2005 Lenten Parish Retreat
Tuesday March 1, 2005

Patrick Brennan:

Jesus: Thinking, Feeling, Doing in New Ways

  1. A story of my twenties being mentored into the Reign of God
    1. Abba into your hands I hand over my life
    2. A story of depression: An experience in a Lutheran Church; become a new creation; all things can be made new in Jesus Christ

  2. The principles of cognitive behavioral therapy
    1. If you want to change feelings don’t start with feelings
    2. Begin to notice convictions, assumptions, cognitions
    3. Examples of anxious cognitions
    4. Examples of depressive cognitions
    5. Example of angry cognitions
    6. Noticing cognitions, convictions, and assumptions and how they make you feel
    7. Deliberately changing cognitions and assumptions and noticing the change in emotion that they bring about

  3. Life in the Reign of God
    1. The cognitions of Jesus and how they speak to anxiety
    2. The cognitions of Jesus and how they speak to depression
    3. The cognitions of Jesus and how they speak to anger
    4. The cognitions of Jesus and how they speak to relationships in general

  4. Conversion
    1. Often Uninvited
    2. A Human Experience; physical, emotional, relational, occupational
    3. Our inner paradigms challenged
      1. The opportunity to embrace new inner paradigms
      2. Embracing, deciding for, and practicing the inner life of Jesus
    4. Conversion of volition and surrender
    5. Collapse, but then new intentionality, new direction, new energy
    6. The need for community to stay on the journey

Transforming Anxiety

  1. Congruence with the self: What Am I Feeling?
    1. Focusing – What is this really? Gaining Precision; do not judge feelings
    2. Process, gain insight, prayer, journal

  2. Thought/Assumption Catch, Stop, Replace

  3. Floating

  4. Surrender – floating with intentionality toward Spirit/Power Greater than self

  5. At least 20 minutes of Meditation/Quiet per day

  6. At least 20 minutes of exercise per day

  7. Assertiveness in expressing feelings

  8. Learning Conflict Resolution Skills (When _________ I feel _________.)

  9. Solving solvable problems

  10. Attempting to solve non-solvable problems – partially solve, return to & re-do, learn to surrender

  11. Be sensitive to multi-tasking – simplify

  12. Break out of quantitative categories

  13. Learn to say “no”

  14. Development of wholistic spiritual program

  15. Support Group or SCC

  16. Mentor/Therapist/Life Coach

  17. Learn skills of forgiveness (decision, empathy, gift, process, hold self in)

  18. Manage anger more effectively

  19. Avoid secondary fear

  20. Medication

  21. Manage toxic relationships

  22. Rehearse, plan for stress producing situations, people

  23. Stop “working self to death”; boundaries!

  24. Give children/teens 40 developmental assets

  25. Family/Marriage Council

    1. Some of Jesus’ Cognitions and Cognitive Patterns

      1. Matthew – Filter: Jesus is the Teacher, the New Moses, Special attention to Jews converting to Christianity

        PASSAGE    COGNITION
        3:13 My mission is about righteousness
        3:17 I am the beloved of God
        4:1-16 I am God-centered and can withstand temptation
        4:11-17 Life in the Reign of God demands repentance
        5:1-12 We are experiencing God’s Reign when we have experiences that render us in need of God and each other
        5:13-16 We must be salt and light for the world
        5:20-48 Beyond “keeping laws,” people must deeply purify their motives and attitudes
        6:1-6 Do not use spirituality for self aggrandizement
        6:7-13 Prayer should address God as parent, praise God, seek His Reign and will, ask for needs, ask for forgiveness and the power to forgive, and seek protection from temptation and sin
        6:19-21 Do not seek security in materialism
        6:24 Choose your master: God or money
        7:1 People ought not to judge each other
        7:11 Prayer is powerful
        7:12 Treat others as you would like to be treated
        7:13-14 Life in God’s Reign is difficult
        7:21-23 Behavior, acting on God’s will is what is crucial
        8 & 9 Faith heals in some way
        10:17-25 Life in the Reign of God will lead to persecution
        10:34-36 Life in the Reign of God will call dissension in relationships
        10:37 Following Him demands selflessness
        11:2-14 The Kingdom is about healing, liberation, and attention to the poor and down-trodden
        11:25-27 People like children, who understand dependency, know what the Reign of God is about
        12:1-8 Again, the law is important. But it must be grounded in love
        12:15-21 I am the Servant of Yahweh
        12:33-37 Words and deeds flow from the heart
        12:38-42 Jonah is the sign of what it’s all about
        12:43-45 Without sufficient healing, recovery, demons can return with greater force
        13:4-9 The Reign of God is about throwing out a lot of seed – there will be varying results
        13:24-30 In the Reign of God, weeds and wheat co-exist
        13:31-33 God’s influence is like yeast in bread, like a mustard seed that can become and grow
        13:44-50 God’s Reign is like the buried treasure or a discovered pearl, each demanding action. God’s Reign is like a dragnet catching and carrying diverse types
        14:15-17 Where there’s need there should be immediacy in response
        15:10-20 People are unclean because of what is in their hearts and minds
        16:4 Again the sign of Jonah
        16:21-33 My mission involves suffering for me and others
        18:1-4 Greatness is had in becoming child-like again
        18:8-10 Extreme efforts must be made to avoid sin
        18:12-14 God is after “the lost”
        18:15-18 Work to resolve conflicts in communities
        18:21-22 We must forgive
        19:1-9 Ideally, marriage is indissoluble; divorce is not an answer to problems
        19:20-22 The Kingdom demands that we become poor
        19:23-26 Riches are dangerous
        19:30 The Kingdom reverses the status quo
        20:24-28 Lead through service
        21:12-16 The Temple should be cleansed of materialism; religions ought not cheat the poor
        21:28-32 It is important to do God’s will
        22:1-6 All are called to the Reign of God, but it is not about “anything goes.”
        22:15-22 We need to balance our responsibilities to the world around us and to God
        22:23-33 There is resurrection from the dead
        22:34-40 There are 3 great commandments
        23:1-32 Avoid hypocrisy
        24:37-44 Be vigilant about the quality of life and God’s presence
        25:1-13 Be vigilant
        25:14-30 Become entrepreneurial about your spiritual life
        Mt25:31-46 Love is the criterion in God’s judgement
        Mt26:26-29 I will live on within you in Eucharist
        Mt26:36-46 Be obedient to God’s will
        Mt10:1-16 &
        Mt28:16-20         		I cannot do the mission alone, I share it with any disciples. They continue it as I leave the earth physically


      2. Mark – The Lens: The cross – Jesus and His followers will experience it.

        PASSAGE    COGNITION
        Mk1:15 God’s Reign is here
        Mk1:18 Call of the 4: I can transform people
        Mk1:35 The day needs prayer
        Mk2:1-12 God forgives sin; sin, inner struggle, and physical limitations can be related
        Mk2:13-14 The mission demands workers
        Mk2:15-17 The Reign of God is for sinners
        Mk2:18-28 &
        Mk3:1-6         		Religious customs need to be contextualized against the bigger picture of God’s Reign
        Mk3:31-35 Pursuing God’s will is a new bond that creates brothers and sisters
        Mk4:10-12 The Reign of God is a secret that some perceive through parables
        4:21-23 We are to be light for the world
        4:24-32 God acts subtly like yeast, like seed
        4:35-41 God can calm chaos, turmoil
        5:19 God’s mercy works healing
        5:31 Divine power flows through us
        5:36-37 Do not be afraid; have faith
        6:1-6 Those closest to us fail to affirm and encourage us
        6:7(f) The Reign is a mission to be shared
        6:30 Work needs to be balanced with prayerful rest
        6:45-52 Faith leads to courage
        7:6 Religion needs to beware of hypocrisy
        7:21 It is what is within people that makes them unclean
        8:14-16 Negative influences are also like yeast
        8:31-33 His mission/life in general is paschal in nature
        9:8 I am God’s Beloved
        9:14-29 Some demons can only be touched by prayer
        9:35-37 Greatness is found in service
        9:41 Compassion is central in the Reign of God
        9:42-50 Avoid scandal and leading others astray
        10:1-12 Marriage is based on covenant
        10:13-15 The least, the children, are the most important to me and the Reign of God
        10:17-22 Freedom is freedom from materialism, and care for the poor
        10:23-27 Possessions are dangerous
        10:46-52 Faith restores sight
        11:15-19 The temple is for prayer and worship
        12:10-11 Those rejected become the cornerstone
        12:18-27 Resurrection cannot be explained in human terms
        12:28-34 Balance: love of self, others and God
        12:41 Giving is relative; the widow’s offering is greater than other offerings
        13: All things are mortal :personal lives, Jerusalem, the end of time
        14: Betrayal, suffering, death – all must be faced with trust in Abba
        14:36 Not my will; God’s
        14:62 I am the Christ
        16:16 Go to the world; concern for the world


      3. Luke – The Lens-Universalism

        PASSAGE    COGNITION
        3:22 My beloved, my son
        4: God alone over temptations
        4:18 & 19 The spirit of the Lord is on me…good news/poor, liberty/captives; sight/blind
        5: Re-emphasis – sin/inner chaos and physical paralysis; God can forgive and free
        5:29-32 I come to call sinners to repentance
        6:1-11 Cures on Sabbath – religious laws to be contextualized up against compassion
        6:17 The plain – level ground/for all
        6:27(f) love-enemies, compassion, do not judge
        6:47 Act!
        7:18-23 The nature of the kingdom for John the Baptist
        8: I choose for women
        9:23(f) Discipleship involves the cross
        9:48 The least is the greatest
        9:58 Home is being one with God
        10:25-28 Love – self, others, God
        10:21(f) God is neighbor to the battered human family; often unexpected types make good neighbors
        10:38-42 Mary’s got the right idea
        11:1-13 God gives the Holy Spirit to those who pray
        11:29(f) The sign of Jonah
        12:13(f) Do not hoard possessions
        12:22(f) Trust in providence
        12:33 Sell possessions/give alms
        12:35(f) Be ready and vigilant for death, to meet God
        12:54 Discern the signs of the times
        14:10(f) Avoid places of honor
        14:12(f) All are invited to the Kingdom
        14:25(f) Nothing should have us; we should be free
        15:4: 8;12 Lost sheep, lost drachma, prodigal son – God is always surprisingly merciful
        16: Craftiness applied to spirituality
        17:11(f) Lepers – we must be grateful to God
        18:24(f) Riches are dangerous
        18:34(f) Faith restores sight
        19: I change hearts and behavior


      4. John – The Lens – Symbols, Baptism, Eucharist, Servant Leadership

        PASSAGE    COGNITION
        John 2: God multiplies when we are empty
        John 3: People must be born again by water and the spirit
        John 4: Old law doesn’t satisfy as much as a relationship with Me                         
        John6: I am bread for life
        John 8: I do not condemn you
        John 9: Affliction leads to glory. I am sight
        John 11: Affliction leads to glory. I am resurrection
        John 12:23(f) Life, death and resurrection is the nature of things
        John 13: Be servant leaders as I am
        John 14: Trust
        John15: We are a vine of life together
        John 16: 4 The Spirit is coming
        John 17: We are one


    2. How are your cognitions, cognitive patterns challenged by Jesus, relative to

      MINE                      JESUS
      - self
      - others
      - life in general
      - God
      - The meaning of life
      - Spirituality
      - the role of religion           


      -Choose one area and begin to monitor: automatic thoughts, faulty assumptions

      -Begin to replace these with some of Jesus’ thought patterns

      -Journal, practice after this session

    3. Prayer Changes Cognitions, Emotions and Behavior

      PRAYER

      1. Mark
        • Mark 9:29
        • Mark 11:22-25
        • Mark 13:33-37
        • Mark 14:32-37
        • Mark 15:33-34 (Psalm 22:1)
      2. Matthew
        • Matthew 6:5-6
        • Matthew 6:7-13
        • Matthew 7:7-11
        • Matthew 13:1
        • Matthew 14:13
        • Matthew 17
        • Matthew 18:19-20
        • Matthew 21:18-22
        • Matthew 26:36-46
        • Matthew 27:46-47
      3. Luke
        • Luke 1:46-55
        • Luke 1:67-79
        • Luke 2:29-32
        • Luke 4
        • Luke 4:14
        • Luke 4:18-19
        • Luke 4:31
        • Luke 4:42
        • Luke 5:16
        • Luke 6:12
        • Luke 6:28
        • Luke 8:24
        • Luke 9:18
        • Luke 9:28
        • Luke 11:9-13
        • Luke 17:5-6
        • Luke 18:1-8
        • Luke 21:34-36
        • Luke 21:37
        • Luke 22:39
        • Luke 23:46
        • Luke 24:13-45
      4. John


      The Power of Prayer

      Matthew 6:5-15, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 6:12-19, Luke 11:1-13

      1. Persistence in Wholistic Prayer: “Pray like this …”
        1. Our Father
        2. … in Heaven
        3. Hallowed be Your Name …
        4. Your Kingdom Come
        5. Your Will Be Done
        6. On Earth … heaven
        7. Give daily bread …
        8. Forgive us
        9. Help us to Forgive: (Enter hurt, Empathize, Guilt, Memory, Decide, Offer, Hold Self in…)
        10. Lead not … into temptation
        11. Deliver us from evil


      2. From the perspective of cognitive behavior therapy
        1. Preconscious, unconscious assumptions about self, others, life
        2. That lead to pre/unconscious thinking
        3. That leads to negative energy, feelings and behavior patterns (anxiety, depression, stress)
        4. Thought catch, stop, replace
        5. Discipline of prayer can become rich re-patterning of thoughts, feelings, and behavior
        6. Prayer and prayerful mantras can lead to renewed affective state: hope, joy, peace, trust, courage, repentance, love, charity, patience, justice, etc.


      3. William Glasser – Reality Therapy
        1. Positive addictions – 20 minutes a day of meditation joined to exercise alters brain chemistry and neuron activity

      4. Neurotheology – the brain is wired for spirituality (Newsweek, May 7, 2001)
        1. Dr. James Austin – in prayer, mystical experience, certain parts of the brain are interrupted or quieted:
          1. the amygdala: threats, fear
          2. parietal lobe: which distinguishes self and world
          3. frontal and temporal lobes: which mark time and generate self-awareness
        2. …leading to felt experience of transcendence, presence, inspiration, wonder, awe, peace
        3. Becoming freed of the self … yet becoming most totally self. Humanization … divinization
        4. Note what effects not tending to this can have: spirituality or God deprivation

      5. Prayer and Temperament
        1. Adrian vanKaam: Spiritual Direction is not something we get; we need to find our unique spiritual direction
        2. Myers-Briggs Personality Types
          1. Extraverts: outer world, other people
          2. Introverts: own reactions to people and situations
          3. Sensing: actual and factual
          4. Intuitive: future possibilities and potentials over realities
          5. Thinking: judge, decide objectively
          6. Feeling: decide based on values, aware of feelings
          7. Judging: settled, finished, closure, orderly
          8. Perceiving: flexible, open-minded, discovering more
        3. 16 Types: ESTP, ISTP, ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFP, ISFP, ESFJ, ISFJ, ENFP, INFP, ENFJ, INFJ, ENTP, INTP, ENTJ, INTJ
        4. Chester Michael & Marie Norrisey: Each type will approach aloneness, togetherness, conversational prayer, meditation, contemplation, environment, scripture, doing other things simultaneously – in different ways

      6. Power of Prayer – Today Show
        1. Recent study of praying for seriously ill strangers with persistence (at geographical distance)
          1. Majority of prayed for: recover, remission
          2. Those not prayed for: deterioration, death
        2. Tapping into the power of God, grace
        3. Prayer is the language of conversion

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