L.A.Benson
@leeabenson
Host of Basically Related Podcast. OCDS Carmelite. MTS Theology. I discuss scripture, theology, philosophy, psychology and other musings. New episodes Fridays
The present is a cartoon of human consciousness, comprehending past and future in one “now”
The Christian faith is an existential attitude and a fundamental decision about the direction of life
“Don’t pack too many books for vacation, okay?” “Yeah for sure” (packed two bags of books)
Kinda wild “Dark Night of the Soul” is one of the “TAN Books Classics.” Yeah it’s a classic, but it signals “everyone should read this!” No, everyone should read “The Spiritual Canticle” then maybe “Ascent.”
One of the many things St. Teresa and St. John have taught me is be very careful who you entrust your interior life to. Your local parish priest, even if holy and smart, is more than likely a “general practitioner” and not qualified to do spiritual direction. He has his own…
St. Teresa of Avila said spiritual directors ought to have “tasted insight” of the interior life
St. Teresa of Avila said spiritual directors ought to have “tasted insight” of the interior life
The problem here is that the "pastoral dimension" of priestly formation has been severely lacking in most places for decades -- and, often, the people who are the most enthusiastic about the pastoral dimension of formation are the worst offenders.
What is committed to you, attend to. It is not necessary for you to see with your eyes those things which are hidden
The literary genre of the Gospels is apocalyptic (2 Cor. 3:14-16). Ignore what the scholars say
God did not give the children of Israel the heavenly manna until they exhausted the flour brought from Egypt. The meaning here is that first a total renunciation is needed, for the bread of angels is disagreeable to the palate of anyone who wants to taste human food. St. John…
How did Moses’s sister get in with Pharaoh’s daughter in Exodus 2:7?
All those who gaze upon the Eucharistic Lord can say along with Mary Magdalen, “I have seen the Lord”
Why did Jesus tell Mary Magdalene not to touch him? St. John of the Cross says it was because sensory things are an impediment to the spirit because they detain the soul and prevent the spirit from soaring to the invisible. Sensory visions cannot serve as means for union.
With supreme erudition and precise articulation, Carl Jung called atheism "a stupid error"