O A S I S   2 0 1 4 FIC - JOURNEY TO SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT November 20 – December 19, 2014 Arnold Janssen Klooster, Wahlwiller – NETHERLANDS __________________________________________________ c/o Prins Bisschopsingel 22, 6211 JX Maastricht 13 May 2015

Dear Brothers,

Fraternal greetings! Hope all is well with you; daily filled with the Spirit that brings us joy, peace, hope, love and true happiness.

You must have received my letter of 25th February 2015. It was about an exercise, called PRACTICING POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS, as a suggestion how to go through the fourth stage of your FIC Journey to Spiritual enrichment.

Re-reading the letter I sent you, I begin to wonder if it is really clear for you how to go about the exercise. If it is, I am happy and grateful. If it is not, too bad; yet no worry, let it be.

Considering that the exercise I have sent you might not be clear enough to follow, I am sending you again herewith the same exercise: PRATICING POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS. As you can see in my letter of 25th February 2015, there are 5 types of affirmations. Now I’m intending to send the exercise type by type, beginning with type one: Releasing and/or Cleansing (letting go) Affirmations.

Keep in mind that the exercise is meant to consciously create the life of your dream – of your desire – of your ideal. You may remember, during the OASIS 2014, prior to the exercise of setting goals, we reflected on God’s dream, our dream; God’s desire, our desire.

Now let us take for example our dream in the area of community-life. (We think here of life in our own / brothers community, in the community we form at our working-units, and still in other communities or groups or organizations to which we belong). We know and believe that keeping Jesus’ commandment of truly “loving one another” is the dream, is the ideal, for a community-living to succeed, for its members to be of one heart and soul, for all the members to be in true communion with one another and to fulfil the call to unity and fraternal solidarity … etc. (Cf. Constitutions 35). Yet, reflecting honestly on the experiences of community-living, we may come to feel or realize that it is not the truly community-life we have always desired or dreamed of. The experience of “loving one another” lacks tangibility.

One of the characteristics of ‘loving’ is ‘trusting’ (1Cor.13:7). Take, for example that you clearly feel this TRUST is lacking. TRUST is then what you need and desire to create: trust in yourself, trust in others, and trust in God. TRUST will therefore be the theme of the exercise in “practicing positive affirmations”.

It is then important that you identify your main intention for TRUST – that is to develop a statement that guides you in your exploration and embodiment of trust. Intention is the energy or consciousness from which actions emerge. If you are uncertain how to write this intention, just make an attempt. Keep it simple. You have enough time to work with the intention and the theme, so let your statement change and deepen. Here are a few suggestions for statements of intention about the theme of TRUST. - To experience the community as a trusting home. - To resonate with the consciousness of trust. - I am trust, trusting, and trustworthy. - To trust myself. - To be a place for  trust to thrive.

About Releasing / Cleansing Affirmations and Trust

It is possible that as you are releasing and cleansing energies/emotions/thoughts which are the opposite of trust, the following might surface: distrust, mistrust, broken trust, etc. Trust the process. It IS working. To live in a state of trust, we must also know how to recognize distrust, mistrust, broken trust or other resistance. Consider this! You meet a brother or someone. You feel distrusting. Where does this distrust come from? There are several possibilities: from you, from that brother or that person, from the environment / situations / others, from all or any combination of them. You are not responsible for the trust / distrust / mistrust that someone else carries in his or her being and doing, nor do you need to fully understand it in that specific situation. You are however responsible for your own trust / distrust / mistrust because you will connect with others who are similar in their relationship to trust. Put your attention on self-trust and everything else will find its rightful place.

So far is about the example Now I am giving you the exercise with TRUST as the theme. See the following pages! Determine for yourself the span of time you intend to take to do the exercise. For instance you do one or more affirmations in a week. There are 7 affirmations, but you don’t have to do them all. The important thing is to reach the intention: being cleansed or released from non-trust.  So if after practic-ing a number of affirmations you feel you have reached the intention, you can continue with the following type of affirmations that I will send you later on.

You may also develop your own exercise with your own themes, for instance the themes (goals) which you set at the OASIS 2014.

For the exercise to bear the true, right and good fruits, you may remember, observe and be encouraged by the following words of Jesus:

- Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5b) - If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

A prayer: "Lord Jesus, may I be one with you in all that I say and do. Draw me close that I may glorify you and bear fruit for your kingdom. Inflame my heart with your love and remove from it anything that would make me ineffective or unfruitful in loving and serving you as my All."

I would be very grateful and happy if you could give me (or the one who gave you spiritual guidance during the OASIS 2014) a feed-back from time to time.

May you experience joy in the Lord! Yours fraternally,

Guido Sukarman

The Exercise of Positive Affirmations on TRUST

1. Releasing and Cleansing Non-Trust

Nearly every day, as introduction to the hour of the Divine Office, we pray; O God, come to our aid. O Lord, make haste to help us. May this prayer be a prayer for help also in releasing and cleansing non-trust for you.

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- 1st Affirmation: I give myself to release fear and anger from every level of my being (my memory, my emotion, my belief, my attitude/actions, etc). with effortless grace.

Let your normal breathing today assist you. For instance: while breathing in, you say inwardly the words “light and trust”; and while breathing out, you say inwardly the words “fear and anger” – or any word and/or name of persons or of places or of things which blocks your trust. While working with cleansing affirmation, uttering or writing it down, recognize that you are activating a release of those things that get in the way of trust. It is like clearing the ground within you for TRUST to germinate and thrive.

Make this day a graceful day! Let the Spirit be your warm and loving company!

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- 2nd Affirmation: I cancel outdated or disused vows of silence and unworthiness. The energy that is used to keep these vows is now available for more enjoyable use.

Some of outdated vows are very potent, powerful – so potent that powerful beings have been limited, slowed down, even stopped. As you neutralised the negativity of these outdated vows, you experience freedom. Just remember to give more attention to the freedom than to the outdated vows.

Do you feel that you cannot speak about something? Perhaps it is now time to speak! Do you believe that you are unworthy? Now, feel your self-worth! Have you experienced betrayal? This is the perfect time to move on! Do you feel you do not have enough? Know that you have all you need, right now!

It is time to let go of the past.

We pray to Mary, our Mother: “Hail Mary full of grace ... pray for us now and the hour of our death!  The “hour of our death” here may mean the moment or hour of our letting go of outdated vows.

Make this day a wonderful day!

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- 3rd Affirmation: I let go everything that gets on the way of trust. Angels clear the path.

It is not necessary to know the particulars of the things that get on the way of trust. They are trash – and trash is trash. Here are some of the common barriers to trust: betrayal, hurt, fear, untruth, resistance, half-truth, false belief, distortion, confusion, jealousy, indecision. Together let all these go! At an earlier time, perhaps, they were important or necessary. Today, Angels support you in letting them go.

As you proceed through the day, give your attention to what your desire!

Make this day a splendid day! And may Mother Mary be your loving company!

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- 4th Affirmation: I release memories that allowed belief in fear and lack of trust.

Remember and name past experiences or situations or events that suggest that you are justified in believing in fear and/or doubt and/or lack of trust. Yet such situations can be used as growth opportunities so that you learn to choose trust and love and freedom regardless of immediate circumstances or appearances.

Here are some ways that you can use to release these fear-based memories, for example: • On the physical level, use your breath to release with each exhalation. • On the emotional level, cry and/or scream and/or write and/or laugh – no subject is needed - just clear the emotions by experiencing them. • On the mental level, journal your thoughts and/or draw pictures that represent whatever has your attention. • On the spiritual level, meditate regularly and ask the Lord to lighten your load.

Take a deep breath and recall your main intention for TRUST.

Make this day a memorable day!

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- 5th Affirmation: I cut negative bonds of attachment to lack of confidence and lack of trust. Ties to despair are broken.

The usual/spontaneous way you are (pattern of thinking, feeling, responding and reacting) and the usual/spontaneous way you act or do things, contain a wealth of information about what happen in your life – past, present, and future. When you are negatively attached to something in the past (an old hurt, for example) or to something in the future (a worry, for example) or to something in the present (a disappointment, for example), such attachments can show up in the way you are and act as negative bonds or ties. In your mind-eye these attachments may look like strings or wires;

or you may sense or feel them as limiting; they may even sound shrilled or biting. When you can see or imagine or sense those negative attachments, you have the chance to neutralize or cut them.

You can do the neutralizing or cutting of negative bonds of attachment in a playful way. For instance by using some tools (real or imaginative) or with certain movements of your body to neutralize or cut those negative bonds of attachment to anyone or anything that gets in the way of your confidence, trust, faith, and joy.

Make this day an outstanding day!

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- 6th Affirmation: I turn away from thoughts that suggest there is no trust.

To make space for the thoughts that foster trust, you need to release non-trust and transmute negative and/or outmoded thoughts, beliefs, intentions, feelings, and emotions that are inside or outside you so as to allow trust to thrive.

You can think of non-trust as weeds in garden. Let’s say that you desire to plant flowers or vegetables – your favourite ones. You choose and plant the seeds that will give you your favourite flowers and/or vegetables. You plant the seeds in fertile soil where the sun will reach them. You make sure they get enough water and the right compost. When weeds sprout you remove them so that they do not strangle your seedlings. You trust your favourite flowers and/or vegetables to grow from the seeds you have chosen.

You remain attentive to neutralizing the weeds of non-trust by just ignoring or turning away from those weeds, and focusing your attention to taking more care of your favourite flowers and/or vegetables. If you get sloppy, your flowers and/or vegetables may still grow, but they will not be as healthy and strong.

The process of creating TRUST can be compared to gardening.

Make this day a meaningful day!

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- 7th Affirmation: I let the Holy Spirit (or Jesus) purify any remaining thoughts and feelings of distrusting.

Today, trust the Holy Spirit (or Jesus) to handle any non-trust thoughts and/or feelings that you may have missed. Experience yourself being nurtured by Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. Trust the Holy Spirit. Trust Jesus. Trust the process as you bring to a close of the exercising days of releasing, cleansing, forgiving, purifying, clearing, liberating, neutralizing negativity, and letting go of resistance. 

Today, you may want to meditate on John 15:1-8 "… every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

John 15:1-8 1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 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. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

A prayer: "Lord Jesus, may I be one with you in all that I say and do. Draw me close that I may glorify you and bear fruit for your kingdom. Inflame my heart with your love and remove from it anything that would make me ineffective or unfruitful in loving and serving you as my All."

Make this day  be a deLIGHTful day!

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P.S.: the following exercises: “Receiving/Accepting Affirmations for Trust” will be sent in due time.