Mystical Prayer - learn more about the mystical traditions of Christianity
John C. H. Wu - "I often think of myself as a Magus from China who lays before the Divine Infant in the arms of the Blessed Virgin the gold of Confucianism, the musk of Taoism, and the frankincense of Buddhism. At a single touch by His hands, whatever is false in them is purified, and whatever is genuine is transmuted into supernatural values."
Remembering Kuan Yin - with Paul K. T. Sih
Saints: The Holy Immortal Ones in Christ - who they are for us
The Holy Immortal Catholic Martyrs of China - names & stories
The Secret Catholic Church of China
The Triple-Gem of Christian Refuge - "Christians seek refuge in a Buddha, who is Jesus Christ; they seek refuge in the Dharma, which is the teaching of Jesus Christ; and they understand and place our trust in Christ's Sangha, the Church." Parallels in the Buddhist & Christian traditions explored by Henry Karlson.
G. K. Chesterton - modern master of paradox; author beloved by John C. H. Wu
Saint Francis of Assisi - gave up everything to live in the simplicity of Christ; patron of the ecology and animals
Saint Teresa of Avila - shoeless Spanish mystical poet; also much beloved by John C. H. Wu
Saint John of the Cross - another shoeless Spanish mystical poet, friend of Saint Teresa
Saint Maximos the Confessor - Eastern Catholic mystic
Nicholas Black Elk - Catholic catechist, best known for The Sacred Pipe and Black Elk Speaks (Also read: Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala by Michael Steltenkamp)
His Holiness' Homepage
Gospel of Saint John - NRSV translation
Saints Clement of Alexandria and Maximus Confessor Home Page - an intriguing page by a Byzantine Catholic Platonist/Realist who also studies Buddhism and the Vedanta tradition in Hinduism
Consistent Life - an international network for peace, justice, and life
Houston Catholic Worker/Casa Juan Diego - peace, justice, houses of hospitality for immigrants & refugees
Natural Family Planning - a watercourse way to achieve or prevent pregnancy: 100% natural (learn to appreciate and respect your bodies), 98-100% effective, costs very little (if anything), anyone can learn
Benefits of Natural Family Planning
J.R.R. Tolkien - one of the great modern Catholic novelists
Second Spring: A Journal of Faith & Culture - for fans of Tolkien & Chesterton, among other things
"No, nothing human can be greater than [Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism], but Christianity is divine. It is a mistake to regard Christianity as Western. The West may be Christian (I wish it were more so), but Christianity is not Western. It is beyond East and West, beyond the old and the new. It is older than the old, newer than the new. It is more native to me than the Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism in whose milieu I was born. I am grateful to them, because they have served as pedagogues to lead me to Christ [Galatians 3:24]. Christ constitutes the unity of my life.... God used... teachings of Confucius, Lao Tzu and Buddha as instruments to open my eyes to the Light of the world."
John C. H. Wu, Beyond East & West 1951
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St. Francis' Prayer
Although it may not have been written by St. Francis, this prayer certainly captures Francis' deep rooted Christian belief that only by emptying (or giving) ourselves do we truly receive divine life in Christ the Way and become what we were meant to be.
LORD, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek so much
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardonning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Self-emptying and self-giving are known in the Catholic Tradition as "kenosis." When God enables us to empty ourselves of pride, greed, and other selfish vices and freely give ourselves to others, we can be filled with the divine life that Jesus Christ, the Logos of God, came to give man. Participation in the divine life is called "divinization" or "theosis." In other words, our goal is theosis through kenosis in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The life God enables humans to live, theosis through kenosis, mirrors the life of God in Himself: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit eternally pouring themselves out for each other in a single divine life. John C. H. Wu thus applied these words of Lao Tsu to the most holy Trinity and then to the saints: "The more they live for others, the more they have; the more they give, the more they receive."
Back to Tao.
John Augustine
Catholic Taoist
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