A wondrous event in which Jesus is not doing something but that in his prayer something happens to Him. As Peter tells us
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.’ 18We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. 2 Peter 1
And what they saw was Jesus shining.
And he was transfigured before them. And his face shone like the sun,and his clothes became shining white. Suddenly there appeared to them, Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Mt. 17
And they never forgot. I have always loved this story about Jesus. And it certainly strengthens my faith. For it is a big act of faith to sit and meditate. To believe that in the silence of meditation we are just letting God do as He wills within us. Other times of prayer we thank, we adore, we ask forgiveness, we ask help for ourselves and others and the world. But in this time we just let God’s love transform us as love does.
And it is good to remind ourselves that God is love. And love is far more mysterious than we imagine. It is the whole meaning of our lives from beginning to end. We are called into life by the Love of God, sustained by love and called to live by love. When we enter into silence to meditate we are entering into God’s love.
We meditate by repeating a prayer word and listening to it inside of ourselves, and coming back to it whenever we are aware we are thinking. Try 20 minutes (or less if you find that too ong)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Behold I make all things new. (Rev. 21:5)
ONLY PROFOUND PRAYER, A CRY FROM THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS, WILL MAKE THIS A NEW DAY
Remember the Gospel story of the storm at sea? When the disciples wake Jesus up and say to him Lord we are perishing? Jesus stops the storm then and there.
These people with storms in a boat and storms all about them
and probably within too. And fear! They were smart enough with faith to cry out, from the toes up, to Jesus.
We all experience some fears. There are many disguises of fear. With me I shout! My MOther and I were in the subway one time when it suddenly stopped with a crash. We were "strap-hanging". I said to Mother, 'someone really yelled'. She responded: 'that was you'! Each of us has a way of fear: comfort-seeking, collecting, condescension, complaining, gossip, preoccupation with the faults of others, sarcasm, withdrawal. We can get swallowed up in disguising fear. It is our human condition.
But there is another way. The way of compassion. As John 23rd said “I do not believe in the prophets of gloom.” Instead, it is crying for help that opens our hearts to the healing power of God. to the Divine energy of Goodness and Mercy.
We cannot afford to take prayer for granted. Let us always enter into time for prayer by expressing in faith our desire for mercy, our desire to do the will of God, our faith in the reality of the Presence of God. Like those people in that storm with Jesus, we can cry out “wake up Jesus, doesn’t it bother you that we are drowning” We may be drowning in troubles or we may be drowning in apathy, or a feeling of dullness of life or fear. In that storm at sea Jesus answered their cries by saying 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?'
The Good News is that when life is at its worst or at its dullest, we are still totally loved. God is inviting us into the mystery of the other side, which we do not yet know, but which we know is there because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Remember Job? He cried to God with all his being. And then what? Life became more mysterious. Yet he was content because he had indeed the profound experience of having been heard by God.
I always liked it that in the course of his praying he said “Have I not wept for those whose life is hard.” God had given him a compassionate heart. Then we see that God led Job beyond a narrow sense of justice connected with retribution into a sense of the freedom and love of God. We learn from Job that the language of the prophet must be grounded in the language of worship and contemplation. Rock bottom for both prophet and contemplative is the Presence of God. From Job’s intimate exchange with God, Job has changed his mind about gloom and entered into a new day! *
Let me read to you the words of Luis Espinal, a priest murdered in Bolivia: “Train us, O Lord, to fling ourselves upon the impossible, for behind the impossible is your grace and your presence. We cannot fall into emptiness, Our future is an enigma, our road covered with mist, but we want to go on giving ourselves, because YOU continue hoping amid the night and weeping tears through a thousand human eyes.” It is not that we are to be silent in the face of human suffering. Rather we enter into silence of meditation in order to entrust all to the amazing love that God has for us - the many sparrows. Not even one falls to the ground with out the attention of our Father in heaven. Who raises us up. Let us pray.
*Gustave Gutierrez: On Job: God-talk and the suffering of the innocent. 1988. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY
Remember the Gospel story of the storm at sea? When the disciples wake Jesus up and say to him Lord we are perishing? Jesus stops the storm then and there.
These people with storms in a boat and storms all about them
and probably within too. And fear! They were smart enough with faith to cry out, from the toes up, to Jesus.
We all experience some fears. There are many disguises of fear. With me I shout! My MOther and I were in the subway one time when it suddenly stopped with a crash. We were "strap-hanging". I said to Mother, 'someone really yelled'. She responded: 'that was you'! Each of us has a way of fear: comfort-seeking, collecting, condescension, complaining, gossip, preoccupation with the faults of others, sarcasm, withdrawal. We can get swallowed up in disguising fear. It is our human condition.
But there is another way. The way of compassion. As John 23rd said “I do not believe in the prophets of gloom.” Instead, it is crying for help that opens our hearts to the healing power of God. to the Divine energy of Goodness and Mercy.
We cannot afford to take prayer for granted. Let us always enter into time for prayer by expressing in faith our desire for mercy, our desire to do the will of God, our faith in the reality of the Presence of God. Like those people in that storm with Jesus, we can cry out “wake up Jesus, doesn’t it bother you that we are drowning” We may be drowning in troubles or we may be drowning in apathy, or a feeling of dullness of life or fear. In that storm at sea Jesus answered their cries by saying 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?'
The Good News is that when life is at its worst or at its dullest, we are still totally loved. God is inviting us into the mystery of the other side, which we do not yet know, but which we know is there because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Remember Job? He cried to God with all his being. And then what? Life became more mysterious. Yet he was content because he had indeed the profound experience of having been heard by God.
I always liked it that in the course of his praying he said “Have I not wept for those whose life is hard.” God had given him a compassionate heart. Then we see that God led Job beyond a narrow sense of justice connected with retribution into a sense of the freedom and love of God. We learn from Job that the language of the prophet must be grounded in the language of worship and contemplation. Rock bottom for both prophet and contemplative is the Presence of God. From Job’s intimate exchange with God, Job has changed his mind about gloom and entered into a new day! *
Let me read to you the words of Luis Espinal, a priest murdered in Bolivia: “Train us, O Lord, to fling ourselves upon the impossible, for behind the impossible is your grace and your presence. We cannot fall into emptiness, Our future is an enigma, our road covered with mist, but we want to go on giving ourselves, because YOU continue hoping amid the night and weeping tears through a thousand human eyes.” It is not that we are to be silent in the face of human suffering. Rather we enter into silence of meditation in order to entrust all to the amazing love that God has for us - the many sparrows. Not even one falls to the ground with out the attention of our Father in heaven. Who raises us up. Let us pray.
*Gustave Gutierrez: On Job: God-talk and the suffering of the innocent. 1988. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Consent to the world as a whole
“Neither happiness not contemplation is possible except on the basis of consent to the world as a whole “ pg 106, Josef Peiper: Happiness and Contemplation. St. Augustine’s Press, South Bend, IN 1998
And this consent is based on the great gift of faith: faith that the world even as it is this moment is redeemable. That all is gift. That Jesus, true God and true man experienced in Gethsemane and on the cross what human suffering is like and yet he trusted. Remember? If it be possible, let this chalice pass from me, yet not my will but thine be done. And our faith tells us that all the suffering Jesus then endured was not at all the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead.
This is the mystery in which we live. This is the mystery to which we give our consent. We do not deny human suffering, human wickedness. Perhaps we weep over it all as Jesus did over Jerusalem.
We find ways to help alleviate suffering. We are indeed called to works of mercy, in some way or other. But in the end by the gift of faith we give our consent to the world as a whole. And in this consent we are able to live ever more contemplatively.
Living more contemplatively means living ever more attentive to the reality of the Presence of God. We are ever in the Presence of God. In Him we live and move and have our being. Can we of ourselves make ourselves more attentive? I do not think so. But as God gives us the desire, so God gives us the path to follow and bids us come along.
One great way is the gift of Christian Meditation. When we meditate we let go of running our own lives for 20-30 minutes. We just rest in God. And we let God bless us as He wills. And for sure one gift given is the gift of faith in the reality that we are always immersed in God. that God is ever with us.
When we meditate, we are mindful that God is with us, loving us. We let go of all our imaginations, thoughts, worries, feelings. We just sit and repeat a prayer word or phrase as a way to focus. It is a word of faith. It is a time of faith. It is a time of consent. Let us pray.
And this consent is based on the great gift of faith: faith that the world even as it is this moment is redeemable. That all is gift. That Jesus, true God and true man experienced in Gethsemane and on the cross what human suffering is like and yet he trusted. Remember? If it be possible, let this chalice pass from me, yet not my will but thine be done. And our faith tells us that all the suffering Jesus then endured was not at all the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead.
This is the mystery in which we live. This is the mystery to which we give our consent. We do not deny human suffering, human wickedness. Perhaps we weep over it all as Jesus did over Jerusalem.
We find ways to help alleviate suffering. We are indeed called to works of mercy, in some way or other. But in the end by the gift of faith we give our consent to the world as a whole. And in this consent we are able to live ever more contemplatively.
Living more contemplatively means living ever more attentive to the reality of the Presence of God. We are ever in the Presence of God. In Him we live and move and have our being. Can we of ourselves make ourselves more attentive? I do not think so. But as God gives us the desire, so God gives us the path to follow and bids us come along.
One great way is the gift of Christian Meditation. When we meditate we let go of running our own lives for 20-30 minutes. We just rest in God. And we let God bless us as He wills. And for sure one gift given is the gift of faith in the reality that we are always immersed in God. that God is ever with us.
When we meditate, we are mindful that God is with us, loving us. We let go of all our imaginations, thoughts, worries, feelings. We just sit and repeat a prayer word or phrase as a way to focus. It is a word of faith. It is a time of faith. It is a time of consent. Let us pray.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
'love dwells in ourhearts.'
“Nothing will shake us from our conviction that God is, that God is love and His love dwells in our hearts.” , pg 8; The Way of Unknowing. John Main. OSB; The Crossroad Publishing Company; 1995
One of the good fruits of Christian Meditation is the growing awareness that God is love. It is not a matter of how we feel but of an inner conviction of this reality. The very fact that we meditate is an indication that God is at work in our hearts for Jesus has told us: “Without me you can do nothing.” John 15.5
You know we are just common sinners and yet we are so loved. I was delighted when I came across something by Richard Rohr OFM in which he said that redemption precedes everything including repentance. So when by the gift of God we decide to take time to be silent with God, we are willing to let God do the great divine work of love in our hearts. And God is so trustworthy. We can always say with Jesus, in the Garden of Gesthemane, not my will but Yours be done. Or with Mary: behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.
The 12 steps for alcoholics are really profound and based so much on this truth that all is gift, all is grace. And the 11th step leads right into the possibility of the practice of Christian meditation. “sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him. Praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry it out.”
This is why it is always a good thing to begin every session of meditation with a very conscious act of faith in the presence of God and in his great love for us. It can be as simple as saying as directly as possible to God whom we do not see or feel, I believe you are with me, I believe in your great love for us all and for me here and now. You could add, help my unbelief!!
Let us enter into the silence with the conviction and God is, that God is love and his love dwells in our hearts. Let us pray.
Review of How to Meditate:
Sit down. Sit still and upright. Close your eyes lightly. Sit relaxed but alert. After your act of faith in the reality of God present with you. Interiorly begin to say a simple word or a short phrase. We recommend the prayer phrase ‘Maranatha’. Recite it in four syllables slowly and listen to it as you say it. You can use another word or phrase instead. Some say the holy name of Jesus. Or Abba. Or come Lord Jesus. I know someone who says O God be my Guide. When I started, in 1951 I used the prayer repeated by the desert fathers and mothers: O God, come to my assistance, O Lord, make haste to help me.(Ps 70) but shorter may be better, Do not think of anything or imagine anything at all. Not even holy thoughts. If thoughts come just gently return to your word. If you become aware of silence just start your word. Meditate twice a day.
One of the good fruits of Christian Meditation is the growing awareness that God is love. It is not a matter of how we feel but of an inner conviction of this reality. The very fact that we meditate is an indication that God is at work in our hearts for Jesus has told us: “Without me you can do nothing.” John 15.5
You know we are just common sinners and yet we are so loved. I was delighted when I came across something by Richard Rohr OFM in which he said that redemption precedes everything including repentance. So when by the gift of God we decide to take time to be silent with God, we are willing to let God do the great divine work of love in our hearts. And God is so trustworthy. We can always say with Jesus, in the Garden of Gesthemane, not my will but Yours be done. Or with Mary: behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.
The 12 steps for alcoholics are really profound and based so much on this truth that all is gift, all is grace. And the 11th step leads right into the possibility of the practice of Christian meditation. “sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him. Praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry it out.”
This is why it is always a good thing to begin every session of meditation with a very conscious act of faith in the presence of God and in his great love for us. It can be as simple as saying as directly as possible to God whom we do not see or feel, I believe you are with me, I believe in your great love for us all and for me here and now. You could add, help my unbelief!!
Let us enter into the silence with the conviction and God is, that God is love and his love dwells in our hearts. Let us pray.
Review of How to Meditate:
Sit down. Sit still and upright. Close your eyes lightly. Sit relaxed but alert. After your act of faith in the reality of God present with you. Interiorly begin to say a simple word or a short phrase. We recommend the prayer phrase ‘Maranatha’. Recite it in four syllables slowly and listen to it as you say it. You can use another word or phrase instead. Some say the holy name of Jesus. Or Abba. Or come Lord Jesus. I know someone who says O God be my Guide. When I started, in 1951 I used the prayer repeated by the desert fathers and mothers: O God, come to my assistance, O Lord, make haste to help me.(Ps 70) but shorter may be better, Do not think of anything or imagine anything at all. Not even holy thoughts. If thoughts come just gently return to your word. If you become aware of silence just start your word. Meditate twice a day.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
TheConsolation and Challenge of the HOly Spirit praying in us
We know from Romans 8:26-27 that the Holy Spirit of God prays in us, with groans and sighs:
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
However we are praying, in our weakness or our blindness or our selfishness, the Holy Spirit is praying In us according to the will of God.
This is a great consolation. What matters is that we pray, whether it be a groaning prayer, a rote prayer, any way of praying. We can trust that our prayer is transformed by the Spirit to be in accord with the will of God.
I love the words in Psalm 86:
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
(11-13)
There is also a challenge to us to open our hearts and minds to let God heal our divided hearts. We can spend some time each day praying without an agenda, without seeking to achieve anything, without intending to look good in our own eyes. We sit and say a simple prayer quietly, even repeating it slowly, so that we are open to what God wants to do with us. We accept the mystery that God is truth and beauty and goodness and we entrust our whole being into the hands of God for this short prayer time.
Let us pray.
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
However we are praying, in our weakness or our blindness or our selfishness, the Holy Spirit is praying In us according to the will of God.
This is a great consolation. What matters is that we pray, whether it be a groaning prayer, a rote prayer, any way of praying. We can trust that our prayer is transformed by the Spirit to be in accord with the will of God.
I love the words in Psalm 86:
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
(11-13)
There is also a challenge to us to open our hearts and minds to let God heal our divided hearts. We can spend some time each day praying without an agenda, without seeking to achieve anything, without intending to look good in our own eyes. We sit and say a simple prayer quietly, even repeating it slowly, so that we are open to what God wants to do with us. We accept the mystery that God is truth and beauty and goodness and we entrust our whole being into the hands of God for this short prayer time.
Let us pray.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Awaiting Ascension
Fix your minds on the things that are above, and not on the things of earth. Col 3.2
For you have died and your life is hidden with God.
This suggestion about how to live our lives is preceded by this: If then, you have risen with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Col 3;1
Seated at the right hand of God. This image is from Psalm 110 which I never paid much attention to until I realized that the phrase is threaded through the New Testament. (Mark 12:35-37; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:3,13; 1Peter 3:22 It is in our creed.
We hardly pay attention to it. Perhaps it expresses a mystery too deep for words? St. Thomas Aquinas O.P. writes that it does not mean a physical place at all. But it means the glory and power and love that is God, which Christ shares because he is True God as well as true man.
And having said this we are still dealing in mystery. But the additional thought of Aquinas is that the glory of God and the reality that God is love means the Jesus shares this and so will we. In fact he goes on the say the we have this gift from Baptism. By Baptism he says we have risen with Christ. In another place in the New Testament it says that Jesus having joy before him endured the cross. I guess this is true for us when our faith is strong. We are able to endure sorrows confusions and miseries because we are sure of God’s love, which is the source of all joy.
As Rene Voilaume wrote: Joy is the instantaneous fruit of a look of faith at Jesus. When we start to meditate let us always call to mind that
For you have died and your life is hidden with God.
This suggestion about how to live our lives is preceded by this: If then, you have risen with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Col 3;1
Seated at the right hand of God. This image is from Psalm 110 which I never paid much attention to until I realized that the phrase is threaded through the New Testament. (Mark 12:35-37; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:3,13; 1Peter 3:22 It is in our creed.
We hardly pay attention to it. Perhaps it expresses a mystery too deep for words? St. Thomas Aquinas O.P. writes that it does not mean a physical place at all. But it means the glory and power and love that is God, which Christ shares because he is True God as well as true man.
And having said this we are still dealing in mystery. But the additional thought of Aquinas is that the glory of God and the reality that God is love means the Jesus shares this and so will we. In fact he goes on the say the we have this gift from Baptism. By Baptism he says we have risen with Christ. In another place in the New Testament it says that Jesus having joy before him endured the cross. I guess this is true for us when our faith is strong. We are able to endure sorrows confusions and miseries because we are sure of God’s love, which is the source of all joy.
As Rene Voilaume wrote: Joy is the instantaneous fruit of a look of faith at Jesus. When we start to meditate let us always call to mind that
Friday, April 04, 2008
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Phil.4:4
April 2, 2008
This is the theme of these 50 days of Easter, and really of any Christian life. For by His Resurrection, Jesus has shown us that love and goodness are the real powers on earth. That is why Jesus could say to us: Have confidence I have overcome the world.
By his resurrection Jesus had released us from three great burdens.
1.Fear of death because we know we have a future. Death is only a phase of life. I remember going to the beach one time and we passed some swings where just one boy was swinging. As he was swinging he was saying in a sing song voice: “I’m going through a phase, I’m going through a phase.” am reminding myself of this as I realize that I am aging.
2.The burden of guilt – guilt over what we have done and what we have failed to do. How released? By the 100% forgiveness granted by Jesus. His rising to new life confirmed his words of forgiveness.
3. The burden of self-centeredness. Released by the power of the love of God pours into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
What can we do to become more attentive to these realities? To wake up to this great love? Pray always says St. Paul.
We usually pray on Sundays with the community for that is a practice right from the beginning after the Resurrection of Jesus. We pray with the Scriptures. We seek the help of God and ask for what we need. But we also need to just sit in silence and let God do with us what He wills. This is what we do when we meditate or center. We sit without an agenda, and repeat a prayer word or phrase. Whenever our mind wanders, as it will, we just come back to our prayer quietly. Let us meditate.
This is the theme of these 50 days of Easter, and really of any Christian life. For by His Resurrection, Jesus has shown us that love and goodness are the real powers on earth. That is why Jesus could say to us: Have confidence I have overcome the world.
By his resurrection Jesus had released us from three great burdens.
1.Fear of death because we know we have a future. Death is only a phase of life. I remember going to the beach one time and we passed some swings where just one boy was swinging. As he was swinging he was saying in a sing song voice: “I’m going through a phase, I’m going through a phase.” am reminding myself of this as I realize that I am aging.
2.The burden of guilt – guilt over what we have done and what we have failed to do. How released? By the 100% forgiveness granted by Jesus. His rising to new life confirmed his words of forgiveness.
3. The burden of self-centeredness. Released by the power of the love of God pours into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
What can we do to become more attentive to these realities? To wake up to this great love? Pray always says St. Paul.
We usually pray on Sundays with the community for that is a practice right from the beginning after the Resurrection of Jesus. We pray with the Scriptures. We seek the help of God and ask for what we need. But we also need to just sit in silence and let God do with us what He wills. This is what we do when we meditate or center. We sit without an agenda, and repeat a prayer word or phrase. Whenever our mind wanders, as it will, we just come back to our prayer quietly. Let us meditate.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Quietness and trust will be our strength
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30
This quote is in a chapter where God is berating the people for trusting in any group or people or in possessions of any kind to save them. Good quote for Lent.
First, returning. A time when traditionally we “give up” something for lent, when we let go of some attitude or practice that we have come to realize is not good
Then Rest. I wondered how this fits into Lent, but then I thought how many of us are either overextended in all kinds of busyness. Or our minds are like monkeys always chattering, so rest could mean we seek to give our brains a rest and just take up the practice of a walking prayer,
In Quietness. There are two aspects of this that could help us and one is that we provide ourselves with more quiet time, when we set aside time for prayer or spiritual reading, or just star gazing! The other is that we actually pray!
But the best is trust. to affirm to God that we do indeed trust in the love that God has for us. That we know that God wants only what is for our good. That we let go of anxiety and substitute a prayer of trust whenever we feel ourselves anxious.
We do all of this when we take the time for Christian meditation or centering prayer. Twice a day is best. We set aside the time. We sit and call to mind the reality of the Presence of God who is always present, always sustaining us in life by his love, never far off no matter how we feel. We choose a simple prayer word like Maranatha, or the Holy Name, and just keep saying it and come back to this prayer whenever we realize our mind has wandered off on anything else at all.
We are just entrusting our lives to God as Jesus did when He prayed: Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Quietness and trust will be our strength.
In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30
This quote is in a chapter where God is berating the people for trusting in any group or people or in possessions of any kind to save them. Good quote for Lent.
First, returning. A time when traditionally we “give up” something for lent, when we let go of some attitude or practice that we have come to realize is not good
Then Rest. I wondered how this fits into Lent, but then I thought how many of us are either overextended in all kinds of busyness. Or our minds are like monkeys always chattering, so rest could mean we seek to give our brains a rest and just take up the practice of a walking prayer,
In Quietness. There are two aspects of this that could help us and one is that we provide ourselves with more quiet time, when we set aside time for prayer or spiritual reading, or just star gazing! The other is that we actually pray!
But the best is trust. to affirm to God that we do indeed trust in the love that God has for us. That we know that God wants only what is for our good. That we let go of anxiety and substitute a prayer of trust whenever we feel ourselves anxious.
We do all of this when we take the time for Christian meditation or centering prayer. Twice a day is best. We set aside the time. We sit and call to mind the reality of the Presence of God who is always present, always sustaining us in life by his love, never far off no matter how we feel. We choose a simple prayer word like Maranatha, or the Holy Name, and just keep saying it and come back to this prayer whenever we realize our mind has wandered off on anything else at all.
We are just entrusting our lives to God as Jesus did when He prayed: Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Quietness and trust will be our strength.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Rooted in God who is Love
Thomas Merton sometimes wrote about how we are caught in a kind of collective hypnosis. Because mostly we look at life through the eyes of others. It is how we learn as children. But at some point in life we are invited to look at life through the eyes of God. Looking through the eyes of other humans what we see is given value by them. Looking through the eyes of God gives us a different view. One way to do this is to pray with the New Testament. Another way is by Christian Meditation.
When we take up the practice of meditation or centering prayer, we are letting God lead us in ways we know not, but we go in trust.
What gifts are entrusted to God for the space of 20 or 30 minutes?
our ability to think
our capacity to love each other
our creative talent
Our imagination
What difficulties are we entrusting to God during this time?
all our worries and concerns
our fears about ourselves and our families and our world
All our physical miseries
What do we let go of?
the illusion that my own mind, so gifted, can figure
everything out
the illusion that my own good will by itself can cure
anything
the illusion that I am the master of my fate
the illusion that humans can bring about peace and justice on their own
the illusion that humans will always have the right views for me
Taking the attention off ourselves for 30 minutes in this way of praying "may not be exciting, but it is rewarding. It may not be dramatic but it does take courage. It may not challenge our mind but it challenges our fascination with ourselves." (source unknown)
Why meditate? So to entrust our lives to God that we let God have a free hand in our inmost being where God, in His wondrous love, works to transform us into love.
When we take up the practice of meditation or centering prayer, we are letting God lead us in ways we know not, but we go in trust.
What gifts are entrusted to God for the space of 20 or 30 minutes?
our ability to think
our capacity to love each other
our creative talent
Our imagination
What difficulties are we entrusting to God during this time?
all our worries and concerns
our fears about ourselves and our families and our world
All our physical miseries
What do we let go of?
the illusion that my own mind, so gifted, can figure
everything out
the illusion that my own good will by itself can cure
anything
the illusion that I am the master of my fate
the illusion that humans can bring about peace and justice on their own
the illusion that humans will always have the right views for me
Taking the attention off ourselves for 30 minutes in this way of praying "may not be exciting, but it is rewarding. It may not be dramatic but it does take courage. It may not challenge our mind but it challenges our fascination with ourselves." (source unknown)
Why meditate? So to entrust our lives to God that we let God have a free hand in our inmost being where God, in His wondrous love, works to transform us into love.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
"Attentive to what is – the supreme reality of God’s Presence."
One message of the Benedictine John Main is that to be aware and attentive to the Presence of God, we must learn to stop thinking about ourselves. That is why he so strongly recommends Christian Meditation. As we sit in silence and repeat a prayer word, we give our attention to the prayer word as a way of taking attention off ourselves. All the while, as we have made that act of faith in the reality of the Presence of God, we are just letting God work in our hearts to wake us up to the love which God has for us.
This is a journey for everyone!. It is simple. It is an act of trust in the love that God has for us. And it is good to remember that St. Paul has told us that the Holy Spirit prays in us. Often with ‘groaning". I remember one time after my mother was in her 90’s I heard her groaning and I rushed to her room. She just said: Oh I am all right, I was just having a groaning prayer.
So whenever we pray and ini whatever way, the Holy Spirit is praying in us and for us. We do not need to fear. What we need is persistence. Say your chosen prayer word or phrase, over and over and come back to it whenever you find yourself thinking about anything! This is the journey of our whole life. To go from self-concern to God-concern, to profound trust which flows from faith in the love God has for us.
I want to share a well-known prayer of St.Ignatius. He wrote it first in Latin and often said it in Latin so you will see a difference from the one translated from the Spanish. I might add also that early Church Fathers thought grace was relly the uncreated Energy of God What a gift!
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and all my will, - all that I have and possess. You, Lord, have given them all to me. I now give it back to you, O Lord. All of it is yours. Dispose of it according to your will. Give me love of yourself along with your grace for that is sufficient for me.
This is a journey for everyone!. It is simple. It is an act of trust in the love that God has for us. And it is good to remember that St. Paul has told us that the Holy Spirit prays in us. Often with ‘groaning". I remember one time after my mother was in her 90’s I heard her groaning and I rushed to her room. She just said: Oh I am all right, I was just having a groaning prayer.
So whenever we pray and ini whatever way, the Holy Spirit is praying in us and for us. We do not need to fear. What we need is persistence. Say your chosen prayer word or phrase, over and over and come back to it whenever you find yourself thinking about anything! This is the journey of our whole life. To go from self-concern to God-concern, to profound trust which flows from faith in the love God has for us.
I want to share a well-known prayer of St.Ignatius. He wrote it first in Latin and often said it in Latin so you will see a difference from the one translated from the Spanish. I might add also that early Church Fathers thought grace was relly the uncreated Energy of God What a gift!
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and all my will, - all that I have and possess. You, Lord, have given them all to me. I now give it back to you, O Lord. All of it is yours. Dispose of it according to your will. Give me love of yourself along with your grace for that is sufficient for me.
Monday, January 07, 2008
the presence of freedom
"However great be the beauty of something from God, it is not acclaimed if freedom is not present." 6th century Syrian Catholic Poet Jacob Sureg
Until the 7th century, the Syriac language was widely used among the early Christians. It was the language closest to the Aramaic that Jesus and those with him spoke. Lately we have had some of those early writings translated into English and we see a fascinating way of telling about the Gospel stories. They sang hymns in Church that were dialogues between people in the Bible. So in one dialogue song about Mary we see her in a dialogue with Gabriel and we see that these early Christians "understood Mary’s obedience to mean that she made her choice by her own intelligent free will." For example in one song, God gives advice to Gabriel, "Do not stand up to Mary or argue. For she is stronger that you in argument, Do not speak too many words to her, for she is stronger that you in her replies….If she starts to question you closely, disclose to her the mystery and then be off.
Yes, Mary had freedom of thought and speech and this was paradoxically combined with her unwavering acceptance of God’s word. "Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word." God, in wisdom, needs our consent. In Mary, God who had so graced her, also found this freedom to say Yes to the work of God
A great prayer to say before we meditate. This is a way to say Yes to God!
Now St. Augustine said to God: "our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O God." this is the reality we seek: to experience the mystery of God. And yet we need to be very sure that it is not ourselves who create or can give ourselves this experience. All is grace. That is, all good is given to us gratuitously. Unearned, unmerited, unachieved, without our control. Mary freely chose. It is amazing that we are indeed free to say yes to God. Remember how St. Paul says: one plants, one waters, but only God gives the increase.
How shall we open our hearts to the gratuitous giving by God? One good way is to meditate daily. We are busy people. We have responsibilities. Yet we have come apart for silent prayer. We also may have many intentions. People we care about for whom we pray. The world in all its warring and hatreds and imagined needs for getting even. So in need of the blessing of God and yet so often not ready at all to hear. Our own need for forgivenees, our need to learn to trust in God.
How shall we be receivers? How shall we let go of preoccupation with ourselves as the Pope said.
One way is to make the time and take the time for Christian Meditation. We set aside two periods each day. When we sit down to pray, we must indeed remind ourselves that God is with us. Not just the written prayer, but an inner personal acknowledgment of the presence of God. As Ps 23; thou art with me, thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Here with attention to the reality of the Presence of God, we let go of all preoccupations. We entrust all to God. we do not bring an agenda to God. We simply say with Mary: Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.
Until the 7th century, the Syriac language was widely used among the early Christians. It was the language closest to the Aramaic that Jesus and those with him spoke. Lately we have had some of those early writings translated into English and we see a fascinating way of telling about the Gospel stories. They sang hymns in Church that were dialogues between people in the Bible. So in one dialogue song about Mary we see her in a dialogue with Gabriel and we see that these early Christians "understood Mary’s obedience to mean that she made her choice by her own intelligent free will." For example in one song, God gives advice to Gabriel, "Do not stand up to Mary or argue. For she is stronger that you in argument, Do not speak too many words to her, for she is stronger that you in her replies….If she starts to question you closely, disclose to her the mystery and then be off.
Yes, Mary had freedom of thought and speech and this was paradoxically combined with her unwavering acceptance of God’s word. "Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word." God, in wisdom, needs our consent. In Mary, God who had so graced her, also found this freedom to say Yes to the work of God
A great prayer to say before we meditate. This is a way to say Yes to God!
Now St. Augustine said to God: "our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O God." this is the reality we seek: to experience the mystery of God. And yet we need to be very sure that it is not ourselves who create or can give ourselves this experience. All is grace. That is, all good is given to us gratuitously. Unearned, unmerited, unachieved, without our control. Mary freely chose. It is amazing that we are indeed free to say yes to God. Remember how St. Paul says: one plants, one waters, but only God gives the increase.
How shall we open our hearts to the gratuitous giving by God? One good way is to meditate daily. We are busy people. We have responsibilities. Yet we have come apart for silent prayer. We also may have many intentions. People we care about for whom we pray. The world in all its warring and hatreds and imagined needs for getting even. So in need of the blessing of God and yet so often not ready at all to hear. Our own need for forgivenees, our need to learn to trust in God.
How shall we be receivers? How shall we let go of preoccupation with ourselves as the Pope said.
One way is to make the time and take the time for Christian Meditation. We set aside two periods each day. When we sit down to pray, we must indeed remind ourselves that God is with us. Not just the written prayer, but an inner personal acknowledgment of the presence of God. As Ps 23; thou art with me, thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Here with attention to the reality of the Presence of God, we let go of all preoccupations. We entrust all to God. we do not bring an agenda to God. We simply say with Mary: Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
"He has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant." LK 1:48
Somehow in the night I began thinking about the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Christmas cards often picture them with a donkey but they may well have gone the whole way on foot. When they got there the inn was full so they had to make do with the covering of a stable. Their position in the world was lowly. And we know from all that Mary said and did that she had no other desire except to do the will of God. ( I remember this phrase: "have not other desire except to do the Will of God" from my youthful reading of John of the Cross!)
"Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word." Luke 1:38. Mary was poor in spirit. She knew well that all is gift. She received love from God with an open heart her whole life. This love made her strong in adversity so that she stood by the cross of Jesus. And she did not abandon the disciples of Jesus after he died. I think we can presume with St. Ignatius that she was there when Jesus rose from the dead. And she was there in the Cenacle after the Ascension. Acts 1:14
It seems to me that she was wholeheartedly poor in spirit and obviously also actually poor without complaint. "Blessed are the poor in spirit theirs is the kingdom of God." Mt 5:3. How is it possible for us to be poor in spirit? I think it is the work of God in us when we walk in the faith that God has loved us, is loving us, and will always love us. It is good to remind ourselves of this reality. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. ‘ This gratuitous giving is what we are celebrating on Christmas. And every day really.
When we sit in silence and recognize that God is present, our constant companion, and then simply say a prayer word or phrase over and over, we are trusting all to God. We come to God without an agenda. We come without telling God what we need or what to do. We just trust all to God. This is a time to let God work in our hearts as God wills. With Mary, we say "behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word."
Our part is to take the time to pray. This is the watering of our faith. And to remember that it is God who gives the increase. God who does the transforming, in secret, and in great love. Freely.
Let us meditate.
"Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word." Luke 1:38. Mary was poor in spirit. She knew well that all is gift. She received love from God with an open heart her whole life. This love made her strong in adversity so that she stood by the cross of Jesus. And she did not abandon the disciples of Jesus after he died. I think we can presume with St. Ignatius that she was there when Jesus rose from the dead. And she was there in the Cenacle after the Ascension. Acts 1:14
It seems to me that she was wholeheartedly poor in spirit and obviously also actually poor without complaint. "Blessed are the poor in spirit theirs is the kingdom of God." Mt 5:3. How is it possible for us to be poor in spirit? I think it is the work of God in us when we walk in the faith that God has loved us, is loving us, and will always love us. It is good to remind ourselves of this reality. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. ‘ This gratuitous giving is what we are celebrating on Christmas. And every day really.
When we sit in silence and recognize that God is present, our constant companion, and then simply say a prayer word or phrase over and over, we are trusting all to God. We come to God without an agenda. We come without telling God what we need or what to do. We just trust all to God. This is a time to let God work in our hearts as God wills. With Mary, we say "behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word."
Our part is to take the time to pray. This is the watering of our faith. And to remember that it is God who gives the increase. God who does the transforming, in secret, and in great love. Freely.
Let us meditate.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Silence and the Presence of God
Real prayer comes from faith: faith in the reality of God, "in whom we live and move and have our being." We can make an act of faith in God, saying we believe He is present. We need to do this very often.
John of the Cross said in one letter "You owe it to your heart to give it this peace and stillness, since your heart is a place where the Spirit is pleased to dwell."
He also writes of "the Spirit’s constant presence." Now it seems to me that God desires our company more than we desire the constant company of God, because God never takes his love and attention from us. Think of Jesus saying "Abide in me as I abide in you." All of us enjoy loving relationships with other humans. And all of us actually have a loving relationship with God.
What matters then is that we give more attention to this reality. We do this in many ways. One important way is to develop the habit of a walking prayer. Saying a short prayer as we go about our day hither and yon. Another is to try our best to pray the Liturgy, really say those prayers those words we are all saying to God. And then as John of the Cross says. Provide your lives with stillness. In Liturgy at St. Augustine, there is also stillness times when it is good to pray, not just ogle the crowd…
We provide ourselves with stillness in Christian Meditation or Centering Prayer. We use a prayer word or phrase because that keeps us attentive and keeps us from just being '‘spacey'. Or filled with restless thinking. We want to be mindful that we are with God in the stillness no matter how we are feeling. Whether we feel nothing or are up or are down, we cling to the fact that God is with us sustaining us in life, loving us and calling us to walk in faith.
We walk by faith. Faith in the constant presence of the Holy Spirit, faith in the love that God has proved to us by the life and death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Like the children’s song, we need to say O God I believe in your dear love for me.
John of the Cross said in one letter "You owe it to your heart to give it this peace and stillness, since your heart is a place where the Spirit is pleased to dwell."
He also writes of "the Spirit’s constant presence." Now it seems to me that God desires our company more than we desire the constant company of God, because God never takes his love and attention from us. Think of Jesus saying "Abide in me as I abide in you." All of us enjoy loving relationships with other humans. And all of us actually have a loving relationship with God.
What matters then is that we give more attention to this reality. We do this in many ways. One important way is to develop the habit of a walking prayer. Saying a short prayer as we go about our day hither and yon. Another is to try our best to pray the Liturgy, really say those prayers those words we are all saying to God. And then as John of the Cross says. Provide your lives with stillness. In Liturgy at St. Augustine, there is also stillness times when it is good to pray, not just ogle the crowd…
We provide ourselves with stillness in Christian Meditation or Centering Prayer. We use a prayer word or phrase because that keeps us attentive and keeps us from just being '‘spacey'. Or filled with restless thinking. We want to be mindful that we are with God in the stillness no matter how we are feeling. Whether we feel nothing or are up or are down, we cling to the fact that God is with us sustaining us in life, loving us and calling us to walk in faith.
We walk by faith. Faith in the constant presence of the Holy Spirit, faith in the love that God has proved to us by the life and death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Like the children’s song, we need to say O God I believe in your dear love for me.
Monday, November 19, 2007
For the wisdom of the wise is doomed. Is 29:14
I read in the NYTimes on Monday that there is a new book out by a former Christian who writes that all the suffering in the world proves that the Bible is wrong and there is no God. It is a so-called learned book because he is very familiar with the Bible and had memorized whole sections of the Gospels when he was young. Then I remembered a passage from St. Paul
1Cor. 1:20-25. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Now there are times when Christians who believe still want signs or want some way to have complete understanding of suffering. Jesus says no sign will be given except that of Jonah in the whale… the Resurrection of Jesus. And Jesus once cried out loud in prayer:
Lk.10:21 I thank you, Father, for you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little ones.
Do we too ask why me? Why my loved one? Or are we content to be little? To walk by faith and not by sight? Are we convinced that our crucified Christ is indeed the power of God and the wisdom of God? The witness to this reality is the resurrection. When we say Amen, we are saying yes to the Will of God. We need to ask God to sustain this yes in us as He did in Mary. Her yes at the beginning went on steadfastly to the foot of the Cross, to the resurrection , to the Cenacle where all were filled with the Holy Spirit. We are Christians not just for our own sake but the sake of bringing the good news to others.
When we meditate, quietly giving our attention to a prayer phrase repeated for about 30 minutes,, we are consenting to our ‘litheness’, consenting to walk by faith. We trust in the power and the wisdom of God – at least for this time – and hope God will have mercy on us and do what He wills in us..
1Cor. 1:20-25. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Now there are times when Christians who believe still want signs or want some way to have complete understanding of suffering. Jesus says no sign will be given except that of Jonah in the whale… the Resurrection of Jesus. And Jesus once cried out loud in prayer:
Lk.10:21 I thank you, Father, for you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little ones.
Do we too ask why me? Why my loved one? Or are we content to be little? To walk by faith and not by sight? Are we convinced that our crucified Christ is indeed the power of God and the wisdom of God? The witness to this reality is the resurrection. When we say Amen, we are saying yes to the Will of God. We need to ask God to sustain this yes in us as He did in Mary. Her yes at the beginning went on steadfastly to the foot of the Cross, to the resurrection , to the Cenacle where all were filled with the Holy Spirit. We are Christians not just for our own sake but the sake of bringing the good news to others.
When we meditate, quietly giving our attention to a prayer phrase repeated for about 30 minutes,, we are consenting to our ‘litheness’, consenting to walk by faith. We trust in the power and the wisdom of God – at least for this time – and hope God will have mercy on us and do what He wills in us..
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Free us Lord from our blind spots
"Free us, Jesus, from our inner Pharisee, from every inclination to self-righteousness, from every notion of being morally superior, from every tone of voice, every gesture or glance that could shame others or flatter ourselves. Let no cause, no matter how worthy, seduce us into idolizing ourselves or demonizing others. In a world where so many feel isolated and alone, let us be builders, nor destroyers, of bridges. Teach us how to admit and overcome our blind spots.” Bishop Ken Untener
As I reflected on these words of Bishp Untener,I thought that it remains terribly true that people of every religion, every race, every nation, every language, have engaged in horrendous evils. And yet our true response surely is not the trivial feeling of moral superiority. Rather, such evils ought to sadden us, and impel us to examine what seeds of violence lie hidden within our own selves. We will not make much headway in building bridges by trying to make someone else feel inferior. And yet for some of us, in small ways and out of weakness in ourselves, we do this to others.
There is a time and place for political action. There is a time and place for reflection and prayer.
So we meditate. We stand in need of the mercy of God and meditation is a way to open our hearts to the transforming love of God. God looks on us with such tender mercy. And God does indeed will our healing. Even more wonderful, it is well to realize that this standing naked before God in meditation is of more value to the world and to our neighbor than anything else we could do.
How do we know this? Because Our Savior Jesus Christ Our Lord, prayed. And he continued to pray even during the hours he was on the receiving end of horrendous evils, during his suffering and dying and death.
Was not his response to evil one of love? To the thief: This day you will be with me in paradise. And then: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. It seems to me that this was said first to those who cricufied him but also to all of us sinners.
Let us meditate in great trust. When we come before God without an agenda, without having to think up things to say to God, but simply opening our hearts to God and saying our prayer word as a symbol and a reminder that we are in the hands of God. By meditation we create a space in the universe where God is allowed to freely work his mercy and love. We seek to place no obstacle in the way of the peace which God wants to give us. At least for this ½ hour!
As I reflected on these words of Bishp Untener,I thought that it remains terribly true that people of every religion, every race, every nation, every language, have engaged in horrendous evils. And yet our true response surely is not the trivial feeling of moral superiority. Rather, such evils ought to sadden us, and impel us to examine what seeds of violence lie hidden within our own selves. We will not make much headway in building bridges by trying to make someone else feel inferior. And yet for some of us, in small ways and out of weakness in ourselves, we do this to others.
There is a time and place for political action. There is a time and place for reflection and prayer.
So we meditate. We stand in need of the mercy of God and meditation is a way to open our hearts to the transforming love of God. God looks on us with such tender mercy. And God does indeed will our healing. Even more wonderful, it is well to realize that this standing naked before God in meditation is of more value to the world and to our neighbor than anything else we could do.
How do we know this? Because Our Savior Jesus Christ Our Lord, prayed. And he continued to pray even during the hours he was on the receiving end of horrendous evils, during his suffering and dying and death.
Was not his response to evil one of love? To the thief: This day you will be with me in paradise. And then: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. It seems to me that this was said first to those who cricufied him but also to all of us sinners.
Let us meditate in great trust. When we come before God without an agenda, without having to think up things to say to God, but simply opening our hearts to God and saying our prayer word as a symbol and a reminder that we are in the hands of God. By meditation we create a space in the universe where God is allowed to freely work his mercy and love. We seek to place no obstacle in the way of the peace which God wants to give us. At least for this ½ hour!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
We have come to believe in the Love God has for us. 1 John
This is the foundation of what it means to be a Christian at all. To believe in God’s love. And this is to say that we walk in mystery.
We do not know the future. We do not know the whole of our own lives. We hardly realize that there are depths to our own being, those caverns within.
Because we believe, we can turn to the life of Jesus and see how trusting Jesus was in the love the Father had and has for Him. We can see that the Spirit led Jesus. We can see that Jesus could feel agony as in the Garden, and really desire to be free of suffering, and still submit Himself with perfect love to the mysterious and unsearchable ways of God in human life. This trust can be ours too, and with it goes the great virtue of Hope.
Hope deals with our memory. Without memory of our past we would be lost and would not know who we are. Se we don’t discard memory. Yet memories of our past definitely affect the present. Memories can feed resentment, feed anger and aggression, promote unmanageable desires, and false pride. They can tyrannize our emotions.
We need to ask God to show us how to unhook from memories that get us all worked up. And what about the other role of memory which makes us anxious about the future? “Do not be anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow with be anxious for itself. Let the day's own troubles be sufficient for that day. The build up of anxiety or worry which problems or crises bring in no way help to bring about a better situation. Makes us worse off.
Hope is that refreshing realization that Jesus rose from the dead/ That there is a future of goodness for us, that sorrows or evil do not have the last word at all.
When we take the time to meditate or center, we are taking the time to entrust our whole life to the mystery of the love God has for us. Meditation is a path to increasing trust and hope and so to more peaceful living. As Jesus says to us, too, My peace I give you, not as the world gives peace. Not in any form of violence, but in coming to believe in the love God has for us.
Let is meditate.
We do not know the future. We do not know the whole of our own lives. We hardly realize that there are depths to our own being, those caverns within.
Because we believe, we can turn to the life of Jesus and see how trusting Jesus was in the love the Father had and has for Him. We can see that the Spirit led Jesus. We can see that Jesus could feel agony as in the Garden, and really desire to be free of suffering, and still submit Himself with perfect love to the mysterious and unsearchable ways of God in human life. This trust can be ours too, and with it goes the great virtue of Hope.
Hope deals with our memory. Without memory of our past we would be lost and would not know who we are. Se we don’t discard memory. Yet memories of our past definitely affect the present. Memories can feed resentment, feed anger and aggression, promote unmanageable desires, and false pride. They can tyrannize our emotions.
We need to ask God to show us how to unhook from memories that get us all worked up. And what about the other role of memory which makes us anxious about the future? “Do not be anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow with be anxious for itself. Let the day's own troubles be sufficient for that day. The build up of anxiety or worry which problems or crises bring in no way help to bring about a better situation. Makes us worse off.
Hope is that refreshing realization that Jesus rose from the dead/ That there is a future of goodness for us, that sorrows or evil do not have the last word at all.
When we take the time to meditate or center, we are taking the time to entrust our whole life to the mystery of the love God has for us. Meditation is a path to increasing trust and hope and so to more peaceful living. As Jesus says to us, too, My peace I give you, not as the world gives peace. Not in any form of violence, but in coming to believe in the love God has for us.
Let is meditate.
The consolation and the challenge of the Holy Spirit praying in us
We know from Romans 8:26-27 that the Holy Spirit of God prays in us, with groans and sighs
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us' with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
However we are praying, in our weakness or our blindness or our selfishness, the Holy Spirit is praying in us according to the will of God..
This is a great consolation. What matters is that we pray, whether it be a groaning prayer, a rote prayer, any way of praying. We can trust that our prayer is transformed by the Spirit to be in accord with the will of God. I love the words in Psalm 86:
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
There is also a challenge to us to open our hearts and minds to let God heal our divided hearts. And in Christian Meditation or centering prayer, we just sit without an agenda,, without seeking to achieve anything, without intending to look good in our own eyes. We sit and say a simple prayer phrase or word over and over gently, quietly so that we are open to what God wants to do with us. We accept the mystery that God is truth and beauty and goodness and we entrust our whole being into the hands of God for this 20-30 minutes.
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us' with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
However we are praying, in our weakness or our blindness or our selfishness, the Holy Spirit is praying in us according to the will of God..
This is a great consolation. What matters is that we pray, whether it be a groaning prayer, a rote prayer, any way of praying. We can trust that our prayer is transformed by the Spirit to be in accord with the will of God. I love the words in Psalm 86:
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
There is also a challenge to us to open our hearts and minds to let God heal our divided hearts. And in Christian Meditation or centering prayer, we just sit without an agenda,, without seeking to achieve anything, without intending to look good in our own eyes. We sit and say a simple prayer phrase or word over and over gently, quietly so that we are open to what God wants to do with us. We accept the mystery that God is truth and beauty and goodness and we entrust our whole being into the hands of God for this 20-30 minutes.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
"The Spirit prays in us"
“This is the holiest consolation in our prayer.” Karl Rahner, S.J.
Do read Romans 8 this week where we see that the Spirit prays in us. The Spirit of God does not depend on the quality of our prayer to pray in us. Rather the Spirit goes on praying in us with a Divine Energy that gives glory to God. And as Paul then says, the Spirit always prays according to the Will of God for us.
Remember in one resurrection scene, Jesus breathes on the disciples and says: “ Receive the Holy Spirit.” And then exhorts them to forgive sins. Without mutual forgiveness there can be no peace among us, or in our own hearts. He had said to them: just before this:: My peace I give to you. Earlier in John’s Gospel we find Jesus talking about giving peace. There he was quite specific. “My own peace I give to you, a peace that the world cannot give. This is my gift to you.” John 14:27. So Jesus in breathing upon us his Holy Spirit, gives peace in our hearts even when we are feeling otherwise. If we connect these sayings of Jesus and look at our human life, we can know for sure that getting even, holding grudges, even in so-called little ways, or making war, are totally failing ways to get peace. Then we remember that the Spirit of God prays in us and we know that within us is the divine energy to live the way of peace that Jesus showed us by his words and by his life.
Now just think of this: When we pray, the Spirit of God, praying in us and with us, gives immense dignity to our prayer. However poorly we imagine we are doing when we pray, because the Spirit of God is praying in us, our prayer becomes wonderful to God. This is why Paul tell us to pray always. And this is why it is of such value to meditate twice a day and to develop the habit of a walking prayer.
One way to remind ourselves of this gift of God is to make our meditation prayer or our centering a breath prayer. Say your prayer word or prayer phrase on your breath. Giving attention to both your breath and your word. E.g. Breathing in – Ma; breathing out – ra-na-tha..
As Rahner also says: “because (the Spirit) helps, our prayer is a piece of the melody that rushes through the heavens, an aroma of incense that sweetly rises to the eternal altars of heaven before the Triune God. Let us pray.
Do read Romans 8 this week where we see that the Spirit prays in us. The Spirit of God does not depend on the quality of our prayer to pray in us. Rather the Spirit goes on praying in us with a Divine Energy that gives glory to God. And as Paul then says, the Spirit always prays according to the Will of God for us.
Remember in one resurrection scene, Jesus breathes on the disciples and says: “ Receive the Holy Spirit.” And then exhorts them to forgive sins. Without mutual forgiveness there can be no peace among us, or in our own hearts. He had said to them: just before this:: My peace I give to you. Earlier in John’s Gospel we find Jesus talking about giving peace. There he was quite specific. “My own peace I give to you, a peace that the world cannot give. This is my gift to you.” John 14:27. So Jesus in breathing upon us his Holy Spirit, gives peace in our hearts even when we are feeling otherwise. If we connect these sayings of Jesus and look at our human life, we can know for sure that getting even, holding grudges, even in so-called little ways, or making war, are totally failing ways to get peace. Then we remember that the Spirit of God prays in us and we know that within us is the divine energy to live the way of peace that Jesus showed us by his words and by his life.
Now just think of this: When we pray, the Spirit of God, praying in us and with us, gives immense dignity to our prayer. However poorly we imagine we are doing when we pray, because the Spirit of God is praying in us, our prayer becomes wonderful to God. This is why Paul tell us to pray always. And this is why it is of such value to meditate twice a day and to develop the habit of a walking prayer.
One way to remind ourselves of this gift of God is to make our meditation prayer or our centering a breath prayer. Say your prayer word or prayer phrase on your breath. Giving attention to both your breath and your word. E.g. Breathing in – Ma; breathing out – ra-na-tha..
As Rahner also says: “because (the Spirit) helps, our prayer is a piece of the melody that rushes through the heavens, an aroma of incense that sweetly rises to the eternal altars of heaven before the Triune God. Let us pray.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
"The Lord is with you" Luke 1:29
These are the words of the Angel to Mary whom that angel addressed as one who enjoyed God’s favor. The angel sounds a bit surprised.
Mary is not surprised about these particular words because she knew that God was with her. We have abundant evidence that Mary was a person of prayer. Mary lived the prayer of the heart.
This reality of the Presence of God with us is central to our faith. I think sometimes we say prayers and this is good, for it leads us to open our hearts to God. and then there is prayer which recognizes the intimacy of the Presence of God.. Sometimes we seek psychological states when the greatest reality is that of the Presence of God who looks upon us with love and desires an intimate relationship with each one of us. As it says in the book of Revelation: Behold I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with you, and you with me.”
Christian Meditation or centering prayer, or breath prayers or walking prayer are all ways to give attention to the reality that God is with us; that we open our hearts and minds to the desire that God has for us. Often we need to say to God: I believe you are with me, I believe you love me and seek my response – you are knocking at my inner door. You are asking me to open to you. Here I am Lord, I come to do your will. Or as Mary said: Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.
God then serves us and so there is no longer servant relationship but we are friends. As Jesus Said -–I no longer call you servant I call you friends.
Let us begin each time of prayer with this profound act of Faith You, God of my heart, are with me. I believe You are here, that I live in you always. And You in me. Let us pray.
Mary is not surprised about these particular words because she knew that God was with her. We have abundant evidence that Mary was a person of prayer. Mary lived the prayer of the heart.
This reality of the Presence of God with us is central to our faith. I think sometimes we say prayers and this is good, for it leads us to open our hearts to God. and then there is prayer which recognizes the intimacy of the Presence of God.. Sometimes we seek psychological states when the greatest reality is that of the Presence of God who looks upon us with love and desires an intimate relationship with each one of us. As it says in the book of Revelation: Behold I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with you, and you with me.”
Christian Meditation or centering prayer, or breath prayers or walking prayer are all ways to give attention to the reality that God is with us; that we open our hearts and minds to the desire that God has for us. Often we need to say to God: I believe you are with me, I believe you love me and seek my response – you are knocking at my inner door. You are asking me to open to you. Here I am Lord, I come to do your will. Or as Mary said: Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.
God then serves us and so there is no longer servant relationship but we are friends. As Jesus Said -–I no longer call you servant I call you friends.
Let us begin each time of prayer with this profound act of Faith You, God of my heart, are with me. I believe You are here, that I live in you always. And You in me. Let us pray.
Monday, September 03, 2007
The Presence of God
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it." ... Brother Lawrence. The Practice of the Presence of God.
This goes right along with what St. Paul tells us: Pray always. Or with what Jesus says to us: Abide in me as I abide in you.
And I was quite delighted to find Karl Rahner saying that since we are to pray always it is also OK to be always talking about prayer.
Continual conversation with God can be so simple. First we must believe that God is with us. That we live and breathe always in the Presence of God. There is never a moment of life that God is not with us because if God were not, we would not even be. Once we take that to heart, it is so simple: just refer all to God in almost any prayer at all that is addressed to God.
There is a certain kind of pride in thinking that we have to wait until we have it just right, or until we have it “all together” We are just human and that is why Jesus says to us Blessed are the poor in spirit’ theirs is the kingdom of God. That is, we just admit our life is a gift, we own nothing that we can take with us. we are not perfect, we are on a journey to fullness, In the meantime, we pray
A walking prayer is a good way to get into praying always. Just find a psalm verse or other short prayer and try saying it when ever you are walking to the car, to a store, from the car. . Up or down a flight of stairs. Standing in line. When you wake in the night. There are multiple opportunities. Just ask like the disciples did: Lord teach us to pray. Or Help me to remember you are with me. Or from Ps 23 Thou art with me.
Or as someone I know does, just keep saying Our Fathers, or Hail Marys.
Let us meditate.
This goes right along with what St. Paul tells us: Pray always. Or with what Jesus says to us: Abide in me as I abide in you.
And I was quite delighted to find Karl Rahner saying that since we are to pray always it is also OK to be always talking about prayer.
Continual conversation with God can be so simple. First we must believe that God is with us. That we live and breathe always in the Presence of God. There is never a moment of life that God is not with us because if God were not, we would not even be. Once we take that to heart, it is so simple: just refer all to God in almost any prayer at all that is addressed to God.
There is a certain kind of pride in thinking that we have to wait until we have it just right, or until we have it “all together” We are just human and that is why Jesus says to us Blessed are the poor in spirit’ theirs is the kingdom of God. That is, we just admit our life is a gift, we own nothing that we can take with us. we are not perfect, we are on a journey to fullness, In the meantime, we pray
A walking prayer is a good way to get into praying always. Just find a psalm verse or other short prayer and try saying it when ever you are walking to the car, to a store, from the car. . Up or down a flight of stairs. Standing in line. When you wake in the night. There are multiple opportunities. Just ask like the disciples did: Lord teach us to pray. Or Help me to remember you are with me. Or from Ps 23 Thou art with me.
Or as someone I know does, just keep saying Our Fathers, or Hail Marys.
Let us meditate.
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