How is it that we can trust a spiritual guide as being “like an angel,” as being a messenger of God? Even more, what allows this person to be in such a place that St. Francis tells not to look to the spiritual guide but “look to God”?
What does the importance of having a spiritual guide tell us about the importance of our faith not being a “private religion”?
Why is it important to be humbly obedient to your spirtual guide?
SrSusan (guest): Does everyone here have a spiritual guide
Feb 21 2016, 7:25 PM
Dawn L: No, I do not. not formally
Feb 21 2016, 7:25 PM
Lisa C: I think we can trust a spiritual guide as being a messenger of God, because if he/she is a real spiritual guide he was sent to us by God.
Feb 21 2016, 7:25 PM
Michelle P Olivier: Yes, I have a Spiritual Director
Feb 21 2016, 7:25 PM
SrSusan (guest): I don’t for the past 2 years or so
6 PM
SrSusan (guest): I agree Lisa, sent by God
Feb 21 2016, 7:26 PM
Lisa C: So I guess they are also apostles
Feb 21 2016, 7:26 PM
SrSusan (guest): My first director was a Jesuit when I was discerning my vocation
Feb 21 2016, 7:26 PM
Judy K: Yes, I have just found a wonderful director.
Feb 21 2016, 7:27 PM
Dawn L: I have found spiritual direction can come through different people at different times. but dicerning the spirit very important, so can go along a path one should avoid
Feb 21 2016, 7:27 PM
SrSusan (guest): That is a blessing!
27 PM
Dawn L: that is wonderful Judy. 8 PM
Michelle P Olivier: The Director is tuned into what we are saying and discerns with us the situations we share and helps us discern God’s Will in these situations
Feb 21 2016, 7:28 PM
Dawn L: I have failed to pray for a spiritual director as StF directs us to
8 PM
Judy K: Because he was sent to given to us by God for our spiritual growth and well being, we can trust him as being “like an angel.” God is present in the director and we look to God to speak and act through him. , 7:28 PM
Lisa C: I think praying for one is the only way to find a real one
Feb 21 2016, 7:29 PM
Michelle P Olivier: We need to be honest with our Director / guide and that sometimes takes humility
Feb 21 2016, 7:29 PM
Lisa C: If God wants us to have one we should ask God to send one
30 PM
SrSusan (guest): Or someone praying with you as was my case with Sr Aimee
Feb 21 2016, 7:30 PM
Lisa C: Mother, you prayed with me to find mine
Feb 21 2016, 7:30 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes that’s right. So I did with you what Sr Aimeee did for me
PM
Michelle P Olivier: Mother, you said you did not have a director, is that because there is no one in the area?
Feb 21 2016, 7:31 PM
SrSusan (guest): I never would have gotten thru the early stages in religious life without the director
Feb 21 2016, 7:32 PM
SrSusan (guest): No, my director left; I found another and he left so …
32 PM
Lisa C: How did your director help
Feb 21 2016, 7:32 PM
Judy K: Because of our desire for growth in holiness, for spiritual growth, we share with the director our deep thoughts, feelings, actions, strengths and weaknesses, and so it is not a private relgion.
Feb 21 2016, 7:32 PM
Amy Cochran: My director died and now I rely on a personal confessor
Feb 21 2016, 7:33 PM
SrSusan (guest): Hi Amy. He had great insights and also helped when I was overwhelmed
Judy K: It is important for us to have a spiritual guide to help us to evaluate all of these aspects of life and to determine those which are of benefti to our spiritual life and therefore to be kept, and thos which are detrimental and therefore to be eliminated.
Feb 21 2016, 7:34 PM
SrSusan (guest): Even great saints and mystics have directors very often and they help with obedience
7:35 PM
Amy Cochran: I had a hard time with obedience when I had a director; I find now that it takes that communion of trust to be able to accept total obedience
Judy K: Since our faith is not a private religion, but something to be shared with others, a director can assist us in knowing what we should share and with whom.
Feb 21 2016, 7:35 PM
Dawn L: Judy, that is a very simple explanation of how a spiritual director works thank you
Amy Cochran: i know, Judy, like sometimes consolations are meant to be shared and some are not 7:37 PM
SrSusan (guest): Sometimes a director might suggest avenues of assistance like counseling too ot
Dawn L: StF says our director must be filled with charity knowledge and discretion, if any lacking, there is danger
Feb 21 2016, 7:38 PM
SrSusan (guest): I think the Holy Spirit is the true director
Feb 21 2016, 7:38 PM
Amy Cochran: hello Ruth
Michelle P Olivier: Yes, Sister I agree
Ruth (guest): Hello Living Jesus Chat Friends
Feb 21 2016, 7:38 PM
Amy Cochran: I think so, too, Sister. St. Catherine of Siena had a hard time finding a director and Jesus told her He would be her director. She hit the jackpot
Feb 21 2016, 7:39 PM
Judy K: I have had a number of directors through my life, starting in the 8th grade, but none of them ever required obedience of me. Their role is more of a guide than a director. And I think that most of us are looking for a guide rather than a director.
Judy K: Those in religious life owe obedience to their superiors. Do they someone else to whom to be obedient?
SrSusan (guest): Good question
Feb 21 2016, 7:40 PM
Lisa C: Jesus told St. Margaret Mary to be obedient to her superior even when it interfered with what He wanted her to do
16, 7:41 PM
Lisa C: He knew it would work out
Amy Cochran: you are right, Lisa. That’s how Jesus views obedience, I guess
Feb 21 2016, 7:41 PM
SrSusan (guest): I think the guide also turns to the Holy Spirit as the “main director” and does not assume control over a person’s soul
2 PM
Michelle P Olivier: Thank you
Feb 21 2016, 7:42 PM
Amy Cochran: But Jesus was obedient unto death, even when He begged His father to take the cup away
43 PM
Amy Cochran: i think a director helps you discern God’s Will, which we all struggle with
Feb 21 2016, 7:43 PM
SrSusan (guest): a possible example would be St Jane de Chantal’s first director vs her second, St Francis
SrSusan (guest): The first kept her in rigid practices but St Francis encouraged liberty of spirit
7:44 PM
Judy K: I am making the distinction between guide and director. To me a director is someone who actually directs you to do this or that, to use one method of prayer rather than another. To read certain books, etc. The guide aids in choosing actions, methods of prayer, books to read. He acts as an assistant to the Lord in helping us to fine our way through the spiritual life. Mind you, this is my own explanation. 4 PM
Lisa C: I wonder if it is just the style of the person , 7:44 PM
Judy K: Assistant in helping us to FIND our way. 6, 7:45 PM
Guest4640 (guest): A spititual director offers us a fresh view from God’s perspective on our life and situation . 6, 7:46 PM
SrSusan (guest): More like a point of view and a humble stance on the part of the one leading you
Feb 21 2016, 7:46 PM
Michelle P Olivier: I think there can be different definitions of Director. Yes, there are different styles. Some are contemplative directors – who listen and guide by asking questions. Where others give more guidance and offer suggestions
Amy Cochran: is it true that God’s Will will be done, with or without our cooperation, but a director helps us to unite our will with God’s?
Feb 21 2016, 7:47 PM
Lisa C: It might also be what the person needs at the time. If God sends them they are likely helping in the way it is needed.
Feb 21 2016, 7:47 PM
Judy K: I wonder how many of us have ever said to the Lord “I wish you would stand right here in front of me and tell me what to do.”
Feb 21 2016, 7:47 PM
Michelle P Olivier: I have
Feb 21 2016, 7:47 PM
Amy Cochran: I’ve said that, Judy
Feb 21 2016, 7:48 PM
Judy K: I have said it too.
Feb 21 2016, 7:48 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes,something like that.
Feb 21 2016, 7:48 PM
SrSusan (guest): I have too
Dawn L: For me, our weekly chat helps alot to guide the direction I am going
Feb 21 2016, 7:49 PM
Guest4640 (guest): A good Director helps us from isolating ourselves ! A isolated Christian is a paralysed Christian
Feb 21 2016, 7:49 PM
Amy Cochran: your call to enter a convent, Sister, was it loud and clear or did you struggle?
Feb 21 2016, 7:49 PM
Lisa C: Maybe all God wants is for us to want what He wants and then it takes care of itself since He does not take our freedom
Feb 21 2016, 7:49 PM
Judy K: Perhaps having a director would help us not to have to ask that question because God’s will is more easily discerned with the assistance of a director.
Feb 21 2016, 7:50 PM
SrSusan (guest): Not loud and clear no I had to put the pieces together
Feb 21 2016, 7:50 PM
Michelle P Olivier: I think you are right Lisa
Lisa C: He wants our hearts
Feb 21 2016, 7:50 PM
Michelle P Olivier: The fact that we want to do His Will is the sentiment of our heart
16, 7:50 PM
Judy K: And that is surely pleasing to the Lord. 7:51 PM
Ruth (guest): And during one period of time while I was in medical school and living in a suburb of Munich, I asked an elderly Latin teacher I knew through a Bible Study group to be my director, one to whom I would submit all my “leadings” to, in obedience to her discernment, because it seemed that God was asking me to do a number of “prophetic” actions — signs — and it was clear that it could be misunderstood, even if it were really from the Holy Spirit. , 7:52 PM
Michelle P Olivier: Sometimes His Will is obvious and other times we, like Sister, have to piece it together
SrSusan (guest): Talking about spiritual direction and directors
Feb 21 2016, 7:54 PM
Judy K: Ruth, how did that work out?
Feb 21 2016, 7:54 PM
SrSusan (guest): or guides
Ruth (guest): Good Judy.
Feb 21 2016, 7:54 PM
Dawn L: Praying with scriptures helps to guide one
Ruth (guest): God had even given me a sign when he asked me to find a director.
Ruth (guest): And this woman qualified!
Judy K: So you actually had a relationship with this woman that required your obedience.
Feb 21 2016, 7:55 PM
Guest6395 (guest): Pray and God will send the right one.
Feb 21 2016, 7:56 PM
Dawn L: We don’t always know how God will direct a situation but surrendering to his will in prayer…
7:56 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes, indeed. Clearly. But to my surprise, she never had a discernment different from what I thought
Feb 21 2016, 7:56 PM
Guest4640 (guest): It is also protection for us to have Director . God sends us out in two’s because our enemy is a predator . A predator tries to separate us from our group to attack us . A good spiritual director helps to keep us safe in our group .
Feb 21 2016, 7:56 PM
Ruth (guest): God was asking me to do.
6 PM
Judy K: So right Brian!
Feb 21 2016, 7:57 PM
Ruth (guest): That is a good insight Brian.
Feb 21 2016, 7:57 PM
SrSusan (guest): Like confession, it helps us grow in humility
7:57 PM
Guest4640 (guest): Amen Sister !
Judy K: I have always wanted my director and confessor to be the same. I was once told that they should be two different people. Any insights on this? Hi Sister Mary Roberta!
Ruth (guest): There was a young engineer who was picked up by the police and brought to the psychiatric hospital because he was kneeling on the steps of public buildings praying for the people.
Feb 21 2016, 7:59 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I’m like you, Judy, in having confessor and spiritual director be the same priest.
Mary Roberta Viano: I’ve never had a director who wasn’t a priest. I’ve had spiritual friendships with women, but not had women as spiritual directors.
Feb 21 2016, 8:00 PM
Ruth (guest): He was a member of a charismatic type community but went alone. The Psychiatry Professor ridiculed him in front of some two hundred people, but all his answers were clearly in the Spirit.
Feb 21 2016, 8:00 PM
SrSusan (guest): One director I had wanted these two spiritual movements separate and one wanted it together
Feb 21 2016, 8:00 PM
Judy K: I kind of think that the director needs to know everything that is part of your life. So I would not want to separate the director from the confessor.
6, 8:00 PM
Michelle P Olivier: I agree Judy
Feb 21 2016, 8:01 PM
Amy Cochran: i agree with you, Judy
Feb 21 2016, 8:01 PM
Judy K: It’s funny. I was trained to be a spiritual director, but I prefer a priest.
SrSusan (guest): Priests have special grace from ordination
Feb 21 2016, 8:02 PM
Ruth (guest): SrSusan, I’ve experienced it both ways, too. I am more comfortable when the director and confessor are one and the same.
Michelle P Olivier: Going back to obedience – I’ve been in Spiritual Direction for several years but I never had a Director (Priest) who asked me to do something out of obedience
Mary Roberta Viano: I like SFdS words about the spiritual director: “A fatherly heart will take charge of a soul in which he has found a desire for holy perfection, carrying it in his bosom as a mother does her little child, without being wearied by so precious a burden!”
SrSusan (guest): My directors have never demanded obedience either but did want to know how I followed up
Michelle P Olivier: Yes, same with me
Ruth (guest): Maybe it is because I am so long winded that I find it hard to JUST list my sins. I want to get at the roots of them, too.
Mary Roberta Viano: and he continues: “But his must indeed be a fatherly heart.”
Lisa C: Ruth, that is the Psychiatrist in you
Feb 21 2016, 8:05 PM
Dawn L: priests are so busy, a parish priest. if one priest is alone over a parish, how can they have the time to SD someone in a deep way?
Feb 21 2016, 8:05 PM
Judy K: That’s what should happen in confession. Roots need to be found and “rooted out.”
Mary Roberta Viano: true, Dawn, 8:05 PM
Amy Cochran: I agree, dawn, and think of individual parishioners wanting a director. there are not enough hours in the day for a parish priest016, 8:06 PM
Michelle P Olivier: I am fortunate to be near a Jesuit Retreat House and that is part of their ministry:06 PM
Dawn L: very fortunate indeed Michelle!
Feb 21 2016, 8:06 PM
Judy K: So true, Dawn and Amy. I am fortunate to be close to the Marian Shrine and have found my director there.
Mary Roberta Viano: and that’s what to look for: a retreat house or a priests’ residence
Lisa C: I wanted someone familiar with the VHM
Feb 21 2016, 8:07 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes, I am sure that it is mostly time constraints that sometimes get a priest to be impatient with even commenting on his sermon in a positive way, trying to relate it to one’s own life experience.
Dawn L: Yes, good idea Sr Mary
Feb 21 2016, 8:07 PM
Natacha (guest): I am going to take a few seconds and read back, sorry to be late8 PM
Dawn L: glad you are here Natacha
Feb 21 2016, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I like the question about the connection between spiritual direction and faith not being a private matter/religion.
Feb 21 2016, 8:08 PM
SrSusan (guest): For vocational discernment it is good if the priests knows orders and congregations, yes
Feb 21 2016, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That was hard for me as a convert – that and confession, both.
Lisa C: I think I would want one familiar with the order even without vocational discernment, because it is the style in which I grew up too9 PM
Ruth (guest): I mentioned the Visitadines to a priest I knew some twelve years ago, now retired. I was seeing him for the first time to talk with in more than a decade. He knew the history of the order.
Feb 21 2016, 8:09 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: because as a good Presbyterian, I was told that should all be private – between me and God
Feb 21 2016, 8:09 PM
Natacha (guest): Every time I found a priest I really like and wanted as my director, they were too busy
Natacha (guest): It might sound strange, but Blessed Mother has guided me so far
Lisa C: Natacha, it does not sound strange at all!
Feb 21 2016, 8:10 PM
SrSusan (guest): That is a real grace
Feb 21 2016, 8:10 PM
Guest4640 (guest): Hi Jennifer !
Feb 21 2016, 8:10 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I had a friend once who said her spiritual director was St. John of the Cross – any question she had, she’d look into his writings and find the answer.
Jennifer (guest): Hello Sr and all
Feb 21 2016, 8:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): St Francis de Sales does that too esp in the novitiate
Feb 21 2016, 8:11 PM
Dawn L: Yes, Sr Mary I also do, for lack of a spiritual director
Feb 21 2016, 8:11 PM
Ruth (guest): Natacha, there is no one, not the wisest priest, who wants you to grow closer to Jesus than his Mother. She is such a good “spiritual director.” A real help to live a holy life.
Lisa C: Mother St F does what too?
Feb 21 2016, 8:12 PM
Dawn L: Mother Susan, does he conve this later in Devout LIfe?
Feb 21 2016, 8:12 PM
Natacha (guest): That is true, what I find with the Blessed Mother is that she is strong and soft at the same time. She speaks to my heart but sometimes she always me to learn from my mistakes.
Feb 21 2016, 8:12 PM
Dawn L: cover
Feb 21 2016, 8:12 PM
SrSusan (guest): Answers thru his writings
Feb 21 2016, 8:13 PM
Jennifer (guest): I have yet to find a priest as SD. They are very busy.
Feb 21 2016, 8:13 PM
SrSusan (guest): You mean direction Dawn
Feb 21 2016, 8:13 PM
Judy K: I suppose that we could do the same thing with Scripture that the one who went to St. John of the Cross when she had a question. Surely many of the answers we seek can be found in Scripture.
Lisa C: Oh, yes, when I read Treatise on the Love of God it made me think St. Francis knows everything there is to know about God and people
8:14 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: The question of obedience to a SD is interesting. SFdS says: “Let it be enought o know that God wishes us to obey without occupying ourselves with considering the capability of those whom we are called up to obey.”
Feb 21 2016, 8:14 PM
Natacha (guest): St Therese of the Child Jesus often found her answers in the Bible. I love the way she used scripture to understand what she was experiencing either consolation or desolation
15 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: “In this way (he continues) we shall bring down our minds to walk simply in the happy path of a tranquil and holy humility, which will render us infinitely pleasing to God.”
Feb 21 2016, 8:15 PM
Natacha (guest): Obedience can be a great deliverance, in the sense that the one who obeys in the will of God without having to guess at it.
Mary Roberta Viano: always assuming we are not asked to sin!
Feb 21 2016, 8:15 PM
Ruth (guest): One spiritual director I had in Munich wrote a book about spiritual direction; and he was editor of the Jesuit magazine on spirituality. Such a good man! So free!
Feb 21 2016, 8:15 PM
Lisa C: I find that Blessed Mother sends me strength without effort. I do not have to try as hard to be good…
Natacha (guest): Yes Lisa, I find it easier to love Jesus when His Mother touches my heart. , 8:16 PM
Natacha (guest): obeying Our Lady never feels demeaning
Feb 21 2016, 8:16 PM
Lisa C: So much grace comes through Blessed Mother
Mary Roberta Viano: I’ve always found that hard because I’m so argumentative.
Feb 21 2016, 8:17 PM
Lisa C: I think Blessed Mother makes the complicated simple
Feb 21 2016, 8:17 PM
Natacha (guest): I thing it is because Our Lady loves us so and she teaches us the hidden paths of love
Feb 21 2016, 8:17 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I think Our Lord wants us to interact with a person, face to face, to help discern His will and have the grace to do it.
Judy K: I think of those old spiritual books in which novices were asked to plant cabbages upside down, or to keep on watering dead twigs. I think that is an inordinate expectation of obedience. One year at Christmas time, we had some of those painted branches which were placed in a planter in the lobby. The custodian forgot to take them out and one day we came in and those supposedly dead sticks were sprouting new leaves.
Feb 21 2016, 8:18 PM
Michelle P Olivier: That will ensure we are listening to God’s Will not ours
Feb 21 2016, 8:18 PM
Natacha (guest): Face to face is a grace, because it takes many words to express the heart.
Feb 21 2016, 8:18 PM
Michelle P Olivier: Judy, that is funny
Feb 21 2016, 8:19 PM
Judy K: So maybe those old spiritual writers were not so wrong after all.
19 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: As SFdS points out: “Our natural inclination always leads us to wish to command and makes us dislike to obey…”
Feb 21 2016, 8:19 PM
Natacha (guest): That is funny Judy. I think it is about breaking our will. If we are deep in love with Jesus, who shall we fear?
, 8:19 PM
Natacha (guest): That is true sister Mary Roberta. I find it a point of deep reflection to think that Jesus was obedient even unto death.
Feb 21 2016, 8:20 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: “and yet (he goes on) it is certain that we have a great capacity for obeying and perhaps none at all for commanding.” (in Conf X On Obedience)
Feb 21 2016, 8:20 PM
Guest4640 (guest): Amen Natacha !
PM
Mary Roberta Viano: so true, Natacha!
Feb 21 2016, 8:20 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: and so how can I be less obedient than My Lord?!
Feb 21 2016, 8:20 PM
Natacha (guest): only with grace
Feb 21 2016, 8:20 PM
Judy K: I am not sure that breaking the will is what is needed. That could have serious ramifications in one’s life. Controlling the will, yes, but breaking it, I don’t thing so.
Feb 21 2016, 8:21 PM
Michelle P Olivier: I’m sure Jesus was asked to do something by His parents and He probably thought, “there is a better way” but He did it
Ruth (guest): I have lots of questions about obedience. It seemed funny to me, maybe even funny-sad, that the reply I got when at the monastery in Brooklyn – and I don’t even remember my question or who it was I asked — was “I don’t know the rule about that.”
Feb 21 2016, 8:21 PM
Natacha (guest): I agree with you Judy. The more I love Jesus, the more I change, it is love that moves the will to obedience
Mary Roberta Viano: I’ve always thought that obeying my SD and my Superior helped me learn to obey God – His will in my life.
Feb 21 2016, 8:21 PM
Ruth (guest): I agree Judy.
Feb 21 2016, 8:22 PM
Natacha (guest): Who is stronger the one who obeys or the one who commands?
016, 8:22 PM
Ruth (guest): And some of the lives of the saints I’ve read: for a time there was one who was treated so brutally by her “spiritual director” that today he would’ve been put in jail!
Feb 21 2016, 8:22 PM
Lisa C: Natacha, and I think that eventually it is not so hard, …yolk easy, burden light
Feb 21 2016, 8:23 PM
SrSusan (guest): Both should be doing the Will of God
Feb 21 2016, 8:23 PM
Ruth (guest): She became a saint in spite of him,not because of him.
8:23 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: like our foundress, St. Jane de C., Ruth!
Feb 21 2016, 8:23 PM
Judy K: Love is a more perfect motivation for obedience than fear.
Feb 21 2016, 8:23 PM
Natacha (guest): I think we should pray for the ones who are our shepherd, because they will have to answer to God. It is a beautiful and scary role
8:23 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: She was “saved” from her first SD by SFdS! 24 PM
Judy K: And would we want to have to obey someone whom we feared>?
Feb 21 2016, 8:24 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes Natacha, for decades, God has laid upon me the “special mission” of praying for priests.
Feb 21 2016, 8:24 PM
Natacha (guest): Jesus said that the one of the world “lord it over other” but the true Christian leader is a servant of the servant
Feb 21 2016, 8:24 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: As SFdS says: We must love to obey rather than fear to disobey.
Michelle P Olivier: Yes, to obey out of love, rather fear of repercussions
Feb 21 2016, 8:25 PM
Natacha (guest): It the the charism of kindness that attracts me to the Visitation
Feb 21 2016, 8:25 PM
Ruth (guest): And, Natacha, that is what the Pope is called.
016, 8:26 PM
Ruth (guest): Servant of the servants of God. 26 PM
Judy K: Ruth, are you an Oblate of the Precious Blood? They are a prayer apostolate of the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, a contemplative community in Tennesse. I became an Oblate in 2013 and share that commitment to pray for priests.
Feb 21 2016, 8:26 PM
Guest4640 (guest): The direction must line up with the Word of God ! Remember Jesus is always in the midst of us when two or more are gathered in His name .
26 PM
Ruth (guest): No Judy. 2016, 8:27 PM
Judy K: If you are interested, enter nunsforpriests in your browser and you will find information.\ 016, 8:28 PM
Ruth (guest): It would be nice to share the “mission” with others.
Feb 21 2016, 8:28 PM
Natacha (guest): what do you mean Ruth?
8 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: St.Paul says: “I made myself the servant of all, that I might gain the more…It is through this universal obedience to all men that we become ‘all things to all men.’
Feb 21 2016, 8:28 PM
Ruth (guest): Natacha, the call to pray for priests.
8:29 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: “and by serving everyone for the sake of God, we regard all as our superiors,” St. Paul concludes.
Feb 21 2016, 8:29 PM
Natacha (guest): Yes, to pray for priests is a beautiful thing. I believe it consoles the heart of Jesus.
9 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: and certainly help them in their ministries
Feb 21 2016, 8:29 PM
Natacha (guest): That is very profound Mary Roberta
6, 8:29 PM
Dawn L: thank you Sr
Feb 21 2016, 8:30 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I think that’s what our Salesian “gentleness” is all about, really.
PM
Judy K: The Oblates are spread all over the country and there are no meetings. There is a correspondence formation program. It is pretty intense and lovely.
Feb 21 2016, 8:30 PM
Natacha (guest): I hope to get there one day. to be able to obey and not worry
:30 PM
Guest4640 (guest): Amen Sister ! It is a privilege God has given us to serve all ! , 8:31 PM
Ruth (guest): I remember reading that, too, Sr. Mary Roberta, but it seems very, very dangerous to me in this day and age when many have NO respect for the Word of God. I just do not think it is possible to regard all as “superiors” when there is so much
Feb 21 2016, 8:31 PM
Natacha (guest): Sr. Mary, how does the process of obeying all occur in the heart?
Feb 21 2016, 8:31 PM
Ruth (guest): FALSE belief. Precious in the eyes of God, yes.
Feb 21 2016, 8:31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: “Truly obedient persons do not ask a lot of questions. They simply apply themselves to their work with no desire but to obey.”
:31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I definitely see that among my sisters.
Feb 21 2016, 8:32 PM
Ruth (guest): Worthy, simply by their humanity, to be loved as He loves them.
Feb 21 2016, 8:32 PM
Jennifer (guest): God will grant us the grace to having the will to be obedient.
32 PM
Guest4640 (guest): Blessed are the meek !
Feb 21 2016, 8:32 PM
Natacha (guest): For some reason St Martin de Porres comes to mind when I think of obedience
:33 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: It’s about our desire to be an effective instrument of peace and love in God’s hands, don’t you think?
Feb 21 2016, 8:33 PM
Lisa C: Jesus did not think about the worthiness or good behavior of those He served
3 PM
Michelle P Olivier: Sr. Mary Roberta – from my short visit, that was obvious about the Sisters – there willingness to help
Feb 21 2016, 8:33 PM
Natacha (guest): OHHH good point Lisa
Feb 21 2016, 8:33 PM
Lisa C: He loved everyone how they were at any time
Feb 21 2016, 8:33 PM
Judy K: I think that there is a difference in the nature of obedience for a religious than for a lay person.
33 PM
Natacha (guest): how so Judy?
Feb 21 2016, 8:34 PM
Jennifer (guest): Nobody is worthless in God.
:34 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: yes and no, Judy, because it comes down to that word “alacrity” again – i.e., helping/obeying quickly and willingly8:35 PM
Dawn L: and we can practice this regardless of our state in life, I think yes?
Feb 21 2016, 8:35 PM
Judy K: I think that the vow of obedience places a greater responsibility to obey upon the religious.
Feb 21 2016, 8:35 PM
Michelle P Olivier: I try to practice obedience in work…..when situations arise and I want to do something “my way”. I step back and allow the other person to do it there way. As long as it doesn’t violate any ethics or rights of others
:35 PM
Natacha (guest): I see what you mean Judy. I never thought of that before
Feb 21 2016, 8:35 PM
Jennifer (guest): Yes. I think we need to practice
Feb 21 2016, 8:35 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I see that in the wonderful rescues that are reported almost every evening on the news – quick, ready responses that are universally admired
:36 PM
Guest4640 (guest): Jesus was tough on the Pharisees because He loved them and He wanted them to see the Truth . Many of them later on helped build the church !
Feb 21 2016, 8:36 PM
Ruth (guest): I am not talking about “worthiness” None of us are worthy of what Christ did for us. I am saying, that if we allowed EVERYONE, willy-nilly to boss us around, we’d be doing BAD things.
Feb 21 2016, 8:36 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: that’s obedience to the demands of charity
Feb 21 2016, 8:36 PM
Dawn L: yes.alacrity!
:36 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: whoever those demands come from:37 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: and now I have to obey my conscience in getting tomorrow’s Office music ready – the Chair of St. Peter!
Feb 21 2016, 8:37 PM
Lisa C: Ruth, I think obedience in the quote from St. Paul was more a response to need
Feb 21 2016, 8:37 PM
Dawn L: Sr, like the emergency response, the situation itself can be the demand
Feb 21 2016, 8:37 PM
Natacha (guest): I think God has placed in our hearts the ear to hear when someone is asking us to do something that is not right. I think it can be more difficult to obey simply because of pride.
Feb 21 2016, 8:37 PM
Judy K: We are never obliged to obey one who orders us to do something that is evil.
Feb 21 2016, 8:37 PM
Ruth (guest): Then maybe we are on the same page. Charity, loving well, as Jesus loves, YES.
8:38 PM
Natacha (guest): Good night everyone. the time goes by very fast.
Feb 21 2016, 8:38 PM
Ruth (guest): And prudence, too, though, about what true charity entails.
Feb 21 2016, 8:38 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Good night and let’s pray for one another in this Second Week of Lent!
Feb 21 2016, 8:38 PM
Natacha (guest): Amen.
PM
Natacha (guest): Amen.
Feb 21 2016, 8:38 PM
Michelle P Olivier: Good night – have a blessed week
Feb 21 2016, 8:38 PM
Dawn L: good night everyone! Amen
Feb 21 2016, 8:38 PM
Lisa C: God be praised!
Feb 21 2016, 8:38 PM
Jennifer (guest): Good night.
Feb 21 2016, 8:39 PM
SrSusan (guest): Good night and God bless all you wonderful people!
Feb 21 2016, 8:39 PM
Guest4640 (guest): God Bless You All ! Brian
2016, 8:39 PM
Guest4640 (guest): God Bless You All ! Brian
Feb 21 2016, 8:39 PM
Judy K: May the Lord Himself guide and direct each of us during all of our lives. Have a blessed week.
Feb 21 2016, 8:39 PM
Ruth (guest): Good night.
Feb 21 2016, 8:39 PM
Dawn L: thank you !