On their website (contemplativeoutreach.org), Contemplative Outreach describes the contemplative practice known as The Welcoming Prayer, and details the guidelines for the practice: The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to events and situations in daily life. The purpose of the Welcoming Prayer is to deepen our...
Any punishment administered in an arbitrary manner is unfair. For example: if speeders driving yellow cars were consistently ticketed, but speeders who drove other colored cars were not ticketed, this would be considered ...
Article 1 - The Death Penalty - Food for Thought The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty. Exceptions were made in the past that did allow for the death penalty. How did this change come about? The Catholic Church teaches “every life is a precious gift from God (Gen 2:7, 21-23). We are created in God’s image and redeemed by Jesus Christ. When St. John Paul II presents the story of Cain and Able in “The Voice of Your Brother’s Blood Cries to Me from the Ground” (Gen 4:10), he reminds us that God did not take Cain’s life as punishment but ...
We offer these excerpts from Fr. Chuck’s previous bulletin articles for Lectio Divina or another form of contemplative reflection or practice, with prayers of love and gratitude for him, his support, and his ministry! “The message of Jesus Christ and the invitation to be his disciples is very much a counter-cultural message… As life becomes even more hectic and fast-paced, the Church's Advent message is ‘Slow Down!’ As stressors build, the message is ‘Be Patient and Wait!’ As we are bombarded with so many things competing for our attention and our time, the message is ‘Is this really that important?’” (12/2/18)
Some thoughts from Pope Francis and United States Catholic Bishops Conference “Can violence achieve any goal of lasting value? . . . Violence is not the cure for our broken world. Countering violence with violence leads at best to forced migrations and enormous suffering, because vast amounts of resources are diverted to military ends and away from the everyday needs of young people, families experiencing hardship, the elderly, the infirm and ...
M. Scott Peck, M.D. begins his book, The Road Less Traveled with a simple sentence. “Life is difficult.” And it is more difficult for those who have witnessed someone being shot or killed. Nightmares flashbacks, anger, frustration, anxiety and feelings that “no place is safe” will change ...
Because we must approach contemplative prayer with no expectations, we should resist the temptation to “assess” our prayer time and the quality of growth in our relationships with God. It is quite human to want to live up to a certain standard in prayer, and so we set goals for our prayer time – a certain number of minutes spent in prayer, perhaps, or a prayer period with no distractions – as well as ...
According to bradyunited.org, gun violence effects the American economy and cost at least $229 billion yearly. Everytownresearch.org places that cost at $557 billion a year. This comes in the form of lower housing values, admissions to hospitals, emergency room visits, lost wages for the employer and employee, criminal justice cost (paying public defenders, ...
Every moment is a potential opportunity for contemplation, and a multitude of practices are potential steps forward into the contemplative ocean. It is perhaps the most daunting aspect of trying to suggest “contemplative practices,” that God permeates and can thus be really and truly encountered in every aspect of living. Those practices that are ...