FATHER JACK RYAN

The Road Map, faith formation, and prayer

Something very exciting is happening at St. John the Baptist parish in Kalihi. People from all over the diocese and from several faith traditions are gathering every week to study the richness of our spiritual tradition by studying some of the great spiritual masters.

From the Jewish roots of our faith tradition, the spirituality of Jesus, the desert fathers, St. Benedict, the great Spanish mystics Sts. Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross, there is a depth of prayer and spirituality that most people, including Catholics, are unaware of.

We live in a time and a culture that is very self-centered and lacking in depth. Many religious groups are focused on personal salvation: What’s in it for me?

Some groups even preach a “prosperity gospel,” that being wealthy is a sign of God’s blessing. Compassion for the poor and hurting are often de-emphasized or lacking entirely.

How do we restore a faith that has both spiritual depth and compassion? At the heart of prayer is becoming less self-focused, less self-centered, and focusing on the Lord. The Pharisees were the group that Jesus often used as an example of religion gone wrong. It was their self-righteousness, dishonesty, and lack of compassion that he often criticized.

There are many groups today that look for easy salvation and want to belong to the group that is “saved.” Authentic faith makes us humble and not proud, and fills us with love of God and compassion for others. These superficial approaches to faith and prayer often crumble when we face the difficult challenges that we all confront in life.

St. John of the Cross, a 16th century Spanish Carmelite and mystic, helps us journey through the “dark night of the soul”, the empty times, the challenging experiences of our lives. Prayer is about abandoning ourselves to God and listening to his voice as he speaks to our hearts.

We are learning a lot as we participate in the program at St. John the Baptist and I am hoping to put both this spirituality program as well as a scripture study program online very soon.