Spiritual growth and academic knowledge

Some people coming into Secular Carmel approach it as if it were a training course requiring the acquisition of specific knowledge, but I think there is a danger in that.  A person could read all the works of the great Carmelite saints without absorbing their message spiritually.  Academic knowledge is one thing, spiritual growth is another.  If a person is growing spiritually through humility, prayer, openness to love, and perseverance, that person will benefit from study.  But as St Paul tells us, the great problem with knowledge is that it has the capacity to ‘puff us up’.  As a person who has been through the academic mill more than most, I myself know all about that.  I like to think of our years of formation as comparable to the novitiate in a monastery.  I cannot imagine that the senior members of a monastic Order look primarily for novices to grow in knowledge.  Surely the novice must show signs of growth in the spirit of the Order such that he or she can be regarded as fitted for full profession when the time for decision comes.  Of course we have to accept that spiritual growth in an individual cannot easily be measured. This kind of appraisal relies on prayerful assessment and that is a matter of faith on the part of the assessor; academic assessment is much easier and more straightforward.

Intercessions:

Louise Aldred OCDS RIP – a long-time member of the Nottingham Secular community

Brian Davis – cancer

Marie, Bernard (and wife Angela) - cancer

Siena, Elara – sick children

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David - housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Rebekah – in hospital