Obedience

Hello Zeteo Community!

Today was a very long day with a very grumpy one-year-old, do not ask me why I am still up. The blog today is short and sweet, thank you for stopping by.

I hope to see many of you at the Zeteo event tomorrow, with members of the Marian and Saint Vincent dePaul societies teaching us about Serving the Poor. I am not sure about the rest of you, but generosity seems to be popping up everywhere these days - I am sure it will be a much needed teaching on my part.


Week 4: Obedience

I had something really vivid happen in a dream a few weeks ago. We had played music at an event, and afterward I was asked, "How do you praise God that way if you don't have the love?" I said, "I do not have the love, but I do have the obedience. I will continue in obedience until I have the love."

In my last Zeteo blog, I wrote about being in a dry spell. Soon after, I started reading a book called A Mother's Rule of Life. This book speaks about ordering my vocation - for my life as a wife and mother is truly my vocation, so that I may serve God in it. It helped me to realize the fruits that can come out of this period of desolation I have been experiencing.

The book explains how law precedes love. As Catholics, we are called to follow the laws of the Church, to refrain from sin, and to practice disciplines. Ultimately, we should do these things out of love for Christ, however, this is often not the case. As I am experiencing right now, sometimes we lack the love and Christ asks us to follow Him simply out of obedience. Eventually, this obedience will help us to grow in love.

The author describes being in a dry spell herself, and gives an analogy from Saint John of the Cross comparing our faith journey to a burning log. When it is first lit - when we are first filled with passion for our faith, the log takes a little while to ignite, but when it does it goes up with a big spark, a big flame. After a while, the fire dies down and seems to have gone out, just as our passion for our faith inevitably seems to. However, we know just because we cannot see raging flame, the log is still on fire, it has simply penetrated the interior of the log.

My faith is interior right now. Instead of feeling extremely motivated and on fire for my faith, I feel God is working inside of me, in small and less flashy ways. Slowly but surely, I am learning to serve Him out of obedience - a lesson I know to be valuable, just as it is painful.

In a way, I am grateful for this period of discipline, as I know God often uses the most difficult times in our lives to bring us to the greatest blessing.

God bless,
Olivia Fischer

Seeds of the Logos

Hey Zeteo Community,

Hope you enjoy the blog for today. God bless the rest of your weeks, and all your travels this weekend.

Peace!
Olivia

Week 3: Seeds of the Logos

At the last Zeteo event, Louis Rouleau explained that we need to have a generosity and openness of Spirit in regards to people of other religions. As I wrote about in this blog, any attempt to understand the truth of our existence is good because it is a religious instinct.

Nostra Aetate is a doctrine that came out of the Second Vatican Council that revolutionized the way the Catholic Church responded to other religions. This document prompts Catholics not to discriminate those of other religions, but instead, to be at peace with all people so as to be like Christ.

Saint Justin Martyr was a theologian during the time of Christian persecution in the Roman Empire. He took an ancient theory, that of the logos, and applied it to Christ. Many philosophers before him had spoken about the logos, this idea of the logos often referred to reason or the word, and claimed that Christ was the height of reason, the living Word. Saint Justin theorized that these philosophers were Christian's without realizing it - as Christ had not yet come, because they had devoted their lives to seeking truth, and in many instances had found pieces of it.

Saint Justin was before his time in respecting the attempts non-believers to explain reality, and in distinguishing truth in other religions and philosophies. It was not until the Second Vatican Council that Christians were encouraged to engage in theological discussions with non-Christians, and to recognize truth outside of Christianity. In Nostra Aetate, Christians were ensured that wherever there is truth and goodness, there is Christ - as Saint Justin had believed long before.

As described by Louis, this explains the somewhat complicated teaching of the Catholic church on the salvation of non-believers. A sincere non-believer can be saved, even if he never accepted Jesus fully in faith, if he has truly searched for truth and goodness. Of course, the Catholic Church emphasizes that Jesus, as Louis put it, is the sole mediator of salvation. This truth is expressed in Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

So it is, that in this complicated day, we are encouraged to cling to the fullness of truth that is our Catholic faith, while also respecting the various other religions and practices that surround us. It seems unfortunate to me that, as Christians, we are called to be at peace with all people, when so often we are seen as people that are judgemental, discriminatory, or prejudiced.

It is difficult to see the corruption in the world and not feel that the world is being taken over by untruths. However, it is true now, and has forever been, that there are seeds of truth all around us, and it is our duty as Christians to be as Christ, and love first.