Meeting 2. - People of the Upper Room ************************************* .. tags:: content|holy-spirit|Holy Spirit, content|hope|Hope, content|community|Community, content|desires|Desires, content|prayer|Prayer, method|sharing-questions|Sharing questions, type|formative|Formative ================================== Aids ================================== Cards with written comparisons regarding faith - "Would you present what faith you desire to have...", mind map "I respect God so..." to be filled in ================================== Goal ================================== 1. Allowing for pious consideration about God of such concepts as "disappointment", "cold" without guilt. 2. Convincing people that in faith 3 words of a heart truly breaking faith are better than one hundred and one hymns sung standing up. ==================================== Evening prayer and matins ==================================== Sharing - comments, questions, suggestions, feelings - remember for the briefing for the prayer diakonia ========================================= Upper Room not only of the apostles ========================================= Let's look at the disciples and their situation after the resurrection of Jesus: When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ -- John 20:19-23 Let's consider what state of the disciples emerges from this fragment, what emotions accompany them: Fear, thinking "What now? What will happen to us?", maybe also disappointment, a sense of loss... * Are these feelings close to us in some way in the matter of faith? Do we sometimes feel this way ourselves? * Do we have the impression that sometimes in our faith something "didn't work" or "doesn't work" as it should? * Are we waiting for something in our faith? * What faith would we like to have? Can you describe it somehow? (we develop the question into the dynamic described below) My faith is a wildly personal matter. It is hard to talk about it for this reason. We have the following questions written on a piece of paper: * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as a rock or fire? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as a sage over a book or a person of ardent prayer? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as a Hymn of praise in honor of Creation or a humble plea? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as the Sigismund Bell thundering widely or a mother teaching her daughter the Lord's Prayer? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as constant questioning or as obtaining answers? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as conquering the world or escaping from the world? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as a lake that is for others or a rushing stream paving the way through rocks? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as "you are Rambo" or "you are a pious seminarian"? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as walking on water, or serving the son-in-law? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as Heart or Reason? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as climbing to the summit, or watching views at the summit? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as scrupulous observance of the law or its creation, discovery? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as "for dancing" or "for the rosary"? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as traditional singing of the Little Office or singing songs with drums in the Church? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as long discussions and meditations or moments of elation, like a flash of light? * Would you present what faith you desire to have more as childlike trust or Thomas's doubting? .. note:: the animator spreads the cards on the table. Of course, none of these things are mutually exclusive - there is no good and bad answer here, or better or worse - but even intuitive placement of accents will help tell about what is in the heart. We ask that each participant choose two (one?) questions and ask two people (one person?) from the group. Note! Let our maturity for community be expressed in care that each person has the opportunity to answer the question. Let each question be used max 1 time. It is worth asking a deepening question "and why?". We emphasize that we are not talking about what our faith is but what faith **we would like to have**! These are desires sitting deep inside us so it is difficult to name them, but maybe these cards helped us somehow in this. If we talk about wanting something... it means that we are waiting for it. Why are we waiting? Why does the good God make us wait for something that is certainly good? Why don't we have it already now? WE DON'T KNOW! (nota bene: shock? The Church doesn't know something?) But we don't have to know this. Apparently this is God's plan, because.... ..this is probably nothing abnormal since the apostles in the Upper Room are also waiting (hello! The toughest under the sun, the first Church). We are in a very similar situation - just like Jesus' disciples - we are PEOPLE OF THE UPPER ROOM. People at the start of something new. Waiting people who desire to leave it and "go into the whole world" (because such is the human heart - created to act), but who lack courage, knowledge how to bite it and approach it, which makes them sometimes feel lost in their faith. ========================================= Rebellion! Exit! Courage! ========================================= Is it possible to leave this upper room? Can its walls be pierced? * Is an exceptional life a special grace and only some have a chance for it? * Can we desire an extraordinary life? Do we desire? Not only can we desire! It is basically promised to us and not by just anyone. Let's read Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. -- John 14:12 * What does greater than these mean? That is, greater than what? (walking on water for example) * How do we feel with such a promise of Jesus? What does it mean to me? What does greater works mean? Does the Lord Jesus encourage nearly 7 billion living people to start moving mountains simultaneously? This would introduce slight chaos. * What can therefore be these "greater works" Jesus speaks about? There is not much spiritual benefit from moving mountains. It is hard to say what Jesus has in mind - it is only known that it must be something really extra. One thing is certain - every believer is to do great things, significant, important. Jesus has the power to make his life important. To go and literally "do works", and not sneak through life stealthily. * How to gain such faith? * What is between the closure in the upper room and this joy of life? (The Spirit! His descent!) Apostles who went to the whole world known to them and proclaimed Jesus in languages they did not even understand before. They were not perfect. They hid in the upper room! They did not understand his teaching! They disappointed the master (they were not under the cross)! Speaking in our terms, they messed up wherever possible. But....they were open to the Spirit and were **true** (e.g. Thomas: if he has a doubt he doesn't grin and nod, just shoots straight from the hip - I won't believe until I see!) Since they could be like that, we can too. It is nothing abnormal if we have problems with faith, the problem is that we close ourselves to the Mover of All Movement. ========================================= To be yourself - Desire for God Himself ========================================= Let's see two attitudes: .. note:: Example for the animator to understand the spirit. Adapt to the age of the group: "Lord God, this teaching about premarital relationships is fantastic! I love it! But well... you know how it is" vs "Lord God I don't get Your teaching and the Church and it annoys me! Help me understand, because I can't handle it" * Which attitude do you associate with humility? Why do you think so (not)? * Are you able to be humble in prayer in the good sense of the word, that is, not trying to color reality? Also the reality of your relationship to God? .. warning:: This is one of the key questions in this meeting. Do not skip, do not jump over casually. Let's see how e.g. Jonah prayed: When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’ But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ -- Jonah 3:10 - 4:9 * Does Jonah's attitude surprise you and the fact that such a person is in the Holy Scripture? * Does such an attitude associate with a model of faith for you or not really? * What does "being a believing person" mean to you, what image do you see? (do not develop! There will be a dynamic with a card about this) * What is difficult in such good humility? * How to start praying "courageously" following Jonah's example? One can be piously greedy, well greedy in requests. **Faith demands to be treated seriously**. God treats us seriously, we should also treat him like that. Let's read: Jesus Christ prepared for us things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard. And we pray that she be a blonde with blue eyes, or that the quiz be easy. -- Fr. Adam Szustak * A situation known to you or is Fr. Adam wrong? :) What does "treating God seriously" mean for us here and now? Let's try to make a list (Association map - a card with the inscription "I respect God so..." in the middle, we add our answers). But let it be **our list**, and not a list of "some Poles". Let's try to look deeper, because does hearing "be a good person" make you better? Concreteness is needed! Let's try to write down specifics [dynamic] * What is particularly difficult in all this? * Why? Are we trying to "manage on our own" with our own strength? ========================================= Being yourself - joy ========================================= What is the fruit of sincere and open faith? Joy! Because faith ceases to be something as if next to our life, something as if a bit not ours. We do not have two hearts: the one that thinks its own and the one that is arranged before God. When suddenly in such an important sphere of life as spirituality we can be ourselves and in addition someone wants us to be like that and says: "Well finally Ania/Kasia/ Błażej/Kuba! Finally you told me what you think, and didn't try to be who you are not!" it is impossible not to be joyful. * Have you ever experienced the joy of "being yourself"? Not necessarily before God! * Have you already tried to leave your upper room? Did you rebel against how your life/faith looks like? * Did you try to do it alone or with the help of the Holy Spirit? Let's read a certain well-known story: While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. **While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering**, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. (...) and they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem **with great joy**; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. -- Luke 24:36-42,52-53 We remember what situation the apostles are in after the Master's death. They know it should be different, but they are helpless. They see no meaning in the events. * What did the apostles rejoice about? * Firstly, looking very "humanly", they rejoiced that life returned, that they "regained" a close person, their Master. * They rejoiced that the misfortune they were experiencing ended, that before their eyes a good was accomplished which they could not comprehend until now. * From now on they participate in their Master's victory over death. After the tragedy of the cross, disappointments and resignation, they stand at a new beginning. The meeting with the Risen One becomes a source of new hope, joy, new life. * Another reason for joy is the fact that they did not waste time. Something they believed in for 3 years, Whom they followed, Whom they listened to... All this turned out not to be a failure, nor a fairy tale, but an authentic, great matter. * And You? What do you really rejoice about? * Which aspect of joy does the Church touch most strongly? ========================================= Summary ========================================= Each of us has the right and even the duty to live our life in an extraordinary way. It is not easy and we often return to our own upper room waiting for so-called better times. However, man will be happy only when he is "in his place". Our place is not the upper room - we are to conquer the world. This may be a bold thought... but God behaves in the Holy Scripture as if He was just waiting for us to think so. We are therefore "people of the upper room"....but this does not mean that we will spend our whole life in it. Are we ready to leave it? ========================================= Application ========================================= Prayer for the courage to treat faith seriously.