I hope you have had a wonderful and prayerful Lent, and that your Holy Week is likewise a time for reflection and contemplative waiting. Here’s looking forward to Easter —…
Do Contemplatives Need the Church?
A post on this blog received the following comment yesterday: Having been with the Catholic Church and seminary trained for all my 71 years of life. I am naturally contemplative…
Three Approaches to Prayer When the Dry Times Come
A friend of mine posed the following question recently on Facebook: You may have written about this before but how about dry times in prayer? What to do? Does it…
Is There a “Contemplative” Personality Type?
I once heard Richard Rohr tell a charming story of giving a retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Thomas Merton lived. Rohr was surprised to find that not all…
John Cassian: The Leap Year Contemplative
February 29 is the feast day of St. John Cassian — who, in addition to being a “leap year saint” is also one of the most important early contemplatives in…
Seven Blessings of Silent Prayer
Silent prayer — contemplative prayer, what the Catholic Catechism calls “wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God’s greatness and goodness in affective, loving adoration” — is an…
Books and a Film: All About Silence
I would love to attend the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin next month — if for no other reason than to be at the North American premiere of the…
"The Process of Being in Relationship with God"
Okay: to summarize… Spirituality: the process of being in relationship with God. Belief and Wonder: the mental and emotional qualities of being open to the possibility of Divine presence in…
Relational Contemplation
The Christian faith stands on the recognition that God is Love. Therefore, love is the heart of all spirituality, including contemplative prayer. We are called not just to be contemplatives — we…
Is Contemplation Dangerous?
Contemplation: is it the key to happiness — or a path to holiness? Is contemplation dangerous? Some people think so. This past weekend I read a book that has given…
Philippians 2 and the Heart Sūtra
One of my favorite passages in the New Testament is the hymn found in Philippians 2:5-11: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he…
Seven Reasons to Pray the Divine Office
Everyone knows that monks devote their lives to silence, but also to daily prayer and chanting. Monastic prayer occurs at fixed-hours throughout the day. The rota of Psalms, canticles, scripture readings,…