Is there enough spine in your spiritual reading?

Michael Downey has watched with some concern traditional Catholic spirituality being sideswiped on what he calls the spiritual superhighway - the therapeutic, self-help, self-fix mentality that guides much of the new books on spirituality.

Downey, associate professor of theology at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Kentucky, thinks Catholics should rediscover the spirituality that has guided the church for centuries, one that focused less on the life of the self and more on life in community. "What are the implications . . . for people today who talk about my prayer life, my spirituality?" he asks. "Sure, Jesus went away into the desert to take time alone and pray, but he always returned to relationships with people."

Downey is editor of The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality (Liturgical, 1993) and author of At the Margins: Spirituality and Liturgy (Pastoral Press, 1994).

What trends do you see in spiritual writing?

Some New Age, self-help, or self-actualization books set religion and spirituality in opposition to each other. Many of them include the implicit judgment that spirituality is what really matters. Tradition, participating in the life of faith and worship, and a sense of religious belonging are denigrated.

That's unfortunate because the quest that these movements often lead people on can be enriched by Catholic tradition - with its emphasis on a biblical base for Christian living in the Spirit, its liturgical grounding for the Christian spiritual life, and its awareness of the importance of social responsibility. Somehow, many people today see spirituality as something separate from that.

A person's spiritual life, then, becomes something that happens in opposition to any participation in formal religion. The trend is to see religion as something dealing with obligations and regulations, and spirituality as something more personal. It's a false dichotomy. I often have phone calls or letters or visits from people who say, "I've been a Catholic all my life, and I'm just beginning to discover spirituality."

What they mean is they've read some current spiritual best-seller, which may or may not be untethered from the Christian mystery. What they will wind up with, perhaps, is personal satisfaction but in a way that usually compounds the problem of individualism that is rampant in our society.

That's part of my difficulty with a lot of contemporary spiritual writing - it reinforces a hurtful kind of individualism. The books on the best-seller list are all efforts in one way or another to straighten up your ego, to fix yourself. Though many popular spiritual writers have an awareness of the importance of belonging to some sort of fellowship, the real emphasis is on taking responsibility for one's own life. One gets a sense of masses of people living together alone.

How should Catholics approach popular spiritual writing?

First ask, What is there of merit or value in what's being written here? What merit or value is there in something such as Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul? Do people understand what he means by recovering what he calls soul? What Moore is trying to do is steer a middle ground between raw materialism and secularism and an otherworldly sort of spiritualism. He's inviting people to live a life that is more reflective and which has an awareness of the sacred. That's a profoundly sacramental worldview that lies at the heart of Catholic tradition.

So you identify what is good in contemporary spiritual writing and see how those insights help build an approach to a fuller participation in the Christian mystery.

But if a best-selling spiritual writer is offering me a very satisfactory sense of spirituality, what is the appeal of belonging to the church?

It's possible to be satisfied with the spiritual resources of someone like Thomas Moore and live a very individualistic and privatized approach to the spiritual life. But that's precisely the problem with this kind of spirituality. It doesn't get you to the deepest desire of the human heart: to live in communion with God in and through communion with others.

Participation in a religious tradition is a way of living out of that sense of communion. Otherwise, what you're left with is "the book and me." You ask, Why bother with the church? I say, because the church is a people of which one is intrinsically a part.

The biblical idea of being created in the image of God is a way of understanding that the human being - male and female - is a relational being. Our life with God is never something lived alone; it's always lived out in communion with others. The spiritual life has everything to do with finding ways of living in rightly ordered relationships with others.

I realize there are limitations in any human relationship, but the challenge of the human condition is to work them out. We used to think of the ascetical journey - the purification and fasting and abstinence and all those things that we pretty much now relegate to Lent - in terms of purifying ourselves and getting our spiritual acts together. But, properly understood, asceticism is about the person being conformed to the cross of Christ - that is, primarily it has to do with our relationships with other people and God.

How do popular spiritual writers deal with the cross and the role of suffering in one's life?

In a lot of the New Age spirituality, suffering is something that you try to avoid or bypass as much as possible. A Christian spirituality of the cross says that no matter how you slice it, suffering is going to be part of your life - the cross is there, and millions of people get crucified on it each day. Christians understand that crucified people need to be taken down from the cross. The Christian vision is that the fullness of life occurs not in bypassing suffering or getting stuck in it but living in and through suffering. In light of the mystery of the cross, suffering and death are not the final word.

In contemporary Christian thought, the cross is seen as a crucial moment in spiritual growth and development. The cross today is the vital center of reflection and discernment; it's not just a moment to simply swallow your pain. Christians learn to look not just at their own suffering but that of all people - be they battered women or any people who are scorned and pushed to the margins of society - and understand those experiences as vital, as the very seedbed for spiritual transformation.

Wouldn't a lot of people argue that suffering is wrong, unhealthy, and undesirable?

It's precisely because the average American thinks that way about suffering that the New Age-type literature and movements have such appeal. But they are not realistic. One way of thinking about life is to see it as a series of relinquishments: ending a relationship, watching a child grow to adulthood, leaving a neighborhood or job. We live a series of relinquishments, a series of losses. The wisdom of the cross is the realization that suffering and loss touch every life. But the very stuff of life, every inch and ounce of it, including suffering and loss, has been embraced by the Incarnation - God is with us in this suffering. The gift of the Spirit is God's life with us right in the midst and at the heart of our suffering without being absorbed by it. Through all this, we gradually move more fully into the mystery of God.

How would you define contemporary Christian spirituality?

As good a definition as any would be: Christian spirituality is life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, being conformed to the person of Christ and being united in communion with God and with others.

Before Vatican II, Christian spirituality was usually associated with the life of the soul, the life of Christian perfection, the interior life, the life of recollection and reflection. It's a kind of spirituality most associated with life behind the walls of a monastery.

But when people talk about Christian spirituality today, they have in mind a more inclusive and holistic understanding of the human person. This includes the relationship between church and world and the way in which the Spirit is active in the world. Contemporary Christian spirituality sees our ordinary daily life as an arena of the spiritual.

What is the role of self-knowledge in contemporary spiritual writing?

Many approaches to self-knowledge look in the wrong direction. The reader is encouraged to turn inward to deeper and deeper and deeper levels of self-penetration in the hope that he or she will arrive at a deeper self-understanding or knowledge. That may be a first step, but the real matrix of true self-knowledge is in relationship to another, to others, and to God.

How does one arrive at self-knowledge according to Christian wisdom? It may be a useful step to turn inward, to know one's motivations and intentions, and to be aware of the roots of vice and virtue within the self. But because the self is created in God's image - that is, created in relationship - then self-knowledge can't stop there. For the Christian, real self-knowledge occurs within a community of faith, in which the gospel is proclaimed and where one participates in the sacraments. To live in Christ means, in part, to allow the community of believers, the story of Jesus, and the vision of life that is expressed in the sacraments to form us.

In the Middle Ages, Saint Thomas Aquinas distinguished among the capacities of intellect, will, and emotion. But he still saw the human being as a unified whole, Aquinas believed one came to know him- or herself in relationship to others and God. Only in the wake of the Enlightenment did those distinct capacities come to be identified as separate and competing with one another.

Now put this into the mix with the age of Enlightenment's confirmation of individual rights and liberties, the superiority of reason, and the ability to create and make a self, and then you have the foundation for the self-help world we're in now. Individualism is ingrained in Western thought, and in many ways it's at the very heart of what it means to be an American.

The conviction that we can make ourselves, that we are individuals before we are in relationship, that we're individuals before we're a community is what's new and what's detrimental. This idea has led us to a place where people are beginning to say that the accomplishments of the modern world have ultimately failed to satisfy the deepest desire of the human heart.

That's because the deepest desire of the human heart is for communion with God and others. As long as we think of ourselves first as individuals who then choose to be in relationship to others, we're slicing it the wrong way. From the very moment of our existence, we are in relationship.

Most people have experienced many different kinds of relationships, many that are perhaps not so healthy. What's the Christian message in those cases?

Look at Jesus' relationships in the gospels - there is no domination and submission; no room for religious elite; no abuse, manipulation, or control. Jesus is God's compassion.

Look at the way the gospel portrays Jesus in relationship to others. There you can find the hallmarks of a rightly ordered relationship: mercy, forgiveness, compassion, truth, justice. It's got nothing to do with domination and control. Power here is understood as service, service for the glory of God.

What does it mean when Jesus sits down with people who are politically and religiously outcast and eats with them? What are the implications of his living in solidarity with marginalized people? What are the implications of this for people today who talk about my prayer life, my spirituality? Sure Jesus went away into the desert to take time alone and pray, but he always returned to relationships with people.

What distinguishes Catholic spirituality from one that might simply be described as Christian?

I would say, first of all, Catholicism's profoundly sacramental view of the world. Catholicism has a deeply held conviction about the centrality of the Incarnation and the way in which God has embraced the world and the human enterprise in the person of Jesus Christ and by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

Another really distinctive thing about Catholicism is an awareness of the superabundance of mercy - not only as expressed in the sacrament of Reconciliation but in the sense that in the church there's room for everybody.

A third distinction is the Catholic sense of the connection between the living and the dead. Catholics have traditions of praying to the saints and praying in communion with the saints to and for our beloved dead. I think this is a deeply felt conviction that is profoundly influential to our sense of spirituality. These are people who have lived the fullness of the Christian life, and we look to them for help. We live with a profound sense of their nearness.

Why is it important for Catholics to do spiritual reading?

It comes out of the sense that we can learn about ourselves from those who have gone before us. Regrettably too much of what goes under the rubric of spiritual writing these days, even in Catholic circles, compounds the problem of individualism over relationship.

People today read the daily newspaper and then say they can't find an hour for prayer. But why can't reading itself be an occasion for prayer? Being informed is itself a spiritual discipline. Why not find books that talk about the liturgical and scriptural foundations of prayer or literature that attends to the social and practical implications of the life of prayer and spiritual development? Jesuit Father John Kavanaugh's Following Christ in a Consumer Society, for example, could be understood as a work in Christian spirituality, as could the writings of Annie Dillard or Kathleen Norris. These are profoundly spiritual writings. On the other hand, many books published nowadays under the general heading of "spirituality" or "inspiration" are neither.

Some good guides to spiritual reading are such reference works as The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, The New Dictionary of Theology, The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought, or The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship. They will give you an idea of the wide range of spiritual writing that is part of Catholic tradition.

What's needed and what we don't have enough of nowadays is accessible, solid spirituality - spirituality with spine. A great deal of contemporary writing on spirituality is fluff, and I don't know if it can really help people work through their problems.

I recommend looking to some of the Christian classics in spirituality for help. The reason people are able to move from depression into something like stability again is because they are able to find some reserve of hope, even where there appears to be absolutely none at all. The Christian view offers some possibility of that hope - of a future restoration, especially in and through woundedness, weakness, and vulnerability. Finding that hope is when real spirituality begins to happen.

FURTHER READING

SCRIPTURE The Jerusalem Bible The New American Bible 

ESSENTIAL SOURCES

Thomas a Kempis. The Imitation of Christ (Servant, 1992). This immortal classic offers a series of inspiring meditations to deepen the reader's interior life, sense of discipleship, and awe for the eucharistic oneness with the Lord.

Saint Albert the Great and Saint Thomas Aquinas. Albert and Thomas: Selected Writings (in Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist, 1988).

Anonymous. The Cloud of Unknowing (Doubleday, 1972). This 14th-century spiritual classic offers the reader a literary work of great beauty as well as a practical guide to a life of contemplation.

Saint Augustine. City of God (Viking Penguin, 1984). A great Christian classic, considered Augustine's masterpiece.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. On the Song of Songs (Cistercian Publications, 1971). In the first 20 of Bernard's 86 sermons on the Song of Songs, the reader discovers the depth, vitality, and spontaneity of this spiritual doctrine and experience.

Saint Bonaventure. Bonaventure: The Soul's Journey into God (Paulist, 1978). Called "Prince of Mystics," Bonaventure holds a central position in the history of Christian spirituality.

Dom Eugene Boylan. This Tremendous Lover (Christian Classics, 1987). This book [conjoins] for the reader two great streams of concern: holiness for the ordinary person and the doctrine of the Mystical Body.

Carlo Caretto. Letters from the Desert (Orbis Books, 1982). Born of the author's solitude and contemplation as a Little Brother of Jesus in the desert country of North Africa, these reflections stand well within the ancient Christian tradition of desert experience.

The Dialogue of Catherine of Siena (Tan Books, 1976).

Saint Francis de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life (E. P. Dutton, 1961). This is an outstanding example of Christian mystical and devotional literature.

Meister Eckhart: A Modern Translation (Harper, 1957).

Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare. Francis and Clare: The Complete Works (Paulist, 1982).

Saint Gregory of Nyssa. Ascetical Works (Catholic University of America, 1967). The second and third treatises included here respond to the question, What is the nature of the true Christian?

Jean Nicholas Grou. How to Pray (Upper Room, 1973). One of the recognized masterpieces of literature on prayer.

Walter Hilton. The Ladder of Perfection (Viking, 1988). This abridged version is of practical value not only for Christians but for anyone for whom religion has become an urgent personal question.

The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (ICS Publications, 1991). Each text unfolds with accuracy and grace Saint John's intention to teach souls the dynamics of growth in union with God.

John Wesley and Charles Wesley: Selected Writings and Hymns (Paulist, 1981).

Julian of Norwich. The Revelations of Divine Love (Paulist, 1978).

Brother Lawrence. The Practice of the Presence of God (Paraclete, 1984). A spiritual classic for Christians of every denomination.

Thomas Merton. Life and Holiness (Doubleday, 1969); New Seeds of Contemplation (New Directions, 1972).

Cardinal John Henry Newman. Apologia Pro Vita Sua (Doubleday, 1989). One of the great literary and spiritual classics of all times.

Nicholas of Cusa. The Vision of God (Frederick Ungar, 1960).

The Rule of St. Benedict (Source, 1993).

Saint Teresa of Avila. The Interior Castle (in Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist, 1979).

Collected Writings of St. Therese of Lisieux (Christian Classics, 1974).

Adrian van Kaam. On Being Yourself: Reflections on Spirituality and Originality (Dimension Books, 1972).

William of St. Thierry. On Contemplating God, Prayer, Meditations (Cistercian Publications, 1971). Friend of Bernard of Clairvaux and fellow abbot.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Louis Bouyer. Introduction to Spirituality (Liturgical Press, 1961).

Raymond Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, and Roland Murphy (Eds.). The Jerome Biblical Commentary (Prentice-Hall, 1986). This highly lauded commentary on the whole Bible is not only about the Bible; it also brings the reader to the Word of God itself.

Martin Buber. I and Thou (Macmillan, 1978).

Miguel de Unamuno. Tragic Sense of Life (Dover, 1954). This volume is the acknowledged masterpiece of one of Spain's most influential philosophers.

Thomas Keating. Open Mind, Open Heart (Element, 1986). This book is designed to initiate the reader into a warm, living relationship with God and to the art and discipline of centering prayer.

C. S. Lewis. Miracles (Macmillan, 1978).

Robert Mulholland. Invitation to a Journey : A Road Map for Spiritual Formation (InterVarsity, 1993).

Susan Muto. Pathways of Spiritual Living (St. Bede's, 1988).

A. D. Sertillanges. The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods (Catholic University Press of America, 1987).

Evelyn Underhill. The Mystics of the Church (Morehouse, 1988).

Dietrich von Hildebrand. Liturgy and Personality: The Healing Power of Formal Prayer (Sophia Institute, 1992).

Helen Waddel. The Desert Fathers (University of Michigan, 1957).

EDIFYING SOURCES

Catherine de Hueck Doherty. Poustinia (Ave Maria, 1975).

Anne Frank. The Diary of a Young Girl (Bantam, 1993).

Dag Hammarskjold. Markings (Ballantine, 1985).

Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Gift from the Sea (Random House, 1991).

Henri Nowen. Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life (Walker, 1986).

Blaise Pascal. Pensees (Viking Penguin, 1966).

Hugh Prather. Notes to Myself: My Struggle to Become a Person (Bantam, 1990).

Hans Urs von Balthasar. Prayer (Paulist, 1967).

Simone Weil. Waiting for God (Borgo, 1991).

RECREATIVE SOURCES

Dante. The Divine Comedy (Oxford University, 1993).

Robert Bolt. A Man for All Seasons (Random House, 1990).

Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Flight of Arras (Time-Life, 1991); The Little Prince (Harcourt Brace, 1993).

Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The Brothers Karamazov (David McKay, 1992).

Loren Eiseley. The Night Country (Peter Smith, 1988).

Graham Greene. The Power and the Glory (Viking Penguin, 1991).

Sinclair Lewis. Babbitt (Buccaneer Books, 1987).

Francois Mauriac. Woman of the Pharisees (Carroll & Graf, 1988).

James Michener. The Source (Fawcett Book Group, 1986).

Alan Paton. Cry the Beloved Country (Buccaneer Books, 1991).

Chaim Potok. The Chosen (Fawcett Book Group, 1987).

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

Leo Tolstoy. The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories (Viking Penguin, 1989).

Jessamyn West. Hide and Seek: A Continuing Journey (Harcourt, 1987).

Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass (Random House, 1993).

These recommended readings were excerpted with permission from the Sample Bibliography in A Practical Guide to Spiritual Reading (St. Bede's Publications, 1994) by Susan Muto.