Joyfully presenting ever more wisdom from the teachings of Jesus Christ through his teacher with an apostolic mission in our time, Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. What wonders!
Writing provides discipline for the mind; demands, encourages and develops intellectual humility; cultivates one's memory; provides a means of taking one's moral inventory; helps develop healthy and holy speaking habits/speech; creates and leaves behind a record of graces received from God through His Immaculate Mother; and is a means of inestimable and eternal worth for writer's "charitable sharing of our souls" as channels of God's lavish and superabundant Divine supernatural graces.
WRITING PROVIDES DISCIPLINE FOR THE MIND
"Left to themselves, our thoughts tend to roam about. Our minds are not naturally under control. They tend to run in all directions at once and are not spontaneously under our command. That is why writing is so important. It provides a pathway for the mind. It gives direction to our thinking. It helps us to master our faculty of thought." ~ Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
WRITING DEMANDS, ENCOURAGES, AND DEVELOPS INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY
Fr. Hardon noted that the reason more people do not write is because writing demands humility.
"When I read what I have written, I must look at myself as I really am. I must see the vagueness of my thinking, the inconsistency of my logic, the triviality of my life and the experience is humiliating. The pathway to humility is humiliation, and the deepest humiliation is being humiliated in my own eyes. Writing is a proved way of lowering myself in my own estimation by looking at my real self as reflected in the thoughts I have set down on paper." ~ Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
WRITING CULTIVATES ONE'S MEMORY
"We remember what we want to remember. By writing down our thoughts and spiritual experiences, we make a strong act of the will to remember what we have written." ~ Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
The late Fr. Hardon taught that our memorized thoughts contribute to everything we think, say, and do for the rest of our lives. For that reason he encouraged us to study the writings of saints, in order "to deepen our own spiritual resources."
WRITING PROVIDES A MEANS OF TAKING ONE'S MORAL INVENTORY
Fr. Hardon noted that St. Ignatius found it of great value to put one's daily review of one's conduct in some written form, to demonstrate one's seriousness about overcoming one's failures and one's honesty (purity of intention) in growing, with God's help, in the virtues each one of us needs.
We must be willing participants in this holy process with great importance, purpose, value, and eternal consequences for every soul.
Writing functions to help one evaluate "progress made — if any — we have made in our imitation of Christ."
It makes us conscious, Fr. Hardon reminds us, "during the day, of what we plan to put down in some written form at the end of the day."
WRITING HELPS DEVELOP HEALTHY AND HOLY SPEAKING HABITS/SPEECH
Fr. Hardon stressed that we cannot master our speech on our own; to do so requires the constant help of God.
"God will give us the grace to tame this wild creature if we do our part," and "a most valuable part is to write down our thoughts while saying a prayer before we start writing, as we write, and after we have written — to obtain the divine light we need to see what God wants us to say and the divine help to say it." ~ Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
"People who do this will go a long way to using their tongues as God wants us to. The effort and grace required to write down our thoughts are a major contribution to mastering our speech. Too often we speak without first thinking. But we cannot write without thinking. The practice of writing, therefore, will develop the art of speaking according to God’s will." ~ Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
WRITING CREATES AND LEAVES BEHIND A RECORD OF GRACES RECEIVED FROM GOD THROUGH HIS IMMACULATE MOTHER
"One reason why some of the great saints of history have written so much is that they wished to keep a record of the graces they had received from God in mental prayer. On the one hand, writing helps to keep us humble by giving us visible proof of our own weakness and folly. But writing can also be a tribute to God’s wisdom and a record of His graces. We honor Him when we set down in writing what ideas or inspirations He gives us during the day, especially while we are quietly meditating in His presence." ~ Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
WRITING IS AN INVALUABLE VEHICLE FOR WRITER'S CHARITABLE SHARING OF OUR SOULS AS CHANNELS OF GOD'S LAVISH AND SUPERABUNDANT DIVINE SUPERNATURAL GRACES
Writing helps us develop proper verbal communication skills, "to prevent us from failing in charity through speech."
"But there is more to the practice of charity than merely avoiding failures against the virtue. Charity is, above all, sharing with another what I have, in order to enrich the person whom I love. What is our dearest possession? It is the gifts of the spirit that the Holy Spirit has generously given to us."
SHARING THE TREASURES OF GOD IN OUR MINDS
Fr. Hardon taught that if we are to share the treasures of God in one's soul through one's mind, one must:
- Acquire as much grace as one can by reading, prayer and self-denial.
- Share with others what the goodness of the Lord has shared with us.
- Keep "a written record of past experiences, interesting episodes, and uplifting sentiments - whether our own or those received from others."
Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. noted that when God became man, He taught people mainly through short stories, or parables, and we know that Jesus desires we all follow His example.
"In practice, this means we should make a written memo of the parables in our own life, to share them with others and thus bring everyone we talk to closer to the Heart of Christ."
Detroit, Michigan, United States of America