Monthly Archives: June 2013

Week 26 : Imitate Christ, Weekly Study Guide

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Week 26 Discussion Notes:1

  1. This week’s Latin lesson is “Elige paupertatem” (Prefer Poverty). Kemplis wrote in THE LITTLE KEMPIS, “Prefer poverty and simplicity; then you will be content with a little, and not so easily complain.” Can you think of any instance in modern society in which this saying woud have meaning? (Day 176)
  2. In Chapter 22, Kempis urges contentment with what God has provided, however meager. Speaking of God, Kempis wrote, “You are to be praised in all things. You know what is good for each of us; and why one should receive less and another more is not for us to judge, but for You Who have marked every man’s merits.” (Day 177)
  3. More Latin from THE LITTLE KEMPIS: “Magnus qui minimus. (Great is He That is Least). It is a great gift of God to be poor in this world for Christ, and to hold the lowest seat. Swelling pride seeks the highest seat. The devil always entices to the highest seats, to pursue honors, and to hold others in contempt but the devil soon retreats after his brief season of authority. Consider the smallest favors of great worth, and you will be worthy to receive the greatest.” (Day 178)
  4. Kempis wrote in chapter 23, their are four things that bring great peace:
    (i) Do the will of others rather than your own.
    (ii) Always choose to have less rather than more.
    (iii) Look always for the last place and seek to be beneath all others.
    (vi) Always wish and pray that the will of God be fully carried out in you.
    How many items on this list do you agree with? (Day 180)

These study notes are for a year long study of The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis. The text for this Bible Study is Imitate Christ, by T. Alan Truex. Call Tom Truex, or use the CONTACT tab at K-Line.ORG to get more information.

The discussion for this week will focus on the Chapters listed below, from The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis.2

All items listed below are online at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Book 3 , Chapter 22 : Remember the Innumerable Gifts of God (June 26, 2013)
  2. Book 3 , Chapter 23 : Four Things Which Bring Great Peace (June 29, 2013)

Also Posted this Week at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Challoner’s Reflections3 on The Imitation of Christ for each of the above chapters.

Footnotes:

  1. References to days are from the Imitate Christ Study Guide ↩
  2. The dates listed are the dates the chapters were posted online, which also corresponds to the suggested reading plan in the study guide. ↩
  3. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXIII.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXIII.: Four Things Which Bring Great Peace

Even the Prophets of Israel that prophesy to Jerusalem, and that see visions of peace for htr; and there is no peace, saith the Lord (Ezec. 13:16). And the world also prophesies visions of peace to its votaries; but that peace which it places in pleasure, in the satisfaction of pride and of all the passions, shows itself only at a distance, in order to mislead those who follow it, and when they think themselves about to seize on it, it suddenly vanishes, as the dream of them that awake (Psalms 72:20Open Link in New Window). Real peace, on the contrary, is but the tranquillity of a pure conscience; it consists in restraining our desires, not in satisfying them. If there is a retired place, an obscure employment, a position, a rank contemptible to the world, it is especially there. The more the heart humiliates itself, the more it is calm and deep.

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Twenty-Second Chapter: Remember the Innumerable Gifts of God

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Twenty-Second Chapter: Remember the Innumerable Gifts of God

The Disciple

OPEN my heart, O Lord, to Your law and teach me to walk in the way of Your commandments. Let me understand Your will. Let me remember Your blessings–all of them and each single one of them–with great reverence and care so that henceforth I may return worthy thanks for them. I know that I am unable to give due thanks for even the least of Your gifts. I am unworthy of the benefits You have given me, and when I consider Your generosity my spirit faints away before its greatness. All that we have of soul and body, whatever we possess interiorly or exteriorly, by nature or by grace, are Your gifts and they proclaim Your goodness and mercy from which we have received all good things.

If one receives more and another less, yet all are Yours and without You nothing can be received. He who receives greater things cannot glory in his own merit or consider himself above others or behave insolently toward those who receive less. He who attributes less to himself and is the more humble and devout in returning thanks is indeed the greater and the better, while he who considers himself lower than all men and judges himself to be the least worthy, is the more fit to receive the greater blessing. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXII.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXII.: Remember the Innumerable Gifts of God

Let us profit by the grace which is given to us, without enquiring whether others have received a fuller measure of it. God communicates Himself as He pleases; He is the master of his gifts; and what are we that we can require Him to render an account of them? Let us bless Him for those which He accords to us in his gratuitous goodness, and let us bless Him again for those which He refuses to us; acknowledging that we are unworthy of the least of his benefits. If you are humble, you will not aspire to extraordinary favours; and if you want humility, those favours, far from being useful to you, will only serve to destroy you, by nourishing in you vain selfesteem and pride. A lively gratitude towards the Lord, a perfect submission to his will, fidelity to the path through which he leads you–that is what you should desire. With that you will repose in peace, because you will repose in God; and because in Him you will find aid against temptations, peace in sufferings, consolations in the miseries and pains of life, and in short the love which makes all things easily borne.

Continue reading →

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Twenty-first Chapter: Above All Goods and All Gifts We Must Rest in God

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Twenty-first Chapter: Above All Goods and All Gifts We Must Rest in God

The Disciple

ABOVE all things and in all things, O my soul, rest always in God, for He is the everlasting rest of the saints.

Grant, most sweet and loving Jesus, that I may seek my repose in You above every creature; above all health and beauty; above every honor and glory; every power and dignity; above all knowledge and cleverness, all riches and arts, all joy and gladness; above all fame and praise, all sweetness and consolation; above every hope and promise, every merit and desire; above all the gifts and favors that You can give or pour down upon me; above all the joy and exultation that the mind can receive and feel; and finally, above the angels and archangels and all the heavenly host; above all things visible and invisible; and may I seek my repose in You above everything that is not You, my God. Continue reading →

Week 25 : Imitate Christ, Weekly Study Guide

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Week 25 Discussion Notes:1

  1. In THE LITTLE KEMPIS, section 226, Kempis wrote, “It is more difficult to restrain the passions, than to drive away the devil.” Simularly, in chapter 20, he wrote, “Vicious pleasure overcomes the soul that is given to the world.” Is it really so bad to have a good time? (Days 169 & 170)
  2. In chapter 20, Kempis says, “when one trouble or temptation leaves, another comes.” Or as Kempis recites in section 235 of THE LITTLE KEMPIS, as long as we live, we must fight the devil. (Days 170 & 171)
  3. In Chapter 21, Kempis wrote that resting with God is more important than health, beauty, honor, glory, power, dignity, knowledge, cleverness, riches, arts, joy, gladness, fame praise hope, promise… [and other things, as well]. Do you really place such a value on your relationship with God? (Day 173)
  4. In SOLILOQUY OF THE SOUL, Kempis refers to God as “My best beloved and most faithful Friend.” Is calling God Himself one’s “friend” too familiar? (Day 174)

These study notes are for a year long study of The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis. The text for this Bible Study is Imitate Christ, by T. Alan Truex. Call Tom Truex, or use the CONTACT tab at K-Line.ORG to get more information.

The discussion for this week will focus on the Chapters listed below, from The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis.2

All items listed below are online at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Book 3 , Chapter 20 : Confessing Our Weakness in the Miseries of Life (June 19, 2013)
  2. Book 3 , Chapter 21 : Above All Goods and All Gifts We Must Rest in God (June 22, 2013)

Also Posted this Week at ImitateChrist.ORG:

  1. Challoner’s Reflections3 on The Imitation of Christ for each of the above chapters.

Footnotes:

  1. References to days are from the Imitate Christ Study Guide ↩
  2. The dates listed are the dates the chapters were posted online, which also corresponds to the suggested reading plan in the study guide. ↩
  3. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XXI.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XXI.: Above All Goods and All Gifts We Must Rest in God

In proportion as the faithful soul disengages itself from the earth and from itself, all its thoughts, all its desires arise and rush to confound themselves with Him whom it alone loves. There it groans on account of the bonds which tie it down and keep it on the earth. Urged on by a love which increases every moment, it would wish to break its envelope of clay, and spring into the breast of the infinite Being to whom it aspires, and to lose itself eternally in Him. There is no rest for it, until it is completely united to the object of its ardent desires, until it can say, in a transport of delight, in the divine inebriation of its happiness, in the enver-ending enjoyment and possession of its celestial spouse: My beloved to me, and I to Him (Song of Solomon 2:16Open Link in New Window).

Continue reading →

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩

The Twentieth Chapter: Confessing Our Weakness in the Miseries of Life

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The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSOLATION
The Twentieth Chapter: Confessing Our Weakness in the Miseries of Life

The Disciple

I WILL bring witness against myself to my injustice, and to You, O Lord, I will confess my weakness.

Often it is a small thing that makes me downcast and sad. I propose to act bravely, but when even a small temptation comes I find myself in great straits. Sometimes it is the merest trifle which gives rise to grievous temptations. When I think myself somewhat safe and when I am not expecting it, I frequently find myself almost overcome by a slight wind. Look, therefore, Lord, at my lowliness and frailty which You know so well. Have mercy on me and snatch me out of the mire that I may not be caught in it and may not remain forever utterly despondent. Continue reading →

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER XX.

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Challoner’s Reflection on The Imitation of Christ1
BOOK THREE: INTERNAL CONSULTATION
CHAPTER XX.: Confessing Our Weakness in the Miseries of Life

What are the trials which come to us from without, in comparison to those which we find within ourselves? We resist the first with all our strength; in the second case it is divided, and the powers of the soul fight against each other. This is what casts down weak souls, humiliated by this shameful war, and without cease trembling lest they may succumb. This is why the Apostle said: Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:24, 25Open Link in New Window). Let us therefore cast ourselves into His divine arms, which, with inexpressible love, are stretched out to receive us; let us draw near to His sacred heart, from which emanates. a virtue terrible to the powers of evil. Let us rely but on Him; let us place our hopes in Him only.

Continue reading →

  1. Right Rev. R. Challoner, D.D., V.A., Imitation of Christ, Dublin: McGlashan and Gill, 1873 ↩