[We must not] remain barricaded in our certainties . . . Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey? Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual . . . -Pope Francis The words above were...
In contemplative practice, we recognize within ourselves the Spirit of God, the very breath of God, present in us from the moment of our creation (“The LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became...
As the spoken prayer taught most explicitly by Jesus, The Lord’s Prayer (or the “Our Father”) is typically seen as the model par excellence of effective prayer. Embedded within....”
Parishioner Margaret Poirrier shares how changing her relationship with her thoughts helped her to engage in contemplative practice: I’ve been involved with prayer groups for 50 yrs. I had been exposed to Centering Prayer but felt a failure because I was unable to banish my thoughts. When Contemplative prayer was offered here at Mary Mother...
While the fruits of contemplation manifest themselves differently in each person, the common experience of contemplatives tells us that one of the fruits we can reasonably anticipate from regular practice is ...
Benedictine nun and author Joan Chittister addresses the importance of patience in the contemplative life: “O snail,/ climb Mount Fuji/ But slowly, slowly…” the haiku master and lay Buddhist priest Issa writes. The haiku, in its short, sharp way, makes [these] points: [T]here is more to life than...
The notion of heaven requires a corresponding belief that there is an immortal element to creation, something at once intertwined with our material selves and yet...
And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith. – Matthew 13:58 In the passage above from the end of the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we encounter something strange: Jesus is stymied in doing his healing work for the people of his hometown. Most of us think of the power of God as being uninterruptable, and although...
Last week, Bonnie Lebbing shared how contemplative practice has helped her find peace and God’s Presence in the now. This week, parishioner and contemplative practitioner Joy Kleucker offers another classic poem from...
Bonnie Lebbing reflects: I was introduced to Contemplative and Centering Prayer in 2017. At the time, I was searching for peace in my life. Today I know that God answered those prayers. To find peace I needed to stay in the NOW. I needed to be ...
In contemplation, we are called to practice surrender to the now, to what is, whether we perceive “what is” to be good or bad… precisely because we have learned that...
St. Paul directs us to “have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God… humbled himself…” (Phil 2:5-6,8) Contemplative practice is ...
Contemplative practice allows us to see the glory of simply being. The great Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins certainly recognized the Divine Presence in the “dappled things” as they are. Parishioner and contemplative practitioner Joy Kleucker offers this selection in the hopes of aiding our own recognition: PIED BEAUTY Glory be to God for dappled things -- For skies as couple-colored as a...