The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Month: March 2022
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME TO BE A LAY CISTERCIAN?
This topic is near and dear to me because it is me and my attempts to die to self to move from false self to God. This is the Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) I had this morning at 7:15 EDT at Cardiology Associates on… Continue Reading “WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME TO BE A LAY CISTERCIAN?”
FIRECRACKER THOUGHTS
In one of my Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) meditations, I experienced a rapid succession of ideas all unrelated. I call them firecracker thoughts because they are explosive bursts of energy from the Holy Spirit. “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and… Continue Reading “FIRECRACKER THOUGHTS”
THE HUMAN RAMIFICATIONS OF COSMIC YES AND NO STRINGS
The fourth type of cross-cutting strings or patterns that span all reality is that of a YES or a NO. This is how I dissect all reality into its manageable components, the physical universe of matter and energy. This mental universe is aware that… Continue Reading “THE HUMAN RAMIFICATIONS OF COSMIC YES AND NO STRINGS”
THE QUALITY OF FORGIVENESS
Mr. Putin: Listen to this YouTube. You would have been a truly generational leader, had you chosen what this Youtube embodies.
WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU NEED TO ASK?
In keeping with my slightly off-center personality, I pose to you some photos/YouTubes/articles and ask you to think about what questions these images raise in your mind. Remember, I am not you; you are not me; God is not you; and you, most certainly,… Continue Reading “WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU NEED TO ASK?”
CHAPTER 4: I USED TO LOOK DOWN ON THE BAPTIST CHURCH
I USED TO LOOK DOWN AT THE BAPTISTS We all are guilty. When we hear something, we process it according to our first impressions. As the saying goes, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Perhaps this is because the… Continue Reading “CHAPTER 4: I USED TO LOOK DOWN ON THE BAPTIST CHURCH”
RESOURCES FOR THE CONTEMPLATIVE THINKER
RESOURCES THAT HAVE HELPED ME ON MY LAY CISTERCIAN JOURNEY (SO FAR) Here are some wonderful, contemplative websites that may help you find some rest for your soul. I admit my bias. http://www.trappist.net http://www.newadvent.com https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org http://www.cistercianfamily.org/ https://siena.org/ http://www.carlmccolman.net http://scotthahn.com http://www.cistercianpublications.org http://dynamiccatholic.com http://www.centeringprayer.com/cntrgpryr.htm http://www.monk.org https://cistercianpublications.org/Category/CPCT/CistercianTradition… Continue Reading “RESOURCES FOR THE CONTEMPLATIVE THINKER”
THE DIVINE EQUATION: The language of God
In my minuscule accumulation of knowledge throughout my life experience, many languages are out there. Almost all of them I have a novice’s mastery, and a few of them enough to know that I know how much I don’t know. St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P.,… Continue Reading “THE DIVINE EQUATION: The language of God”
WHAT IS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE?
The title, I must apologize, is somewhat misleading. In my Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) this morning, while I was sitting in the bathtub taking a shower (at 81+ I have to sit in a chair), these thoughts came to me. I was struck by… Continue Reading “WHAT IS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE?”
THE ART OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE
What follows is a cryptic outline of the blogs I will narrate for YouTube. Contemplate practice is just that, the repetition of going into your inner room, locking the door, and waiting. OUTLINE OF THE ART OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE I. FUNDAMENTAL CORE OF CONTEMPLATIVE… Continue Reading “THE ART OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE”
WISDOM: The quest to find god
During one of my Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) meditations, I thought about the wisdom that Christ came to give us through revelation. I also thought of how great thinkers have taught us what the appropriate behavior for humans is. In his simple message of… Continue Reading “WISDOM: The quest to find god”
CONVERSIO MORAE: Reaching maturity as a human
At the heart of Lay Cistercian spirituality, or the way each person, each day seeks God by having in them the mind of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5), is conversion. I share with you some of the readings that have made me ponder my morality… Continue Reading “CONVERSIO MORAE: Reaching maturity as a human”
THE CHIRST PRINCIPLE: LINKING THE VINE TO THE BRANCHES
Here are some thoughts about how the Christ Principle links all peoples to himself. The Coming of Jesus’ Hour.*20Now there were some Greeks* among those who had come up to worship at the feast.n21* They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked… Continue Reading “THE CHIRST PRINCIPLE: LINKING THE VINE TO THE BRANCHES”
ARE YOU FULL OF HATRED?
I know that I am. Being full of hatred, depending on your assumptions, means different things to different readers (or writers). Here are some reflections on hatred and some contexts in which they might be good or evil. Once, when I was thinking about… Continue Reading “ARE YOU FULL OF HATRED?”
AND I WILL DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO MYSELF
Here is a reading that has helped me to experience the lessons of Christ, our Rabbi, our High Priest, our Advocate, and the Christ Principle. The Anointing at Bethany.a1*Â Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from… Continue Reading “AND I WILL DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO MYSELF”
ARE YOU ROMAN CATHOLIC OR JUST A ROAMING CATHOLIC?
One of those recurring questions I must keep asking myself from now until I die is, “Am I a Roman Catholic, or am I just passing through?” It is like the examination of conscience that St. Benedict writes about in Chapter 4 of his… Continue Reading “ARE YOU ROMAN CATHOLIC OR JUST A ROAMING CATHOLIC?”
SEVEN CONTEMPLATIVE HABITS OF A BROKEN-DOWN, OLD, LAY CISTERCIAN TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The practice of contemplative thinking is being able to move ideas from the head into the heart. One way to do this is Cistercian (Trappist) spirituality which stresses: silence, solitude, work, prayer, and community. I have used seven habits that allow me to focus… Continue Reading “SEVEN CONTEMPLATIVE HABITS OF A BROKEN-DOWN, OLD, LAY CISTERCIAN TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”
CONVERSIO MORAE: The habit of moving from my false self to my true self. With God’s energy, there is always deeper.
During the Lenten season, particular emphasis is on how to move from my false self to my true self. The book, The Cistercian Way, written by the late Dom Andre Louf, O.S.C.O., is one that I continue to read, again and again, to recreate… Continue Reading “CONVERSIO MORAE: The habit of moving from my false self to my true self. With God’s energy, there is always deeper.”
THE SUBTLE SEDUCTION OF SACRED SCRIPTURES
My Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) presented me with a bit of a puzzle that I am still trying to decipher. As God’s word, bring the words, the prayer, the sharing, the becoming what you read into your inner room (Matthew 6:6) is like having… Continue Reading “THE SUBTLE SEDUCTION OF SACRED SCRIPTURES”
NON NOBIS, DOMINE, NON NOBIS
Read Psalm 115 and reflect on it in the silence of your inner room. Not to us, Lord, not to us. I 1Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name give glory because of your mercy and faithfulness.a 2Why should the… Continue Reading “NON NOBIS, DOMINE, NON NOBIS”
THE INCORUPTIBILITY OF GOD:Like Father, Like Son.
This Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) came about when I ask the Holy Spirit the question: How is it that Jesus (human and divine natures) knew about his mission and purpose on earth? Remember, I only write what I think the Holy Spirit said. I… Continue Reading “THE INCORUPTIBILITY OF GOD:Like Father, Like Son.”
ARE YOU HALF A CATHOLIC?
My Lectio Divina meditation (Philippians 2:5) took me to ask about my being faithful to what Christ taught about loving others as Christ loved us. Read the whole text about love with its fantastic approach to Christ being real inside you. I offer it… Continue Reading “ARE YOU HALF A CATHOLIC?”
SATAN AND THE DEBAUCHERIES: The greatest sirens of all time.
It is Lent, the liturgical season once again, and I am drawn to think about my mortality, my corruption of life and its companion, conversio morae. Other than realizing that my life is more like a yo-yo in my struggle to have in me… Continue Reading “SATAN AND THE DEBAUCHERIES: The greatest sirens of all time.”
HUMILITY: The key to knowing, loving, and serving God in this life, and being happy with God forever in the next. (Baltimore Catechism, Question 6)
During Lent, I want to focus on moving away from my false self (pride) and replacing it with humility and the energy of the Holy Spirit (as much as I can take). This is capacitas dei, making room for Jesus in that upper room… Continue Reading “HUMILITY: The key to knowing, loving, and serving God in this life, and being happy with God forever in the next. (Baltimore Catechism, Question 6)”
THE TRUE COST OF BULLYING
Play now, pay later. I would not want to be in your shoes when you meet God.
THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: A penance of conversion.
For the many times I have gone to confession and received a penance from the priest, it was to recite Three Hail Marys and make a true promise not to sin again. No amount of penance by me can make up for my sins.… Continue Reading “THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: A penance of conversion.”
SHAME ON YOU
Russian people. Don’t you remember how it feels to invade another country? It was evil of Germany, and now you are repeating it. Wake up.
St. Charles de Foucauld: God’s bloodhound
During this Lenten season, a time to die to self to rise with Christ, there is no better example of abandonment than that of Viscount Charles de Foucauld, soon to be canonized as a Saint of the Church Universal. When Jesus tells us to… Continue Reading “St. Charles de Foucauld: God’s bloodhound”
KITTY GENOVESE AND THE UKRAINE
Remember the murder of Kitty Genovese and how neighbors would not help her after she was wounded and dying? What is happening now resembles that situation, where all of us, beginning with myself, wring our hands and shout out, “I stand behind you,” as… Continue Reading “KITTY GENOVESE AND THE UKRAINE”
A PUZZLE MORE COMPLEX THAN SUDOKU: CAN YOU SOLVE THE DIVINE EQUATION?
Actually, there is no solution to the Divine Equation as much as it is a key to living your humanity in such a way that you can see reality and thus fulfill the next step in the evolution of the species. In seeing reality… Continue Reading “A PUZZLE MORE COMPLEX THAN SUDOKU: CAN YOU SOLVE THE DIVINE EQUATION?”
The Center for contemplative practice 