Tag Archives: kenosis

Curbing Our Appetites

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on September 24, 2021

What Do We Do With Money? Curbing Our Appetites Friday, September 24, 2021 Sallie McFague (1933–2019) was a renowned scholar in the theological disciplines of ecology, economics, and feminist Christianity. In her book Blessed Are the Consumers, she calls consumerism “the most successful religion on the planet” with catastrophic results for humanity and our planet.… Continue Reading Curbing Our Appetites

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged injustice, insight, Money, Quaker, Sallie McFague, Simplicity

Good and Bad Power: Weekly Summary

Written by Cynthia Bourgeault on August 14, 2021

Good and Bad Power Saturday, August 14, 2021 Week Thirty-Two Summary and Practice Sunday, August 8—Friday, August 13, 2021 Sunday Once we come into contact with the Holy Spirit, our Inner Source, we become living icons of true, humble, and confident power. Monday When we haven’t experienced or don’t trust our God-given “power within,” we… Continue Reading Good and Bad Power: Weekly Summary

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Body, brain, Centering Prayer, Cynthia Bourgeault, Jesus, Power, practice

Letting Go of Power

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on August 12, 2021

Good and Bad Power Letting Go of Power Thursday, August 12, 2021 In her book The Wisdom Jesus, Cynthia Bourgeault describes how Jesus modeled the path of kenosis. Taken from the Greek word in Paul’s letter to the Philippians (2:5–9), it means to “let go” or “to empty oneself.” In Jesus, this self-emptying pattern revealed… Continue Reading Letting Go of Power

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged covenant, God, Jesus, margins, Power, privilege, Stephanie Spellers

Self-Emptying: Weekly Summary

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on December 19, 2020

Self-Emptying Saturday, December 19, 2020 Summary: Sunday, December 13—Friday, December 18, 2020 In our consumer culture, even religion and spirituality have very often become a matter of addition: earning points with God, attaining enlightenment, producing moral behavior. Yet authentic spirituality is much more about letting go. (Sunday) In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus struggled and… Continue Reading Self-Emptying: Weekly Summary

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged acceptance, ego, Enlightenment, freedom, Han de Wit, practice, solitude

Letting Go Is Liberation

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on December 18, 2020

Self-Emptying Letting Go Is Liberation Friday, December 18, 2020 In talking about letting go, we are really talking about liberation. It’s a type of liberation theology for a Global North country, if you will. Here are the proper questions: What is it we need to be liberated from, and what is it we need to be liberated… Continue Reading Letting Go Is Liberation

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Forgiveness, liberation, pain, Reality

The Wisdom of Presence

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on December 17, 2020

Self-Emptying The Wisdom of Presence Thursday, December 17, 2020 We empty ourselves to let the divine flood us with love. We are empty so we may be full. —Beverly Lanzetta It seems that one of the most difficult lessons for us to learn is that knowledge is not the same as wisdom. Even sincere spiritual… Continue Reading The Wisdom of Presence

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Beverly Lanzetta, Detachment, Intimacy, openness, present, wisdom

Letting Go of Our Very Selves

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on December 16, 2020

Self-Emptying Letting Go of Our Very Selves Wednesday, December 16, 2020 The great task of religion is to keep us fully awake, alert, and conscious. Staying awake comes not from willpower but from a wholehearted surrender to the moment—as it is. If we can truly be present, we will experience what most of us mean by God (and… Continue Reading Letting Go of Our Very Selves

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged acceptance, awareness, connection, Detachment, identity, perception, surrender

Taking the Lower Place

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on December 15, 2020

Self-Emptying Taking the Lower Place Tuesday, December 15, 2020 Jesus’ life offered an example of humility and self-emptying, but he chose an additional model for his disciples: that of little children. Despite what we see depicted in so much religious art, it was not meant as a “cute” or sentimental gesture! As Albert Nolan shares,… Continue Reading Taking the Lower Place

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Albert Nolan, children, Dignity, Humility, Jesus

Giving Away Every Gift

Written by Cynthia Bourgeault on December 14, 2020

Self-Emptying Giving Away Every Gift Monday, December 14, 2020 A focus on self-emptying or “letting go” might seem like a call to self-denial or “making do with less,” but as Cynthia Bourgeault points out in her description of Jesus’ teaching, it can also lead to radical generosity and abundance. When we cling to less—of our… Continue Reading Giving Away Every Gift

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged abundance, Cynthia Bourgeault, generosity, Jesus, Love, poetry, Rumi

Less Is More

Written by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM on December 13, 2020

Self-Emptying Less Is More Sunday, December 13, 2020 Third Sunday of Advent Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming… Continue Reading Less Is More

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged Albert Nolan, critique, culture, ego, Jesus, spirituality