Say! I'm Adventure Bound!

It was 25 years ago today that I stood up in the St. Mary’s chapel and, along with my seven classmates, promised to live in ‘poverty, chastity, and obedience, according to the Madonna House spirit and mandate.’

While the MH community will celebrate our jubilee later in the summer (today’s focus being those making their promises now), this is the actual anniversary of my commitment to this community and spirit.

And it was nearly five years ago that I began this blog, first as a vehicle to bring the writings of Pope Benedict to a larger audience, later taking other forms.

Today’s blog post is my final one, due in an indirect way to the promise of obedience that I made 25 years ago. I have not been put under obedience to stop blogging, but I have been given a new assignment in MH that will require me to stop this particular apostolate for the sake of what I am being asked to do now.

The day after tomorrow, I will be moving from the priest staff house where I have lived off and on for the past 15 years, into the poustinia of Our Lady of Combermere on Carmel Hill. (For those reading this who know MH well, this is the poustinia built for and occupied for many years by Fr. Patrick McNulty.) I am going to be a poustinik, and this, simply, changes everything.

What is a poustinik, some may ask? The Russian word ‘poustinia’ literally means ‘desert’; a poustinik is a ‘desert-dweller’. A Russian style poustinia is a simple one-room house, sparsely furnished and minimally adorned, where one goes to pray and be fast and be silent before the Lord. 

Many MH members make a weekly poustinia; some are called to live in poustinia and dedicate themselves to this way of prayer and silence more completely.

Practically, this means I will be completely in prayer and solitude three days each week. The remaining four days of the week will begin and end in poustinia (I will be living there full-time, in other words) but be otherwise spent out in the community doing my usual priestly ministry—spiritual direction, celebrating Mass, preparing talks, and the like.

When I was given this new assignment, which factually is an entirely new way of life for me, it was immediately clear that I could not enter into the kind of silence and prayer I am being asked to do and still be writing and interacting in the public sphere of social media as I have been. So in addition to my blog ending, I will also shortly be deactivating Facebook and Twitter and essentially leaving all of that behind.

As someone pointed out to me, the author of the book I-Choice on the perils and challenges of technology is now, well, choosing! I have come to believe for some time that the real and necessary work of our times with all their challenges and anguish is to be fundamentally spent on our knees before the Lord, and not before a computer monitor. Now I am being asked to act on that conviction.

I realize that there are many who will miss this blog sorely—I have been told as much by the few people I have mentioned all of this to. Well, I am sorry about that, and I am very grateful that my writings have been of some help to some people. But, ya gotta go where the Lord sends ya, and do whatever He tells ya, right? And I have absolutely no doubt that this is God’s will for me right now.

I am very happy and excited about this move into poustinia—it has been my heart’s desire for some years, but in all honesty I did not expect it to happen for many years yet to come. When my director general told me that this was his assignment for me, it came as an absolute shock… and a great joy.

What is on my deepest heart about all of this can be best expressed in verses from the mystical poetry of St. John of the Cross that I have always cherished, that probably, when I first read them many years ago, planted the seeds of this new life in my heart. I do not claim the lofty heights of these lines for myself—I am no John of the Cross. I am a lot closer to being a mistake than a mystic!

Nor do these lines entirely apply to me—I will still have flocks and work, for example, still have priestly ministry and directees and such. But these verses are nonetheless the deepest aspiration of my heart. They capture for me the scope, the ambit, the goal of what I am being called to in becoming a poustinik priest in Madonna House. Here they are:

Forever at his door

I gave my heart and soul. My fortune too.

I've no flock any more,

No other work in view.

My occupation: love. It's all I do.

If I'm not seen again

In the old places, on the village ground,

Say of me: lost to men.

Say I'm adventure-bound

For love's sake, on purpose, to be found.

And so, as I am (please God) found at last by Love in the silence of God in the poustinia, I pray that I will find all of you there, too, in the mysterious communion of the Mystical Body of Christ. Please know that I will be praying for all of you, and for the whole world, and offering my life daily there for that intention.

Goodbye!

Shrove Tuesday

So, what are you giving up for Lent? It starts tomorrow, eh? It is the season for making room, either in your tummy so that God can fill you with Himself without all the richness of the earth filling it, or in your mind by clearing it away of distractions and clutter--so much of that in all of our lives, right?

I am giving up... well, this blog. Just for Lent, as far as I know! It's not that blogging is some terrible thing in my life or is causing me great problems spiritually. I enjoy the blog and have settled into a fairly manageable rhythm with it.

It is just that my real Lenten need this year is a simple one: I need more silence in my life. I know that people have an sort of funny picture of MH that it is a kind of lay monastery where all we do is pray in grand silence all day. It is not... quite like that, really.

My life is a busy one, full of people and obligations each day. I wouldn't have it any other way, and am quite content and peaceful in my vocation. But... I have been feeling the need for more silence, quite acutely, lately. And the simple truth is, the only place in my life I can put more silence in is the place currently taken up with blogging.

I will still blog on Sunday with the weekly round-up of life in MH. Sunday is not 'Lent' in the penitential sense of the word. And I will indeed (as far as I know...) be back at Easter time, continuing with all the series that I am (I admit) kind of abandoning in mid-stream right now.

Be assured of my prayers for you all (my blog and book readers are on my prayer list), and know especially that I pray you all have a Lent that is truly spiritually renewing and enriching. God bless you, and talk to you in April!

Blog-gonnit!

Well, it had to happen.

I am ceasing blogging.

I am sorry it had to come to this.

I know how many of you enjoy my blog posts and have benefitted from them.

But it is time for me to stop, now.

For the next two weeks, that is.

Because I am on vacation.

Blogging resumes September 6.

And yes, I am going to have fun.

Bye! (For now).

Where in the World is Fr. Denis Lemieux?

So... not blogging so much these days, am I? I'm taking an unscheduled week off from the blog, folks, as upon my return to MH from the prairies I diagnosed myself with an acute case of the tireds.

Basically, my brain is as close to flat-lining as it can be and still maintain automatic functions like breathing, and my creativity is absolutely null. So... no blog for the week.

For those who know me personally and may worry about me a bit... don't. It's just been a very busy and full winter-spring season, and my fatigue level is perfectly natural and normal. I will be back on the block, and the blog, Monday morning sharp with a fresh round of psalms, mandates, examens, round-ups and much, much more.

Meanwhile... all the best to you... and if you're desperate to read my words, don't forget to pick up a copy of Idol Thoughts, today!

You Need a Spiritual Pilgrimage. Begin It By Shutting Up.

So... haven't been blogging much lately, eh?

This is just a short post to let you know that I have discerned a need to, at least for the present time, suspend blogging. It's not that my other priestly duties have increased dramatically (same old-same old on that front), or that I'm suddenly all tired and burned out or in some terrible personal straits (no, really no!), or that anything about blogging has suddenly become deeply unpleasant or insurmountably difficult (it is what it is).

The simple reason is that I appear to have run out of things to say. Odd, that, and I don't expect this to be a permanent state of affairs. But for the last little while, blogging has felt less like opening up the fridge and pulling out whatever container full of good food was closest to hand, and more like frantically searching through the back shelf of the pantry for something--anything!--to serve up: last year's stale Christmas cookies, five-year old tins of tuna fish, whatever.

The cupboard is bare, the peanut butter jar has been scraped of its last chunks, the well has, unpredictably and unaccountably, run dry.

So, I think I will start by calling it a day for 2014, anyhow, and see how things are in January--see if the well has filled up a bit then, as wells do.

Oddly enough, my blogging drought has not affected my book writing, talk writing, and the other duties of my state of life that require me to provide 'words on demand'. I appear to be in God's hands in these matters, and when His will requires that I come up with something to say, the 'something' is there, somehow.

For those who read the blog who know me personally and care for me, I do want to assure you that I am quite well, healthy, happy, full of energy and my usual self in all ways. And I do apologize to the many people who I know read my blog regularly and find it a source of spiritual reading and blessing in their lives. Well, if you want me to resume blogging, pray that the Holy Spirit gives me the light and grace to do so!

(I kind of suspect this is temporary. Time will tell.)

(Edited to add: The title of this post is from a meme that popped up on my FB news feed - it's a loose translation of an old desert father saying - peregrinatio est tacere - which seemed more than a little apt to the topic at hand!)

Meanwhile, a blessed Advent and Christmas to you, and know you all remain in my prayers.

I Have Nothing But Gratitude

So today is my tenth anniversary of ordination. I find myself quite at a loss for words, uncharacteristically, and can only say that I have a heart full of nothing but gratitude to God for allowing me to be in this most sublime and awesome vocation. Thank you, God.

Probably my lack of words is also connected to the fact that this is my last blog post for a couple of weeks, as I depart on my annual vacation tomorrow. Blogging will resume as normal on September 21.

Meanwhile, since I am a man without words today, here are some things I’ve written in the past on priesthood and my own call to it that say what I would say if I had anything to say!

Here are my thoughts on the day I was ordained.

And here are my reflections on Catherine Doherty’s sense of the priesthood.

Here are my reflections, with Pope Francis, on being a minister of God’s mercy.

Finally, here is what I believe it is all about, not only priesthood, but life in Christ, and it is to this reality and this mystery that my life is pledged, poor enough job that I make of it most of the time.

And so, besides those four last words (for now), I leave you with one of my favorite choral pieces which expresses what is really in my heart ten years later. ‘Praise the name of the Lord, praise the Lord, you servants of His, alleluia.’

Back From Retreat - With A Change for the Blog

Hi, folks! Just checking in here, back from my five-day retreat. It was very blessed, and (most blessed of all) very, very quiet...

Without getting into a lot of personal stuff, which I tend to avoid getting into in my blogging, I have felt for some time in my life that I am just a bit lacking in the 'quiet' aspect of things. I am a busy priest, all things considered, and most of it I consider to be fairly immoveable objects.

I do a fair bit of spiritual direction, have ever-growing (it seems) administrative responsibilities in Madonna House, and a wide variety of writing and speaking commitments, among which is this blog. The blog itself is not a burdensome thing - I write my posts in the quiet early morning hours, and have them posted before my work day begins, generally. I actually find writing the blog to be a meditative exercise, on the whole.

I went into the retreat feeling quite certain that something had to give, though, in my life. Things have been just a bit too busy, a bit too hectic, a bit too noisy, and what has primarily suffered in my life has been personal prayer and silence, recollection and space for listening to God. And of course, as that suffers, everything else suffers in consequence, right?

There are very few things in my life that I can change, in terms of reducing my involvements and commitments, nor do I especially want to, as I love being a priest and being involved with the work of God in the lives of my brothers and sisters as I am.

I can change one thing, however, that is a source of 'noise' in my life. And so, I am going to turn off comments on this blog. Not because I can't take criticism (I have a hide like a rhinoceros, truth be told) or because I want to suppress debate (e-mail me!), but because I simply don't have time for them, anymore, and it's one thing I can cut out of my life without a whole lot of fuss.

Comments have not been a huge part of this blog, and the vast majority of my readers seem to come here strictly for my posts and not for whatever discussion may happen. And, with a few notable exceptions, I don't think the comments have added too much to the blog, on the whole. So, farewell to comments, for now anyhow, and hello to a quieter... well, blog, anyway, if not life.

Other changes may emerge in days and weeks ahead - I anticipate perhaps not blogging every day as I have been, but we'll see. Peace to you all, and know that among my prayer intentions on my permanent list is 'all my blog readers'.

Bloggy Advent Calendar

I am going to start a project for the Advent season on this blog. I realize that for many people the struggle to have Advent be Advent and celebrate Christmas at Christmas is a difficult one. The secular calendar is so utterly disjointed from the religious one at this point: Christmas starts now and ends on December 25, more or less.

So, I am going to provide solid Advent content for the next three weeks and three days. I will reflect on the readings of the day, share excerpts from the Office of Readings, from Catherine Doherty's book Donkey Bells, and we'll see what else the Lord inspires me to do.

At Madonna House, living apart as we do here in Combermere in what is genuinely a culture unto itself, we are able to really 'do' Advent in a way that is hard out in the world. I am happy to share something of our Advent spirit, to help us all enter more deeply into the longing and expectation of Christ. Hope to see you all here.

Updated to add: Hey, commenter Craig made a good suggestion for what he would like to see for this Advent blog project. If you have something you'd like to see, leave a comment, and I'll try to oblige.

Not Blogging Much Right Now

As you all may have noticed, the blog has gone a bit silent the last couple days. The reason is simple and short-term - I am just totally overwhelmed with the last days of my Roman pilgrimage experience. My heart is full, my mind is full, my days are full and, yes, my stomach is full of mighty good Italian food.

Anyhow, just too much to be able to write about it just now. Hopefully I will be able to share something as I travel back over the weekend, and resume normal blogging as I return to Combermere early next week. Until then, ciao, bambinos.

Going to Rome...

Well, I'm out the door again, this time heading for my first visit (hopefully not the last) to Rome. No, Pope Francis hasn't been reading my blog and summoned me to clarify a few points. I am going to represent the Madonna House priests at the diaconate ordination of our seminarian Michael Weitl.

I am planning to continue blogging, and even am bringing a camera with some vague idea of doing some 'travel blogging' - not my usual style, but what the heck.

On the other hand, I have no idea what sort of wifi access/time crunch I will be experiencing there, so blogging might get a bit sparse. If I disappear off the internet altogether, that's what's happened, and I'll see you all later in October. Wish me well!

Comments Policy

I welcome comments at Ten Thousand Places. I dislike intensely the 'echo chamber' phenomenon, and believe firmly that free and frank discussion among people who disagree with one another is a vital part of the movement towards building community and communion in our world.
I insist on commenters being courteous, and will delete abusive comments. 'Abusive' in this case generally means foul language, but extends as well to threatening violent language.
Now, while my heart's desire is that I am able to respond to all commenters, especially when they disagree with me or ask me specific questions, the truth is I may not always have time to do so. I have a very busy life as a Madonna House priest, and have found that in general I have time to write and post to the blog most days, and that's about it. Please feel free to discuss questions among yourselves, though! Keep it clean and polite, and have at it.
(To regular readers, I am writing this as a blog post so I put a permanent link to it in the sidebar).

On the Road Again, But Continuing to Blog

Well, I'm on the road again. This time I'm going to St. Gabriel, Quebec, for a week of ministry with the Nazareth family apostolate. I enjoy this kind of work immensely, but nonetheless ask your prayers for the families I will be with.
Meanwhile, I'm doing the same thing with the blog I did last time, when I was at Cana. Namely, I have written seven posts all scheduled to appear at precisely 7:00 a.m. each day I am away. For those of you who come to the blog via Facebook and Twitter, my posts will not appear on your news feeds, as I have to do that job manually and I am not here to do it. But I'm sure you would hate to miss the thrilling instalments of my journey through the Sermon on the Mount, so you'll just have to remember to come here somehow.
I have put comments on moderation, as I'm not here to receive and respond to them. Comments left will only be posted a week from now.

Loud and Energetic

Well, it’s that time of the year again. I’m off to Cana Colony, our Madonna House family apostolate, for a week of ministry with a little bit of fun in the sun thrown in. I’m especially looking forward to this week because virtually all the families are young, with lots of little kids. High energy, and high volume – just the way I like it.

I have decided this year to have the blog continue while I am away, and to that end have six posts ready to go, Monday-Saturday, carrying on Catherine’s truly remarkable reflections on the Church and her relationship to it. This next bunch of posts are especially fascinating, as she outlines her own personal and apostolic response to the needs and failures of the Church in her day—a good lesson for all of us as we confront and wrestle with our flawed Church today.

For those who get to this blog by Facebook and Twitter, I will not be able to provide those links. I do those links manually, and I am actually away from my electronics this week entirely. My absence from FB and Twitter feeds does not mean a lack of blogging, so remember to come on over and see what I’m doing.

Now, just to be clear: I welcome comments on this blog. Comments I agree with, and ones I disagree with (hi, S.M.!). Let’s talk, seriously. But this week I am not here to receive and respond to comments, which I think is important, so I will turn comments off, just for the week. I would hate for you to come and be a guest in my house when I am not here to receive you. Comments will be back on as normal on Saturday.

Pray for me and for the families, and know I pray for all my readers daily.

Speaker for Hire - Real Cheap, Real Good

Wanna have me come to your parish, your group, your school, your club's treehouse? I am available! I am willing! I am really, really cheap!
Seriously, I am indeed always looking for new opportunities to spread the Good News, share our wonderful faith with any old group of people who don't have the sense to run when they see me coming, and generally talk into any live microphone shoved in my face.
I am especially available for any locations in Eastern and Central Ontario - Ottawa, Peterborough, Pembroke, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, etc, etc. (You get the general idea). I will entertain all reasonable offers for more distant locations, too.
Fee: Madonna House lives by begging, so I do not charge a speaker's fee for engagements. I ask for travel expenses to be covered, and for overnight trips, any lodging and food to be provided. I also ask for the right to set up a small book table at the venue to sell my various products (see the blog right sidebar for details).
So... looking for that speaker with that special something and winning smile? Well, he's not available (and let's be honest - you can't afford him anyhow). Try me, instead! My e-mail is fatherdenis@gmail.com
(Note to my faithful readers - I'm putting this up as a blog post so I can put a permanent link to it on the side).

Back From Retreat, But...

Hi, everyone! Well, I am back from my five-day poustinia retreat, much refreshed and recollected, alleluia, and ready to resume full apostolic life, blogging included.
But... my trusty and long-suffering lap top computer, which has long been showing signs of it, chose this very week to go on a permanent retreat, being unceremoniously demoted in the process from 'valuable piece of information technology' to 'scrap metal and plastic.'
I am going computer shopping Monday, but in the meantime don't really have an easy way to write and post to my blog without that particular piece of hardware. So, the blog remains on hiatus until Monday. Talk to you then, with lots of insights from my time away, no doubt.

New Wrinkle for Commenting

I've been getting a lot of distasteful spam-bot comments clogging up my moderation inbox, so have had to add 'word verification' on comments to weed out the non-humans. My apologies to my human readers!

Things I Am Not Blogging About

OK - so the Internet is all abuzz with salacious gossip about Vatican scandals. Several people have asked me what I think.
I don't think anything, because I don't know anything. The entire article, as I understand, is rumours, gossip and unsubstantiated tittle tattle.
I don't blog about that stuff.
We all have one duty right now, as far as the Vatican, the papacy, and the conclave are concerned. And that is to pray, to fast, and to keep our eyes on Jesus. It is his Church, and his power alone that holds the Church in being and in life.
Gossip, rumours, and salacious scandal do not help us, I think to do anything of our duty of the moment in this matter. So I will not blog or comment further on it. God bless us all, and keep His Church in peace and integrity

Ten Thousand Places

OK - so I've given some careful thought and prayer to the new name for the blog, and its new direction.

First, since our beloved Pope Benedict has a full week left with us as our German Shepherd in his office, I will keep the original name and exclusive focus on his writings until February 28. I might mention at this point that I am actually on the road again from this Sunday onwards, heading to Madonna House in England for three weeks of ministry there. Blogging will be ongoing, but may be a bit more sporadic than my usual daily post.

On March 1, though, I will retitle the blog Ten Thousand Places. What on earth do I mean by this title? Well, my two favorite authors (besides Joseph Ratzinger and Catherine de Hueck Doherty) are C.S. Lewis and Gerard Manley Hopkins. My favorite novel of all time is Lewis' Til We Have Faces, to the point where I struggled and strained to find some play on the word 'faces' for the blog that wouldn't sound horribly cheesy, like 'Face to Face' or 'Facing Facts' or 'Face Values'. You all know that I have a terrible loathing of puns and would never stoop so low as to make one. I would lose face by doing so.

So I went searching for Hopkins quotes instead. Having considered and rejected such possibilities as 'Deep Down Things' (which sets the bar a bit too high for me, I think), 'All Things Counter, Original, Spare, Strange' (that one almost got me, I have to admit!) and 'Dayspring to the Dimness' (I would be the dimness, Christ the dayspring in that one), I then found this most lovely and beloved poem:

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves -- goes itself; _myself_ it speaks and spells,
Crying _What I do is me: for that I came_.

I say more: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is --
Christ. For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces.
 

Bingo, says I. My intent is to expand the blog from Ratzinger outward to other authors, other beautiful Christians reflecting Christ in manifold ways, with my own running commentary babbling alongside them. And here we have - Christ is ten thousand places, lovely in... men's FACES.

And so this will be the new blog, beginning on March 1 - Ten Thousand Places, with the tag line of  'To the Father through the features of men's faces.' So now you know.

My Blog Will Go On

Christianity must always remember that it is the religion of the Logos. Christianity is faith in the Creator Spiritus, from whom comes everything that is real. Precisely this ought to give Christianity its philosophical power today, since the problem is whether the world comes from an irrational source, so that reason would be nothing but a ‘by-product’ (perhaps even a harmful by product) of the development of the world, or whether the world comes from reason, so that its criterion and its goal is reason. The Christian faith opts for this second thesis and has good arguments to back it up, even from a purely philosophical point of view, despite the fact that so many people today consider the first thesis the only ‘rational’ and modern view.

Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures, 49

Reflection – ‘So, what are you going to do about the blog?’ The question has been posed to me once or twice (or a couple dozen times, but who’s counting?) the past week or so. My answer has always been, “I’m praying about it!”

You see, I didn’t start the blog precisely because Joseph Ratzinger was the bishop of Rome. I started the blog because he writes passages like the above one: luminous, penetrating, intellectually acute and yet accessible to the general reading public. I started the blog because I believe this ‘German Shepherd’ (and he will still be a shepherd—a bishop—on March 1, don’t forget) has offered the modern world insight, guidance, thoughtful reflection and a gentle presentation of the Gospel in a somewhat intellectual key, but no less the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The modern world has largely responded by sneering at him, calling him silly names, and ignoring his writings, as we have all had lamentable opportunities to see in the past week of media ‘coverage’ of the story.

So I do want, and fully intend, to continue presenting excerpts of Ratzinger’s writings ongoingly on this blog. There may be less interest in him as he retreats into the silence and seclusion of a monastery, but I believe he is a key figure in the Church’s re-presentation of the faith to the modern world, and his life work deserves and in fact needs to be made better known. I may broaden the blog out to include other writers (Catherine Doherty first among them, of course), and my own independent writing and reflection. Given that we are no longer (sob!) living with him, I will probably be looking for a new name for the blog (any suggestions gratefully accepted), but nonetheless, the blog will go on as it has.

A great central matter of Ratzinger’s contribution to modern theology is, in fact, found in the above passage. The reasonableness of the doctrine of creation, the fact that only a creation of the universe from a rational being undergirds and assures us of the ultimate reasonable quality of being, the fact that modern atheistic materialism reduces the universe to absurdity—all of this is key in Ratzinger’s entire thought.

The Regensburg address several years ago, which everyone remembers as if it were an assault on Islam, was in fact an assault on post-modernism. God as Logos, God as a Being super-eminently reasonable, logical in the best sense of the word, means that our human reason, our capacity to move towards apprehension of the truth, this fantastic human power which delivers, in a sense, the whole material universe into our hands through technological mastery—this human power in fact takes us beyond the material universe and into the very heart of God.

Reason does not merely give us scientific prowess, but opens us up for communion in love with God and one another. This is so alien to our whole understanding of reason in a positivistic technocratic world, yet it flows naturally and automatically from the Christian doctrine of creation. And this doctrine, then, and this understanding of reason, yields a whole theology and spirituality of communion, a vision of reality in which our humanity in its deepest and highest nature comes from God and is ordered towards God, and in which our whole apprehension and relationship with the created order is meant to be shaped and ordered by this God-ward orientation.

 

This is the theological vision of Joseph Ratzinger, and I fully intend to continue presenting it to the world on this blog. Now, what am I supposed to name it…?