Based on the journal of the Province of Central Africa, we continue to publish the charismatic ‘contributions’ for which the Sisters of Charity of this territorial reality have committed themselves to reflecting, praying, documenting and writing.
We continue the publication of these valuable contributions with that of Sister Chika, on
Spiritual Life at the Heart of Action
This is the story of the healing of the lunatic child, who could not be healed by the disciples.
The commentary on Matthew 17:16 focuses on the message that some demons can only be cast out through prayer and fasting. This verse is a reminder of the importance of prayer and faith in overcoming spiritual forces. Hence the need for a rich and balanced spiritual life.
What is spiritual life at the heart of action?
Who am I in Jesus and for Jesus? Where am I with Jesus? Why? What are the reasons or causes that prevent me from following Jesus? Who am I and what do I want to be for Jesus? How and where would Jesus act?
Spiritual life begins with accepting Jesus into my life and putting his teachings into practice, like the disciples of Jesus and Saint Jeanne Antide. Have I ever asked myself these questions in order to know myself by facing myself? Facing oneself, confronting oneself, is a test and a trial. Our true reality is the fear of accepting the demon within us.
Joan Antide knew who she was, where she was, and why. She knew what she wanted to be. Hence her perpetual search for God’s will: it is the birth of her spiritual life that begins with her history and her faith. She understood this very early on.
In the text quoted above, the disciples did not understand this, so Jesus explained to them that their lack of faith was the cause, encouraging them to pray and fast. Jeanne Antide was born into a Christian family. Baptised on the day of her birth, she received the Christian faith, which was nurtured by the lessons of her mother and the parish priest of Sancey. This was the beginning of her spiritual life.
In fact, spiritual life generally begins with an awareness of God, as Jeanne Antide experienced. She encountered suffering: she suffered from seeing her mother ill and sought to relieve her pain; she suffered from her aunt’s character; she suffered from hearing her brothers’ arguments with her father and from seeing poor people begging for food.
These were years of learning, years in which Jeanne Antide began to look at the world, to know God, and in which some of her character traits were revealed: sensitivity, attention to God and others, a desire to take on the sorrows of others. –
Union with God as the source of all action and inspiration for Saint Jeanne Antide Jesus’ disciples lacked this union. They relied on their own personal strengths, including prayer and faith. Jesus’ life is filled with prayer and faith. Jesus demonstrates his authority over demons and his divine power.
Jesus and his disciples, Jeanne Antide: disciple of Jesus and his daughters. Spiritual life is a life in the Spirit. A life lived in the Holy Spirit. Jeanne Antide understood this. She lived in the Spirit. We can say in the heart of God alone. Family contradictions cause her to experience tension between obedience and freedom. Jeanne Antide was caught between two forms of ‘obedience’. Obeying her father, yes; but it is God who must be obeyed first. Jeanne Antide felt that God was calling her to something other than marriage. How could she reconcile these two calls? Finally, her father also bowed to God’s will. She was finally free for God.
Jeanne Antide prayed with perseverance, confident in her prayer, which put her in a state of openness, availability and inner freedom in a persevering dialogue with God. She sought signs from God in her prayer and through mediations. She asked God for a holy state of life. She continued to consult the Lord through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
She prayed ardently to God to let her know what he wanted her to do.
Jeanne Antide reflects and makes sure that her deep motivations are right; she does not seek refuge in the easy way out, as we do today; she does not lock herself into a life plan that she has made for herself in order to escape the difficulties of the moment. I do not desire it in order to escape the pains and inconveniences I might encounter in another situation. I do not desire it in order to be better off, and to have nothing or almost nothing to suffer. – The need to base social commitment on a life of prayer and interiority so as not to become exhausted and to remain faithful to the mission
A spirit of discernment: the question we should ask ourselves at every moment is, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ Discernment is necessary, following the example of Jeanne Antide. For when Jeanne Antide did not know what to do between two strong inclinations that divided her heart, she expressed it this way: for the most austere state, and also to be useful to the poor. For Jeanne Antide, being wholly devoted to God meant living with Christ in solitude, prayer, work, sharing, sacrifice, fasting and the sacraments. Serving the poor: at the same time, Jeanne Antide felt great compassion for the poor; she gave more than what had been agreed with her father to those who came to the house. In conclusion, Jeanne Antide gradually found enlightenment in her life through concrete situations, reflected upon and deepened in prayer; our model to follow in the footsteps of Christ.
Sr Colette (Sdc)
