Note: As Matthew Fox works to complete his next book, our Daily Meditations continue to be penned by Gianluigi Gugliermetto (aka GG), a friend and colleague of Matthew’s.
May 12, 2025: Letter of Humanity to Welcome Brother Leo
GG sends an open letter to Pope Leo, welcoming him to the community of all who seek justice and peace. GG says: “We think that your heart is in the right place— which is a lot to say these days when looking at the world’s leaders —so we are thankful for your election and your acceptance of it.” GG also praised him for choosing a name with such strength. And “what matters the most for us is that you can represent decency in front of the powerful who have lost it completely.”
May 13, 2025: Changing the Habits of the Mind
GG writes: “We live in very troubled times. The more we are aware of this, the more we realize that we cannot count on external events to save us — including the election of a new pope. So after looking at holiness and evil last week, I have decided to look… into the roots of the problem with the help of one of Matthew Fox’s major works, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh. After criticizing those who for so long have taught us to regard our bodies with shame, Matthew takes the Christian understanding of the “7 deadly sins” and, in an ecumenical twist, compares them to the seven chakras of the Hindu tradition. Matthew prefers not to think of sin as disobedience to norms, but as “misdirected love,” a phrase used by Thomas Aquinas. In the coming week, we will discuss not so much “bad actions” but “habits of the mind” and how they can be altered. We (and other beings) are all “blessed flesh…ensouled with the divine spirit.”
May 14, 2025: Acedia and Arrogance vs. Cosmological Approach
GG explains that the word “acedia” means essentially lack of interest and absence of passion. It is not the same as the sin of omission, or the lack of moral response, but is its breeding ground. He says, “A society in which a large number of people have acquired the habit of inaction…is close to its death.” Matthew suggests that the capital sin of acedia is the root of all the other vices and “the most dominant sin in our culture today.” Several ancient writers have also observed that acedia/tristitia (sadness) is accompanied by a certain restlessness, which we see today in the incessant search for distractions. Matthew says that our pursuit of distractions is part of our flight from what acedia has to teach us, especially its demand that we ground ourselves in the earth and…the cosmos. Matthew connects acedia to the root chakra. Healing acedia may mean not only connecting with and grounding on the earth, but dancing upon her.
May 15, 2025: Control and Addiction vs. Healthy Relationships
We now examine sex and the second chakra. On the one hand, healthy sexuality can be an avenue to the Divine. On the other hand, it can be unhealthy, rooted in control, objectification, and addiction. Ideally, we are women and men who walk in life, in an extremely violent environment, without fear of our own passions, without accepting the objectification of someone else’s perverted lust or control, all while carrying a deep respect for all others and for all relationships. This is holy work.
May 16, 2025: The Motherhood of God and the Power of Compassion
Matthew returns to write this DM as we celebrate not only Mother’s Day but also the six-year anniversary of our Daily Meditations! This community has been a blessing. If you have received benefit from these daily thought-provoking essays, and feel called to donate, we would be very grateful. (You may donate securely HERE.) Meanwhile, here are some excerpts from a homily Matthew recently gave on Mother’s Day: Julian of Norwich, a 14th-century mystic who lived at the time of the Great Plague (which killed more than one third of the people in Europe), wrote extensively about the Motherhood of God. She also said — and this is quite unique — “Jesus is our true mother.” Thus, she does not restrict motherhood to the feminine. It is the heart of the feminine, however gendered, which carries compassion and motherhood. In fact, in both Arabic and Hebrew the word for “compassion” comes from the word for “womb.” Says Julian: “Jesus is our true mother, in whom we are endlessly carried.” The world needs compassion today more than ever. All humans are called to become a reminder of the Divine One whose very name is Compassion.
May 17, 2025: Anger and Violence vs. Empowerment
Wise words from Matthew: Just as smoke indicates fire, so anger indicates love. Anger has a necessary and important role to play in response to our pain or abuse. Indeed, anger is the first level of grief. Anger, motivated by love, moves us to act heartily. Over and over, theologians have told us that anger is a sin, that strong feelings and passions are a sin. But the opposite is actually the case: Milque-toast-ness is a sin. Neutrality in the heat of injustice is a sin. Actually, a “fire in the belly” (located at our third chakra) is often an indicator of perceived injustice. But repressed anger is another thing altogether. As one who lived for a time in the United States, GG can attest that mainstream American culture is especially prone to the sin of hiding anger, and that can be extremely scary for an outsider.
Banner image: “7 Chakras.” Chakra picture produced by AuraStar2000TM bio-energy sensor. Wikimedia Commons
Recommended Reading
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond
Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.” –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE.
