S E S S I O N 6Give God Some of your

Time

We wish to “increase in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

(Luke 2:52)

We need to follow Christ in his journey to Nazareth.

Nazareth and the Spiritual Life

1. Give away your body.2. Give away your goods.3. Give away your time.4. Receiving illumination

from God.5. Union with God in self.6. Union with God through

others.7. Ultimate union with God.

1. Honor your wedding vows.2. Use money for others.3. Give God some of your time.4. Set your mind on the things

above.5. Find God in yourself.6. Find God in other people.7. Make it easy to be good and

hard to be bad.

7 Steps of That Man is You! 3 Stages of the Spiritual Life

Purgative Stage

Illuminative Stage

Unitive Stage

Developing the Spirit of Nazareth

1. 7 Steps: Give God some of your time.2. Character: King Henry VIII.3. Spiritual Issue: Pride/competing brain systems.4. State of TMIY men: Best covenant.5. Spiritual Remedy: Time in Prayer6. Path to Success: Encounter Christ.7. Suggested Examine: 10 questions on prayer life.

We’re still in the purgative stage.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”John 3:30

King Henry VIII certainly needed to decrease.

King Henry VIII• 1485: Henry VII usurps throne of England.

• 1491: Henry VIII is born.

• 1509: Marries Catherine of Aragon; Crowned King of England.

• 1533: Marries Anne Boleyn

• 1534: Declared Head of Church in England.

• 1536: Executes Anne Boleyn

• 1536-1547: Marries 4 additional wives.

• 1547: Dies on January 8th.

Head of the Church in England• “For the increase of virtue in Christ's religion within this realm of England, and to repress and extirpate all errors, heresies, and other enormities and abuses heretofore used in the same, be it enacted, by authority of this present Parliament, that the king, our sovereign lord … shall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England.”

• “Any person … do maliciously wish, will or desire … to deprive [royal family] of any of their dignity, title or name … by express writing or words, that the king should be heretic, schismatic, tyrant, infidel or usurper of the crown … shall be reputed, accepted , and adjudged high treason.”

Source: “The Act of Supremacy” (1534), http://www.britainexpress.com/History/tudor/supremacy-henry-text.htm.Treasons Act 1534, http://nw18.american.edu/~dfagel/1534treasons.htm.

King Henry VIII: A Bad End• 1509: Inherits England in sound financial

condition.

• 1509ff: Lives as a man of excess.

• 1511: Enters conflict with France.

• 1534: Declared “Head of Church.”

• 1536-1538: Dissolution of monasteries.

• 1540ff: Dissipates money from the dissolution of monasteries.

• 1544: Borrows money to invade France.

• 1547: Dies without succession plan – political chaos and civil war.

Henry VIII had a big problem with the “pride of life.”

We are called to recognize God’s sovereignty over us.

You must help your brain make a choice.

Competing Brain Systems1. “I’m in Charge” System:

• Dorsal Premammillary Nucleus (inside the hypothalamus).

• Instinctive “one-upmanship” area.• Defends territory and status.

2. Prayer System:• Anterior cingulate: prayer increases activity

leading to great empathy and compassion.• Hypothalamus: prayer reduces activity in the

“one-upmanship” area of the brain.• Caudate Nucleus: prayer increases activity in

the reward circuitry of the brain.

Source: Brizedine, L., “The Male Brain,” Broadway Books, New York, 2010, p. xv.Newberg, A., et al., “How God Changes Your Brain,” Ballantine Books, New York, 2010, pp. 43-55.Schjodt, U., et al., “Rewarding Prayers,” Neuroscience Letters 443 (2008) pp. 165-168.

The Fundamental Choice• “How are you fallen from heaven … You said in

your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high … I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).

• “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers” (John 15:5-6).

The Time We Give to GodMen Women

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “American Time Use Survey, 2012, Table 3, 35-44 Year Old Men and Women.

Personal Care8.94

Eating1.28

Household1.20

Leisure/Sports4.45

Religion0.24

Misc.1.25

Work6.02

Shopping0.62

Personal Care9.48

Eating1.13Household

2.40

Leisure/Sports4.09

Religion0.35

Misc.2.04

Work3.67

Shopping0.84

The Spiritual Life of TMIY Men• Mass: Three of four every Sunday.

Almost half more than weekly.• Confession: Almost two of three

annual. One quarter monthly.• Morning and Night Prayer: 42%• Actively avoid commitments to work

on spiritual life: about one-third.• Nightly Examine: one in five.• Spiritual Plan of Life: one in five.

Perc

en

tag

e

Source: TMIY Internal Data.

Mass Weekly

Confession Annual

0

20

40

60

Spiritual PoL

Examine

Nightly

80

62.3

75.4

17.7

18.8

The starting point in the spiritual life is an encounter with Jesus Christ.

He helps us to rediscover our first love.

The story of the Samaritan woman at the well.

Rediscovering the First Love“Jesus, wearied as he was with the journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour [noon]. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’ … The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ … Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, `Give me a drink,` you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.’

John 4:4-12

Rediscovering the First Love“Jesus said to her, ‘Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here again.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her ‘… you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband’ … ”

John 4:13-18

Rediscovering the First Love“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father … But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.’”

John 4:19-23

Building a Spiritual Plan of Life1. Daily

• Consecrate the day to God or Our Lady.• Morning and Evening Prayer (e.g. Scripture,

Rosary, Divine Office)• Brief Examination of Conscience.

2. Weekly• Mass on Sunday – break from work.• Spiritual devotion (e.g. Eucharistic Adoration

or talk.

Building a Spiritual Plan of Life3. Monthly

• Special Feast Day or Devotion (e.g. First Friday to Sacred Heart or Feast Days of Our Lady).

• Confession4. Annual

• Review Spiritual Plan of Life.• Make a retreat.• Pray a Novena.

5. Life Time• Pilgrimage

Developing the Spirit of Nazareth

1. The Way of Love• Give time to God in your family members.• Pray with and for your family members.• Enjoy time together with family as entertainment.

2. Ecclesia Domestica• “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Matthew

21:13).• Pray with and for your family members.• Make a sacrifice for the needs of your family members.

3. Union with Church• Bring the Liturgical life of the Church into your home.• Celebrate Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter in special way.• Establish “family feast days” for favorite saints.

Your prayer life is called to be the foundation for your spiritual life.

It should be rigorous and robust.

I would suggest a 10 question evaluation.

Evaluation on Prayer Life1. Do I go to Mass every Sunday?

2. Do I go to Confession at least once per year?

3. Do I begin and end each day in prayer?

4. Do I take time to pray during the course of the day?

5. Does my prayer life include moments of silence so that I can listen to God?

6. Do I do a brief examination of conscience at the end of every day?

7. Do I pray with my spouse and/or children?

8. Do I celebrate Feast Days of the Church in addition to Christmas and Easter?

9. Do I have a Spiritual Plan of Life?

10.Do I avoid other commitments to fulfill my spiritual activities and Plan of Life?

Next WeekSet Your Mind on the Things

Above

Small Group DiscussionStarter Questions

1. Are you willing to develop a Spiritual Plan of Life? Will you do it by Christmas?

2. What is the single action you need to make to take the next step in your prayer life?