Dear brothers and sisters, Today’s catechesis focuses on the life of Symeon, an
Eastern monk known as the “New Theologian”. He was born in nine hundred and forty
nine in Asia Minor. As a young man, he moved to Constantinople to embark on a career
in the civil service but, during his studies, he was shown a work called The Spiritual
Law by Mark the Monk which completely changed his life. It contained the phrase:
“If you seek spritual healing, be aware of your conscience. Do everything it tells
you and you will find what is useful to you”. From that day on, he made it his way
of life always to listen to his conscience. He became a monk and his life and writings,
collected afterwards by a disciple, reflect Symeon’s deep understanding of the presence
and action of the Holy Spirit in the life of all the baptized. Symeon teaches us that
Christian life is an intimate and personal communion with God. True knowledge of God
comes, not from books, but from an interior purification through conversion of the
heart. For Symeon, union with Christ is not something extraordinary, but the fruit
of the baptism common to all Christians. Inspired by Symeon’s life, let us pay greater
attention to our spiritual life, seeking the guidance we need to grow in the love
of God.