Into the Red Mist: Stories and Reflections by and About Bartholomew of the Trinity

By Gerald P Kupris OCDS

Everyone goes into the red mist. At some point in ones life, one faces the mists reality, and, for most, thats when life really begins. This story about Bartholomew and the assemblage of his reflections is intended to set forth some excursions into that mist, together with vignettes of faith and family. Many are autobiographical in nature, although they are presented through the intermediary of Bartholomew of the Trinity. In many of the stories and reflections, you will see part of your own journey, either as you read or as you reflect. As such, this book is composed of three interrelated parts: The Mist, Sacrament and Church, Relationships.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532041990

Gerald P Kupris OCDS

Gerald P. Kupris, is a member of the Order of Secular Discalced Carmelites in the Catholic Church He is a retired attorney living in rural Pennsylvania with Karen, his wife of forty-five years. Although his professional life has been rewarding -he has been the President of a state trade association and President of his own public affairs company-, it was through a profound spiritual growth within his Church, giving of himself through teaching, singing in a Latin Choir, being an altar server, a lector and an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist and completing his Dioceses Leaders in Ministry Formation program, that he has achieved a cathartic balance between the sacred and the profane.

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Copyright © 2018 Gerald P. Kupris, OCDS..

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-4198-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-4199-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018901321

iUniverse rev. date:    02/21/2018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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Thankful acknowledgement is made to Karen, Christina and Magdalene for helpful comments and editorial assistance in the completion of this book.

Note: The stories and reflections in this book exemplify a part of the author’s spiritual journey and do not necessarily reflect the charisms and spirituality of the Carmelite Order or the Catholic Church.

CONTENTS

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Acknowledgement

Preface

Introduction

A Mother’s Prayer.

A HOLY COMMUNION STORY

I. Introibo

II. The Gift

III. The Lights

IV. Answers

INITIAL REFLECTIONS

Contract with the Holy One

Into the Red Mist

Jumping Off

Making the Choice

Healing

A Musing

Put in My Place

Alone in the Mist Again.

Again

Treasures

Oratio

SACRAMENTS AND SACRIFICE

Baptism

Reconciliation

Communion

Confirmation

Matrimony

To My Beloved

To A New Deacon

Holy Orders

Thoughts During Transition

Mass

Extraordinary Minister’s Reflection

Extreme Unction

A Catechist’s Prayer

TRIDUUM: A SECULAR CARMELITE’S REFLECTION

Holy Thursday

Good Friday

Victory Awaits

Victory

OTHER REFLECTIONS AND THOUGHTS

On the Loss of a Loved One

Son By Adoption

Father, Tell Me …

Plea to the Holy One

The Fire of His Love

I Am

Some Thoughts for a New Bishop …

On a Person’s Interior Disposition

On Being Pastoral

To All of You Saints in Process

Mothers

A Christmas Blessing

Little Child

Levels of Love

Belief and Unbelief

Mediocrity

A Lament

Redemption

My Place with You

A Thought

Tragedy

Would you come?

Yes, the time has come …

The Three Ages of Man

Reflecting on the Way

A Friend for Life

Birthday Reflection

A Blessing

FLOWERS OF CARMEL: FROM NIGHT INTO DAY

On My Way Through the Darkness

Going Forth from the Darkness

Beginning the Journey

Today

Flowers of Carmel

In Re: Edith

Carmel Is …

Beloved of Carmel …

What I Learned: Entering into Carmel

END THOUGHTS

An Argument

Taking it all in.

Jesus said to the child:

A Simple Soul

Sinner’s Request

Bartholomew: Requiem

Glossary Of Words And Phrases

PREFACE

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Everyone goes into the Red Mist. At some point in one’s life one faces the mist’s reality, and, for most, that’s when life really begins. Yet, everyone’s encounter with the red mist will be different, depending on one’s path on the faith journey. In this instance, the author began encountering the red mist during periods of deep emotional angst: the deaths of his mother and brother in a short period of time.

What is the Red Mist? Ultimately you will have to determine what it is and what it means for you. But for the author, it is a place not of this world where he is enveloped with the Spirit of God, which is Love Itself, a kind of altered state of consciousness allowing for an encounter with God, Who, for the protagonist, Bartholomew, is the mist. The mist is ethereal, being there as Love is there, but being incapable of being fully grasped. For Bartholomew, the mist contains hidden truths which he must discover as he reflects upon what he experiences.

But not all truths are hidden:

God is Love, and His Love keeps everything in existence, for without His Love, nothing would exist. It is a wonder how good and evil can exist within the context of God’s love.

The concept is nearly impossible to put into words, and that is partly why this book has been written. It is an attempt to pierce the veil covering the mystery of love in action in a person over a period of his lifetime.

This story about Bartholomew and the assemblage of his reflections is intended to set forth some excursions into that mist, together with vignettes of faith and family. Many are autobiographical in nature, although they are presented through the intermediary of Bartholomew of the Trinity; in many of the stories and reflections you will see part of your own journey, either as you read or as you reflect.

You need not know all about love to experience love in its sublime form. Bartholomew has found out that growth in love, even out of the depths of anguish, results in a more intimate connection with He Who is. Eventually you will discover, as Bartholomew did, that loving God is better than loving the world and that loving God includes and goes beyond, in an ineffable way, loving in the world those He made and the world He made.

As such, this book is composed of three interrelated parts: The Mist; Sacrament and Church; Relationships.

These themes run throughout, almost as a stream of consciousness. It is, hopefully, the thoughts of one seeking the source of the river of faith,