Reservoirs of Grace

The evening of June 5, I attended a program about Raissa Maritain, a married woman.Here is a good quote from her Journal.

What is the role of contemplatives in this world, among the troubles of mankind? ...the role of contemplatives among us is to be mirror of the image of God, reservoirs of his grace and his love, the unfailing memory of the Eternal among us. (p.266m Maritain, Raissa. Raissa's Journal. Albany. Magic Books
Inc. 1974)

We might ask ourselves are we contemplatives? What we do when we meditate or center is to prepare our hearts for God. We take the step to say yes, God, I open my heart for you to fill me with your love and your grace. For 20-30 minutes we let go of all our concerns, our thoughts, our images, our anxieties, our own agendas, and entrust our lives to God. We do not give God a schedule, like please give me a monthly donation. We simply trust that it is God's will that we abide in Jesus as Jesus abides in us. And so the only desire we bring to this half-hour or prayer is that God will make of us what pleases him.

Are we reservoirs of his grace and his love? Even that we leave to God. But it is well to go on asking for love and grace as St. Ignatius did. Our prayers are heard in heaven "in the glorious presence of Almighty God" (Tobit)

However as we persevere in prayer, even walking with prayer, as much as possible throughout the day, we are certainly part of the unfailing memory of the Eternal aomng us. We remember God, we remember the life of Jesus, his wisdom, his mercy, his dying and his resurrection. And the eternal reality that Jesus is risen. Christ in you, your hope of glory. (Col. 1)

And it always consoles me what is written in the Cloud of Unknowing:

A naked intent toword God, the desire for hm alone is enough. If you want to gather all your desire into one simple word that the mind can easily retain, choose a short word rather that a long one. A one-syllable word such as 'God' or 'love' is best. But choose one that is meaningul to you. then fix it in your mind so that it will remain there come what may. This word will be your defence in conflict and in peace. Use it to beat upon the cloud of darkness above you and to subdue all distractions, consigning them to the cloud of forgetting beneath you.
The Cloud of Unknowing, Ch.7

For I tell you this, one loving desire for God alone is more valuable in itself, more pleasing to God and to the saints, more beneficial to your own growth and more helpful to your friends, both living and dead, than anything else you could do.
The Cloud of Unknowing, Ch.9