Spirituality Squared - latest book by Mgr Vladimir Felzmann launched

Spirituality Squared - the latest book by Prof Mgr Vladimir Felzmann, was launched last night in an event at Our Lady of Victories Parish Hall, Kensington.

In an exclusive article for ICN here - Fr Vlad writes.

There are three motivators that have caused me to write this book: 'Spirituality Squared'.

The first is a desire to clarify in my own mind what I really think about my relationships, my spirituality. Putting feelings and ideas down on paper has helped me to see what I really value. And, indeed, what sort of person I really am. The topics of each chapter surfaced in my mind as I was writing the chapter on Prayer.

The second is to share my experiences and insights to help you, Dear Reader, make a better fist of your life. Standing on the shoulders of another enables folk to see more.

Reality is reality. Perceptions, our relationship with reality, are shaped by temperament, personal experiences, education and inspiration. Perceptions evolve. Until the 20th century, sexism and racism (though these words had not yet seen the light of day) were not considered to be an issue. Then, thanks to the First World War (WWI) and women's role in it, women began to be valued as equal to men. Thanks to the Second World War (WWII), racial equality began to dawn. Slowly.

In the Middle Ages, 'good Catholics' considered anyone with views different from their own as evil, and thus worthy of punishment, even death. Later it would be Catholics against Protestants, and vice versa.

Perceptions can be evil, indeed lethal. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), a self-declared racist, considered Russians, and indeed all Slavs, as Untermenschen and had them treated accordingly. It was in his Berlin bunker, April 1945, that he discovered how lethal that evil and stupid prejudice turned out to be. Now, the wise in the 'Western world' see humanity more as God does: all are equal in dignity and worth.

As everyone has their own unique perceptions, they are worth sharing. Hence, I share mine here.

The third, and perhaps the most powerful, motive is to keep my mind as active as possible in order to reduce the risk of dementia.

As old age creeps up, I keep my brain active, sustain my daily, serious physical exercise routine, avoid processed foods in my diet as far as is possible, drink coffee and get a serious amount of sleep every night. So far, this ploy seems to be working, thank God. To allow my body, including my brain, to clear itself, whenever possible I try to keep a gap of not less than 12 hours between my evening meal and breakfast. In short, I am doing my best to ward off dementia.

As I write, I imagine Jesus Christ looking over my shoulder. If I sense His eyebrow is raised or there is a clearing of His throat, I stop, and rewrite that sentence in this book and in my homilies.

Why the title? An officer, before his convoy moves on, asks his sergeant: "All fuelled up and ready to go?" The sergeant replies: "Yes Sir! All squared", and hears: "Right, let's crack on."

I crack on with my heart filled with gratitude for all the gifts God has given me these more than 86 years of life on our planet Earth.

As I see it, each of our human lives is made up of the PIES: the Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Spiritual dimensions which, though intrinsically interconnected, can be studied independently. I believe that these PIES, though some materialists disagree, cannot be reduced to merely two - the P and the I - through any amount of technological and biotechnological progress.

At conception, new life, with its P and S, is born. At 20 weeks, E arrives, and by some 26 weeks, all four PIES are there, ready to develop - gradually.

This book focuses on the spiritual, defined in 'Oxford Languages, OUP', as "the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things".

On a website I read that "a major sign of a spiritual person is that they are always happy and kind to others. They don't like to degrade or criticise people. Instead, they always offer motivating and kind words, in hopes to make the world a better place."

For me, the spiritual is to do with my relationships with the SONG: my Self, Others, Nature, and God.

I know I can relate to others, no matter where they are around the world. For example, my friend Sergio, though in Australia, is there in my heart. Space does not separate our hearts. We can pray for each other, even if the time gap is rather large.

In this book, I have concentrated on the following themes.

Prayer, Mercy, Duty, Trust, Evil, Authority, Leadership, Spiritual guidance, Courage, Creation, Gratitude, Synodality and Love: as a noun and verb

To buy a copy of Spirituality Squared contact: msgr.vladimir.felzmann@gmail.com

Spirituality Squared will be available in all good book shops soon.

LINK

Fr Vlad: https://fathervlad.org/