simple food look good by arranging  it so beautifully and artfully) and they would cater to everyone’s needs with smiles and open hearts.   We arrived at the base camp at about 5:00pm. We were tired but everyone was in high spirits. Proof of this was the noise at camp.  I was annoyed at the noise at first, but looking back, I realized it was the sound of joy, delight and triumph at being alive.   During our first sharing of the experience trekking to the base camp, I found myself listening to the general sentiment of the group, which I found was my sentiment as well.  There was a collective realization that we were weak.  There was a collective experience of being in the presence of God and surrendering ourselves to Him.  There was a collective appreciation for the generous spirit of the guides who were helping us.  There was a collective and deep realization that we carry too much unnecessary baggage with us and we need to let go of it. It was impossible not to know that God was there with us.   On the second day of the retreat, we were asked to find God in nature by focusing on 1 or 2 things around us. I focused on these tiny white flowers, which grow about an inch off the ground and are often times covered by the blades of the grass. I actually did not notice them at first because they were so small and insignificant. I realized and I had been stepping on them. I thought about God and how he is the God of small things like me. I am like that little flower – fragile, insignificant and easily stepped on. Despite how small I am, God still created me and made me beautiful in His eyes.   Towards the end of the second day, we were asked to contemplate on what we could let go off to be closer to God. With great fear and with my heart beating strongly in my chest, I prayed for the courage and strength to be able to offer everything to God even my children who are most important to me that I may find myself more and more in the hands of God. I had never cried so much in my life because I was so terrified of saying this prayer.   In the end, what I kept was the hope that even if I offer everything to God, He will provide me with what I need. It is at this point that I felt, for once, that I had completely entrusted myself to God.”   ~ Shared by a retreatant       SUNSET What must I let go in order to prepare myself to receive God’s grace? That was a gloomy afternoon, extremely cold weather and cloudy skies affected my concentration. It was really hard for me to think of what I must let go. If God’s grace is for all of us, why I am so afraid of what tomorrow brings? Why do I deny my gaffes? I asked myself, where is your trust in Him Glenn? Spontaneously, I recalled all the wrong decisions I’ have made, my bad habits and the sins I constantly committed. I realized that I have a big FEARS – fear of dying & fear of not being accepted. Fear is the reason why I always consider what other people might say. Suddenly, I noticed my tears were falling. In my mind,

General, Homilies, Jubilee, Soul Food

When Jesus sees the depths our heart

Homily by Fr. Ritchie Genilo, SJ, on the Thursday before Epiphany, at the Cenacle Retreat House, Quezon City. The Gospel is from John 1 :43-51. In our gospel reading we read about how Nathanael became one of the apostles of Jesus. Many scholars believe that the apostle Bartholomew that we read in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, is the same person as the apostle Nathanael that we read today in the gospel of John. In our gospel story, Philip, a friend of Nathanael, had been called by Jesus to follow him as an apostle. Philip was so excited about meeting Jesus that he went to tell his friend Nathanael that he has found the long awaited Messiah. What was the reaction of Nathanael to the news of Philip? Nathanael said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Why was this the reaction of Nathanael? There was nothing in the Old Testament which foretold that God’s Chosen One should come from Nazareth.  Nazareth was an ordinary town.  Nathanael himself came from another town in Galilee, which was Cana. In those days, there would be rivalries between towns. Nathanael’s reaction was to declare that Nazareth was not the kind of place that will produce anything good. Nathanael was putting down Jesus because of his bias against the town of Nazareth. But Philip did not argue with Nathanael about his bias. Philip simply said to Nathanael.  “Come and see!” So Nathanael came; and when Jesus saw him, Jesus saw into his heart. Jesus recognized in Nathanael a simplicity and innocence that will make him a good apostle. Even if Nathanael had a bias against Nazareth, Jesus praised Nathanael by calling him a genuine Israelite, a man in whose heart there is no guile. Jesus. Nathanael was surprised that a person like Jesus who came from Nazareth could praise him like that even if it was the first time they met. Nathanael asked how Jesus could possibly know him.  Jesus told him that he had already seen him under the fig-tree.  What is the significance of that? The fig-tree was leafy and shady tree and it was the custom to sit and meditate under its branches.  Probably was what Nathanael had been doing; and no doubt as he sat under the fig-tree he had prayed for the day when God’s Chosen One should come.  No doubt he had been meditating on the promises of God. And now he felt that Jesus had seen into the very depths of his heart. It was not so much that Jesus had seen him under the fig-tree that surprised Nathanael; it was the fact that Jesus had read the thoughts of his inmost heart.  Nathanael said to himself: “Here is the man who understands my dreams!  Here is the man who knows my prayers!  Here is the man who has seen into my most intimate and secret longings, longings which I have never even dared put into words!  Here is the man who can understand my soul!  This must be God’s promised anointed one and no other.”  Nathanael immediately believed in Jesus because Jesus was the only one who could read, understand and satisfy his heart. What can we learn about the story of the call of Nathanael or St. Bartholomew? First, we should not be ashamed or embarrassed to tell our friends about Jesus. In the same way that Philip became the instrument for Nathanael to come and see Jesus we should also be ready to share Jesus with the people who are close to us. Sharing Jesus with the people we care about is the best gift we can give to our friends. Second, we are challenged to go beyond our prejudices and biases against other people and try to see Christ also present in people who are different from us. We should also be ready to recognize the goodness present in other people even if these people are against us. Jesus recognized the goodness of Nathanael despite the biases he had against Nazareth. And Nathanael allowed Jesus to break through his pride and his prejudices and opened himself to the Good News that Jesus brings. Lastly, we should always turn to Jesus as the only one who can read, understand and satisfy our hearts. Jesus understands our dreams and hopes, our sadness and fears, and the deepest desires of our hearts. It is only in Jesus can our souls find rest and true happiness. At the end of the gospel, Jesus quotes the old story of Jacob at Bethel who had seen the golden ladder leading up to heaven (Gen.28:12-13). It was as if Jesus said: “Nathanael, I can do far more than read your heart.  I can be for you and for all persons the way, the ladder that leads to heaven.”  It is through Jesus and Jesus alone that our souls can mount the ladder which leads to heaven. May we be inspired by the story of Nathanael or St. Bartholomew, that we have a friend in Jesus who can truly see and understand our souls and lead us to our heavenly home. Image from the internet.

Homilies, Jubilee, Soul Food

Self-awareness and Conversion

LAUNCH OF THE 50TH YEAR CELEBRATION OF THE CENACLE IN THE PHILIPPINES September 25, 2015: Sunday Cenacle Chapel, Quezon City HOMILY Fr. Edmundo Martinez Today the Cenacle launches its year-long celebration marking its 50 years in the Philippines. They were all young, then, the first batch of five sisters, when they set up house here in Nicanor Reyes. And so was I who helped them with odds and ends like setting up their temporary extension phones. And now, fifty years after, for the original five, youth is gone; old age has set in. And yet, while the age of youth may be gone, the enthusiasm, anticipation, and joy of youth remain—but this time in a deeper, more sober, and wiser way. How can one say this? Because it is impossible to remain committed to the work of the Cenacle for 50 years unless there is the enthusiasm of moving forward, the anticipation of success, the joy of knowing that what one has done and continuous to do are worthwhile, meaningful, and fulfilling. For these seem to be an unmistakable sign of God’s work: life and joy. One is reminded of the priest’s opening words in the old latin mass: “Introibo ad altare Dei; ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam:” I will enter into the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth.” For what is the work of the Cenacle that is the work of God? It is to lead others to God, that they may find Him in their lives, in themselves, in their families, in their communities—not once, not occasionally, but habitually, in a continuing, incrementally pervading manner. And this is a task that requires such great discernment that it would be impossible unless it is done in, and with the Holy Spirit. Let us look more closely at what is involved in the Cenacle’s work. All men seek God, and all religions are an institutionalization of that seeking for God. But it is only in the Christian faith that that unknown, transcendend, fearful, utterly-other God has found a face: it is the face of the man, Jesus. And it is only in the Christian faith that the way to God is clearly marked: it is the way shown by Jesus, the way taken by Jesus himself—the way of the cross. How does one, in this age when no person or institution is held sacrosanct or infallible, lead another to Jesus, hung upon a cross? The answer is the selfsame answer for which the gospel is preached, for which the Church labors, for which every religious congregation exists: conversion. And while we commonly talk of the conversion of the “human heart”, in fact, the critical issue is the conversion of the human spirit. For the objective in the conversion is not in the eradication of poverty, or the fight for justice, or the imposition of law and order. The objective of conversion is that which is the cause of all these evils in human society and in ourselves. It is the healing of the diseased spirit of man that is the cause of all these irrational, deceitful, and destructive palpitations of the human heart. To paraphrase the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman: God is spirit, and those who seek him must seek him in spirit and truth. Or more pointedly, to the learned Nicodemus: “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” In our time and age, with all our advances in scientific and historical understanding of the world and ourselves, we would transpose the term classical term “spirit” into the more modern term, “spirit-as-experienced”, and identify it with the experience of self-awareness. Anyone who hears what I am saying can be called “aware”, and once one is awake, one is aware. So awareness is something quite familiar. However, awareness of self or self-awareness is not something as familiar. We are all, of course, self-aware. Even as I am aware of talking to you now, I am simultaneously aware, looking at your faces, that you are asking yourselves questions. Now that “I” that is aware of myself talking, and aware of myself as aware of your questioning, is me as self-aware, as spirit. I realize that all this may be confusing stuff, and professional philosophers do continually struggle and debate about it. Although the philosophical explicitation of it may be difficult, the reality is simple enough. When I blow my top and later say, ”I forgot myself,” what I am really saying is that I, even as I was blowing my top, I was ignoring the demands of my self-awareness to control myself. When I live a lavish ostentatious life, and later feel shamed because so many live with so little, what I am really feeling is that even as I was living such a self-centered life, I was refusing the insistence of my self-awareness to change my ways. Self-awareness is the locus of our self-responsibility. It is that from which defilement comes, as Jesus said. It is that on which the law of the Lord is written. It is also that from which springs what true love we are capable of; that in us which longs for God as the deer longs for running water; that which is the image of God in us. Self-awareness is who we are. When then I mentioned that the work of the Cenacle requires great discernment and that it would be impossible unless it is done in, and with the Holy Spirit, it is of these matters that I speak. Out of the welter of all the conflicting, compounding, confusing matters that make up a person’s life, the focus of the Cenacle work is the inner person, the self., To draw out that inner person from the morass and confusion of a troubled life, to guide another to discover his or her inner person

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