Thursday, December 30, 2010

Monday, December 6, 2010

Advent Taize Prayer

Join the Crosier Brothers for this special evening of Taize Prayer Service.

Friday, December 17th, 2010
7:00 PM
St. Bridget Catholic Church
2213 N. Lindsey Road
Mesa, AZ 85213
480-924-5255

Monday, November 22, 2010

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Thoughts in Solitude

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever  with me, and you will never leave me  to face my perils alone.

Thomas Merton
from "Thoughts in Solitude"

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Introductory Workshop

Contemplative Prayer of Phoenix is hosting a Introductory Workshop at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Mesa, AZ. The purpose of the workshop is to teach and encourage daily practice of Centering Prayer technique.
Participants will be encouraged to attend weekly follow up classes to establish and support their daily practice.

Saturday,November 13, 2010
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
St. Bridget Catholic Church
2213 N. Lindsay Rd
Mesa, AZ 85213



Please register with Rock Fremont by email at rfremont@stbridget.org, phone 480-924-9111, or by mail at above address. Optional suggested donation is $20, but is not required to attend the workshop.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Parable of Leaven

In Chapter 3 of Thomas Keating's Manifesting God, we delve into the parable of leaven which states "The Kingdom of God is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened" (Luke 13:20-21).

Keating points out the taboo of leaven being consumed during the feast of Passover when all chametz (Hebrew for 'leavening')  and it's products are removed from the Hebrew home. This Jewish law is so strict that it includes any item that is either fermented or can cause fermentation, such as yeast bread, certain cakes, alcohol, and corn syrup. The purpose is to honor the enslaved Israelites who were finally freed from Egypt, in the book of Exodus. Having left Egypt in such a hurry they could not wait for the bread to rise and so were left with unleavened bread for their journey.*

Jesus' mention of the use of leaven must have seemed very provocative to those following Him. If it represents slavery and corruption, then it must be seen as something to be avoided, not sought after. This would be a direct challenge to the people of the time, going against their preconceived notions of good and evil. Their first reaction must have been that of shock at the thought of comparing the two, as Keating points out.

When the leaven is not only likened to the Kingdom of God but done so in a hidden fashion, as Jesus remarks.  The immoral implications are unmistakable to the Isrealites. Following the law assured them their lives were on the holy path, so how could Jesus say that God is hidden in the worst of places?

The explanation Keating offers is that their attitudes, and ours, of God are too limiting, "The Christian path is not about defining God, but of enlarging our idea of God. Even with the help of doctrine, rituals, good deeds, and moral certainties, without the experience of God's mercy and forgiveness, we do not really know who God is."

The parable focuses attention on the common tendency to impose our view of good and evil on the way we live, says Keating, and has made us "incapable of finding God in what, in our view, is moral evil. ..Actually, something that we do not want to happen may actually be the best thing that could possibly happen to us." Finding the Kingdom in the very thing we are avoiding demonstrates God's work for us is far beyond what we think of as our best of intentions. Keating points out, "A tragedy or disaster may be the only set of circumstances that can move us beyond our prepackaged values and preconceived ideas to a deeper level of relating to God in trust, self-surrender, and love."

During our Centering Prayer discussion period, leaven (yeast) was described as a rotting, fermenting organism, but also the only element that turns a nothing product such as flour into something to be sought after. Without yeast, water and flour combine into a body-less food that may have some nutritive value but very little appeal. Unleavened bread is hard, flat and falls apart too easily. It is the quick and easy recipe that has no time for a foreign matter which seems to work on its own mysterious terms.

If the leaven represents God, we must learn to trust Him to provide us with the lessons He wants us to learn, when He wants us to learn them. He hides these because He is calling us into the most loathsome of places, everywhere we'd rather not go. It is only then that He graces us with the opportunity to trust in Him as He takes and guides us. No matter how scary it gets, we must remind ourselves He is with us and in control.

"In the indignities and sufferings that we may experience, what is most painful is not what happens, but our attitude to what happens," says Keating. "This is why when we pray for deliverance from evil, God often does not take away our difficulties but joins  us in enduring them...To suffer in union with Christ is to offer to those we love and try to serve the greatest of all gifts, the one we have been freely given: God's unconditional love."

*Source: Wikipedia: Passover

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Great Banquet

In chapter two of "Manifesting God", Keating relates the parable of the great banquet (Luke 14:16-23) as an example of the offerings in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The parables begins as the elite householder prepares a huge banquet dinner and invites all the town's wealthy. However, when the rich refuse his noble invitation with their poor excuses, the householder becomes enraged and decides to hold the party anyway.

He has his servants round up "the blind, the lame, the halt, the maimed and the poor, so my house may be filled." Even then, the banquet is not yet filled in number. In further frustration he is moved to find more attendants. In addition to the poor and disabled, he insists his servants bring in the least desirable of all; the prostitutes, tax collectors, the disreputable and any other social outcasts.

Finally, this does the trick and the hall is full to capacity, though not necessarily with those choosing to be there. The final straw is drawn when the householder voluntarily chooses to suffer self-humiliation by joining the crowd for the feast, which is an unheard act for those of such high status such as he.

The significance relayed by Keating in the parable exemplifies how the Kingdom of God is no longer a place for the "chosen" as was once widely thought at the time, but is available to everyone, even those who may dismiss it (those forced to attend). Although it is hard to see the householder as a hero in this parable since he seemed to be acting at times only to save face, he demonstrates the path God took by allowing his divinity to become that of a lowly man, Jesus.


Jesus accepted public humiliation to make a connection for our benefit and understanding, just as the householder finds out the direct road to God is through humility, not wealth and status. The guests also come to see this as well. Though perhaps having been forced to attend the banquet of someone whom they may have harbored much resentment, they find the unapproachable elite class can be met on the same road, the only road, of the Kingdom of God.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

What we didn't know

Brother Roger : What we didn't know from Taizé on Vimeo.

whoever strives to love with trust

"...there is no deeper love than to go to the point of giving oneself, for God and for others. Whoever lives a life rooted in God chooses to love. And a heart resolved to love can radiate goodness without limits...But what does it mean to love? Could it be to share the suffering of the most ill-treated? Yes, that's it.  Could it mean having infinite kind-heartedness and forgetting oneself for others, selflessly? Yes, certainly. And again: what does it mean to love? Loving means forgiving, living as people who are reconciled. And reconciliation always brings a springtime to the soul."        Brother Roger of Taize
Brother Roger of Taize died in August 16, 2005. He died at the Christian community of Taize in France, which he founded in 1940.  During a worship gathering of 2,500 people, a 36 year old Romanian woman carrying a knife approached and stabbed Brother Roger to death.

to read more about his life click here

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

mistaken identity

"...not only are we not who we think we are, but other people are not who we, or they, think they are. Our judgments about our character and other people's characters - and the reality of the world within and around us - are largely incorrect. We see everything upside down or from the perspective of downright ignorance."

Father Thomas Keating
Manifesting God

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Resting in God's Presence

by Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO

Centering Prayer as taught by Contemplative Outreach is a fairly nuanced practice. You can't always rely on what people say about the instruction they received. I have found that even after several years, people may not have fully understood how to do Centering Prayer. This becomes apparent during the Intensive Retreats or the Formation Workshops in which there is a careful review of the method itself.

One objection to Centering Prayer is as follows: "One is advised to let go of the sacred word just to rest in God's presence: " That advice has to be taken in its proper context and depends on certain steps going before.

First of all, letting go of the sacred word in Centering Prayer is not a deliberate choice. Still less is it a permanent disposition. The whole thrust of Centering Prayer is to encourage us to let go of all thoughts. A "thought" in Contemplative Outreach terminology is any perception whatsoever including memories, plans, visualizations, external or internal sensations, feelings, and self reflections. Any kind of reflecting, even to make a choice, is a "thought," and hence, an invitation to return to the sacred word.

In the beginning our advice is: Resist no thought, retain no thought, react emotionally to no thought, and when you notice you are thinking about some thought, return ever so gently to the sacred word. One does not think about whether to return to the sacred word or not. One simply returns to it when thoughts are attracting one's awareness to a particular object.

We recommend the "discrete" use of the sacred word rather than its constant repetition. By this we mean using it as much as one needs it. This may be continuously at first. Beginners need it whenever they notice they are thinking about some other thought. In following this advice, we note the fact that the sacred word may become indistinct or even disappear for a limited period of time. When thoughts again engage our attention, we return to the sacred word as before. Thus, a disposition of alert receptivity is gradually formed.

Later we suggest returning to the sacred word or symbol only when we notice that we are attracted to some other thought. The meaning of this advice is that with time and regular daily practice one can discern intuitively whether one is disinterested in the thoughts that are coming down the stream of consciousness. Disregard of the thoughts is the sign that the consent of the will is becoming habitual. The will can be directed to God at a very delicate level without having to express its intention in a sacred symbol. Thus, from our perspective, the sacred symbol is not a means of going some place like an elevator. Still less is it a means of bulldozing other thoughts out of awareness. It is rather, a question of cultivating the spiritual level of awareness, which is real awareness, but without particular content.

This brings me to the chief difference between Centering Prayer, Vipassana and Hindu mantric practice. Centering Prayer comes out of the Christian Contemplative Heritage, inspired in the first instance by the Desert Mothers and Fathers and the Hesychastic tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, both of which cultivate interior silence and purity of heart. In the methods of meditation in the Eastern religions, the emphasis is on concentration for the sake of developing clarity of mind. By concentrative practices, I understand the use of the rational faculties and the imagination, physical movements and postures, and continued repetition of a word or phrase.

Centering Prayer is a passage from concentrative practices to alert receptivity through consenting to God's presence and action within us, which places the emphasis on purity of intention. Effort refers to the future, consent to the present moment where God, in fact, is. According to St. John of the Cross, purity of intention manifests itself during prayer as "a general loving attentiveness toward God." This is attentiveness not of the mind but of the heart. Its source is pure faith in God's presence leading to surrender to the interior action of the Holy Spirit in the here and now.

Article from Spring 1998 Newsletter, Volume 12 , Number 1

Monday, July 26, 2010

Taming the Mind


by Pema Chodron

This has to do with the importance of a basic attitude of friendliness. Sometimes when our thoughts are like little fleas that jump off our noses, we just see the little flickers of thought, like ripples, which might have a very liberating quality. For the first time you might feel, ---My goodness! There's so much space, and it's always been here." 

Another time it might feel like that elephant is sitting on you, or like you have your own private pornographic movie going on, or your own private war, in technicolor and stereo. It's important to realize that meditation doesn't prefer the flea to the elephant, or vice versa. It is simply a process of seeing what is, noticing that, accepting that, and then going on with life, which, in terms of the technique, is coming back to the simplicity of nowness, the simplicity of the out-breath. Whether you are completely caught up in discursive thought for the entire sitting period, or whether you feel that enormous sense of space, you can regard either one with gentleness and a sense of being awake and alive to who you are. Either way, you can respect that. So taming teaches that meditation is developing a nonaggressive attitude to whatever occurs in your mind. It teaches that meditation is not considering yourself an obstacle to yourself; in fact, it's quite the opposite.



source:  Meditation and the relativity of thought in Buddhism

Friday, July 23, 2010

The Process of Focusing

by Father William Meninger

Focusing is the process that enables us to hear what the body is telling us, through feelings, about our wounds and what to do about them. It can be used for other things involving body knowledege, such as dreams  or spiritual insights in prayer or Scripture reading, but, for our purposes here, we will limit it to the healing of wounds.

Here is a simple explanation of the focusing process. You can actually experience it as you go through the instructions:
  1. Sit quietly for a moment; take several deep, slow breaths. Offer this prayer, or a similar one in your own words:   Dear Lord, thank you for gracing me to spend these few moments with your presence. I would like to respond to the innate ability you give me to listen to my body's knowledge. I want to recognize that pain is my body's way of calling my attention to my hurts and that it is also a means to lead me into the healing process. You have never promised me as a Christian, that I would be free from pain (crosses). But you have promised to be with me in my trials and sufferings and to bring me through them in new and grace-filled life. Amen
  2. Now feel your body. Perhaps you might give your attention to your solar plexus (guts!), the location of many vague, uncomfortable feelings. Indeed, some people are constantly affected by unfocused, abiding discomfort here. They have never known what these feelings mean or how to deal with them. Go through your whole body - are there any puzzling pains, aches, feelings, anywhere that you cannot account for? Simply let them arise. Don't do anything for a while but just feel! Give your body there or four minutes to speak to you through some feeling or other. Body knowledge takes longer than intellectual knowledge. Don't be concerned with the first thing that comes to mind but wait for something to come to your body feelings. It may be connected to what is in the mind or it may not. Just allow the feeling to be there. Do not do anything else. The feeling may be a physical (e.g., muscle) pain, it may be excitement, fear, heaviness, or depression. What ever it is, it is the body speaking. Don't run from it. This is what we do too often. Drugs, alcohol, medicine, sex and work are the ways we use to get away from body knowledge. Today, you are not going to run. You are going to listen - even through it hurts. If it is very painful just reach out in your heart to God who is present to you and who will accompany you in your search for healing. Allow yourself to weep if this is called for. Weeping is also body language. Realize that whatever you feel is a call for healing. It is not a enemy but a friend or a teacher. Just accept it and be with it for a little while.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Accidental

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Taking Up Our Cross

by St. Catherine of Siena

In the center of the garden is planted the tree of the most holy cross, the resting place of the spotless Lamb. He bathes and waters this glorious gardens, irrigating it with his blood; and he himself bears the mature fruit of true solid virtues. If you want patience , he is the bedrock of meekness, since not a murmur of complaint was heard from the Lamb. He is the bedrock of deep humility, since God stooped down to humanity, and the Word stooped to the shameful death of the cross. If you want charity, he is the charity, and even more, for it was the power of love and charity that kept him nailed fast to the cross. The cross and nails could never have held the God-Man, had not the power of charity held him. I'm not surprised that those who make of themselves a garden through self-knowledge are strong in the face of the whole world, for they are conformed and made one with supreme strength. They truly begin in this life to have foretaste of eternal life. They control the world by making light of it . The devils are afraid to get near a soul on fire.

So up!... I don't want you sleeping any more in irresponsibility... No, with a boundless blazing love get up and take a bath in Christ's blood, hide in the wounds of Christ crucified. I'll say no more. I'm sure that if you live in the cell I've been talking about you will discover none other than Christ crucified... Keep living in God's holy and tender love. 


source: Magnifcat, July 2010

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Forgiveness and Love

by Frances Hogan

When we witness a public example of forgiveness in the face of an evil deed we are deeply touched by such nobility of heart. Such was the case when a brave father went public in his forgiveness of those who killed his daughter at Enniskillen. So, too, when the Pope visited his would-be murderer in prison to extend to him his personal forgiveness. These acts show us why God asks us to forgive, for even onlookers are ennobled by the deed, to say nothing of the participators, for how can we scream for revenge when the injured party lovingly forgives? Doesn't the sight somehow show us what it is to be truly human, and a child of God? Forgiveness is a case of overcoming evil with good, a demonstration that where sin abounds grace abounds even more (Rom 5:20). Observing such acts of heroism liberates us from the sickening feeling that the world is run by evildoers, and that we are helpless in the face of such malice.

Forgiveness is the divine institution for dealing with injustice. It breaks the cycle of evil, of tit-for-tat revenge which services only to increase the problem.  It not only breaks the cycle of evil but also power of evil, neutralizing its effects. It is the equivalent of taking the sword out of the enemies' hands and breaking it, leaving them defenseless. Forgiveness is the liberating defense of the child of God. It is also one of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and those who use it know the joy of God's presence in their lives, and also of  God's protection against all enemies both material and spiritual, for time and eternity.

source: Magnificat, June 2010, pg. 180

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Ascension

by Fr. William Meninger

In the Christian dispensation a great emphasis is placed on the idea of memorial or reminder. The very fact that we are gathered here this morning is because the Eucharist is a memorial or a reminder. We are here to observe the request of Jesus when he said at the last supper, "do this in memory of me". In addition to this, today we are celebrating the ascension of our Lord. The final message of Jesus which he gave at that time was a promise that he would send the Holy Spirit as a reminder of all the things that he taught. This was his last message to us who live in the latter days, that is, the period between his ascension into heaven and his coming again in glory. It is evident to us and for ours that the Holy Spirit is sent as a reminder of everything Jesus told us. Such a reminder is truly necessary because the message of Jesus was given in a period of history 2000 years ago and we are living today in quite a different period. There are new issues that must be interpreted according to the teachings of Jesus. There are new generations, new historical events, new issues, new cultures, new inventions, new movements of the nation's, new geological developments, new discoveries, new frontiers. For us to live as Christians in these new situations requires, indeed, the gracious inspiration, guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Today, I would like to guide you into a prayer/meditation in the spirit of a reminder.

Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting
that you are powerful enough
to handle all of my problems, no matter,
how large, how small, how complex or how simple.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that you are stronger in every way
then my strongest afflictions.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that you are mightier than any evil that can afflict me.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
is that you are my protection.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that I don't have to be afraid of anyone or anything.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that you are capable of helping me with anything
that I feel overwhelmed by,
that I feel helpless about,
and I feel anxious about, or defeated by.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that you are my helper.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that I don't have to be afraid of anything.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that your love is greater
than any love I've ever known.
Greater than my mother's love, my father's love.
Greater than my sister’s love, my brother's love.
Greater than my best friend’s love, my spouse’s love.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that you loved me before
I was a twinkle in my parent's eyes.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that no matter what I have done,
you still love me.
You may not be pleased with my actions or choices,
but nonetheless you still love me.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that I don't have to deserve your love
because you love me anyway.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that I don't have to earn your love.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that your love has always been and will always be with me,
whether I recognize it or not.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that your love is unconditional.
Remind me, Lord, I keep forgetting,
that I can rely on your love.


May you be happy,
may you be free.
May you be loving,
May you be loved.

Father William

source: Contemplative Prayer for Everyone

Monday, May 31, 2010

Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Value of Silence

Three times a day, everything on the hill of Taizé stops: the work, the Bible studies, the discussions. The bells call everyone to church for prayer. Hundreds or even thousands of mainly young people from all over the world pray and sing together with the brothers of the community. Scripture is read in several languages. In the middle of each common prayer, there is a long period of silence, a unique moment for meeting with God.

Silence and Prayer

If we take as our guide the oldest prayer book, the biblical Psalms, we note two main forms of prayer. One is a lament and cry for help. The other is thanksgiving and praise to God. On a more hidden level, there is a third kind of prayer, without demands or explicit expression of praise. In Psalm 131 for instance, there is nothing but quietness and confidence: "I have calmed and quieted my soul … hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore."

At times prayer becomes silent. Peaceful communion with God can do without words. "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." Like the satisfied child who has stopped crying and is in its mother’s arms, so can "my soul be with me" in the presence of God. Prayer then needs no words, maybe not even thoughts.

How is it possible to reach inner silence? Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me." Silence means recognizing that my worries can’t do much. Silence means leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a truce of worries.

The turmoil of our thoughts can be compared to the storm that struck the disciples’ boat on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus was sleeping. Like them, we may be helpless, full of anxiety, and incapable of calming ourselves. But Christ is able to come to our help as well. As he rebuked the wind and the sea and "there was a great calm", he can also quiet our heart when it is agitated by fears and worries (Mark 4). Remaining silent, we trust and hope in God. One psalm suggests that silence is even a form of praise. We are used to reading at the beginning of Psalm 65: "Praise is due to you, O God". This translation follows the Greek text, but actually the Hebrew text printed in most Bibles reads: "Silence is praise to you, O God". When words and thoughts come to an end, God is praised in silent wonder and admiration.



The Word of God: thunder and silence

At Sinai, God spoke to Moses and the Israelites. Thunder and lightning and an ever-louder sound of a trumpet preceded and accompanied the Word of God (Exodus 19). Centuries later, the prophet Elijah returned to the same mountain of God. There he experienced storm and earthquake and fire as his ancestors did, and he was ready to listen to God speaking in the thunder. But the Lord was not in any of the familiar mighty phenomena. When all the noise was over, Elijah heard "a sound of sheer silence", and God spoke to him (1 Kings 19).

Does God speak with a loud voice or in a breath of silence? Should we take as example the people gathered at Sinai or the prophet Elijah? This might be a wrong alternative. The terrifying phenomena related to the gift of the Ten Commandments emphasis how serious these are. Keeping or rejecting them is a question of life or death. Seeing a child running straight under a car, one is right to shout as loud as possible. In analogous situations prophets speak the word of God so that it makes our ears ring.

Loud words certainly make themselves heard; they are impressive. But we also know that they hardly touch the hearts. They are resisted rather than welcomed. Elijah’s experience shows that God does not want to impress, but to be understood and accepted. God chose "a sound of sheer silence" in order to speak. This is a paradox:


God is silent and yet speaking

When God’s word becomes "a sound of sheer silence", it is more efficient then ever to change our hearts. The heavy storm on Mount Sinai was splitting rocks, but God’s silent word is able to break open human hearts of stone. For Elijah himself the sudden silence was probably more fearsome than the storm and thunder. The loud and mighty manifestations of God were somehow familiar to him. God’s silence is disconcerting, so very different from all Elijah knew before.

Silence makes us ready for a new meeting with God. In silence, God’s word can reach the hidden corners of our hearts. In silence, it proves to be "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit" (Hebrews 4:12). In silence, we stop hiding before God, and the light of Christ can reach and heal and transform even what we are ashamed of.

Silence and love

Christ says: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12). We need silence in order to welcome these words and put them into practice. When we are agitated and restless, we have so many arguments and reasons not to forgive and not to love too easily. But when we "have calmed and quieted our soul", these reasons turn out to be quite insignificant. Maybe we sometimes avoid silence, preferring whatever noise, words or distraction, because inner peace is a risky thing: it makes us empty and poor, disintegrates bitterness and leads us to the gift of ourselves. Silent and poor, our hearts are overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit, filled with an unconditional love. Silence is a humble yet secure path to loving.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

How NOT to suffer


I recently heard a religious leader question the thought that one need not suffer to be holy. I found this very provocative so I decided to review the role of suffering in Christianity.

Jesus is certainly the first person that comes to mind when we think of suffering. His whole life, and ultimate demise, was the prime example to us. It is only through His profound suffering that we are brought into intimate relationship with Him. When we accept the responsibility for His destruction, we are greatly humbled to know the love He has for us is so deep that He choose to die [suffer] to save us. Although His love is beyond human comprehension, we accept that only through Him can we come to meet the Father. Had Jesus had not suffered so intensely for us, would our reconciliation truly be complete?

Next, we consider the saints. Saint Theresa of Calcutta, Saint Augustine, Saint Therese of Lisieux , Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Thomas of Aquinas, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Peter, Saint John the Baptist, and every martyr, all suffered immensely throughout their time, finding little to no peace in their faith life. We can examine each one and see that it was through their suffering that they have become so extraordinary. What saint didn’t provide us with a divine example of the deepest love found through their sufferings?

In these modern times, it is not so easy to find such people as those with the courage and devotion to willing to fully expose themselves to discomfort, condemnation, persecution, or other any other form of personal suffering. Most of us will be happy to avoid it at all costs, questioning the mentality of those who don’t. So I offer these general guidelines to help steer clear of any form of discomfort, persecution, emotional upset, feelings of guilt, injustice, or general distraught in the world.

1. Lead a sheltered life; do not leave your home very much. That way you can safely control your surroundings and limit yourself from witnessing any sort of behavior that is less then desirable.

2. Watch lots of movies and read lots of books. This is a safe way to expose yourself to drama in the form of entertainment, and not have to be directly involved in it yourself.

3. Don’t volunteer for anything. Keeping your contacts limited to a few trusted friends will help you avoid exposure to those unpredictable, needy people that are often served by unpaid do-gooders.

4. Have a good time. Keep your awareness away from the interest of food drives, soup kitchens, fund raisers, the elderly, small children, the low income, the unemployed, large families, those going through divorce, the sick, and the victims of accidents or crimes.

5. Vow to not follow Jesus. Everything he ever did was to help someone who is suffering. His entire message was for us to reach out to help others and give ourselves completely in humble service, especially towards are worst enemies. Not just sometimes, not even when it’s convenient or if when we happen to feel like it at the moment, but all the time!

Follow these guidelines and you will surely limit your personal growth, stunt your compassion for others, as you lose your proper perspective, allowing your imagination to fill in all those experiences that you are missing out on, while learning to overly generalize everyone and everything, and conjure up inaccurate profiles of every type of person.

However, if you happen to be someone who is not satisfied with living for himself, and you take the message of Jesus very seriously, you may find yourself looking for opportunities to hold the hand of someone who is dying, feed a starving family, help pay rent to a father who has recently become unemployed, visit with a lonely senior, smile at a stranger, say thank you often, spread your warmth, make yourself available to anyone who is in trouble, give lots of hugs, all your money and extra time to others, be a friend, be a parent, be a neighbor, be a daughter or son, be a family member, be a initiator, be the one who gets things done against all opposition.

In any of these activities you are sure to find yourself stepping out of your comfort zone and exposing your personal emotions while you help someone in need. You probably suffer as you emphasize with another, or shed a tear when you see someone in discomfort. You may even put yourself at risk when you seek out the less fortunate ,or stop to assist a person in trouble. You may very well run the risk of having an effect on another person that may be life changing, for them and for yourself. And you just might forget about all the little things your “problems” while you are in the presence of someone who is having a very tough time. There will even be times when you are not sure how to process what you are witnessing, and the images may stay with you for days or weeks causing you to struggle with your feelings.

You will suffer both personally and outwardly when you reach out to someone. Your family and friends may not like the risks you take or understand the places you are willing to go. They may become critical of your actions, which makes you suffer even more talking about “those people” in an offensive way. Even if suffering takes the form of private turmoil, our faith will be tested as we have a rare opportunity to accept the will of God in the worst possible of circumstance. We need to accept it because God’s will is always for the best. He will always take care of us and others, if only we let Him. If we understand these painful feelings to be a way for us to stop counting on our self or others, then our faith will deepen, as we realize we can trust God to provide our every need.

After all, Jesus didn’t waste time trying to appeal to the elite or upper class, he went straight for the sick, rejected, condemned, and worst of the sinners. He knew how to love them straight away, because He has nothing but love to offer, and He will give it freely to whoever is willing to accept it. He gives it to us too whenever we go out of our way for another. Though there may be suffering involved, He knows that it is through our own suffering that we can find a connection, a way to love someone else, even a total stranger. That is when the suffering becomes a deepening of faith as we experience real trust in God. No pain can interfere the feeling of His presence, or the love we exchange when our help is accepted by someone who returns the gift of His love, a thousand times over.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Power of Attention

Laurence Freeman OSB, THE SELFLESS SELF (London: DLT, 1989), pp. 31-35.

There has always been a great danger, but one that exists especially for us today in our self-conscious and narcissistic society, of mistaking introversion, self-fixation, self-analysis, for true interiority. The great prevalence of psychological woundedness and social alienation exacerbates this danger while calling for gentle tact and compassion in dealing with it. . . . To be truly interior is the complete opposite of being introverted. In the awareness of the indwelling presence, our consciousness is turned around, converted, so that we are no longer. . .looking at ourselves, anticipating or remembering feelings, reactions, desires, ideas, or daydreams. But we are turning towards something else. And that is always a problem for us.

It would be easier, we think, to turn away from introspection if we knew what we were turning towards. If only we had a fixed object to look at. If only God could be represented by an image. But the true God can never be an image. Images of God are gods. To make an image of God is merely to end up looking at a refurbished image of ourselves. To be truly interior, to open the eye of the heart, means to be living within the imageless vision that is faith, and that is the vision that permits us to “see God.”

In faith, attention is controlled by a new Spirit, no longer the spirits of materialism, self-seeking and self-preservation, but the ethos of faith which is by its nature dispossessive. It is always letting go and continuously renouncing the rewards of renunciation, which are very great and so all the more necessary to be returned. . . .We can glimpse it simply by calling to mind those moments or phases in life where we experienced the highest degree of peace, fulfillment and joy and recognize that those were times, not when we possessed anything, but when we lost ourselves in something or someone. The passport into the kingdom requires the stamp of poverty. [. . . .]

And yet learning to be other-centered is a discipline, it is discipleship and it means an ascesis. There is nothing more difficult than to learn to take the attention off ourselves. . . . We are all too prone to let our attention wander, to drift back into self-consciousness, self-infatuation, and distraction. There is then a simple truth to discover. When attention is in God, with the vision of faith, everything reveals God to us. When our attention is on ourselves, in the image-blindness of the ego, everything is a distraction from God.

It seems a demanding challenge to place our attention always in that vision of faith, until we realize that that is precisely what we have been created for.

Meditate for Thirty Minutes.... Remember: Sit down. Sit still and upright. Close your eyes lightly. Sit relaxed but alert. Silently, interiorly, begin to say a single word. We recommend the prayer-phrase "Maranatha." Recite it as four syllables of equal length. Listen to it as you say it, gently, but continuously. Do not think or imagine anything—spiritual or otherwise. Thoughts and images will likely come, but let them pass. Just keep returning your attention—with humility and simplicity—to saying your word in faith, from the beginning to the end of your meditation.

After Meditation...

THE JOURNALS OF THOMAS MERTON: Volume Five 1963-1965 (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), p. 224.

April 4, 1965. Passion Sunday.

Light rain all night. The need to keep working at meditation—going to the root. Mere passivity won’t do at this point. But activism won’t do either. A time of wordless deepening, to grasp the inner reality of my nothingness in Him who is. Talking about it in these terms is absurd. Nothing to do with the concrete reality that is to be grasped. My prayer is peace and struggle in silence, to be aware and true, beyond myself. To go outside the door of myself, not because I will it but because I am called and must respond.

resource: The World Community for Christian Meditation

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Desert House of Prayer in Tuscon


Recently, I had the pleasure of discovering the Desert House of Prayer, thanks to the initiative of my friends. The Desert House of Prayer is located in the beautiful foothills of Tuscon, on the way to the familiar Sonoran Desert Museum. This is a great asset to those seeking quiet solitude in a supportive environment. The hermitage's are scattered around the property to allow privacy and contemplation, in true desert surroundings. Everything is simply furnished to provide reasonable comfort while avoiding any resort-like amenities. I have not stayed on the property as of yet, but I am looking for to doing so soon. Below is an excerpt from the website:

Desert House of Prayer is a center for contemplative prayer in the Christian, Catholic tradition. Located on 31 acres of Sonoran Desert outside Tucson, Arizona, Desert House of Prayer, founded in 1974, is a place and community committed to silence. Surrounded by three mountain ranges, the natural beauty of terrain evokes an awareness of God's grandeur. The conditions are ideal for fruitful solitude, in which "all things find their just emphasis." (Rilke)

Desert House of Prayer comprises several buildings, each one opening directly onto the desert: 4 hermitages and 10 rooms with separate entrances and private baths; a chapel, a library, and a central dining area. The accommodations are named after the saints of the mystical tradition (Francis, Teresa, Juan de la Cruz, etc.) and suggest the spirit of the same by simple works of art and decor. Each space is revered as a silent area except during times designated for conversation.

Desert House of Prayer

Sunday, April 11, 2010

That nowhere physically is everywhere spiritually...

from The Cloud of the Unknowing: A new translation
by Carmen Acevedo Butcher
, Chapter 68

On a related point, another person might tell you to gather together your powers of body, soul and intellect wholly within yourself, and worship God there. This is good advice, well put, and if taken in the right way, you can't find any better. But I don't recommend this because I worry that such advice might be literally interpreted and mislead someone. My suggestion resists distortion. I only ask that during contemplative prayer steer clear of withdrawing into yourself. I also don't want you outside, above, behind, or on one side or the other of yourself.

"Where then," you ask, "will I be? If I take your advice, I'll end up 'nowhere'!" You're right. Well said. That's exactly were I want you, because nowhere physically is everywhere spiritually. Make sure that your contemplative work is fully detached from the physical. Remember that when your mind is focused on anything in particular, that's where you are spiritually, just as certainly as when your physical being is located in a specific place, that's where your body is. Obviously during contemplative prayer, your body's five senses and your soul's powers will think that you are doing nothing because they find nothing to feed on, but don't let that stop you-keep on working at this "nothing," as long as you are doing it for God's love. Persevere in contemplation with a renewed longing in your will to have God, remembering that your intellect cannot possess him. For I would rather be nowhere physically, wrestling with this obscure nothing, than be a powerful, rich lord, able to go wherever I want, whenever I want, always amusing myself with every "something" that I own.

So abandon the world's "everywhere" and "something" in exchange for this infinitely more valuable nowhere and nothing. Don't be bothered that your intellect is unable to comprehend it. I love it even more for its inscrutability. Its infinite worth makes it incomprehensible. Also remember that you can more easily feel this nothing than see it. It can be experienced but not grasped. That's why it seems completely hidden and totally dark to those who've only been looking at it for a very short time. Let me clarify "dark" here. When a person experiences this nothing, the soul is blinded by an abundance of spiritual light, and not by actual darkness or by an absence of physical light.

So who labels this "nothing"? That would be our outer self. Our inner self calls it "all," because experiencing this "nothing" gives us an intuitive sense of all creation, both physical and spiritual, without paying special attention to any one thing.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

hidden in plain sight

by Rebecca Vitz Cherico, Ph. D

I am often shocked by my children's inability to find things that are in plain view. They tell me they have "looked everywhere" for something it takes me ten seconds to locate. I am also sometimes surprised at my husband's difficulty finding things in our refrigerator. His eyesight is much better than mine, but I see things that are invisible to him. Because I know they are there.

There is a story about children who are playing hide and seek. One boy hides and waits for the others. He waits and waits. But the others do not come. The story's author says God has done the same thing, challenging us to come and find him: our problem is that we don't look. Though God has revealed himself in a clear and striking way in his incarnation, we nevertheless may find him elusive in our everyday lives. We wonder where he has gone. But when a child we know disappears in hide and seek, we don't wonder about his existence - we simply start looking.

Likewise, Christ challenges us to come and find him. He invites us to trust in his continued presence, rather than being distracted by an unfounded fear that - simply because he is hidden - he has left us.

He will never leave us. We must look for him in confidence, because he is there.

source: Magnifcat Lenten Companion 2010

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Walk with Jesus by Henri Nouwen

Please join us for
Prayer and Chant.
March 26, Friday
7pm - 8:15pm
In the church, led by Pax Christi, Phoenix Chapter

Inspired by the paintings of Sr. Helen David, Henri Nouwen reflected on the sufferings of the poor, the prisoners, the martyrs and the downtrodden of our world. Nouwen's reflections on the paintings "help unite our own broken humanity with the humanity of the men, women and children portrayed." Henri Nouwen's meditations are inspirational.

As Jesus walked from Gethsemane to Calvary, He walked among the people. Henri Nouwen represents the traditional Stations of the Cross through the passion and suffering of the world's poor.

Come early and join us in Piper Hall at 6pm for a simple soup supper and then come over to be a part of this inspirational journey through the Stations of the Cross here in the Our Lady of the Angels Church. Donations gratefully accepted.

float: right
At the Franciscan Renewal Center
5802 E. Lincoln Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85253

Thursday, March 11, 2010

S... Selfishness...Self-centeredness

Lent leads us beyond the guilt, fear, and shame of our sins. We will be led from discouragement to the confidence in the prodigal, extravagant, reckless love our gracious God has for you and I. That is a choice we have to make, not each and every day, no, that choice is made each and every MOMENT. Yes, each and every, NOW moment we are going to be life-givers to ourselves, and a consequence to others. We can also, by our now decisions, be death-dealers to ourselves, and others. We will always see others through the lens of our reality, just as others do not see or cannot see us, except through their reality. That is very freeing. This brings to the Question, through what lens does God see us?

I go back to this prayer of Thomas Merton again, and again;

“Oh great God, Father of all, Whose infinite light is darkness to me, Whose immensity is to me as the void, You have called me forth out of Yourself because you love me in Yourself, and I am a transient expression of Your inexhaustible and eternal reality. If I could not know You, I would be lost in this darkness, I would fall away from You into this void and if You did not hold me to Yourself in the Heart Your only begotten son. Father I love You whom I do not know, and I embrace You whom I do not see, and I abandon myself to You…because Your love in me Your only begotten son. You see Him in me, You embrace Him in me, because He has willed to identify Himself completely with me by that love which has brought Him to death, for me, on the cross…You have willed to see me only in Him, but in willing this You have willed to see me more really as I am for the sinful self is not my real self, it is not the self You have wanted for me, only the self that I have wanted for myself. And, I no longer want this false self. But now Father, I come to You in your Son’s self for it is in His Sacred Heart that He has taken possession of me and destroyed my sins and it is He who presents me to you. And where? In the sanctuary of His own Heart.?”
Read the entire post


source: excerpt from Fr. Joe Hennessy, Aisling on Earth, 3/6/2010

Monday, March 8, 2010

Mount of Perfection


a sketch made by St. John of the Cross from "Ascent of Mount Carmel"

Illustrates the three different paths but only one leads up to "Ivge Convivium" - the heavenly feast.

from "Ascent of Mount Carmel", General Introduction to the works of St. John of the Cross, E. Allison Peers

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

E...Encounter

Lent is a season of grace. In the season, we will be offered the grace we need to face, and name the lie. We will be given the strength to reject the lie, about face and follow the truth, no matter how difficult it is. As someone once said, “the truth will set you free, but first, it will tee you off”. The truth will have to become bad news, before it can, under grace, become good news for us, as well as for others. The good news is ALWAYS given, to be shared. Life, God, will present us with the person, or persons, that needs that particular gift we have just been given. The ways of God are truly mysterious.

On our Lenten journey, we have to pay special attention to the commands, "You are to love your neighbor, as you love yourself”, "love your enemy" [Jesus Chris], "kiss the leper within", St. Francis. On the desert journey we will discover parts of ourselves, we wish were not there. We will say, “how can something like that be really part of me?”. In the desert we will have to face, within us, every sin another can commit. Blessed Mother Teresa, discovered, above all people, Hitler, to be alive and well within her. What humility she had to have to, first of all - to admit, and then reveal, such a reality. William Johnson in one of his books, warns us as we journey within, we encounter within ourselves each any every sin another human being can commit. We are then led to pray with what one saint said "there go I, but for the grace of God”. This is real death and resurrection work. It is here, that the rubber really hits the road. This is where one of the great movements of the spiritual life takes place; we move from hostility to hospitality [the other two are from loneliness to solitude, illusion to prayer]. That is taken from Henri Nouwen’s book “REACHING OUT". This is a movement we will experience every day. We are destined not to stay in any one place...

source: excerpt from Aisling on Earth, Fr. Joe Hennessy

Friday, February 26, 2010

The Way of the Cross

"The Way of the Cross is not only a great testimony to an inner depth and maturity, but it is in fact a school for interiority and consolation. It is also a school for examination of conscience, for conversion, for inner transformation and compassion - not as sentimentality, as a mere feeling, but as a disturbring experience that knocks on the door of my heart, that obliges me to know myself and to become a better person."

Pope Benedict XVI

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Lenten Disciplines

"I have jotted down in my notebook my lenten resolutions, but I want to confirm them here. I must truly renew my life, and it is God whom I ask in all simplicity to transform me. I want to live interiorly more spiritually, exteriorly more gently and lovingly so as to make God better loved, who is the beginning and end of my spiritual life. More than ever I want to hide in the heart of Jesus my good works, my prayers, my self-denial, to preach only through example, to speak not at all of myself and little of God, since in this sad world one only gives scandal or annoys others by showing one's love for God. But whenever someone approaches me, or whenever it seems to be God's will that I should approach another, I will do so simply, very prudently, and disappear as soon as the task is done, mixing no thought of self with God's action. And should I be misunderstood, criticized, and misjudged unfavorably, I will try to rejoice in remembering our divine exemplar, and I will seek to be of no consequence in the esteem of others, I who am in fact so poor and little in the eyes of God. "

Elisabeth Leseur (1914), French married laywoman, currently in the process of canonization.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

defenseless

Oh my Jesus, I bring you my sorrows and pains. I have begged for your mercy, to take these troubles away from me. You have always accepted them, telling me to leave them at your step, always available to me with your endless love.

Lord, what else do I have to offer but my selfish desire to be healed?

I can give but I don't know how to accept from you. I know that if I let go of my wants, only then you can fill my emptiness. Whenever I bring you my pain, I am for myself; therefore I am rejecting your invitation to openness. How can I empty myself to the point of not resisting you? I know I can't accept you fully until there is a space inside of me that is aching to be filled by you.

I imagine what it must be like to be as loving as you are, as others pour them self out, you are open and accommodating without condition or judgment. Sometimes I see you in them, in their desperation and pain. They suffer too, just like me. Lord, give me the grace to have a moment of compassion and love, the way you do.

So Lord, I won't beg you to free me of my troubles, but I'll pray for the grace to ask you for nothing at all. If I could approach you empty handed, my issues will become meaningless, and I can reflect your love more fully as I approach your people. Maybe then I will stop resisting you whenever I see You in their eyes.

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Seed Grows

"If you ask me just precisely how one is to go about doing the contemplative work of love, I am at a complete loss. All I can say is I pray that Almighty God in his great goodness and kindness will teach you himself. For in all honesty I must admit I do not know. And no wonder, for it is a divine activity and God will do it in whomever he chooses. No can earn it. Paradoxical as it may seem it would not even occur to a person - no, nor to an angel or saint - to desire contemplative love where it not already alive within him. I believe, too, that often our Lord deliberately chooses to work in those who have been habitual sinners rather than in those who, by comparison, have never grieved him at all. Yes, he seems to do this very often. For I think he wants us to realize the he is all-merciful and almighty, and that he is perfectly free to work as he pleases, where he pleases, and when he pleases.

Yet he does not give grace nor work this work in a person who has no aptitude for it. But a person lacking the capacity to receive his grace could never gain it through his own efforts either. No one at all, neither sinner nor innocent, can do so. For this grace is a gift, and it is not given for innocence nor withheld for sin. "

from The Cloud of Unknowing
written by an unknown mystic from the 14th Century

Friday, February 5, 2010

Like a River

"But he, who walks not on this road, goes under the Bridge, in the river where there are no stones, only water, and since there are no supports in the water, no one can travel that way without drowning; thus have come to pass the sins, and the condition of the world. Wherefore, if the affection is not placed on the stones, but is placed, with disordinate love, on creatures, loving them , and being kept by them far from Me, the soul drowns, for creatures are like water that continually runs past, and man also passes continually like the river, although it seems to him that he stands still and the creatures that he loves pass by, and yet he is passing himself continually to the end of his journey - death!"

from The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

St. Teresa of Avila: Her Works

St. Teresa was founder of the Discalced Carmelites which formed specifically for the practice of contemplative life (see St. Teresa of Avila: Her Life). She also wrote a number of books on Catholic mysticism. The books were done for the purpose of describing and documenting her theories on the practice of mental prayer.

Due her frequent illnesses she was often challenged with severe physical discomfort. It was during those times that she began to practice and evolve a method of mental prayer. In documenting her ideas, she describes a technique that allowed her the abilitiy to detach herself from her physical misery (senses) while progressing towards a closer relationship with God.

St. Teresa's books are now recognized as spiritual classics on contemplative prayer. Following her autobiography, Life, she wrote The Way of Perfection, which speaks directly of prayer life. Her next book, The Interior Castle, goes into more detail on the process of moving through the our many "mansions", as we edge towards divine union. In The Interior Castle, St. Teresa uses the imagery of a castle to describe the interior dwelling place. The castle contains seven rooms representing seven levels of movement towards God. The outermost room is "Humility". The individual levels continue as we pass through the next five sequential rooms of "Practice of Prayer", "Meditation", "Quiet", "Illumination", and "Dark Night". The seventh room is the final destination; union with God, known as the "King of Glory". Throughout, St. Teresa reveals the soul as a multi-faceted diamond with the ultimate communion being found in the very center.

Recognized for her insightful authority on the subject St. Teresa, nevertheless, always spoke with much humility and grace, frequently describing herself as unworthy of any notability, whatsoever. She asserts that her works were written at the urging of her superior's request, in order that she share her methods with her charges.

references: http://www.karmel.at/eng/teresa.htm

Excerpt from The Interior Castle , Chapter 1

"I thought of the soul as resembling a castle, formed of a single diamond or a very transparent crystal, and containing many rooms. If we reflect, sisters, we shall see that the soul of the just man is but a paradise, in which, God tells us, He takes His delight. What, do you imagine, must that dwelling be in which a King so mighty, so wise, and so pure, containing in Himself all good, can delight to rest? Nothing can be compared to the great beauty and capabilities of a soul; however keen our intellects may be, they are as unable to comprehend them as to comprehend God, for, as He has told us, He created us in His own image and likeness.

"As this is so, we need not tire ourselves by trying to realize all the beauty of this castle, although, being His creature, there is all the difference between the soul and God that there is between the creature and the Creator; the fact that it is made in God's image teaches us how great are its dignity and loveliness. It is no small misfortune and disgrace that, through our own fault, we neither understand our nature nor our origin. Would it not be gross ignorance, my daughters, if, when a man was questioned about his name, or country, or parents, he could not answer? Stupid as this would be, it is unspeakably more foolish to care to learn nothing of our nature except that we possess bodies, and only to realize vaguely that we have souls, because people say so and it is a doctrine of faith. Rarely do we reflect upon what gifts our souls may possess, Who dwells within them, or how extremely precious they are. Therefore we do little to preserve their beauty; all our care is concentrated on our bodies, which are but the coarse setting of the diamond, or the outer walls of the castle."

Friday, January 22, 2010

Independent Practice of Lectio Divina

Lectio divina is a form of contemplative prayer using Scripture as a vehicle of meditation. It brings us closer to the Word of God, allowing the verses to gently transmit into our being. It is practiced with no goal in mind, other than being in the presence of God.

Lectio Divina increases our awareness and understanding of the God's will for us by offering the calming embrace of His Word.

  1. Choose a selection from Scripture; this can be readings from the Eucharistic liturgy of the day, or a desired passage or verse from the Bible.
  2. Sit in a quiet, comfortable setting where you will not be disrupted. Place yourself in a meditative mode as you become silent and peaceful.
  3. Begin reading the text slowly,  but with conscious effort (lectio). Allow the words to passively enter into your spirit, rather than your mind. Try not to ponder the meaning of the words. Notice which sentences stand out, but do not dwell on why they may do so.
  4. Repeat the phrase a few times, maintaining your loving acceptance to the passage with each repetition.
  5. Submit yourself as the Scripture slowly unfolds (meditatio). There is no need to fight off inner thoughts or distractions, rather, offer them to God in exchange for His Word.
  6. Speak to God in thoughts or visions (oratio). Accept His gracious Love for you. Share with Him what you received during your visit.
  7. Rest in God's embrace (contemplatio). Use words when helpful, or let go of them when no longer needed. Enjoy God's commune with you, in Word and in prayer.


Source: Father Luke Dysinger, O.S.B