Amen!

AMEN!

“The Creed… is not an index of dogmas, although it has often been presented as that.  It is, more, a catalog of choices, an inventory of possibilities, a roster of visitations.  It is a guide to the kind of life that weathers millenia and stays fresh whatever decays, whatever changes around us.  It is a call to a great ‘Amen,’ the great ‘Yes’ to life…  It is the Creed that takes us back to the questions, the values, the signposts that give direction to our lives… [I]t is the Creed that sends us back looking for the things that make sense out of life, that gives us lights to steer by, and brings us home to the best in ourselves.” 

Practice:  If we say “Amen” to the Creed, then we are committing ourselves to a life of engagement, of actively living life conscious of God at its center.  Spend some time this week reflecting on what you believe about God, about Jesus, about the Holy Spirit – and then make note of what difference that faith makes in a practical way in your daily experiences.  Is your life transformed by the Creed?  Is God’s presence central to your life?  If so, Amen!

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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I believe in the Holy Spirit...

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT...

“The Holy Spirit, we are told, is the spirit of Wisdom, of the feminine Sophia, in the Church.  Each of us, we argue theologically, has a piece of that Wisdom, the Spirit working in us to build the people of God, the reign of God, the assembly of God on earth…  This Spirit, this living Wisdom that is God, lifts us above ourselves, tunes us to the voice of the Creator around us and within us, comes upon us with gentle force or terrible consciousness, and cares for life, day in, day out, unrelenting in its urge for wholeness.  The Spirit prods us, proves us, brings life in us to creative fullness.  The Spirit is God with us, in us, around us, breathing us to life.”

Practice:  Pray St. Augustine’s Prayer to the Holy Spirit daily this week:  “Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.”

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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He shall come again to judge the living and the dead...

HE SHALL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD...

“To say ‘I believe… that Jesus will come again in glory’ is to say that hope is alive and well and feeding on faith in God’s presence and love for God’s life in the world.”

“The segment of the Creed that calls us to remember judgment… is not a call to fear, it is a call to growth, to rightmindedness, to fidelity of direction.  It is a call to the human community and a reminder to the individual. We are reminded by the thought of judgment that we must make hope real.  We have not been created only to come to glory but to bring with us to Judgment Day our own portion of the reign of God.  We are expected, the Creed implies, to prove our accountability, both personal and communal, to God’s hopes for mankind.”

Practice:  We are called to help the Kingdom of God to grow; we are accountable to God for our participation in the Kingdom:  “thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven.”  The Catechism of the Catholic Church relates this to our “duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace.”  Find a concrete way to “serve justice and peace” this week.  Volunteer at the Thrift Store or Hot Lunch Program, either on site Tuesday mornings, or by offering to deliver a vegetable dish.  Or identify another cause you can bring passion to, and volunteer!

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God...

HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD...

“To say, ‘I believe in Jesus Christ… who ascended into heaven’ is to say ‘I believe in the mystical dimension of life…’  [T]he entire world is sacramental.  Everything speaks of God.  Everything unveils God to us… In the end, out of the dregs of the worst the world has to offer, the Creed lifts our eyes and our souls to the vision that transcends the pedestrian.  The Creed brings us face to face with the mystical and reminds us to abide there all the while we walk the streets of the world.”

Practice:  Ignatian spirituality offers us “five surprising places we might find God” (an acknowledgement that the world is indeed sacramental), and thus spiritual growth.  Pick one per day and see if you can find God to the “vision that transcends the pedestrian” in that space:

1.  At Work.  
The relationships you have, the results you achieve, the quality and mindfulness with which you do your work can all be the stuff of holiness.

2.  In Difficult Relationships. 
It’s easy to love other people when everything’s going well. But when there are hurt feelings, mistrust, or clashing wills, relationships don’t feel very much as though they are of God. Yet it is at just those times, that we can witness the movement of God in our lives, leading us to healing, trust, and cooperation. These can be opportunities to let go of character defects and to exercise virtues.

3.  In Our Failings. 
When we hit our limits or even when we sin, we can turn to God for acceptance, mercy, and the strength to make amends and sin no more. In that turning to God and in our opening ourselves up to God’s grace and forgiveness, we become better people.

4.  In Loneliness
.  Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God. Rather than trying to fill the emptiness with mindless entertainment or indulging our cravings, sit still and find God in the emptiness. It takes patience and courage and humility, but you will hear the “still small voice” of God even in the midst of your emptiness responding to your loneliness and restlessness with the only love that fully satisfies.

5.  In Pleasure.  
Many people seem to think that if something’s fun, it must be at least partially wrong. Yet God gives us the world to live in and enjoy. Pleasure is a place to meet God, whether it be the pleasure of nature, of playing, of loving one another, of beauty, or of the occasional overwhelming conviction that we are loved by God.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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On the third day, he rose again from the dead...

ON THE THIRD DAY, HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD...

“To say, ‘I believe in Jesus Christ… who rose from the dead’ is to say… [that] I myself am ready to be transformed.  Once the Christ-life rises in me, I rise to new life as well…  Until we find ourselves with new hearts, more penetrating insights, fewer compulsions, less need for the transient, greater awareness of the spiritual pulse of life, resurrection has not really happened for us.  Jesus has risen but we have not.  Resurrection is about transfiguration.  Life as we once knew it, defined it, shaped it – if we really believe in the Risen Christ – rises redefined.  Transformation in any of us calls the rest of us to transformation.  Change changes everybody.  Relationships shift.  Expectations alter.  Insight deepens.  We begin to see as we have never seen before.”

Practice:  Life begins anew every morning when we wake.  Make it a practice this week to begin your day – before you even rise from bed – with a morning offering, a prayer for transformation throughout the day to come.  You might choose from one of the following:

• Lord, one more day to love you! 
Brother Charles de Foucauld
• Lord, today is the day I begin! 
St. Philip Neri
• Jesus, shine through me and be so in me that every person I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. 
John Henry Cardinal Newman 

• My God, send me thy Holy Spirit to teach me what I am and what thou art! 
St. John Vianney 


• May the Passion of Christ be ever in our heart. 
St. Paul of the Cross 


• And to be more with Him, more with Him, not merely with oneself. 
Pope John Paul II

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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He died, was buried, and descended to the dead...

HE DIED, WAS BURIED, AND DESCENDED TO THE DEAD...

“[T]he death of Jesus signals more than the end of mortal life.  It guarantees as well the human capacity to survive failure… The function of failure, as Jesus shows us so clearly is to prove to us that, really, in the end, nothing fails at all.  The only thing that can fail is our ability to believe that nothing in life is wasted, that it will all come to some good end, sooner or later, with us or without us, whether we can see it or not.  To say, ‘I believe in Jesus Christ… who died, was buried and descended to the dead’ is to say, ‘I believe in God’s own time.’”

Practice:  Believing in God’s time requires patience and openness to that which we do not understand, and it is operative from our most petty frustrations to our greatest difficulties in life.  In order to prepare for such moments, practice praying the “Ecce, Fiat, Magnificat” breathing prayer proposed by Fr. Michael Gaitley and based on Mary’s statements in the Gospels. 

First, after breathing out but before breathing in again, hold one breathless moment, and in that empty space, recognize your own weakness and need of God’s mercy, praying the word “Ecce,” or “Behold,” and offering yourself just as you are to God.  Then, inhale, and pray, “Fiat” – Mary’s “Yes, let it be done to me,” a petition for God’s merciful love to flow into our hearts.  Finally, exhale, praying “Magnificat,” offering praise to God for all the good he has done in our lives.  This conscious attention to breath within prayer helps us to leave human time and more easily accept God-time…

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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He was crucified...

HE WAS CRUCIFIED...

“The cross of Christ is the call to our hearts that reminds us that nothing ushers in the dawn of God except living it.  But it’s not that easy.  A commitment untested is no commitment at all.  But who wants the promise of the cross?  Who wants the rejection?  Who wants the foolishness?  Who wants the risk?  Not I.  And yet without it, the Creed goes flat…. The cross reminds us daily that God did God’s part:  Jesus came and, in him, God showed us the Way.  We have, then, all been saved.  We have been saved from our delusions about what is really important in this world.  We have been saved from our fear of risking disapproval here.  We have been saved from our sense of nothingness in the face of God because God walks the way we all must walk.  We have been saved from the right to claim darkness of soul and uncertainty of vision.  The fact is that we know very well what we are expected to do because we have already seen Jesus do it.”

Practice:  The Cross implies commitment, not to our own personal life plan, but to God’s plan for us.  We are called to imitate Christ, to follow his Way of the Cross, and to die to self.  Dying to self involves, among other things, living for other, practicing charity-caritas, radical love for other.  This means actively working to eliminate anger, resentment, selfishness, vanity, pride, and judgment from our lives.  Practice radical love this week.  When you encounter an individual with whom you might not be on the best of terms, reach out to that person.  Transform a critical remark into an expression of affirmation.  Embrace the Other who rebukes or rebuffs you.  Love, radically.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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Suffered under Pontius Pilate...

SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE...

“Christ suffers the disillusionment that comes with superficial success, a sense of failure, betrayal by people he trusted, misunderstanding by authority, fear, humiliation, abandonment, loneliness, despair, and death.  And he shows all of us how to do the same.  To say ‘I believe… Christ “suffered’” is to say ‘I believe that suffering can be transcended.’’  It is to throw our lot in with hope.”

Practical:  Practice the Ignatian “examen” (or Examination of Conscience) using the acronym B.A.K.E.R:

1.     BLESSINGS:  Identify the blessings throughout your day, and express your gratitude for them.

2.     ASK:  Ask for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to help you to examine the motives for your actions today with honesty and patience.

3.     KNOWLEDGE:  Review the events of your day with particular attention to your own actions.  Put your actions in context, trying to understand why you made the choices you did, which choices might have been more life-giving, and what you might have done differently.

4.     EMBRACE:  Approach the Lord with contrition and accept His healing embrace of mercy.

5.     RESOLUTION:  Identify one concrete way you might change or make reparation for one of your actions today when you find yourself in a similar context tomorrow.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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Born of the Virgin Mary...

BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY...

On rethinking our traditional image of a docile and passive Mary, submissive and unquestioning: 

“This was a woman who risked everything to do what she knew her God required of her, whatever its cost socially, publicly, spiritually.  This was a woman who acted alone, outside the permission of the systems and the tradition around her.  This was a woman who inserted herself into a public situation and directed Jesus to do the same, despite the fact that he said he was not ready to do so.  She had a strong will, a strong faith, a strong sense of self, and deep spiritual stamina.”

Practice:  Mary’s strength lay in her willingness to risk opening herself to God.  Ponder the risks you might need to take in order to allow God into your life, to participate in “the outpouring of divine life.”  Then pray the Canticle of Mary found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1, making your own the words, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.”  

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness;

behold, from now all will all ages call me blessed.

The Might One has done great things for me,

and Holy is his Name;

His mercy is from age to age to those fear him.

He has shown might with his arm,

dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones,

but lifted up the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,

according to his promise to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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He was conceived of the Holy Spirit...

HE WAS CONCEIVED OF THE HOLY SPIRIT...

“The Spirit opened Jesus to a world beyond his own.  The Spirit does the same for us, if only we allow ourselves to become bigger than the limitations of a humanity in which the divinity has never been unleashed… The conception, the impulsion, the kindling of Jesus by the Spirit of the Holy calls us to become less concentrated on sin and more on grace, less concerned with the restrictions of law and more with the limitless possibilities of love, less obsessed by the limitations of being human and more in awe of its potential.  It is humanity that is the womb of the divine for us.”

Practical:  William Blake wrote, “And we are put on earth a little space / That we might learn to bear the beams of love.”  When we long for Love, we long for God, for God’s presence in our lives.  Focus for a few minutes daily on grace, which is the experience of God’s presence; open yourself to it in quiet meditation, allow the Spirit, the Love that unites Father to Son, to enter your heart, pray: ‘Come Holy Spirit’.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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Our Lord...

OUR LORD...

“The One the Creed calls Lord is the image of a powerful God who does not impose even good.  This God lives to be poured out in creation and uses no force to have it accepted… The Creed calls us to remember the Jesus we knew before the Resurrection so that following him thereafter we might use human authority to imitate his outpouring of love, instead of trying ourselves to assume his glory before our time.”

Meditate on one of the many Gospel stories of the human Jesus and his outpouring of love on another, then work to make that behavior a part of your week as well.  You might choose one of the following, from the Gospel of Luke, for example:  Love of Enemies or The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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God's Only Son...

GOD'S ONLY SON

“We, too, are each a unique child of God.”  The Creed is written “to call humanity to fullness.  It provides a paragon of what I myself can be.  It promises the fulfillment of what now I can only hope for in the basest part of me – that I, too, was made for glory, that I too can grow into the truest part of me, that even I can become what I was made to be out of the substance of divinity… God comes alive in us only after we learn to live in God.  Jesus, the human who proves that divinity is our calling, is the sign of our call to do that, our ability to do that… When I say, ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, the unique, the only child of God,’ I am praying to become the relationship I seek in my own heart.”

Practical:  Repeat this phrase throughout the day, echoing God’s word to Jesus, that He also speaks to us: “this is my beloved son/daughter in who I am well pleased.”

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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I believe in Jesus Christ...

I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST...

“Jesus, the Creed calls us to realize, stands before us, the clearest, sharpest, most abundant picture we have of the face of God.  And how can we be sure of that?  Because Jesus is what we know in our hearts God must surely be:  compassionate, just, merciful, loving, and on the other side of every boundary.  It is Jesus with the Samaritan Woman, Jesus with the little children, Jesus with the prisoner, Jesus immersed in God that I must become if the Creator-God is ever to see divinity come to fullness of life in me as well… When I say, ‘ I believe in Jesus,’ I am saying that I believe in a way of life above and beyond what anything else challenges me to be.”

Practical:  Choose one story of Jesus that inspires you, read it again, identify and ponder its central lesson, and then live it this week.  You might choose from one of the following stories in the Gospel of Mark, for example, The Healing of the Paralytic Let Down Through the Roof or The Poor Widow's Contribution.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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Creator of Heaven and Earth...

CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH...

“[T]he heaven I believe in … is a taste for the More.  ‘The Kingdom of heaven is within you,’ Jesus taught.  Life around me will not cease to be whatever it is, perhaps, but life within me always offers more.  More depth of understanding.  More of a sense of justice.  More breadth of wisdom.  More levels of gratitude.  More layers of kindness.  More grasp of God.  Heaven is nothing but fullness of life and union with God.  If I do not burst into heaven here, make heaven here for me, for everyone, I sincerely doubt that I will find it anywhere else.  This life as I have been given it is my beaker of God who is in everything, everyone everywhere.”

“The Creed gives a testimony to creation that creation has far too long ignored.  God, the Creed insists, created the earth.  The earth, like us, in other words, breathes the breath of God…   Until we stop denying our interconnectedness with the rest of nature, we will never find God where God is most clear…”

Practical:  Cultivate the kingdom of heaven here on earth, a kingdom made manifest in the love that flows out from you to those around you.  This week, be self-aware as that love flows from you, and recognize, each time it does, that that is a taste of heaven, the interconnectedness we have with one another and with the earth around us.

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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I believe in God,... Almighty, Creator...

I BELIEVE IN GOD, ... ALMIGHTY, CREATOR...

“I deeply believe that God is almighty.  But I do not believe God is a magic act.  God is much more than that.  God is almighty enough to enable me to be what I can become without having to depend on a Superman God… [T]o see the Almighty God we must wrest ourselves open to the almightiness of God in us, around us, beneath us, before us, in every possibility that impels us to be more than we are.”

“To say, ‘I believe in the creator’ proclaims, out of the center of my soul, that I know that life is a gift, a responsibility, a venture into human accountability for which there is no excuse acceptable, no justification adequate enough to explain why I did nothing to complete a world given to me for safe-keeping.”

Practice:  Brainstorm with your loved ones to make a list of how you demonstrate your responsibility for your world… and then add one more world-preserving action to the list, and practice it. 

For example, consider enrolling in “Catalog Choice,” a website that allows you to eliminate having store catalogs mailed to your home, preserving trees and sparing the air from transportation pollution.  For more information, go to: https://www.catalogchoice.org/

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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I believe in God, the Father...

I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER...

“In the long line of human history, … it is not belief in God that sets us apart.  It is the kind of God in which we choose to believe that in the end makes all the difference… To say ‘I believe in God’ means that I commit myself to make God a presence in the center of my life, in the humdrum of my days, in the dregs of my struggles.”

Practice: Too easily we limit who God is to make the God more comfortable for us.  What are the limits that I place on my belief in God? What do I think God can’t do? What am I not willing to let God do?

Practice the presence of God in one of the ways suggested by 17th-century friar Brother Lawrence:

• practicing “little interior glances,” simple moments of remembering, noticing, or just seeking God’s presence in the midst of whatever is going on.
• repeating “a little phrase that Love inspires,” letting a word, phrase or image repeat itself quietly deep inside us as we go through our daily activities. (try ‘I am the beloved of God’ or ‘I love you’ or ‘rest in God’)
• fostering the habit of “conversing everywhere with God,” entering all situations with a sense of relationship with God, a trust in Christ being with us.
• praying for an open, all-embracing contemplative attitude in all times and places, what he calls “the loving gaze that finds God everywhere.”

Quotation from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, 

which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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I believe...

I BELIEVE...

What does it mean to say, “I believe…”?

“We want more from religion now than rules.  We want something to help us find meaning in life when all the rules cease to make sense, when all the old systems break down or fade away.  We want a glimpse of God here and now… There is something beyond us; there is something bigger than we are that calls us on; there is purpose to life.”

“Belief is not contrary to fact.  It simply transcends it.  To believe something is to know its truth not so much in our minds, but in the center of our souls…. In sum, belief is the ability to know what we cannot see… Belief is sure in the way that truth is sure.  It rings in our hearts like tines on crystal.”

“To say ‘I believe’ is to say yes to the mystery of life.”

Practice:   Take some time this week to tune into the amazing mysteries of life that surround you.  Don’t try to understand them.  Just notice them, acknowledge them, and recognize God as their origin.  Then tell someone else about them…

Quotations from Benedictine sister Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief, which explores the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, demonstrating how the Creed is not a static set of rules or statements, but a living document that speaks to the deepest meaning of our existence and serves as a life guide, calling all of us to engage more deeply in relationship with God and with each other.  Sr. Chittister’s thoughts challenge us to live the Creed more fully as Christians; her writing is thought-provoking and inspirational.

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