Silence of the Imagination

Episode Summary

Have you ever noticed how quickly your mind can drift into “what ifs,”” old conversations, or stories that aren’t actually happening?

In this episode, the friars continue their series on holy silence by reflecting on the silence of the imagination. The imagination is a gift from God, one that helps us remember beauty, enter into Scripture, pray with the Rosary, and receive the world more deeply. But when it becomes untethered from reality, it can also pull us into fantasy, rumination, fear, resentment, comparison, or distraction.

The friars explore what it means to let the imagination be purified and brought under the gentle custody of the Holy Spirit. This is not about shutting the imagination down, but allowing it to serve truth, beauty, intimacy, and communion with God.

Join us as we learn to return from fantasy to reality, and let our imagination become a doorway to deeper prayer, healing, and union with Jesus.

[00:00:00 –> 00:00:01] Peace, everybody. Fr. Angelus here.
[00:00:01 –> 00:00:02] I just want to say thank you
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[00:00:33 –> 00:00:38] (vocalist singing in foreign language)
[00:00:39 –> 00:00:41] Hey, I’m Fr. Mark-Mary.
[00:00:41 –> 00:00:43] Hey, everybody, Fr. Innocent here.
[00:00:43 –> 00:00:44] Hey, everyone, Fr. Angelus.
[00:00:44 –> 00:00:47] I’m back second episode. Impressive I know.
[00:00:47 –> 00:00:50] Hey, quick question. Do you have a new habit on?
[00:00:50 –> 00:00:51] Thank you for noticing.
[00:00:51 –> 00:00:53] I have a new habit, everyone.
[00:00:53 –> 00:00:55] It’s a new material, the new color, the darker gray.
[00:00:55 –> 00:00:57] No one can really see it, but I noticed.
[00:00:57 –> 00:00:59] The darker gray is in.
[00:00:59 –> 00:01:00] Who made it?
[00:01:00 –> 00:01:02] Our friends in, one of my friends,
[00:01:02 –> 00:01:04] Marianne Rowling in Texas.
[00:01:04 –> 00:01:05] Oh, interesting.
[00:01:05 –> 00:01:07] Is that a common thing that she does?
[00:01:07 –> 00:01:10] She made five habits within the last two months,
[00:01:10 –> 00:01:11] I think, for guys.
[00:01:11 –> 00:01:12] Okay. – Sweet.
[00:01:12 –> 00:01:16] So who’s making the habits for the soon to be novices?
[00:01:16 –> 00:01:19] Brother Kolbe was just here and he, it’s great.
[00:01:19 –> 00:01:20] Like the week with Brother Kolbe
[00:01:20 –> 00:01:21] when he’s around with the guys,
[00:01:21 –> 00:01:22] he helps them with their habits,
[00:01:22 –> 00:01:24] helps them with the robes, the rosaries.
[00:01:24 –> 00:01:25] Yeah, it’s kind of like-
[00:01:25 –> 00:01:27] Fr. Mark-Mary, you remember just kind of the,
[00:01:27 –> 00:01:30] it’s fun space where guys make their robes,
[00:01:30 –> 00:01:32] they get their habits, they try them on,
[00:01:32 –> 00:01:32] all that good stuff.
[00:01:32 –> 00:01:34] I think I sent pictures to you both.
[00:01:34 –> 00:01:35] I don’t know if you remember that or not,
[00:01:35 –> 00:01:37] but it was awesome.
[00:01:37 –> 00:01:39] So those guys are,
[00:01:39 –> 00:01:41] it’s the old habits hanging on the back of the door now.
[00:01:41 –> 00:01:43] It’s like staring at them, so.
[00:01:43 –> 00:01:45] How was the process of like,
[00:01:45 –> 00:01:47] so the process here is the guys,
[00:01:47 –> 00:01:51] like the first 10 months more or less, is called postulancy.
[00:01:51 –> 00:01:55] The guys wear sandals, gray pants, long sleeve,
[00:01:55 –> 00:01:58] button down collared shirt, cross.
[00:01:58 –> 00:02:01] And now as they enter to novitiate, they actually like,
[00:02:01 –> 00:02:02] technically when you’re a postulate,
[00:02:02 –> 00:02:04] you’re not formally part of the community.
[00:02:04 –> 00:02:05] But when you become a novice,
[00:02:05 –> 00:02:07] you’re like formally part of the community
[00:02:07 –> 00:02:11] and then you get your habit, your religious name.
[00:02:12 –> 00:02:14] I don’t know, like how was the process for you
[00:02:14 –> 00:02:17] kind of walking the guys through getting their habits,
[00:02:17 –> 00:02:19] getting fitted,
[00:02:19 –> 00:02:21] and then particularly like discerning their names?
[00:02:21 –> 00:02:24] Yeah, the name, it was fun seeing them get their habits
[00:02:24 –> 00:02:25] and seeing them,
[00:02:26 –> 00:02:28] like we took a picture with everything on it.
[00:02:28 –> 00:02:30] I’m like, “Man, you guys look like friars,”
[00:02:30 –> 00:02:31] which is really great.
[00:02:32 –> 00:02:37] The interesting thing is the names is just fun
[00:02:37 –> 00:02:40] to have the guys to pray, pray through names,
[00:02:40 –> 00:02:43] wrestle with names, present the names to our superior
[00:02:43 –> 00:02:46] and then wondering if he’s gonna approve them or not.
[00:02:46 –> 00:02:48] And so it’s a big,
[00:02:48 –> 00:02:51] obviously discerning a name is quite personal, right?
[00:02:51 –> 00:02:53] And quite like, man, this is, in so many ways,
[00:02:53 –> 00:02:57] a part of my identity, what people are gonna call me,
[00:02:57 –> 00:02:58] like what the hell the Lord sees me.
[00:02:58 –> 00:03:00] And so I think the guys did a great job.
[00:03:00 –> 00:03:01] And I think the names they settled on
[00:03:01 –> 00:03:03] and the names that have been approved are really beautiful.
[00:03:03 –> 00:03:05] And so I know the community always looks forward
[00:03:05 –> 00:03:07] to hearing their names.
[00:03:07 –> 00:03:09] But it was exciting for them, so.
[00:03:09 –> 00:03:11] And it was pretty non-dramatic, I think.
[00:03:11 –> 00:03:14] There was a tweak by the superior in one of the names.
[00:03:16 –> 00:03:18] But mostly, people got what they desired
[00:03:18 –> 00:03:21] and what they had prayed about, so.
[00:03:21 –> 00:03:24] Do you feel any, like, is there an heavy, like,
[00:03:24 –> 00:03:26] ’cause it’s, you know, they’re picking their name,
[00:03:26 –> 00:03:28] which, you know, potentially is what people call them
[00:03:28 –> 00:03:29] for the rest of their lives.
[00:03:29 –> 00:03:31] And it’s a new name and it’s not the name necessarily
[00:03:31 –> 00:03:32] that their parents gave them.
[00:03:32 –> 00:03:36] Like, does it feel like, is there like a gravitas,
[00:03:36 –> 00:03:37] like an intensity to it?
[00:03:37 –> 00:03:40] Or is it like, you just kind of have confidence in the Lord
[00:03:40 –> 00:03:42] and in the process and feel good about it?
[00:03:42 –> 00:03:43] There’s some gravitas,
[00:03:43 –> 00:03:45] especially because their families come to visit
[00:03:45 –> 00:03:48] and they get to share with their families the name.
[00:03:48 –> 00:03:52] And I think moms particular blessing all the postulant moms
[00:03:52 –> 00:03:54] out there who, they don’t necessarily struggle,
[00:03:54 –> 00:03:55] but they try to navigate,
[00:03:55 –> 00:03:56] “Well, this is the name I gave you,
[00:03:56 –> 00:03:57] but now, you’re taking a new name.”
[00:03:57 –> 00:04:00] And so I think people feel that with their families,
[00:04:00 –> 00:04:01] but I think there is gravitas.
[00:04:01 –> 00:04:03] I think for the guys, I think they’re really excited
[00:04:03 –> 00:04:05] and it’s really profound for them
[00:04:05 –> 00:04:08] to enter into the name discernment, but they’re also,
[00:04:08 –> 00:04:12] Fr. Innocent beautifully kind of ushered in
[00:04:12 –> 00:04:15] this experience where guys write,
[00:04:15 –> 00:04:17] they’re attentive to their prayer throughout the year,
[00:04:17 –> 00:04:19] but also their identity in the Lord
[00:04:19 –> 00:04:20] and how the Lord uses them,
[00:04:20 –> 00:04:22] how the Lord sees them, what the Lord calls them.
[00:04:22 –> 00:04:26] And so he, towards the end here, actually in a couple days,
[00:04:26 –> 00:04:27] we’re gonna go through their identity statements,
[00:04:27 –> 00:04:31] which is kind of like this revelation
[00:04:31 –> 00:04:35] of how they see themselves or experience themselves in God.
[00:04:35 –> 00:04:39] And often, their names are very much linked to that,
[00:04:39 –> 00:04:40] like who they are, right?
[00:04:40 –> 00:04:42] And so it does feel big.
[00:04:42 –> 00:04:45] It does feel like there’s a beautiful opportunity
[00:04:45 –> 00:04:47] for the guys to do something profound,
[00:04:47 –> 00:04:49] and I think they feel that.
[00:04:49 –> 00:04:52] And in so many ways, I think that they feel the gravitas
[00:04:52 –> 00:04:53] of it and the community’s like,
[00:04:53 –> 00:04:55] “Oh yeah, those are great names. They’re all approved.”
[00:04:55 –> 00:04:56] And you’re like, “Oh, okay.”
[00:04:56 –> 00:04:59] It’s like maybe a bit of a less of a gravitas,
[00:04:59 –> 00:05:02] but I think it’s all gonna come together here soon.
[00:05:02 –> 00:05:03] So it’d be beautiful.
[00:05:05 –> 00:05:07] And how many guys are there? Six?
[00:05:07 –> 00:05:07] Four.
[00:05:07 –> 00:05:08] Four.
[00:05:08 –> 00:05:09] Yep, four.
[00:05:10 –> 00:05:13] Okay. I guess I knew that.
[00:05:14 –> 00:05:15] All right.
[00:05:15 –> 00:05:19] Well, look, we won’t sort of get,
[00:05:19 –> 00:05:20] we’ll wait until it formally happens.
[00:05:20 –> 00:05:22] How many days away is investiture?
[00:05:23 –> 00:05:28] It is, yeah, like it’s on July, what is it? 21st.
[00:05:28 –> 00:05:30] So we got about-
[00:05:30 –> 00:05:31] Okay. – Yeah.
[00:05:31 –> 00:05:33] It’s exciting.
[00:05:33 –> 00:05:34] We always put a picture out.
[00:05:34 –> 00:05:35] I think the world waits, right?
[00:05:36 –> 00:05:38] The parents wait, the friends wait.
[00:05:38 –> 00:05:40] All sorts of people wait for that picture.
[00:05:40 –> 00:05:42] Yeah, we’re gonna have to coordinate that
[00:05:42 –> 00:05:43] ’cause I’m not gonna be there,
[00:05:43 –> 00:05:44] so if you were coming, somebody send it to me.
[00:05:44 –> 00:05:47] Yeah, maybe Rosann will do it or something, but my friend.
[00:05:47 –> 00:05:49] All right.
[00:05:49 –> 00:05:50] Fr. Innocent, not to keep going on this,
[00:05:50 –> 00:05:51] but Fr. Innocent,
[00:05:51 –> 00:05:53] I have to write my first investiture homily,
[00:05:53 –> 00:05:56] so you’re gonna have to give me some advice on that.
[00:05:56 –> 00:05:57] Awesome.
[00:05:57 –> 00:06:00] Yeah, it’s a good one. It’s a good one.
[00:06:00 –> 00:06:02] I feel like that, ’cause I got to do a,
[00:06:03 –> 00:06:05] right, as a priest, you kind of get invited
[00:06:05 –> 00:06:07] into some unique situations.
[00:06:07 –> 00:06:11] And one year, I think it was around just after COVID,
[00:06:11 –> 00:06:13] I was helping the Sisters of Life a lot.
[00:06:13 –> 00:06:17] And so I got invited to preside over their investiture mass
[00:06:17 –> 00:06:19] and give a investiture homily.
[00:06:19 –> 00:06:21] Look at you, sweet. That’s awesome.
[00:06:21 –> 00:06:23] And it, you know, it’s different to sisters.
[00:06:23 –> 00:06:24] That might be,
[00:06:26 –> 00:06:28] that’s definitely one of my top three homilies.
[00:06:28 –> 00:06:29] Wow.
[00:06:29 –> 00:06:31] I felt very good about it.
[00:06:31 –> 00:06:32] That’s seems great.
[00:06:32 –> 00:06:34] I particularly do not,
[00:06:34 –> 00:06:37] it’s a great suffering and I’m totally serious.
[00:06:37 –> 00:06:39] It is a great suffering for me.
[00:06:39 –> 00:06:41] Well, it sounds dramatic.
[00:06:41 –> 00:06:42] Let me say this.
[00:06:42 –> 00:06:45] A great struggle to preach in front of the brothers.
[00:06:45 –> 00:06:46] It’s a thing for me.
[00:06:46 –> 00:06:51] So it kind of plays on all my core wounds, so it’s hard.
[00:06:51 –> 00:06:53] Bro, I’m gonna own it and just kill it.
[00:06:53 –> 00:06:54] Just get after it. You know what I mean?
[00:06:54 –> 00:06:55] I’m just kidding.
[00:06:55 –> 00:06:57] I’m just kidding, totally kidding.
[00:06:57 –> 00:06:57] That’s awesome.
[00:06:58 –> 00:07:00] Yeah, it’s an intimidating group.
[00:07:02 –> 00:07:05] All right, guys. So here we are.
[00:07:05 –> 00:07:09] And we’re continuing our journey of silence being led
[00:07:09 –> 00:07:14] by Fr. Innocent, formerly, well, I mean, back in the day,
[00:07:15 –> 00:07:16] we called him the Sultan of Silence.
[00:07:16 –> 00:07:19] I don’t know if all of our listeners remember that.
[00:07:19 –> 00:07:20] But it’s like a real thing.
[00:07:20 –> 00:07:23] It’s not just sort of like a funny thing.
[00:07:23 –> 00:07:25] And we’re going through, what’s the name of the book?
[00:07:25 –> 00:07:29] “Holy Silence” by Fr. Basil Nortz.
[00:07:29 –> 00:07:29] Okay.
[00:07:29 –> 00:07:32] And it’s on the journey through silence.
[00:07:32 –> 00:07:34] And I guess, maybe I just wanna kind of go back
[00:07:34 –> 00:07:38] to one of the foundational kind of questions is,
[00:07:38 –> 00:07:39] ’cause again, like,
[00:07:42 –> 00:07:45] I don’t know that I fully understand silence the way we’re
[00:07:45 –> 00:07:47] using it because it does seem like absence.
[00:07:47 –> 00:07:49] It seems like nothing, right?
[00:07:49 –> 00:07:50] It’s like shh.
[00:07:50 –> 00:07:51] And so even, you know,
[00:07:51 –> 00:07:54] the idea of silence being an attribute of God
[00:07:54 –> 00:07:56] who is like, you know, the eternal word,
[00:08:00 –> 00:08:02] can you just help me, before we kind of get into the silence
[00:08:02 –> 00:08:04] of the imagination, what we’re going to talk about today,
[00:08:04 –> 00:08:09] like, help me define it or understand it.
[00:08:11 –> 00:08:11] Yeah, and it’s interesting.
[00:08:11 –> 00:08:15] I’m not gonna, I’m definitely going to answer your question,
[00:08:15 –> 00:08:17] but also, I’m just gonna remind all of us
[00:08:17 –> 00:08:20] that when we talk about the silence of God,
[00:08:20 –> 00:08:23] we’re talking about a profound mystery, right?
[00:08:23 –> 00:08:27] So it’s an experience we kind of stand before, right,
[00:08:27 –> 00:08:28] in our prayer.
[00:08:29 –> 00:08:33] So we also just need to know that we’re standing
[00:08:33 –> 00:08:36] before a profound, transcendent, divine mystery,
[00:08:36 –> 00:08:39] which is when we talk about the silence of God,
[00:08:39 –> 00:08:42] which we get to share in, right?
[00:08:42 –> 00:08:47] Because I do think, just for the sake of teaching here,
[00:08:47 –> 00:08:50] that when we do talk about silence, like in a human way,
[00:08:50 –> 00:08:53] it means like, “Hey, everybody be quiet.”
[00:08:53 –> 00:08:56] You know, so-and-so is going to take a nap, right?
[00:08:56 –> 00:08:57] So we’re like, we’re very aware
[00:08:57 –> 00:09:00] that the atmosphere around us,
[00:09:00 –> 00:09:04] we’re kind of turning the things off that make noise
[00:09:04 –> 00:09:08] or trying, you know, trying to keep some sort
[00:09:08 –> 00:09:12] of stability on the outside that doesn’t make noise.
[00:09:12 –> 00:09:15] But again, we are talking about that, right,
[00:09:15 –> 00:09:17] in an exterior way.
[00:09:17 –> 00:09:21] But when we talk about silence as an attribute of God,
[00:09:23 –> 00:09:26] there’s different ways or different words we can use
[00:09:26 –> 00:09:27] that get at it, right?
[00:09:29 –> 00:09:31] Because when we talk about the silence of God,
[00:09:31 –> 00:09:36] we’re talking about a way of living in relationship,
[00:09:37 –> 00:09:40] a way kind of being with God, right?
[00:09:40 –> 00:09:44] So we talk about, we can talk about stillness.
[00:09:45 –> 00:09:47] We can talk about recollection.
[00:09:48 –> 00:09:52] We can talk about this connection I have with God
[00:09:52 –> 00:09:57] where my humanity experience is kind of like this union
[00:09:58 –> 00:10:00] or kind of rest.
[00:10:01 –> 00:10:06] I experience a rest where I can,
[00:10:07 –> 00:10:09] like enter the silence of God
[00:10:09 –> 00:10:13] and there can, just this, be this deep receiving is what-
[00:10:15 –> 00:10:17] Reciprocity, receptivity?
[00:10:17 –> 00:10:18] Yeah. Receptivity is what I was going for.
[00:10:18 –> 00:10:20] Those words were like conjoining in my mind.
[00:10:22 –> 00:10:25] Where I can experience just to,
[00:10:25 –> 00:10:28] like a new relationship with God
[00:10:28 –> 00:10:30] where I can receive his presence.
[00:10:30 –> 00:10:35] Right, so we are talking about deep realities here.
[00:10:35 –> 00:10:36] But we are talking, again,
[00:10:36 –> 00:10:39] we’re talking about an attribute
[00:10:39 –> 00:10:42] or a characteristic in experience
[00:10:42 –> 00:10:46] rather than merely self-control
[00:10:46 –> 00:10:51] or discipline kind of exterior or interior things.
[00:10:51 –> 00:10:54] So with all of that said, I think it’s really important.
[00:10:54 –> 00:10:55] This is something we have,
[00:10:55 –> 00:10:58] like silence is something we have to practice.
[00:10:58 –> 00:11:00] And there’s always a supernatural
[00:11:00 –> 00:11:04] and natural kind of movement, right?
[00:11:04 –> 00:11:06] You can’t just like, like I said,
[00:11:06 –> 00:11:10] we can’t just have the exterior atmosphere all turned down
[00:11:10 –> 00:11:13] and then be like, “Okay, ready, silence? Go,” right?
[00:11:13 –> 00:11:15] Like, that’s not what we’re talking about.
[00:11:15 –> 00:11:17] Because silence, I think, like,
[00:11:19 –> 00:11:21] this is funny to say and even more kind of mystical,
[00:11:21 –> 00:11:23] but silence is a relationship.
[00:11:23 –> 00:11:28] Like, is like an on ramp to a presence of God.
[00:11:28 –> 00:11:31] It’s not something we can control.
[00:11:31 –> 00:11:36] So with that said, when we practice silence,
[00:11:37 –> 00:11:39] there’s always needs to be those two movements.
[00:11:39 –> 00:11:44] “Yes, I need to go, I need to turn off the TV
[00:11:44 –> 00:11:46] or take my earbuds out.
[00:11:46 –> 00:11:48] Yes, I need to find a quiet space
[00:11:48 –> 00:11:52] that has less noise or no noise.
[00:11:52 –> 00:11:56] But then also, I have to enter my interior store room.”
[00:11:56 –> 00:11:58] That’s what the gospel of Matthew says,
[00:11:58 –> 00:12:00] to go to your interior store room.
[00:12:00 –> 00:12:02] And it says that the Father,
[00:12:02 –> 00:12:05] or, yeah, the Father who sees in secret
[00:12:06 –> 00:12:09] will give himself to us.
[00:12:10 –> 00:12:12] And so that’s the supernatural reality
[00:12:12 –> 00:12:17] that I have to step into this place where God dwells,
[00:12:17 –> 00:12:19] and somehow God loves that.
[00:12:19 –> 00:12:21] Like, God waits for me there.
[00:12:21 –> 00:12:23] And so this is like, again, in the interior store room,
[00:12:23 –> 00:12:28] it just has this sense of silence, of rest,
[00:12:28 –> 00:12:31] of being with God in a different way.
[00:12:32 –> 00:12:36] And then in that space, I have a lot more to things to say
[00:12:36 –> 00:12:39] about contemplative prayer in that space,
[00:12:39 –> 00:12:42] but it demands a kind of an interior stillness,
[00:12:42 –> 00:12:43] rest, and silence.
[00:12:45 –> 00:12:45] I would love-
[00:12:45 –> 00:12:47] So if I can kind of unpack it, ’cause I think that,
[00:12:47 –> 00:12:49] as you kind of share it like that,
[00:12:49 –> 00:12:53] and there’s, I don’t know that there’s synonyms,
[00:12:53 –> 00:12:57] but there’s sort of parallels with, like the word stillness.
[00:12:57 –> 00:12:59] I think the word rest.
[00:12:59 –> 00:13:00] And even- – Recollection.
[00:13:00 –> 00:13:04] I think, like a completion.
[00:13:04 –> 00:13:06] What we’re talking about is like,
[00:13:06 –> 00:13:08] ’cause like the Sabbath rest and rest,
[00:13:10 –> 00:13:12] it’s not actually just about not doing,
[00:13:12 –> 00:13:16] but it’s about doing fully what we’re made for.
[00:13:18 –> 00:13:22] You know, I mean, like part of our keeping the Sunday
[00:13:22 –> 00:13:24] and the Sunday rest is going to worship.
[00:13:24 –> 00:13:26] Lik, that’s part of it, you know?
[00:13:26 –> 00:13:28] And, like, I don’t know.
[00:13:29 –> 00:13:32] I like this stillness that in some way,
[00:13:32 –> 00:13:34] or the silence that we’re talking about,
[00:13:34 –> 00:13:35] in some way, it is like,
[00:13:37 –> 00:13:39] it is the fullness and like fulfillment
[00:13:39 –> 00:13:44] and even maybe a completion of giving and receiving
[00:13:48 –> 00:13:50] of speaking and hearing.
[00:13:51 –> 00:13:52] ‘Cause that’s like in the word,
[00:13:52 –> 00:13:55] like, there is this eternal word,
[00:13:55 –> 00:13:57] like, eternally, perfectly given,
[00:13:57 –> 00:13:59] eternally, perfectly received.
[00:14:01 –> 00:14:04] Is there a certain way in which the silence can be
[00:14:04 –> 00:14:08] understood as, like, a perfection or a fulfillment?
[00:14:08 –> 00:14:10] Does that feel good?
[00:14:10 –> 00:14:12] That feels so good. I absolutely love it.
[00:14:12 –> 00:14:14] Yep, I absolutely love it.
[00:14:16 –> 00:14:18] I’m just thinking of this image of a,
[00:14:18 –> 00:14:23] say, that a wife is out and she comes back in
[00:14:23 –> 00:14:27] and to an empty home.
[00:14:29 –> 00:14:32] And she gets there and, say, she has her EarPods in
[00:14:32 –> 00:14:32] and she’s listening to all,
[00:14:32 –> 00:14:34] like, not even bad things
[00:14:34 –> 00:14:36] but just listening to a lot of things.
[00:14:36 –> 00:14:38] And she like, just goes about
[00:14:38 –> 00:14:40] whatever she’s doing in the home
[00:14:40 –> 00:14:44] and she doesn’t see the flowers on the table,
[00:14:46 –> 00:14:48] which were a gift from her husband
[00:14:48 –> 00:14:50] because of just the reality of the distractedness
[00:14:50 –> 00:14:52] of how she enters the home, right?
[00:14:53 –> 00:14:57] Rewind that, and she’s trying to live this recollected,
[00:14:57 –> 00:15:00] still present to reality way of living.
[00:15:00 –> 00:15:02] And so she doesn’t have her EarPods in
[00:15:02 –> 00:15:03] when she comes into the home.
[00:15:03 –> 00:15:04] The home’s quiet,
[00:15:04 –> 00:15:07] and then she notices the flowers on the table.
[00:15:09 –> 00:15:12] She notices, and then has this beautiful experience
[00:15:12 –> 00:15:16] in this beautiful moment of recognizing the gift,
[00:15:16 –> 00:15:17] recognizing the one she loves,
[00:15:17 –> 00:15:19] recognizing someone thinking about her,
[00:15:19 –> 00:15:23] someone offering her this gift of these flowers, right?
[00:15:23 –> 00:15:24] And then something happens inside of her.
[00:15:24 –> 00:15:26] it’s a beautiful relational moment.
[00:15:26 –> 00:15:27] It’s a mystical moment.
[00:15:27 –> 00:15:30] It’s a moment where she could be flooded with emotion,
[00:15:30 –> 00:15:30] flooded with gratitude,
[00:15:30 –> 00:15:34] flooded with a recognition of the gift, right?
[00:15:34 –> 00:15:38] And so it feels like the silence that is created in a space
[00:15:38 –> 00:15:42] where she’s available to this gift
[00:15:42 –> 00:15:46] and receptive to this gift because she’s unplugged
[00:15:46 –> 00:15:47] and because she’s more present and available
[00:15:47 –> 00:15:49] to what’s happening in front of her, right?
[00:15:49 –> 00:15:52] And so I always loved this sense that,
[00:15:52 –> 00:15:53] like, I’m walking into a room,
[00:15:53 –> 00:15:57] and if I’m recollected and living this kind of silence,
[00:15:57 –> 00:15:58] that I’m available to what’s happening
[00:15:58 –> 00:16:00] and then I can receive the gift.
[00:16:00 –> 00:16:02] Yeah, and I love both of those examples,
[00:16:02 –> 00:16:05] I mean, the examples what we’re getting at is,
[00:16:05 –> 00:16:09] like, such a deep reality of what’s happening
[00:16:09 –> 00:16:10] in the interior parts of our lives,
[00:16:10 –> 00:16:13] especially in relationship, right?
[00:16:13 –> 00:16:17] And so if I could, if Fr. Angelus,
[00:16:18 –> 00:16:20] just to make a point, I’ll use your story
[00:16:20 –> 00:16:24] because as the wife is interiorly recollected
[00:16:24 –> 00:16:27] or resting kind of in the space,
[00:16:27 –> 00:16:31] or, and she’s just connected and fully present to God,
[00:16:31 –> 00:16:34] to herself, to her family
[00:16:34 –> 00:16:35] as she’s experiencing this silence.
[00:16:35 –> 00:16:39] Let’s say she experiences this gift.
[00:16:39 –> 00:16:42] And so in kind of the interior store room of her heart,
[00:16:42 –> 00:16:45] she just is experiencing the presence of God
[00:16:45 –> 00:16:49] and it just overflowing with life and love, right?
[00:16:49 –> 00:16:52] Well, let’s say her kids kind of run in
[00:16:52 –> 00:16:53] from outside after that.
[00:16:53 –> 00:16:54] And now, she has kids.
[00:16:54 –> 00:16:56] I think of our sister, Fr. Angelus,
[00:16:56 –> 00:17:00] like, that there’s so much noise around her,
[00:17:00 –> 00:17:04] I wonder what it’s like 20 minutes, an hour later,
[00:17:04 –> 00:17:09] where she remembers again the gesture of love.
[00:17:10 –> 00:17:13] Or her husband comes home, and in the craziness of all,
[00:17:13 –> 00:17:17] she gets to look at him, and there’s no words, right?
[00:17:18 –> 00:17:22] But there is this beholding in silence,
[00:17:22 –> 00:17:26] meaning, there’s something interior about it
[00:17:28 –> 00:17:30] where she gets to remember again
[00:17:31 –> 00:17:36] and she gets to go to that place again of just being,
[00:17:36 –> 00:17:40] of just experiencing love and rest in it in a new way.
[00:17:40 –> 00:17:43] So that’s why I think it’s so important that as friars,
[00:17:43 –> 00:17:47] we can have silence and rest in the middle of a crazy city.
[00:17:49 –> 00:17:53] That I think that, whether you’re married, husband,
[00:17:53 –> 00:17:55] wives, mother, father,
[00:17:55 –> 00:17:59] like, this silence is available to us all the time.
[00:17:59 –> 00:18:00] We have to practice
[00:18:00 –> 00:18:02] and we have to be disciplined and temperate,
[00:18:02 –> 00:18:06] and we have to make the decisions to,
[00:18:06 –> 00:18:10] I think, to do all these things to cultivate the ground.
[00:18:10 –> 00:18:13] But I think it’s not, it has to,
[00:18:13 –> 00:18:15] there’s something available to us always,
[00:18:15 –> 00:18:17] even though my sister has eight kids
[00:18:17 –> 00:18:19] and it’s pretty loud in the house all the time.
[00:18:19 –> 00:18:21] I don’t think she has to wait for the silence
[00:18:21 –> 00:18:23] until all the kids are grown up
[00:18:23 –> 00:18:26] and then she finally gets a house she can control.
[00:18:27 –> 00:18:30] I think there’s something of this silence and stillness
[00:18:30 –> 00:18:34] and rest, Sabbath available for us
[00:18:34 –> 00:18:37] as we practice and as we lean into the grace.
[00:18:37 –> 00:18:39] Father, if I can only add real quickly, like you,
[00:18:39 –> 00:18:42] in saying that, like, okay, her kids run in.
[00:18:42 –> 00:18:45] But when you live this way
[00:18:45 –> 00:18:50] and you receive the gifts of intimacy, then,
[00:18:50 –> 00:18:52] like, think about the way she encounters her kids
[00:18:52 –> 00:18:53] as they run in from outside.
[00:18:55 –> 00:18:57] Like, if that space that she’s in,
[00:18:57 –> 00:18:59] that she lives in a deeper communion,
[00:18:59 –> 00:19:02] a deeper connection to herself, to God,
[00:19:02 –> 00:19:04] and to those around her,
[00:19:04 –> 00:19:07] she’s fulfilled or overflowing with this gesture of love
[00:19:07 –> 00:19:09] from someone else that she was able to receive
[00:19:09 –> 00:19:13] because of the gift of this moment of silence.
[00:19:13 –> 00:19:14] Just think about the way she overflows
[00:19:14 –> 00:19:17] and into her kids as they run into the house.
[00:19:17 –> 00:19:19] Very different maybe if she was plugged in
[00:19:19 –> 00:19:23] and she was kind of scattered listening to something
[00:19:23 –> 00:19:25] and then they run in and she might just be like,
[00:19:25 –> 00:19:27] “Oh gosh, there’s a lot going on here.”
[00:19:27 –> 00:19:28] But she has this moment,
[00:19:28 –> 00:19:31] and then her kids run in and then think about the,
[00:19:31 –> 00:19:33] like you talk about her loving from her,
[00:19:33 –> 00:19:35] receiving in the interior store room.
[00:19:35 –> 00:19:37] And then the fruitfulness of that,
[00:19:37 –> 00:19:40] the presence then you can offer to other people,
[00:19:40 –> 00:19:40] like, “I’m here with you.
[00:19:40 –> 00:19:43] I see you as my kids running around me saying hello to me,”
[00:19:43 –> 00:19:45] or whatever it may be, right?
[00:19:45 –> 00:19:46] So I just think it’s beautiful.
[00:19:46 –> 00:19:47] It’s common.
[00:19:47 –> 00:19:48] I think we’re talking about,
[00:19:48 –> 00:19:52] just from Fr. Mark-Mary’s point over these past episodes,
[00:19:53 –> 00:19:55] I think we’re talking about something radical.
[00:19:55 –> 00:19:58] I think, yes, I think the grace is given,
[00:19:58 –> 00:20:03] but I do think there’s an intensity to it, right?
[00:20:03 –> 00:20:04] Do we really believe
[00:20:04 –> 00:20:07] that this silence interior recollection,
[00:20:07 –> 00:20:08] ’cause I wanna keep using that word,
[00:20:08 –> 00:20:10] this interior recollection
[00:20:10 –> 00:20:14] of me living from the store room where God dwells.
[00:20:14 –> 00:20:17] Like, is that possible even in a crazy world
[00:20:17 –> 00:20:20] when I don’t have control over a lot of noise?
[00:20:21 –> 00:20:23] So anyway, I do wanna just name it.
[00:20:23 –> 00:20:27] It’s intense, but I think grace is real.
[00:20:31 –> 00:20:32] Anyway.
[00:20:33 –> 00:20:36] And part of what’s coming to mind,
[00:20:36 –> 00:20:39] and you made the connection at the last episode
[00:20:39 –> 00:20:42] of kind of talking about purity of heart
[00:20:42 –> 00:20:43] and the area of the senses.
[00:20:43 –> 00:20:47] And I do think a lot of what we’re gonna be touching on,
[00:20:47 –> 00:20:50] really, like, there’s a way in which we could see, you know,
[00:20:50 –> 00:20:53] some of the silence of God as being portrayed
[00:20:56 –> 00:20:58] in, like, those first half of the beatitudes.
[00:20:58 –> 00:21:02] I think this gives us some good way of understanding it.
[00:21:02 –> 00:21:07] And what comes to mind for me is one of the graces really
[00:21:07 –> 00:21:11] from The Rosary in the Year journey was
[00:21:11 –> 00:21:13] really reading Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict
[00:21:13 –> 00:21:17] and his definition of the kingdom of God
[00:21:17 –> 00:21:18] or the kingdom of heaven,
[00:21:18 –> 00:21:22] which is that space where God gets to be God,
[00:21:22 –> 00:21:24] where the teacher gets to teach,
[00:21:24 –> 00:21:25] where the healer gets to heal,
[00:21:25 –> 00:21:27] where the Savior gets to save.
[00:21:27 –> 00:21:32] And I think part of what we’re getting at here is a place
[00:21:32 –> 00:21:35] of vulnerability.
[00:21:35 –> 00:21:36] It’s a place of,
[00:21:38 –> 00:21:41] like, allowing God to fulfill these things
[00:21:41 –> 00:21:44] and allowing God to sort of be God in these spaces,
[00:21:44 –> 00:21:47] being receptive to the kingdom of heaven at work in us,
[00:21:47 –> 00:21:50] and not to our own control, right?
[00:21:50 –> 00:21:53] Our own devices, our own, like, manufacturing
[00:21:53 –> 00:21:57] of whatever it is that we’re going to talk about.
[00:21:57 –> 00:21:59] And so it certainly is, you know,
[00:21:59 –> 00:22:01] it’s as intense as the gospel is intense,
[00:22:01 –> 00:22:04] as intense as the the beatitudes are intense,
[00:22:04 –> 00:22:06] but also, right, like, what’s so important
[00:22:06 –> 00:22:08] about the beatitudes that we can’t miss is that
[00:22:08 –> 00:22:09] there’s a promise.
[00:22:09 –> 00:22:12] Like, the pure of heart will see God.
[00:22:12 –> 00:22:16] Those, the poor, like, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
[00:22:16 –> 00:22:20] Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
[00:22:20 –> 00:22:21] they will be satisfied.
[00:22:21 –> 00:22:25] And so we just want to kind of also just make sure that
[00:22:25 –> 00:22:27] what we’re talking about here is at the service
[00:22:27 –> 00:22:29] of creating space and giving Jesus permission
[00:22:29 –> 00:22:31] to fulfill his promises in us.
[00:22:33 –> 00:22:36] And so with that, if it’s okay, can we,
[00:22:36 –> 00:22:38] now, we can kind of just like pivot and kind of move,
[00:22:38 –> 00:22:41] you know we got about 20 minutes here
[00:22:41 –> 00:22:44] into the silence of the imagination.
[00:22:44 –> 00:22:45] What are we talking about here?
[00:22:45 –> 00:22:48] Yeah. So I think this is a big one
[00:22:48 –> 00:22:50] and I just wanna acknowledge,
[00:22:51 –> 00:22:52] I don’t have a lot of experience teaching.
[00:22:52 –> 00:22:55] And so when we get into, like, the philosophy
[00:22:55 –> 00:22:58] of the human person, when you talk about faculties,
[00:22:58 –> 00:23:01] imagination is that a faculty of the human person.
[00:23:01 –> 00:23:03] And if I could just say this,
[00:23:03 –> 00:23:05] this comes from the book.
[00:23:08 –> 00:23:11] Our imagination recalls the various sense data
[00:23:11 –> 00:23:13] that is stored in our memory.
[00:23:15 –> 00:23:17] All human knowledge comes through the senses
[00:23:17 –> 00:23:20] and is recalled through the imagination.
[00:23:20 –> 00:23:22] That’s why it’s super important, right?
[00:23:22 –> 00:23:24] So it builds off the senses, right?
[00:23:24 –> 00:23:28] Because once, like, our senses give us sense data
[00:23:28 –> 00:23:31] and our imagination, the faculty of the imagination stores
[00:23:31 –> 00:23:33] that in our minds.
[00:23:33 –> 00:23:37] And so therefore, I’m standing on the beach
[00:23:37 –> 00:23:42] and I am taking in the beach with all of my senses.
[00:23:43 –> 00:23:46] And so I can taste the seawater, I can smell,
[00:23:46 –> 00:23:50] I can see the waves, I can hear the waves crash on the rocks
[00:23:50 –> 00:23:53] or on the sand.
[00:23:53 –> 00:23:56] And so therefore, I can go back home.
[00:23:56 –> 00:24:00] And now, you know, I’m not standing in front
[00:24:00 –> 00:24:02] of the ocean anymore,
[00:24:02 –> 00:24:05] and I’m cooking dinner and I can think of past back my,
[00:24:05 –> 00:24:07] like, through my day.
[00:24:07 –> 00:24:11] And my imagination give, like,
[00:24:11 –> 00:24:13] helps me process the sense data.
[00:24:13 –> 00:24:16] And suddenly, my imagination is so rich.
[00:24:16 –> 00:24:19] I’m like, I can see it, I can taste it,
[00:24:19 –> 00:24:21] I can feel it, I can smell it,
[00:24:21 –> 00:24:23] like, I’m back there, right?
[00:24:23 –> 00:24:28] And so the imagination is an incredible gift for us
[00:24:28 –> 00:24:32] that helps us experience life
[00:24:32 –> 00:24:34] and the fullness of life, right?
[00:24:35 –> 00:24:36] Does that make sense?
[00:24:36 –> 00:24:40] Does anybody want to add anything to what the imagination is
[00:24:40 –> 00:24:44] as the gift that recalls, the data we get from our senses?
[00:24:44 –> 00:24:48] Anybody else wanna add to that? Is that okay?
[00:24:48 –> 00:24:49] That sounds great.
[00:24:49 –> 00:24:51] How is it different from memory?
[00:24:56 –> 00:24:58] Yeah, so- – Do you have a question?
[00:25:00 –> 00:25:01] Well, it’s interesting
[00:25:01 –> 00:25:03] because we’re gonna do memory next,
[00:25:04 –> 00:25:06] we’re gonna do memory next episode.
[00:25:06 –> 00:25:09] And so maybe we can get into that.
[00:25:09 –> 00:25:12] I’m just kind of reading through the notes here.
[00:25:14 –> 00:25:17] So like, imagination is what recalls the various sense data
[00:25:17 –> 00:25:19] that’s stored in our memory.
[00:25:19 –> 00:25:22] So the storage place is the memory
[00:25:22 –> 00:25:24] and our imagination gives us access to that,
[00:25:24 –> 00:25:26] if that makes sense.
[00:25:26 –> 00:25:30] So all the thoughts goes into my memory.
[00:25:30 –> 00:25:31] Like, all the thoughts of the beach
[00:25:31 –> 00:25:33] and the waves go into my memory,
[00:25:33 –> 00:25:35] and imagination is the faculty
[00:25:35 –> 00:25:39] that kind of grabs it and gives it access.
[00:25:39 –> 00:25:43] And so it’s, yeah, I guess it’s,
[00:25:43 –> 00:25:45] and you have a quote here.
[00:25:45 –> 00:25:47] Can you read that quote that’s from Fr.?
[00:25:48 –> 00:25:51] Yes, I have a couple there.
[00:25:51 –> 00:25:53] The we must set a guard.
[00:25:53 –> 00:25:55] Yeah, we must set a guard over our fantasies,
[00:25:55 –> 00:25:59] lest our minds become marketplaces of illusions
[00:25:59 –> 00:26:01] rather than temples of the Holy Spirit.
[00:26:01 –> 00:26:04] And so certainly, I think the way we’re coming
[00:26:04 –> 00:26:05] at it is looking at,
[00:26:07 –> 00:26:08] maybe kind of in,
[00:26:08 –> 00:26:11] like fantasies is certainly I think part
[00:26:11 –> 00:26:12] of what we’re talking about with the imagination.
[00:26:12 –> 00:26:16] And I think part of what is certainly is used
[00:26:16 –> 00:26:20] to, like, build these fantasies is kind of some
[00:26:20 –> 00:26:21] of what we’ve explored.
[00:26:21 –> 00:26:24] And also, I think it’s a way of,
[00:26:24 –> 00:26:27] like, it’s a way of moving out of reality, right?
[00:26:27 –> 00:26:29] Like, okay, here’s what could be, here’s what could happen.
[00:26:29 –> 00:26:32] Here’s what, you know, there’s something about that.
[00:26:32 –> 00:26:34] It does take us out of reality.
[00:26:36 –> 00:26:38] So how do we practice silence of the imagination?
[00:26:38 –> 00:26:39] Yeah, so here’s the thing, right?
[00:26:39 –> 00:26:41] So the senses, we’ve already talked about.
[00:26:41 –> 00:26:42] The senses give us data.
[00:26:42 –> 00:26:45] It’s stored in our memory and then our imagination uses it.
[00:26:45 –> 00:26:49] And so again, as Fr. Mark-Mary’s encouragement,
[00:26:49 –> 00:26:52] like, the imagination is a gift, right?
[00:26:52 –> 00:26:55] Like, especially, we’re gonna talk about it,
[00:26:55 –> 00:26:57] but it’s a gift for prayer.
[00:26:57 –> 00:27:01] It’s a gift for, like, again, experiencing life
[00:27:01 –> 00:27:03] and beauty and wonder, right?
[00:27:03 –> 00:27:05] Like, we can see a beautiful thing
[00:27:05 –> 00:27:08] and that beautiful thing doesn’t have to be in the distance,
[00:27:08 –> 00:27:09] but we can recall it
[00:27:09 –> 00:27:12] and experience kind of in the present moment.
[00:27:12 –> 00:27:17] But here’s the thing, our imaginations are so powerful
[00:27:17 –> 00:27:20] in accessing the stored memory,
[00:27:20 –> 00:27:23] is that what happens when our senses
[00:27:23 –> 00:27:28] and our memory have a lot of painful, broken,
[00:27:29 –> 00:27:33] lustful, seductive images or sense data.
[00:27:33 –> 00:27:36] Then our imagination can run wild.
[00:27:36 –> 00:27:39] And then instead of living in reality
[00:27:39 –> 00:27:44] where imagination helps us access the truth
[00:27:44 –> 00:27:45] of who God is or what,
[00:27:45 –> 00:27:48] like, the truth of what’s good and beautiful,
[00:27:49 –> 00:27:52] like, all that stuff, the world, that is good.
[00:27:52 –> 00:27:57] Instead, it, like, a kind of a broken imagination.
[00:27:59 –> 00:28:01] It puts us in context.
[00:28:01 –> 00:28:04] It recalls images that hurt us.
[00:28:04 –> 00:28:08] And so therefore, if our imaginations are not disciplined
[00:28:08 –> 00:28:12] and tempered or silenced is, again, we’re trying to use,
[00:28:12 –> 00:28:14] it’s not about cutting it off
[00:28:14 –> 00:28:16] or numbing it or suffocating it,
[00:28:16 –> 00:28:21] but it’s just brought under self-control.
[00:28:21 –> 00:28:23] If imagination is not purified like that,
[00:28:23 –> 00:28:24] then it can hurt us.
[00:28:24 –> 00:28:28] And therefore, we have violent images.
[00:28:28 –> 00:28:30] We have lustful images.
[00:28:30 –> 00:28:33] And we have experiences, right,
[00:28:33 –> 00:28:36] that live in our imagination.
[00:28:36 –> 00:28:38] And it can really hurt us
[00:28:38 –> 00:28:40] and it can blind us and it can wound us.
[00:28:40 –> 00:28:45] And so therefore, I just want people to see the danger
[00:28:46 –> 00:28:50] of a unbridled, unpurified imagination, right?
[00:28:50 –> 00:28:53] It’s a gift, but it can really, really hurt us.
[00:28:53 –> 00:28:55] Fr. Angelus, I know that this is,
[00:28:55 –> 00:28:57] comes up in a lot of story work.
[00:28:57 –> 00:28:59] Do you have any comments on
[00:28:59 –> 00:29:01] how the imagination also is a gift but also can hurt us?
[00:29:01 –> 00:29:03] Yeah, and Fr. Mark-Mary,
[00:29:03 –> 00:29:07] I think you, what you said is what I often tell is,
[00:29:07 –> 00:29:11] tell guys, and especially in the midst of struggling
[00:29:11 –> 00:29:14] with the impurity or impurity of the though or actions,
[00:29:14 –> 00:29:17] like, the reality is, is that Jesus lives in reality, right?
[00:29:17 –> 00:29:20] Healing happens in what’s real.
[00:29:20 –> 00:29:23] And so if anything disconnects us from reality,
[00:29:23 –> 00:29:26] and it disconnects us from what’s true,
[00:29:26 –> 00:29:28] then we’re living in a different world, right?
[00:29:28 –> 00:29:32] And so the idea that the imagination is taking the sense
[00:29:32 –> 00:29:33] data and remembering what’s true
[00:29:33 –> 00:29:35] or what’s beautiful or what’s happened,
[00:29:36 –> 00:29:38] that’s like, again, I’m thinking of childhood books,
[00:29:38 –> 00:29:41] I’m thinking of the “Lord of the Rings,”
[00:29:41 –> 00:29:42] I’m thinking of “The Chronicles of Narnia”
[00:29:42 –> 00:29:44] when we engage our imaginations.
[00:29:44 –> 00:29:46] It’s being pulled into a deeper truths
[00:29:46 –> 00:29:48] and beauty of reality.
[00:29:48 –> 00:29:50] And then what we’re doing with that in our intellect
[00:29:50 –> 00:29:53] and will is we’re engaging it to lead us
[00:29:53 –> 00:29:57] to deeper experiences of truth or goodness
[00:29:57 –> 00:29:59] or, you know, enjoyment.
[00:29:59 –> 00:30:01] I mean, when we breed kind of those kinds of things,
[00:30:01 –> 00:30:03] and so you think, again, you think about the reality
[00:30:03 –> 00:30:06] of how the imagination can, is a gift, and.
[00:30:06 –> 00:30:11] But the reality of, if we have experiences
[00:30:11 –> 00:30:15] where we have to move into a fantasy to find a fulfillment
[00:30:15 –> 00:30:18] or find safety, if somehow, again, the story work reality,
[00:30:18 –> 00:30:22] if somehow reality is not safe
[00:30:22 –> 00:30:25] or reality, I’m disconnected from people who love me,
[00:30:25 –> 00:30:29] then by choice or often not by choice,
[00:30:29 –> 00:30:32] we move into other places that aren’t real, right?
[00:30:32 –> 00:30:35] And so that’s the challenge is that how many times
[00:30:35 –> 00:30:36] in our lives have we made choices to say,
[00:30:36 –> 00:30:40] “Hey, it’s safer there. It’s better there, I want.”
[00:30:40 –> 00:30:41] And sometimes a no fault of our own,
[00:30:41 –> 00:30:44] but the reality of we’ve chosen to find a home in fantasy
[00:30:44 –> 00:30:46] and home in other ways, right?
[00:30:46 –> 00:30:50] And so it is the deep question,
[00:30:50 –> 00:30:52] and that’s why it’s awesome, Fr. Mark-Mary,
[00:30:52 –> 00:30:56] the deep question here is, like, where do I wanna live?
[00:30:57 –> 00:30:59] Do I wanna live in reality
[00:30:59 –> 00:31:01] even if reality is messy and difficult?
[00:31:01 –> 00:31:03] Or do I wanna venture off into a fantasy?
[00:31:03 –> 00:31:06] The challenge is, is that fantasies are sometimes,
[00:31:06 –> 00:31:08] they’re like, “Man, it’s comforting.”
[00:31:08 –> 00:31:10] Or, “Man, this is, for a quick minute,
[00:31:10 –> 00:31:12] this has given me what I need.”
[00:31:12 –> 00:31:13] And so I totally have a lot of sensitivity
[00:31:13 –> 00:31:16] and a lot of mercy on that.
[00:31:16 –> 00:31:17] But the challenges is our imaginations.
[00:31:17 –> 00:31:22] It’s like, what does it mean to reclaim our imagination?
[00:31:22 –> 00:31:23] What does it mean to,
[00:31:23 –> 00:31:24] and sometimes if I’m honest, guys,
[00:31:24 –> 00:31:26] it’s a little sensitive, but sometimes,
[00:31:26 –> 00:31:28] and I’m not necessarily sexual fantasies only,
[00:31:28 –> 00:31:30] but the reality of fantasy,
[00:31:30 –> 00:31:31] like, having a good conversation
[00:31:31 –> 00:31:32] about what you fantasize about
[00:31:32 –> 00:31:36] in the healing journey is super helpful and super sensitive.
[00:31:36 –> 00:31:39] But if my imagination has been distorted
[00:31:39 –> 00:31:43] or my imagination is disconnected from the gift of reality,
[00:31:44 –> 00:31:45] it’s helpful to ask somebody like,
[00:31:45 –> 00:31:46] “Hey, where are you living?
[00:31:46 –> 00:31:49] Like, how do you show up in that place?
[00:31:49 –> 00:31:52] What do you do? What do you need?” Right?
[00:31:52 –> 00:31:53] And so it’s super important.
[00:31:53 –> 00:31:56] So the gift of reality, I think, is just vital to the gift.
[00:31:56 –> 00:31:57] And again, I think we’re gonna talk about
[00:31:57 –> 00:31:58] as time goes on, fathers,
[00:31:58 –> 00:32:00] about the imagination can be a helpful tool
[00:32:00 –> 00:32:03] to lead us into intimacy, to lead us into truth.
[00:32:03 –> 00:32:05] But the enemy’s, like, I was just gonna say it’s amazing.
[00:32:05 –> 00:32:06] He’s not amazing.
[00:32:06 –> 00:32:09] The enemy’s incredibly gifted at distorting things
[00:32:09 –> 00:32:13] that lead us to be like God, to live in intimacy with God.
[00:32:13 –> 00:32:15] And the imagination and fantasies
[00:32:15 –> 00:32:18] are like a real sign of like,
[00:32:18 –> 00:32:22] man, that’s a powerful attack on the gift of who we are.
[00:32:23 –> 00:32:25] And to say a couple of things,
[00:32:25 –> 00:32:28] ’cause I think I wanna talk about,
[00:32:30 –> 00:32:32] so I’m gonna talk about like,
[00:32:32 –> 00:32:34] for example, like, I think a positive one
[00:32:34 –> 00:32:35] of this is sometimes,
[00:32:35 –> 00:32:38] I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a movie or read a book
[00:32:38 –> 00:32:40] and you’re, and it’s like, I have, there’s a few out there
[00:32:40 –> 00:32:42] that are like, this is like the type of movie
[00:32:42 –> 00:32:45] that I think makes, like, somebody a better person, right?
[00:32:45 –> 00:32:46] You know?
[00:32:46 –> 00:32:47] Yeah, absolutely.
[00:32:47 –> 00:32:48] And there can be a way
[00:32:48 –> 00:32:50] in which somebody has used their own imagination
[00:32:50 –> 00:32:53] to create this thing good that helps to connect
[00:32:53 –> 00:32:55] with another person’s imagination
[00:32:55 –> 00:32:57] and take them, if you will, into a journey
[00:32:57 –> 00:32:59] that’s ultimately deeper into reality,
[00:32:59 –> 00:33:01] deeper into these profound human truths where,
[00:33:01 –> 00:33:04] and that’s, like, what I think good art does.
[00:33:04 –> 00:33:06] Whereas, you know, on the contrary,
[00:33:06 –> 00:33:08] it can kind of bring us to a place of checking out.
[00:33:08 –> 00:33:11] So I think, like, ’cause fantasies, I think, often is like,
[00:33:12 –> 00:33:14] so what are some other fantasies that somebody could have?
[00:33:14 –> 00:33:17] Other ways of using the imagination that kind of checks out?
[00:33:17 –> 00:33:19] And I think one of these would be like,
[00:33:19 –> 00:33:21] okay, like, you’ve entered into a relationship,
[00:33:21 –> 00:33:24] and now, you’re struggling in the relationship.
[00:33:24 –> 00:33:27] And then you go back to, you know, 15 years ago
[00:33:27 –> 00:33:28] and you start thinking about your ex,
[00:33:28 –> 00:33:29] and you think about like,
[00:33:29 –> 00:33:31] “What if we actually had stayed together,” right?
[00:33:31 –> 00:33:35] And now, you’re soothing yourself
[00:33:35 –> 00:33:37] or, like, you’re kind of leaving this current reality
[00:33:37 –> 00:33:40] and kind of imagining, “Okay, what could have been?”
[00:33:40 –> 00:33:41] And like, okay, that’s not,
[00:33:41 –> 00:33:43] like, that’s checking out a reality.
[00:33:43 –> 00:33:44] That’s not gonna be helpful.
[00:33:44 –> 00:33:47] That’s actually going to make reality much harder and worse.
[00:33:47 –> 00:33:48] Or-
[00:33:48 –> 00:33:49] So what does it mean to silence that?
[00:33:49 –> 00:33:50] I think that’s the grace.
[00:33:50 –> 00:33:51] How do we bring that down under control
[00:33:51 –> 00:33:53] and not live from that truth?
[00:33:53 –> 00:33:55] That’s a great example of what we’re talking about here.
[00:33:55 –> 00:33:57] You know, I think somebody might have this with a career.
[00:33:57 –> 00:34:00] It’s like, “Okay, what if I had, you know, made this,
[00:34:00 –> 00:34:02] like, I’m here kind of struggling, grinding.
[00:34:02 –> 00:34:04] What if I had chosen a different major
[00:34:04 –> 00:34:05] and gone on a different path?”
[00:34:05 –> 00:34:07] Like, that’s something similar.
[00:34:07 –> 00:34:08] Or, it was, like, you know,
[00:34:08 –> 00:34:10] I’m a chaplain for one of the groups of Courage,
[00:34:10 –> 00:34:12] and we go through this, like,
[00:34:12 –> 00:34:15] it’s kind of like a soft Christian 12-step book.
[00:34:15 –> 00:34:17] Soft, meaning it’s like,
[00:34:17 –> 00:34:19] you know, we’re not, like, intensely working the steps.
[00:34:19 –> 00:34:22] But one of them on the, you know,
[00:34:22 –> 00:34:25] I think step eight, which is about making amends,
[00:34:25 –> 00:34:26] is it kind of gives you permission.
[00:34:26 –> 00:34:28] It has this language which I thought was really insightful.
[00:34:28 –> 00:34:30] It’s like, okay, you can also look at
[00:34:30 –> 00:34:32] how other people have hurt you.
[00:34:32 –> 00:34:35] Like, how this hurt me and this is how it made me feel.
[00:34:35 –> 00:34:37] But you’re not actually allowed
[00:34:37 –> 00:34:40] to go into why they did that.
[00:34:40 –> 00:34:41] Right, this is something that we can do,
[00:34:41 –> 00:34:42] “Okay, here’s what happened.
[00:34:42 –> 00:34:45] And now, I’m gonna like use the imagination
[00:34:45 –> 00:34:48] to go into this place where I don’t actually have access
[00:34:48 –> 00:34:52] of trying to, like, now define their motivation.
[00:34:52 –> 00:34:53] And like, that’s actually something
[00:34:53 –> 00:34:56] that’s like a misuse of the imagination.
[00:34:56 –> 00:34:56] Like, you’re not, like,
[00:34:56 –> 00:34:58] that’s not actually a helpful thing to do.
[00:34:58 –> 00:35:00] So I think this is just to kind of broaden,
[00:35:00 –> 00:35:03] like, these ways in which we can sort of check out,
[00:35:03 –> 00:35:04] “What if I’d done something different?”
[00:35:04 –> 00:35:06] What if the, you know, like, what is, you know,
[00:35:06 –> 00:35:09] imagining about another person and then their motivations
[00:35:09 –> 00:35:11] or, like, you can use the imagination
[00:35:11 –> 00:35:14] to dwell on resentment or on whatever.
[00:35:14 –> 00:35:15] Absolutely. – You know?
[00:35:15 –> 00:35:16] So I think this is-
[00:35:16 –> 00:35:18] Those are probably more perfect examples
[00:35:18 –> 00:35:19] for what we’re talking about.
[00:35:19 –> 00:35:23] I think that those happen often, Fr. Mark-Mary.
[00:35:23 –> 00:35:24] And so we have to like keep custody of that, right?
[00:35:24 –> 00:35:27] We want to, as you, you know,
[00:35:27 –> 00:35:31] if you have a lustful glance, you wanna bring it in.
[00:35:31 –> 00:35:33] You don’t want to like, you know, just dwell on it
[00:35:33 –> 00:35:34] and continue it.
[00:35:34 –> 00:35:35] It’s like with some of this stuff too,
[00:35:35 –> 00:35:38] you can feel a movement towards these,
[00:35:38 –> 00:35:40] towards going to these places.
[00:35:40 –> 00:35:41] And we want, with God’s grace,
[00:35:41 –> 00:35:44] to, like, stay in reality, stay here.
[00:35:44 –> 00:35:47] Fr. Innocent, I laugh because in the anxiety world,
[00:35:47 –> 00:35:50] like, rumination is basically a, like a fantasy.
[00:35:50 –> 00:35:51] Oh yeah, absolutely.
[00:35:51 –> 00:35:52] It’s like, I’m gonna think through a conversation.
[00:35:52 –> 00:35:54] I’m gonna pummel that guy when I talk to him, you know?
[00:35:54 –> 00:35:56] It’s just like, “Wait a second, that’s not true.
[00:35:56 –> 00:35:57] That’s not real.”
[00:35:57 –> 00:35:58] So you’re like ruminating
[00:35:58 –> 00:36:00] about I have to have these hard conversations
[00:36:00 –> 00:36:02] and you’re getting all anxious and getting all upset.
[00:36:02 –> 00:36:03] That’s not real.
[00:36:03 –> 00:36:07] You’re like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, come back, live in reality.”
[00:36:07 –> 00:36:08] And sometimes we can do that with gifts, right?
[00:36:08 –> 00:36:12] Like, when we have a wounded self-image,
[00:36:12 –> 00:36:13] like, sometimes we’re like,
[00:36:13 –> 00:36:14] “Oh, I wish my life was like that.”
[00:36:14 –> 00:36:15] Or, “I wish I had that gift.”
[00:36:15 –> 00:36:18] And so you get the envy and the jealousy,
[00:36:18 –> 00:36:22] but you’re actually, it seems so real, right?
[00:36:22 –> 00:36:25] And so, again, that’s a way where we can silence,
[00:36:25 –> 00:36:28] like, the real sense of our,
[00:36:28 –> 00:36:31] like, the imagination that attempts to,
[00:36:31 –> 00:36:34] attempts to help us taste something
[00:36:34 –> 00:36:36] that’s not necessarily true, right?
[00:36:36 –> 00:36:38] So, Fr. Mark Mary, to your question on the practicals
[00:36:38 –> 00:36:40] that was a little earlier,
[00:36:40 –> 00:36:43] I do think the silence of the imaginations,
[00:36:43 –> 00:36:46] like, putting our imagination under the control
[00:36:46 –> 00:36:48] of self-disciplined and is,
[00:36:48 –> 00:36:53] I do think it’s just really strong intentionality about,
[00:36:57 –> 00:36:59] “Okay, I’m aware of the present moment.
[00:36:59 –> 00:37:01] I have to be self-disciplined.”
[00:37:01 –> 00:37:02] Like, I think that’s it.
[00:37:02 –> 00:37:04] Like, I have to notice
[00:37:04 –> 00:37:07] when I’m getting my imagination is not anchored in reality
[00:37:07 –> 00:37:10] and not serving me in what’s true,
[00:37:10 –> 00:37:13] but really, whether it’s self-medication
[00:37:13 –> 00:37:16] or just getting distracted or checking out or daydreaming,
[00:37:16 –> 00:37:19] when I am off in La La Land.
[00:37:21 –> 00:37:24] I literally, it’s a discipline thing.
[00:37:24 –> 00:37:27] Like, that Fr. Basil gives tools and talks about, like,
[00:37:27 –> 00:37:29] I mean, and the tools aren’t complicated.
[00:37:29 –> 00:37:31] He’s like, “No, like, it’s recognizing
[00:37:31 –> 00:37:33] when the imagination’s not serving the truth
[00:37:33 –> 00:37:35] and especially of the divine.”
[00:37:35 –> 00:37:37] Like, he’s a big thing on the imagination.
[00:37:37 –> 00:37:38] And I’m gonna talk about that a little bit
[00:37:38 –> 00:37:41] ’cause St. Ignatius is really, like, big on the imagination
[00:37:41 –> 00:37:42] and maybe I could end with that.
[00:37:42 –> 00:37:46] But we have to grow in the self-discipline
[00:37:46 –> 00:37:50] to notice when our imagination is running wild
[00:37:50 –> 00:37:51] and not serving us.
[00:37:51 –> 00:37:52] When we’re living in fantasy,
[00:37:52 –> 00:37:55] we need to be good at naming those moments.
[00:37:55 –> 00:37:58] “Okay, right now, this is what’s happening.
[00:37:59 –> 00:38:01] I’m living in fantasy and not reality.
[00:38:01 –> 00:38:04] So I’m gonna come back to the present moment,” right?
[00:38:04 –> 00:38:06] And Fr. Angelus, this is a lot in, like, naming well,
[00:38:06 –> 00:38:08] story work, self-knowledge.
[00:38:08 –> 00:38:13] But I think that’s what we got to do in that context.
[00:38:13 –> 00:38:15] And what’s an interesting thing today
[00:38:15 –> 00:38:18] to attach the imagination to the senses now,
[00:38:18 –> 00:38:20] it’s like, so what do you do when your mind’s going crazy?
[00:38:20 –> 00:38:22] What you actually do is come back into your body
[00:38:22 –> 00:38:25] and back into your senses ’cause your senses are real.
[00:38:25 –> 00:38:27] Your senses aren’t like fake
[00:38:27 –> 00:38:29] or they’re not, like, living in some sort of fantasy.
[00:38:29 –> 00:38:31] So sometimes, it’s just like,
[00:38:31 –> 00:38:33] I have like a five, four, three, two, one.
[00:38:33 –> 00:38:35] I got it from somewhere, five, four, three, two, one.
[00:38:35 –> 00:38:38] So like, name five things you see,
[00:38:38 –> 00:38:43] name four things you hear, name three things you smell,
[00:38:43 –> 00:38:47] name one thing you, you know, or two things you touch
[00:38:47 –> 00:38:49] and one thing you smell.
[00:38:49 –> 00:38:52] Like, and you’re activating all the senses
[00:38:52 –> 00:38:54] and then your senses are allowing you to be more present
[00:38:54 –> 00:38:56] in your body rather than in the imagination.
[00:38:56 –> 00:38:58] It’s beautiful ’cause it’s connected, right?
[00:38:58 –> 00:38:59] And so sometimes you’re like,
[00:38:59 –> 00:39:01] “Man, my mind’s going crazy right now. What do I do?”
[00:39:01 –> 00:39:03] Well, I don’t try to think of different things.
[00:39:03 –> 00:39:05] I actually try to, what’s most real is like,
[00:39:05 –> 00:39:09] “Well, I’m seeing this broom, this lamp right now.
[00:39:09 –> 00:39:10] That’s real.
[00:39:10 –> 00:39:11] Okay, it’s bringing me back into my body.
[00:39:11 –> 00:39:14] I hear something. I smell something.
[00:39:14 –> 00:39:14] I taste something.”
[00:39:14 –> 00:39:16] And you’re like, “Okay, this would bring me back
[00:39:16 –> 00:39:20] into what’s real and not something that’s in fantasy.”
[00:39:20 –> 00:39:21] And maybe, guys,
[00:39:21 –> 00:39:23] what Fr. Mark-Mary talked about beauty, right?
[00:39:23 –> 00:39:25] Like, movies or books
[00:39:25 –> 00:39:26] that actually make you a better person.
[00:39:26 –> 00:39:30] Sometimes I think you need to get a Caravaggio painting
[00:39:30 –> 00:39:32] or you need to read “Lord of the Rings”
[00:39:32 –> 00:39:33] or you need to watch a good movie.
[00:39:33 –> 00:39:38] Like, beauty is real and it’s an on-ramp
[00:39:38 –> 00:39:40] to what’s real and true about God.
[00:39:40 –> 00:39:43] But it activates our imagination, right?
[00:39:43 –> 00:39:48] It activates, like, the truth of what’s stored
[00:39:50 –> 00:39:51] in my brain, right?
[00:39:51 –> 00:39:55] So we need to, like, we need to encounter
[00:39:55 –> 00:39:56] what’s real, right?
[00:39:56 –> 00:39:59] And so, and then when later on,
[00:39:59 –> 00:40:01] when you can recount it with your imagination,
[00:40:01 –> 00:40:04] you’re recounting real beauty and truth
[00:40:04 –> 00:40:07] rather than any distortion that comes from kind of,
[00:40:07 –> 00:40:12] the kind of the woundedness of past images.
[00:40:13 –> 00:40:15] Guys, I do really wanna talk about just real quick,
[00:40:15 –> 00:40:20] because imagination is a huge part of Ignatian prayer.
[00:40:21 –> 00:40:21] And so when you, the use of imagination is used in prayer,
[00:40:29 –> 00:40:31] it’s such a gift.
[00:40:31 –> 00:40:34] But that’s why it’s so good for it to be rightly ordered
[00:40:34 –> 00:40:36] and even silenced in the right ways
[00:40:36 –> 00:40:37] because we wanna make sure
[00:40:37 –> 00:40:40] that as we encounter God in prayer,
[00:40:40 –> 00:40:44] the imagination is at the service of communion rather than-
[00:40:44 –> 00:40:45] Distraction.
[00:40:45 –> 00:40:49] Distraction or hijack it, right?
[00:40:49 –> 00:40:51] Your imagination, let me say this.
[00:40:51 –> 00:40:53] This is also intense, whatever.
[00:40:53 –> 00:40:55] Your imagination is not God.
[00:40:57 –> 00:41:00] Even when you’re thinking about holy things, it’s not God.
[00:41:01 –> 00:41:02] But it’s always at,
[00:41:02 –> 00:41:05] when you’re thinking about holy things and beautiful things
[00:41:05 –> 00:41:07] and you’re meditating on a scripture passage,
[00:41:07 –> 00:41:09] I think meditating on our Lady,
[00:41:09 –> 00:41:13] like, the beauty of your imagination is at the service
[00:41:13 –> 00:41:15] of communion.
[00:41:15 –> 00:41:19] But at some point, the imagination ushers in this communion
[00:41:19 –> 00:41:21] and then it’s no longer needed.
[00:41:22 –> 00:41:25] We don’t have to, like, grasp onto it.
[00:41:25 –> 00:41:28] And sometimes we get stuck in our imagination.
[00:41:28 –> 00:41:33] And if it makes sense, I often say this to seminarians,
[00:41:33 –> 00:41:37] like, “Don’t get stuck in the story of your imagination.”
[00:41:37 –> 00:41:40] Like, the imagination’s at the service of intimacy.
[00:41:40 –> 00:41:44] So when I see our Lady’s face, when I see Jesus’ face,
[00:41:44 –> 00:41:47] the imagination has provided me
[00:41:47 –> 00:41:52] with this sacred image of the face and the gaze of Jesus.
[00:41:52 –> 00:41:54] I don’t want to stay there
[00:41:54 –> 00:41:58] because it’s showing me what’s real
[00:41:58 –> 00:42:00] through my sense imagery.
[00:42:00 –> 00:42:03] But now, because of the grace of God,
[00:42:03 –> 00:42:08] I can give myself to a real person who’s looking back at me.
[00:42:08 –> 00:42:12] And so therefore, the imagination ushers in intimacy
[00:42:12 –> 00:42:14] and I can, the saints, especially the Carmelites,
[00:42:14 –> 00:42:17] talk about leaving the imagination behind
[00:42:18 –> 00:42:21] when it’s done at service.
[00:42:21 –> 00:42:23] Because now, I’m with God.
[00:42:25 –> 00:42:27] I hope that makes sense, right?
[00:42:27 –> 00:42:28] Like, it’s at the service.
[00:42:28 –> 00:42:30] And so therefore, I don’t need to hold onto it
[00:42:30 –> 00:42:34] or take up residence in my imagination.
[00:42:34 –> 00:42:37] It’s supposed to kind of catapult me
[00:42:37 –> 00:42:38] into the presence of God
[00:42:38 –> 00:42:41] and where I can be held in a different way.
[00:42:41 –> 00:42:43] It’s such a gift, so beautiful,
[00:42:43 –> 00:42:47] but it’s only at the service of intimacy.
[00:42:47 –> 00:42:48] It’s not supposed to be,
[00:42:48 –> 00:42:52] it’s a means, not like the end of prayer.
[00:42:52 –> 00:42:54] I feel pretty deep about that.
[00:42:55 –> 00:42:56] Because sometimes I think we get stuck
[00:42:56 –> 00:42:58] because it makes me feel good,
[00:42:58 –> 00:43:01] but we’re just watching movies of the gospel in our mind,
[00:43:01 –> 00:43:06] which is not prayer like God wants.
[00:43:06 –> 00:43:09] It’s a gift of prayer and it’s a fuel for prayer,
[00:43:09 –> 00:43:11] but it’s supposed to take us into communion.
[00:43:13 –> 00:43:15] I hope that makes sense.
[00:43:15 –> 00:43:16] Nice one.
[00:43:18 –> 00:43:23] And so, and I don’t think this undercuts
[00:43:24 –> 00:43:25] what you said at all, but like,
[00:43:25 –> 00:43:26] ’cause I remember back,
[00:43:26 –> 00:43:28] I think it is a postulant or a postulant director talked
[00:43:28 –> 00:43:33] about how, like, the rosary is like a great form of prayer
[00:43:34 –> 00:43:39] to rehabilitate the imagination and reorder the imagination.
[00:43:39 –> 00:43:44] And again, the beautiful images and pious sort of,
[00:43:45 –> 00:43:48] like, whatever experiences are part
[00:43:48 –> 00:43:49] of the instrument of prayer,
[00:43:49 –> 00:43:51] but I understand also how they’re not the end
[00:43:51 –> 00:43:53] like Communion is, seeing God himself.
[00:43:55 –> 00:43:56] But I think these are, and this is like,
[00:43:56 –> 00:43:59] this was part of the, again, the worldview behind,
[00:43:59 –> 00:44:03] like, there’s a whole, a pretty extended art section
[00:44:03 –> 00:44:05] for the Rosary in a Year journey.
[00:44:05 –> 00:44:08] And part of it was giving us some, like, pious, holy,
[00:44:08 –> 00:44:12] beautiful images for the, like, in the memory,
[00:44:12 –> 00:44:13] for the imagination, access and prayer
[00:44:13 –> 00:44:16] to bring us into communion with the Lord.
[00:44:16 –> 00:44:17] And so these are some of the things
[00:44:17 –> 00:44:18] that we’re talking about using our imagination.
[00:44:18 –> 00:44:22] And just, again, to kind of explore the good things
[00:44:22 –> 00:44:24] of God in reality.
[00:44:24 –> 00:44:28] Some of what we’re trying to temper
[00:44:28 –> 00:44:31] and even to sort of, like, maybe reign in
[00:44:31 –> 00:44:35] or extinguish would be things like fantasies,
[00:44:35 –> 00:44:38] things like rumination.
[00:44:38 –> 00:44:42] What would be another, jut like-
[00:44:42 –> 00:44:43] I think you like daydreaming.
[00:44:43 –> 00:44:44] Daydreaming is a- – Like it.
[00:44:44 –> 00:44:45] Yeah. – Yeah.
[00:44:45 –> 00:44:48] Where imagination can rob us from the daily,
[00:44:48 –> 00:44:49] the present moment.
[00:44:50 –> 00:44:53] Yeah. Great.
[00:44:53 –> 00:44:54] Cool.
[00:44:54 –> 00:44:55] Anything else?
[00:44:55 –> 00:44:56] Nope.
[00:44:56 –> 00:44:57] I mean, there’s a lot going on there.
[00:44:57 –> 00:44:58] We’re limited time-wise,
[00:44:58 –> 00:45:00] but I hope just to bless people,
[00:45:00 –> 00:45:03] the imagination is a gift, especially for prayer,
[00:45:03 –> 00:45:05] but it’s at the service of intimacy.
[00:45:05 –> 00:45:05] And what’s the name of the book?
[00:45:05 –> 00:45:07] And true and beautiful.
[00:45:07 –> 00:45:11] The book we are going through is called “Holy Silence”
[00:45:11 –> 00:45:12] by Fr. Basil Nortz.
[00:45:14 –> 00:45:14] Great.
[00:45:15 –> 00:45:18] All right, do you wanna pray for us, Fr. Angelus?
[00:45:18 –> 00:45:19] Sure.
[00:45:19 –> 00:45:20] In the name of the Father, and the Son,
[00:45:20 –> 00:45:22] and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[00:45:23 –> 00:45:26] Father in heaven, we give you great thanks and praise
[00:45:26 –> 00:45:30] for the gift of silence, for the gift of our humanity,
[00:45:30 –> 00:45:33] for the gift of our senses and our imagination.
[00:45:33 –> 00:45:35] We pray for a particular grace right now, Lord,
[00:45:35 –> 00:45:38] for just an anointing upon our imagination.
[00:45:39 –> 00:45:41] A great confidence, a great purification
[00:45:41 –> 00:45:45] that it can be used for deeper intimacy and communion,
[00:45:45 –> 00:45:48] ordering to you and to love around us.
[00:45:49 –> 00:45:51] Set us free, Lord, from any parts of our imagination
[00:45:51 –> 00:45:53] that are not ordered to you
[00:45:53 –> 00:45:56] or any parts of our imagination that distract us
[00:45:56 –> 00:45:59] or keep us separated from you.
[00:46:00 –> 00:46:02] Come and give us that grace this day.
[00:46:04 –> 00:46:07] We pray this all, Jesus, in your name. Amen.
[00:46:07 –> 00:46:09] The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
[00:46:11 –> 00:46:13] Great. Thanks, everybody.
[00:46:13 –> 00:46:14] We’ll see you again next week.
[00:46:14 –> 00:46:16] Peace, guys.
[00:46:16 –> 00:46:21] (vocalist singing in foreign language)

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Key Takeaways

  • The silence of the imagination is not about destroying the imagination, but bringing it under grace, truth, and right order.
  • The imagination is a created human faculty that helps us receive beauty, remember experience, form images, and enter more deeply into certain kinds of prayer.
  • An unwanted thought or image is not automatically a sin. Moral responsibility depends upon freedom, consent, and the way we choose to respond.
  • A wounded or undisciplined imagination can lead us into fantasy, rumination, resentment, lust, fear, anxiety, or unreality when we willingly allow these patterns to govern us.
  • Holy silence helps the imagination become a servant of communion instead of a source of domination or distraction.
  • Sacred art, Scripture, the Rosary, and Gospel contemplation can engage the imagination in a way that leads beyond the image to Christ. Christian art can serve as an instrument of evangelization, catechesis, and contemplation.
  • Catholic teaching on imagination recognizes that it can be purified, healed, and used for intimacy with God.
  • In prayer, the imagination can lead us to Jesus, but it is not the final goal; communion with God is.

What This Means for Prayer and Daily Life

If your imagination feels scattered, anxious, or loud, start by naming it with Jesus.

Pray simply: “Lord, my imagination is running right now. I am replaying, escaping, worrying, or fantasizing. Please bring me back to what is true, and teach my imagination to serve love.”

Do not begin by condemning yourself. The fact that your mind wandered does not mean that you have failed God. Interior distractions are part of the human experience. Gently recognizing them and returning to prayer can itself become an act of love and faithfulness.

This episode reminds us that the imagination is not bad. God gave us the capacity to receive beauty, enter Scripture, pray the Rosary, receive art, remember what is good, and become more alive to truth. Christian beauty can awaken astonishment, lead us beyond ourselves, and direct us toward Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

But like every part of us, the imagination needs grace.

In daily life, begin by noticing where your imagination tends to go. Do you replay conversations that already happened? Do you assume you know what others think about you? Do you escape into a version of life where everything is easier? Do you dwell on resentment, fear, lust, envy, or anxiety?

The point is not to examine yourself anxiously or to treat every passing thought as spiritually dangerous. Instead, ask whether a recurring pattern is leading you toward truth, responsibility, gratitude, and charity, or away from them.

A simple practice is to return to the present moment through the senses. Name what you see. Notice what you hear. Feel your feet on the ground. Breathe slowly. Let the real world become an anchor again. These actions are not magical techniques, nor do they replace prayer. They can simply help gather your attention so that you can respond freely rather than being carried away by an inner story.

FAQ Section: Silence of the Imagination

The silence of the imagination means allowing the Lord to bring stillness, discipline, and right order to the images, memories, fantasies, and inner stories that move through the mind. It does not mean forcing the mind to become completely blank. It means learning, with grace, not to be ruled by every image or thought.

No. The imagination is a natural human faculty and a gift of God. It helps us represent sensible realities, receive beauty, remember experience, and engage certain forms of prayer.

No. An involuntary thought, memory, temptation, or image is not automatically a sin. What arises without your choice is not the same as what you freely choose to entertain or pursue.

Imagination in prayer can help you enter a Gospel scene, meditate on the Rosary, or contemplate the humanity of Jesus. In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius invites the person praying to see the places and persons in a Gospel mystery and to reflect on what they say and do.

A holy imagination is an imagination purified by grace and ordered toward truth, beauty, love, and communion with God. It helps us receive reality more deeply instead of continually escaping from it.

Imagination is the human capacity to form or recall sensible images. Fantasy is a broad term that can refer either to harmless creative activity or to an imagined world that becomes detached from truth and reality.

Start by noticing when your mind leaves the present moment, then gently return to what is true and speak honestly to Jesus. You might name the distraction, return to a word from Scripture, focus on a crucifix or sacred image, pray a simple invocation, or attend quietly to God’s presence.

No. Imaginative prayer is one legitimate form of Catholic meditation, especially when reflecting on the visible mysteries of Christ’s earthly life. But other forms of prayer may rely more on Scripture, vocal prayer, theological reflection, adoration, loving attention, or silence.

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