Join host Donna Garrett as she has a special conversation with Fr. Jacques Philippe about his spiritual classic “Interior Freedom”. Fr. Philippe is a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 125-126
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“the trials or purifications so frequently referred to by the mystics are there to destroy whatever is artificial in our character, so that our true being may emerge- ie what we are tp God. The night of the soul could be called a series of impoverishments, sometimes violent ones that strip believers of all possibility of relying on themselves These trials are beneficial because they lead us to locate our identity where it truly belongs, The experience can be highly painful when someone who loves God goes through a phase without an atom of fervor even with a profound distaste for spiritual things. People do not lose their love for God, for their whole being remains completely oriented toward God; but they lose the feeling of love. The benefit of this trial is that it deprives us of any possibility of relying on the good we can do. God’s mercy is all.”
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 121-122
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“Identity is not rooted in the sum of one’s aptitudes. Individuals have a unique value and dignity independently of what they can do. Someone who doesn’t realize this is at risk of having a real identity crisis. on the day he or she experiences failure, or of despising others when faced with their limitations. Where is there room for the poor and handicapped in a world where people are measured by the efficiency and the profit they can produce?
Here it is worth reflecting on the problem of pride. We are all born with a deep wound, experienced as a lack of being. We seek to compensate by constructing a self different than our real self. This artificial self requires large amounts of energy to maintain it, being fragile it needs protecting. Woe to anyone who contradicts it, threatens it, questions it, or inhibits its expansion. When the Gospel says we must ‘die to ourselves’, it means this artificial ego, this constructed self must die so that the real self given us by God can emerge.”
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 112
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“Instead of following the impulses of the Spirit, people give themselves up, under a pretext of freedom, to their passions to selfishness and sin and sin in all its forms: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness carousing and the like. St Paul reminds us of a classic teaching worth repeating in these confused times; licentiousness is not freedom. It s slavery in which people are trapped by what is most superficial in humanity selfish desires, fears weaknesses and so on. We must wage an unceasing fight against the tendencies described by St Paul and must remain permanently open to the healing graces that come from the Cross of Christ. Then we become truly capable of accomplishing good.”
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 102
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“Three aspects of the spiritual life the joyful, sorrowful and glorious outpourings of the Holy Sprit recall the image of the fire and the log used by St John of the Cross. ‘ When fire approaches the log it first lights it up and warms it. That corresponds to a joyful mystery. We are warmed by the love of God revealed to us . When the fire comes closer, the wood begins to blacken, smoke, smell bad, and give out tar and other unpleasant substances. This is the sorrowful outpouring; the soul has the painful experience of its own wretchedness. This phase lasts until the purifying fire has completed its work and the soul is totally transformed into a fire of love. Here is the glorious outpouring, in which the soul is strengthened in charity, the fire Jesus came to kindle on earth.”
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 84
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“We can suffer for Only one Moment.”
This effort to live in the reality of each moment is of the greatest importance in times of suffering. St Therese of Lisieux said during her illness; “ I only suffer for one moment. It is because people think about the past and the future that they become discouraged and despair. Nobody has the capacity to suffer for ten or twenty years; but we have the grace to bear today the suffering that is ours now. Projecting things into the future crushes us not experiencing suffering but anticipating it.”
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 75
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“Let us ask ourselves this question, to what degree can the evil in my surroundings effect me? With the apologies to those I am going to scandalize, I say that the evil around us- the sins of others, of people in the church, of society-does not become an evil for us unless we let Him penetrate our hearts. The point isn’t that we should become indifferent. Just the opposite. The holier we are the more we will suffer due to the evil and sin in the world. But external evil only harms us to the degree we react badly to it, by fear, worry discouragement, sadness, giving up, rushing to apply hasty solutions that don’t solve anything judging, fostering bitterness and resentment, refusing to forgive and so on. Jesus say in St Mark’s Gospel, There is nothing outside of man which going into him can defile him but the things which come out of a man are what defile him. Harm does not come to us(our souls) from external circumstances, but from how we react to them interiorly.”
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 75
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“Let us ask ourselves this question, to what degree can the evil in my surroundings effect me? With the apologies to those I am going to scandalize,I say that the evil around us- the sins of others, of people in the church, of society-does not become an evil for us unless we let Him penetrate our hearts. The point isn’t that we should become indifferent. Just the opposite. The holier we are the more we will suffer due to the evil and sin in the world. But external evil only harms us to the degree we react badly to it, by fear, worry discouragement, sadness,giving up, rushing to apply hasty solutions that don’t solve anything judging, fostering bitterness and resentment, refusing to forgive and so on. Jesus say in St Mark’s Gospel, There is nothing outside of man which going into him can defile him but the things which come out of a man are what defile him. Harm does not come to us(our souls) from external circumstances, but from how we react to them interiorly.”
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 66
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“ Freedom can be diminished by a dependence on someone whom we love too much(and in the wrong way) who becomes so indispensable to us that we partly lose our autonomy. But a refusal to forgive also binds us to the person we resent, and diminishes or destroys our freedom. we are as dependent on the people we hate as on those we love in a disproportionate manner. When we foster resentment toward someone, we can’t stop thinking about him. We are filled with negative feelings that absorb a large part of our energy, and so there is an “investment” in that relationship that does not leave us available, psychologically and spiritually, for what we should be concentrating on. Resentment attacks our vital forces and does us much harm. When someone has made us suffer, our tendency is to keep the memory of the wrong alive in our minds, like a ‘bill” we will produce in due time to demand settlement. Those accumulated bills end up poisoning our lives. It is wiser to cancel every debt, as the Gospel invites us to. In return, we will be forgiven everything, and our hearts will be set free, whereas nurturing resentment toward others closes us to positive things they could contribute to us.”
FG#2 – Interior Freedom episode 2 – Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett
Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 42
Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC
“Sometimes we tend to forbid ourselves some wholesome aspiration, some accomplishment, or legitimate happiness. A subconscious psychological mechanism makes us deny ourselves happiness out of a sense of guilt or it may come from a false idea of God’s will, as if we ought to deprive ourselves systematically of everything good in life! In either case, it has nothing to do with genuine spiritual realism and acceptance of our own limitations. God sometimes calls us to make sacrifices but he also sets us free from fears and false sense of imprisoning guilt. He restores to us the freedom to welcome whatever good and pleasant things he wants to give us in order to encourage and show us his tenderness.”
