True contemplation is a gift from God – prayer in which God is the giver and we are the receiver. Trying to define contemplation beyond these statements is difficult, and trying to explain the experience of contemplation is even more difficult, at times impossible. Those new to the world of contemplation will oftentimes experience frustration over a description or explanation that seems “vague” or “confusing.” We must recognize...

The Association of the Miraculous Medal has offered this “Prayer for an Election”: Lord God, as the election approaches, we seek to better understand the issues and concerns that confront our city/state/country, and how the Gospel compels us to ...

Last Saturday, October 19, the Peace and Justice ministry at MMOC presented the second session of The Cost of Violence: Stories Seldom Heard. We received a grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) to defray the costs of...

In honor of All Saints Day, we offer a selection of quotes from the Saints on contemplation: Contemplation of God is the chief good, and is simple and one. – St. John Cassian Prayer ought to be short and pure, unless it be..

Father Dan Riley presents a Franciscan way of practicing Lectio Divina: The “school” I come from—the Franciscan way—found most of its classrooms and books in marketplaces and in the faces of the poor; on the hillsides in mountain seclusion and in the eyes of lepers… Whether it was ...

Contemplative practice is not meant to replace other prayer practices, but rather to be part of a wholistic prayer life in which various prayer forms enrich and enhance each other. Nowhere is this truer than in the relationship between ...