IDEAS ON SPIRITUAL JOURNALING

KEEPING TRACK OF YOURSELF

A FEW OF MY APPROXIMATELY TWENTY VOLUMES SINCE 1968

ON KEEPING A SPIRITUAL JOURNAL

I will act as if what I do makes a difference.

William James

A spiritual journal is an ideal way to keep a written record of personal reactions to spiritual matters. It is not a diary. Its main function is to keep you “intentional” about your own spiritual growth by allowing you to look back to see how you have spiritually grown or perhaps shrank.

A spiritual journal is not a diary. Its focus is mainly on the growth of your relationship with God and on the growth of your effectiveness as a Christian.

What kinds of things go into a spiritual journal?

· Observations on things that you sense going on around you as you go through times of change and     growth
· Places you have been and what you drew from them ( retreats, books, movies, homilies)
· Insights you have about yourself and your vocation in life
· Feedback you have been given by others through conversation or written communication
· Prayers you have read, written, said or heard
· Special insights about vocation that you have come across and want to remember (either intact or       where to find them)
· Ways you have surprised yourself
· Things you have discovered about yourself as you look back through your journal
· Important dates and events that impact your vocation
· Things that come to you while driving, sleeping or meditating
· Insights gained during reflections on special milestones (e.g. your birthday, your anniversary or time   in an a job)
· Clever and insightful ideas and quotes that can be used in giving talks or writing projects

Are there any helpful guidelines?

The most important thing is to be honest with yourself and God during writing. Pious sentiments that you feel you should have are not helpful. 

The date and the time should be clearly marked with each entry. Since you are tracking your progress, you will not be confused about “when” you wrote something or when something actually happened. 

Get a good sturdy book, not a flimsy notebook, since you will be taking it with you when you travel, move, go on retreat. It should look “worthy” of what it contains. It should be left in plain sight so that it can beckon you to come and write. 

Remember that journals can be lost, stolen or accidentally read by others, no matter how careful you are. You may choose some code words that only you know for the most private and sensitive entries. 

A VISIT TO THE CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY

The Men of Epiphany group invited me to speak to them last Sunday night at the Epiphany Community Center. They invited the whole parish community, as well as guests from other parishes and the wider community. It was my second time to address the group. Here is the topic for last Sunday night's program. 

COMING TO TERMS WITH LIFE’S INEVITABLE CHANGES

An Exodus Spirituality

CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY

May 15, 2016

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

John C. Maxwell

A view of the right side of the room.

A view of the left side of the room. 



"Your talk was an obvious "right on target" hit tonight."
Gary Marvin, longtime active parishioner

FORTY-SIX YEARS OF PRIESTHOOD

I've been through the "old church," the "new church," the new old church" and now the "new new church." 

THIS IS WHERE IT REALLY STARTED




That is me (altar boy on the right) serving a wedding mass about the time I first realized I wanted to be a priest.  I was about seven years old. People should have known that something was up  because I was the only altar boy to own his own cassock. 

I left for the seminary at age fourteen and was ordained at age twenty-six. On my forty-sixth anniversary, I am seventy-two years old. 


MAY 16, 1970





Getting ready to drive down to the Cathedral for ordination.
May 16, 1970



Getting ready to go down the isle for ordination.
May 16, 1970



FIRST MASS
May 17, 2017



In so many ways, I am overcome with gratitude for my vocation. God had to be behind it. I was probably in the "least likely to succeed" category.
Sister Mary Ancilla told me that I would probably "never be any good around the altar." 
Father Johnson predicted, as I left for the seminary in 1958, that I wouldn't make it past my first year.  
When I was accepted for the seminary, a neighbor bet me $5.00 that I would "not make it till Christmas."
A male childhood friend said to me, "If you become a priest, I'll become a nun!"| 
In 1959, Father White, rector of St. Thomas Seminary called me a "hopeless case" and threatened to send me home. His last words to me in 1964 were, "Knott, you have been a ball and chain around my leg for six years!" 




NEVER TELL A KNOTT THAT HE CAN'T DO SOMETHING! 


WHAT AN ADVENTURE!
I WOULD NOT TRADE THE LAST FORTY-SIX YEARS FOR ANYTHING!




THE ICING ON THE CAKE
PRIEST JUBILEE CELEBRATION AT THE CATHEDRAL

This evening we had the Jubilee Celebration of priests ordinations: 25, 50 and 60 years.
It just so happened that Father Kevin Brassil, a retired priest of Providence, Rhode Island, 
was in town. Father Brassil was a priest at St. Thomas Seminary in Louisville from 1958-1961 when some of us were there. He was thrilled when I asked him to come with me to the celebration. He knew so many people and old  seminarians. He stayed at the Galt House, where Father Tony Olges and I picked him up and took him back. 



Father Brassil and I ate lunch at the Galt House.



One side of the church with priests attending the celebration.



Father Mark Hamilton delivering the homily. 



Head table with some of the jubilarians (with Father John Burke in foreground). 



One of the tables with Father Brassil, my special guest. 
Left to right: Father Terry Bradshaw, Father John Burke, Father Clyde Crews, Father Kevin Brassil and Father Tom Clark.



Another shot of the room with other tables.