Gianluigi Gugliermetto (GG), who has been graciously subbing for Matthew Fox as he finishes writing his next book, each week writes on a theme. We thought it might be helpful to see his theme and summary of last week’s DMs.
How we can respond spiritually to the barrage of violence and cruelty that we witness every day?
Monday: by denouncing evil (as Pope Francis did)
Tuesday: by facing the darkness with courage (like Stephen Kapos does)
Wednesday: by arming ourselves with both courage and clarity (and a modicum of self-care)
Thursday: by examining evil in detail and our complicity with it (the ten deadly sins)
Friday: by finding balance (especially participating or creating communal celebrations of life)
Saturday: by experiencing pain as cosmic pain
Monday, April 28, 2025: Denouncing Evil as Prophetic Action
Matthew has made it very clear that justice and prophetic action are a very important part of the Creation Spirituality tradition. Pope Francis was a wonderful example of someone who follows the path of prophetic action. In February 2025, Pope Francis issued the following: “I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations.” He exhorts us to disagree “with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.” How hypocritical of Trump and Vance to pretend to honor the pope’s memory when their actions have been in direct contradiction to the pope’s admonitions. Gianluigi Gugliermetto suggests that “It is by experiencing in our depths the via negativa of these dark times that true rebirth may ensue.”
Tuesday, April 29, 2025: Experiencing Dark Times
No compassionate person can help but notice that we are living in dark times. How do we navigate such times? The Creation Spirituality tradition teaches that it is important not to turn away from this pain, but to fully acknowledge it. Matthew says: Facing the darkness, admitting the pain, allowing the pain to be pain, is never easy. This is why courage — big-heartedness — is the most essential virtue of the spiritual journey. Matthew teaches that we must wade through the Via Negativa before we can reach the Via Transformativa. GG was impressed by those Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who, in London on the day of remembrance, spoke out against the evils happening in Gaza. They said that “Never Again” applies to everyone.
Wednesday, April 30, 2025: Courage and Clarity
Courage and clarity are indispensable virtues for a time like ours in which everything feels chaotic and evil. It’s helpful to remember role models who exemplify courage and inspire us to act similarly. One such courageous man, who is not sufficiently well-known, is Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector who was subsequently killed by the Nazis. As we aspire to be courageous during these tumultuous times, we have to guard against unfocused and undirected anger. This is where clarity of mind becomes very important. It is essential in denouncing evil.
Thursday, May 1, 2025: What to Do? A List to Resist Evil
In his book Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh, Matthew Fox describes the ten deadly sins of our time. Such sins are nothing other than actions which, as an aggregate, define evil in a concrete way. The first deadly sin is the suffering we cause one another. Second, ignoring, which is the beginning of denial. Third, injustice. Fourth, severing relations. Fifth, dualism. Sixth, reductionism. Seventh, lack of passion, which is hardly understood as a sin by most people, but is very dangerous. If we let our passions get extinguished by the present oppressive powers, we become collaborators with evil. Eighth, misdirected love. Ninth, dissipation of energy. Finally, the tenth and ugliest of the deadly sins, “that which devours.” Meditating regularly on this list may prove to be a hard and unpleasant task, but GG believes it can be a tool for analyzing evil and, therefore, resisting it within and without ourselves during these dangerous times.
Friday, May 2, 2025: Balance
Gianluigi says that there are three words that describe what spirituality is all about: justice, compassion, and balance. He said balance is essential if we are to keep upright, healthy in body and mind, and ready to act wisely. GG suggests, “Right now, because of the amount of chaos surrounding us…our first duty is to take care of our basic spiritual needs, whatever they may be, in order to keep our balance.” Yesterday, May 1, was celebrated in traditional rural Europe with dances around the May Pole. While last week, on April 25, my country, Italy, celebrated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from fascist rule, singing “Bella Ciao.” Joining such celebrations in person may prove a saving spiritual practice for many of us. We need community, we need the feeling of belonging to a humanity that is not yet completely lost, that celebrates life together.
Saturday, May 3, 2025: Empathy and Cosmic Pain
For some of us, the pain and suffering that we are witnessing in the world, and the cruelty some human beings are inflicting on others, is heartbreaking. Are we too empathic? One well-known figure recently said that empathy is the basic fault of Western civilization. GG disagrees. He says that empathy is what brings meaning to life. One important thing that GG says he has learned from Matthew, is that when pain is privatized it becomes deadly, but when it is shared it becomes a source of life. Essentially, Matthew teaches that when we are aware that pain is a cosmic reality, then — and only then — can we engage in healing.
*Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of the United States of America.
Banner image: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a “Fight Oligarchy” rally in Tempe, Arizona. Exhibiting both courage and stamina, they have been traveling around the country, speaking to record-breaking crowds. Wikimedia Commons
Recommended Reading
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
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE.
To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE.
To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.
Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.
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
Matthew Fox challenges the new Pope to live up to the promise of his namesake St. Francis and reshape a church that has been mired in corruption and bereft of authentic spirituality and rigorous theological debate. Former Dominican priest Matthew Fox presents a series of heartfelt letters to his brother in Christ about the great challenges facing the church today, drawing from the deep spiritual and theological sources that have been suppressed since Vatican II, and implores him to restore the sensus fidelium (the sense of the faithful) and reshape a church with justice and compassion.
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