The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
RESOURCES THAT HELP LIFT MY MIND AND HEART TO GOD
Q & A
Question: Do I need contemplative prayer to be a practicing Catholic? Answer. Catholics have a rich heritage of prayer, dating back to Apostolic times. As you read from the section on contemplative prayer, prayer means a way we communicate with the Sacred. We use various methods to approach God (Eucharist, Penance, Lectio Divina, Eucharistic Adoration, Private Prayer). To be a practicing Catholic, you need to try to love God with your whole mind, heart, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:36) You do that as a member of the living Body of Christ and use the gifts Jesus left us to help us with our struggles of Faith. Contemplation is just an approach to loving others as Christ loves us by using silence, solitude, work, and prayer in the community context.
Question: Why does contemplative prayer focus on the individual? Answer: Everything focuses on the individual. The individual focuses on many individuals linked to the Mystical Body of Faith, the Mystery of Faith. Together, when there are two or three of us in Faith, where Christ is in our midst. Our salvation comes through Faith in being one with Christ, but we do that as individuals in a faith community. No one person is God. No one person is the Church Universal. All our branches and Christ is the vine. Contemplative monks and nuns live secluded in their respective monasteries as individuals. Still, they are individuals bound together in love to follow their respective rules (e.g., Rule of St. Benedict, Rule of St. Francis, Rule of St.Dominic).
Here are some tips to help you (the individual) form a School of Love (a community of individuals).
1. Begin with your prayer life, not someone else’s.
2. Have in you the mind of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).
3. Each individual has a plan for salvation. God has a plan for salvation through Christ. Make sure your plan fits into God’s plan and not the other way around.
4. Consider asking someone to be your spiritual director (to keep you accountable for what you say you will do).
5. Be consistent in your prayer life. (e.g., if you say you will read Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict every, then do so.) Daily conversion is the greatest challenge of contemplative spirituality. Good intentions don’t make for successful outcomes.
6. Organizing your prayer life is only a means to an end, not your purpose in life.
7. The School of Love is having the mind of Christ Jesus so that you seek God where you are, as you are.
8. Taking up your cross daily is work. If your spirituality is too easy, you might be on the conveyor belt of Life where all you have to do is believe. Belief supports Faith but won’t sustain it. Faith is God’s energy. Belief is the human response.
9. Good work results from Faith but won’t buy you into Heaven. There are three works: good works that come from Faith; bad works that come from evil intentions; and no works that come from the results of Original Sin. Which do you do?
10. Don’t over-organize the School of Faith.
11. The School of Love is having the mind of Christ Jesus so that you seek God where you are, as you are.
12. St. Benedict wrote a Rule so monks might find help denying themselves to take up Christ in their hearts and get rid of the false self (Galatians 5).
13. In the School of Love, Faith is the energy that fuels the heart to cry out Abba, Father.
14. The School of Love helps us practice mercy, forgiveness, penance, reparation for our sins, and seek hope that the words of Christ are valid.
15. Eucharist is a core principle, The Christ Principle, that allows me to decrease and God to increase (capacitas dei). Everyone must have a North on their compass of Life.
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/
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
http://www.saintmeinrad.edu http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/files/assets/basichtml/page-I.html#
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ https://stpaulcenter.com/support-the-center https://www.osv.com/Home.aspx
http://www.osb.org/cist/ http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-weteach/catechesis/catechetical-sunday/word-ofgod/upload/lectio-divina.pdf http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/bernard2.htm https://www.ecatholic2000.com/index2.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_shhU_H5Z0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sfMYn3YcT8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYE7CC1m_II http://www.ncregister.com/ https://cistercianfamily.org/lay-groups/
https://cuf.org/support-our-work/cuf-chapters/ https://catholicexchange.com/seven-capital-sins http://www.catholicapologetics.org/aff/courses.html http://divineoffice.org https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/ http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/
https://www.wordonfire.org/ https://onepeterfive.com/
YOUTUBE
G.K. Chesterton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0b4zteOoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anBuPC6DpvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0b4zteOoI
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHaizmIj3ck https://youtube.com/watch?v=K8qqZup3Bg4www.youtube. com/watch?v=NnXlQWmubYw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGGSxxuBtMk
Scott Hahn and Catholic Apologetics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uL_IAJWvX0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn1tWuIoZsg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIB-sOBDKk
Bishop Robert Barron
https://www.youtube.com/user/wordonfirevideo/videos
FIVE CONTEMPLATIVE WEBSITES
When I look up something that puzzles me almost 100% of the time, I use these five sites when I think of contemplative spirituality. I offer these sites as an aspiring Lay Cistercian seeking wisdom and humility. I thought you might like to see what they are and bookmark them.
NUMBER FIVE: CISTERCIAN WEBSITES OF NOTE http://www.osb.org/cist/ You will find many hours of enjoyment clicking on and reading the various sites that pertain to Cistercians. There are two branches of the Cistercian observance, Regular Observance ( O. Cist.) and Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.). Of particular interest to me were the sites that pertain to Lay Cistercians and those highlighting the movement’s early history.
NUMBER FOUR: LAY CISTERCIAN WEBSITES OF NOTE TO MOVE FROM SELF TO GOD
http://www.citeaux.net/wri-av/laics_cisterciens-eng.htm http://www.trappist.net/about/lay-cistercians http://www.carlmccolman.net/category/laycistercians/ Read this website. Carl is a Lay Cistercian of Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers, Georgia, where I aspire to be a Lay Cistercian. It is my favorite website of an individual practitioner of Cistercian piety.
NUMBER THREE: RESEARCH SITES TO GROW DEEPER INTO CHRIST JESUS http://newadvent.org. If there is one source I use more than others, it is New Advent. It contains the Catholic Encyclopedia, Summa Theologica, Bible, Early primary sources or Fathers of the Church, plus other excellent links. Don’t miss this one. I recommend signing up for their newsletters. You can sign up for their daily posting of news.
NUMBER TWO: TEACHINGS OF THE MAGISTERIUM (Vatican)
http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html This is a site on which I have spent many happy hours looking up the actual texts about what the Church teaches, as opposed to what people say we teach but don’t.
NUMBER ONE: MY WEBSITE
https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org
This is my website. I put it as number one because I use it the most, not because I think it is the best. It is the result of my daily Lectio Divina and a poor attempt to share some practical ways to practice contemplative spirituality, emphasizing the Cistercian heritage. I have tried to give you a variety of websites I use to grow from self to God. They have all helped me to look at who I am in my relationship with God (He must increase, I must decrease).
That in all things, may God be glorified. –St. Benedict
THE CHRIST IMPERATIVES Here are some of the commands that Jesus gave us to help us convert our lives from the World to the Spirit.
• Seeking perfection? Listen to me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Matthew 11:28-30
• Thirsty? Drink of the living waters! John 7:37.
• Hungry? Eat the food that gives eternal Life! John 6:33-38.
• Bewildered? Believe in the Master! John 3:11-21.
• Without hope? Be not afraid! John 13:33-35.
• Lost? Find the way. John 14:6-7.
• Tired because of the pain? Be renewed! John 15:1-7. • Afraid? Find peace! John 27-28.
• Afraid to believe? Believe! John 11:25-27.
• Without a family? Listen! John 10:7-18.
• In darkness? Walk in the light! John 8:12.
• Spiritually depressed? Be healed! John 5:24
Welcome, good and faithful servant, into the Kingdom, prepared for you before the World began.
Being a faithful follower of the Master is the easiest thing to talk about but the most challenging thing to do. As a Lay Cistercian, trying to convert my Life daily to be more like Christ and less like me, I find these imperatives like beacons on the stormy waters of living in a world influenced by Original Sin. Spirituality is work and a struggle because we live in a foreign land, one whose default is not a conveyor belt to get to Heaven. Heaven is not automatic. If it was, why be spiritual? Just sit back and sin bravely.
Christ has shown us the way, given our love as the gold standard, and taught us how to love because he has loved us first by his passion, death, and resurrection. It is this Faith that conquers the World; it is this Faith, that of the Universal Church (those who have died and are in the peace of Christ, those who live on earth and struggle with the conversion of Life, and those purifying themselves). Christ wanted us to live out our moving from self to God amid the community of Faith. This community has the Mystery of Faith as its core. These imperatives help us as a community as we approach the Sacred.
The core imperative is: to love one another as I have loved you. I pray that I am what I hope to become in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. The God who is, who was, and who is to come at the end of the ages. Amen and Amen. –Cistercian doxology
MEASURING SUCCESS
Measurement is an essential part of science and education. It tells us what works and what does not, and more importantly, why. Christ had a system for measuring success, too.
Be careful when you take any test, especially this one. The assumptions will kill you. With that in mind, you should know this before making this measurement. The good news is only one yardstick —have in you the mind of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5).
THE CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE SERIES
If you are interested in purchasing any of the books in this contemplative practices series, they are online at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dr.+Michael+F.+Conrad&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
BLOG: https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org
WHAT IS THE CENTER FOR CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE?
The Center for Contemplative Practice is a ministry of people devoted to providing spiritual resources for adults, such as publishing books, training, blogs, and online meditations.
DISCLAIMER The ideas and meditations contained in any books or blogs shared by The Center for Contemplative Practice do not represent the official, authoritative teaching of the Roman Catholic Church or any Cistercian Monastery or Lay Cistercian group. These ideas are the results of Lectio Divina’s spiritual meditations by the author and reflect only his interpretation of Catholic spiritual thoughts through contemplation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael F. Conrad, B.S., M.R.E., Ed.D., is retired from a whole life of trying to make money and seek fame and recognition by the World, all without much success. Regarding what the World thinks is successful, he has been a failure. Coming to his senses, even after age 82, he now struggles to have the mind of Christ Jesus in him. (Philippians 2:5) Still running the race and searching for the prize, he has had a lifetime of activities to help him in his quest: he is proud to have been a U.S. Army Chaplain, pastor of parish ministry, adjunct instructor of Adult Education at Indiana University (Bloomington) and University of South Florida (Tampa) and Barry University (Florida), high school instructor of religion, trainer of managers and supervisors, adjunct trainer for the Florida Certified Public Manager program, instructional designer for the State of Florida, former Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, and currently a publisher, blogger, and author. He is beyond retirement; now, he is just tired. He is a Professed Lay Cistercian member of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers, Georgia, a proud Father, and a humbled husband.
What follows is a poem about my Life. It is, as yet, unfinished, as is my Life, but the elements are all present.
The Poem of My Life
I sing the song of life and love…
…sometimes flat and out of tune
…sometimes eloquent and full of passion
…sometimes forgetting notes and melody
…sometimes quaint and intimate
…often forgetful and negligent
…often in tune with the very core of my being
…often with the breath of those who would pull me down,
shouting right in my face
…often with the breath of Life uplifting me to heights never
before dreamed
…exceedingly grateful for the gift of humility and obedience to The One
… incredibly thankful for adoption, the discovery of new Life of pure energy
…greatly appreciative for sharing meaning with others of The Master
…greatly sensitive for not judging the motives of anyone but me
…happy to be accepted as an aspiring Lay Cistercian …happy to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration
…happy and humbled to be an adopted son of the Father
…happy for communities of Faith and love with my wife,
daughter, friends
…mindful that the passage of time increases each year …mindful of the significant distractions of cancer and cardiac arrest
…mindful of my center and the perspective that I am loved
moreover, I must love back with all the energy of my
heart and strength, yet always falling a little short
…mindful of the energy I receive from The One in Whom I
find purpose and meaning in the Mystery of Faith…Forever.
To The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, be glory, honor, power, and blessings through The Redeemer Son, in unity with the Advocate, the Spirit of Love.
From The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, I seek hope that His words about the purpose of Life are valid, that He is the way that leads to Life…Forever.
With The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, I seek the fierce love so I can have the mind of Christ Jesus, my purpose in Life, and my center…Forever. “That in all things, may God be glorified.” –St. Benedict
RESOURCES THAT HELP LIFT MY MIND AND HEART TO GOD
Q & A
Question: Do I need contemplative prayer to be a practicing Catholic? Answer. Catholics have a rich heritage of prayer, dating back to Apostolic times. As you read from the section on contemplative prayer, prayer means a way we communicate with the Sacred. We use various methods to approach God (Eucharist, Penance, Lectio Divina, Eucharistic Adoration, Private Prayer). To be a practicing Catholic, you need to try to love God with your whole mind, heart, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:36) You do that as a member of the living Body of Christ and use the gifts Jesus left us to help us with our struggles of Faith. Contemplation is just an approach to loving others as Christ loves us by using silence, solitude, work, and prayer in the community context.
Question: Why does contemplative prayer focus on the individual? Answer: Everything focuses on the individual. The individual focuses on many individuals linked to the Mystical Body of Faith, the Mystery of Faith. Together, when there are two or three of us in Faith, where Christ is in our midst. Our salvation comes through Faith in being one with Christ, but we do that as individuals in a faith community. No one person is God. No one person is the Church Universal. All are branches, and Christ is the vine. Contemplative monks and nuns live secluded in their respective monasteries as individuals. Still, they are individuals bound together in love to follow their respective rules (e.g., Rule of St. Benedict, Rule of St. Francis, Rule of St.Dominic).
Here are some tips to help you (the individual) form a School of Love (a community of individuals).
1. Begin with your prayer life, not someone else’s.
2. Have in you the mind of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).
3. Each individual has a plan for salvation. God has a plan for salvation through Christ. Make sure your plan fits into God’s plan and not the other way around.
4. Consider asking someone to be your spiritual director (to keep you accountable for what you say you will do).
5. Be consistent in your prayer life. (e.g., if you say you will read Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict every, then do so.) Daily conversion is the greatest challenge of contemplative spirituality. Good intentions don’t make for successful outcomes.
6. Organizing your prayer life is only a means to an end, not your purpose in life.
7. The School of Love is having the mind of Christ Jesus so that you seek God where you are, as you are.
8. Taking up your cross daily is work. If your spirituality is too easy, you might be on the conveyor belt of Life where all you have to do is believe. Belief supports Faith but won’t sustain it. Faith is God’s energy. Belief is the human response.
9. Good work results from Faith but won’t buy you into Heaven. There are three works: good works that come from Faith; bad works that come from evil intentions; and no works that come from the results of Original Sin. Which do you do?
10. Don’t over-organize the School of Faith.
11. The School of Love is having the mind of Christ Jesus so that you seek God where you are, as you are.
12. St. Benedict wrote a Rule so monks might find help denying themselves to take up Christ in their hearts and get rid of the false self (Galatians 5).
13. In the School of Love, Faith is the energy that fuels the heart to cry out Abba, Father.
14. The School of Love helps us practice mercy, forgiveness, penance, reparation for our sins, and seek hope that the words of Christ are valid.
15. Eucharist is a core principle, The Christ Principle, that allows me to decrease and God to increase (capacitas dei). Everyone must have a North on their compass of Life.
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/
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
http://www.saintmeinrad.edu http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/files/assets/basichtml/page-I.html#
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ https://stpaulcenter.com/support-the-center https://www.osv.com/Home.aspx
http://www.osb.org/cist/ http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-weteach/catechesis/catechetical-sunday/word-ofgod/upload/lectio-divina.pdf http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/bernard2.htm https://www.ecatholic2000.com/index2.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_shhU_H5Z0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sfMYn3YcT8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYE7CC1m_II http://www.ncregister.com/ https://cistercianfamily.org/lay-groups/
https://cuf.org/support-our-work/cuf-chapters/ https://catholicexchange.com/seven-capital-sins http://www.catholicapologetics.org/aff/courses.html http://divineoffice.org https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/ http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/
https://www.wordonfire.org/ https://onepeterfive.com/
YOUTUBE
G.K. Chesterton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0b4zteOoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anBuPC6DpvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0b4zteOoI
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHaizmIj3ck https://youtube.com/watch?v=K8qqZup3Bg4www.youtube. com/watch?v=NnXlQWmubYw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGGSxxuBtMk
Scott Hahn and Catholic Apologetics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uL_IAJWvX0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn1tWuIoZsg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIB-sOBDKk
Bishop Robert Barron
https://www.youtube.com/user/wordonfirevideo/videos
FIVE CONTEMPLATIVE WEBSITES When I look up something that puzzles me almost 100% of the time, I use these five sites when I think of contemplative spirituality. I offer these sites as an aspiring Lay Cistercian seeking wisdom and humility. I thought you might like to see what they are and bookmark them.
NUMBER FIVE: CISTERCIAN WEBSITES OF NOTE http://www.osb.org/cist/ You will find many hours of enjoyment clicking on and reading the various sites that pertain to Cistercians. There are two branches of the Cistercian observance, Regular Observance ( O. Cist.) and Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.). Of particular interest to me were the sites that pertain to Lay Cistercians and those highlighting the movement’s early history.
NUMBER FOUR: LAY CISTERCIAN WEBSITES OF NOTE TO MOVE FROM SELF TO GOD
http://www.citeaux.net/wri-av/laics_cisterciens-eng.htm http://www.trappist.net/about/lay-cistercians http://www.carlmccolman.net/category/laycistercians/ Read this website. Carl is a Lay Cistercian of Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers, Georgia, where I aspire to be a Lay Cistercian. It is my favorite website of an individual practitioner of Cistercian piety.
NUMBER THREE: RESEARCH SITES TO GROW DEEPER INTO CHRIST JESUS http://newadvent.org. If there is one source I use more than others, it is New Advent. It contains the Catholic Encyclopedia, Summa Theologica, Bible, Early primary sources or Fathers of the Church, plus other excellent links. Don’t miss this one. I recommend signing up for their newsletters. You can sign up for their daily posting of news.
NUMBER TWO: TEACHINGS OF THE MAGISTERIUM (Vatican)
http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html This is a site on which I have spent many happy hours looking up the actual texts about what the Church teaches, as opposed to what people say we teach but don’t.
NUMBER ONE: MY WEBSITE
https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org
This is my website. I put it as number one because I use it the most, not because I think it is the best. It is the result of my daily Lectio Divina and a poor attempt to share some practical ways to practice contemplative spirituality, emphasizing the Cistercian heritage. I have tried to give you a variety of websites that I use to grow from self to God. They have all helped me to look at who I am in my relationship with God (He must increase, I must decrease).
That in all things, may God be glorified. –St. Benedict
THE CHRIST IMPERATIVES Here are some of the commands that Jesus gave us to help us convert our lives from the World to the Spirit.
• Seeking perfection? Listen to me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Matthew 11:28-30
• Thirsty? Drink of the living waters! John 7:37.
• Hungry? Eat the food that gives eternal Life! John 6:33-38.
• Bewildered? Believe in the Master! John 3:11-21.
• Without hope? Be not afraid! John 13:33-35.
• Lost? Find the way. John 14:6-7.
• Tired because of the pain? Be renewed! John 15:1-7. • Afraid? Find peace! John 27-28.
• Afraid to believe? Believe! John 11:25-27.
• Without a family? Listen! John 10:7-18.
• In darkness? Walk in the light! John 8:12.
• Spiritually depressed? Be healed! John 5:24
Welcome, good and faithful servant, into the Kingdom, prepared for you before the World began.
Being a faithful follower of the Master is the easiest thing to talk about but the most challenging thing to do. As a Lay Cistercian, trying to convert my Life daily to be more like Christ and less like me, I find these imperatives like beacons on the stormy waters of living in a world influenced by Original Sin. Spirituality is work and a struggle because we live in a foreign land, one whose default is not a conveyor belt to get to Heaven. Heaven is not automatic. If it was, why be spiritual? Just sit back and sin bravely.
Christ has shown us the way, given our love as the gold standard, and taught us how to love because he has loved us first by his passion, death, and resurrection. It is this Faith that conquers the World; it is this Faith, that of the Universal Church (those who have died and are in the peace of Christ, those who live on earth and struggle with the conversion of Life, and those purifying themselves). Christ wanted us to live out our moving from self to God amid the community of Faith. This community has the Mystery of Faith as its core. These imperatives help us as a community as we approach the Sacred.
The core imperative is: to love one another as I have loved you. I pray that I am what I hope to become in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. The God who is, who was, and who is to come at the end of the ages. Amen and Amen. –Cistercian doxology
MEASURING SUCCESS
Measurement is an essential part of science and education. It tells us what works and what does not, and more importantly, why. Christ had a system for measuring success, too.
Be careful when you take any test, especially this one. The assumptions will kill you. With that in mind, you should know this before making this measurement. The good news is only one yardstick —have in you the mind of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5).
THE CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE SERIES
If you are interested in purchasing any of the books in this contemplative practices series, they are online at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dr.+Michael+F.+Conrad&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
BLOG: https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org
WHAT IS THE CENTER FOR
CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE?
The Center for Contemplative Practice is a ministry of people devoted to providing spiritual resources for adults, such as publishing books, training, blogs, and online meditations.
DISCLAIMER The ideas and meditations contained in any books or blogs shared by The Center for Contemplative Practice do not represent the official, authoritative teaching of the Roman Catholic Church or any Cistercian Monastery or Lay Cistercian group. These ideas are the results of Lectio Divina’s spiritual meditations by the author and reflect only his interpretation of Catholic spiritual thoughts through contemplation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael F. Conrad, B.S., M.R.E., Ed.D., is retired from a whole life of trying to make money and seek fame and recognition by the World, all without much success. Regarding what the World thinks is successful, he has been a failure. Coming to his senses, even after age 82, he now struggles to have the mind of Christ Jesus in him. (Philippians 2:5) Still running the race and searching for the prize, he has had a lifetime of activities to help him in his quest: he is proud to have been a U.S. Army Chaplain, pastor of parish ministry, adjunct instructor of Adult Education at Indiana University (Bloomington) and University of South Florida (Tampa) and Barry University (Florida), high school instructor of religion, trainer of managers and supervisors, adjunct trainer for the Florida Certified Public Manager program, instructional designer for the State of Florida, former Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, and currently a publisher, blogger, and author. He is beyond retirement, now tired. He is a Professed Lay Cistercian member of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers, Georgia, a proud Father, and a humbled husband.
What follows is a poem about my Life. It is, as yet, unfinished, as is my Life, but the elements are all present.
The Poem of My Life
I sing the song of life and love…
…sometimes flat and out of tune
…sometimes eloquent and full of passion
…sometimes forgetting notes and melody
…sometimes quaint and intimate
…often forgetful and negligent
…often in tune with the very core of my being
…often with the breath of those who would pull me down,
shouting right in my face
…often with the breath of Life uplifting me to heights never
before dreamed
…exceedingly grateful for the gift of humility and obedience to The One
… immensely thankful for adoption, the discovery of new Life of pure energy
…greatly appreciative for sharing meaning with others of The Master
…greatly sensitive for not judging the motives of anyone but me
…happy to be accepted as an aspiring Lay Cistercian …happy to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration
…happy and humbled to be an adopted son of the Father
…happy for communities of Faith and love with my wife,
daughter, friends
…mindful that the passage of time increases each year …mindful of the significant distractions of cancer and cardiac arrest
…mindful of my center and the perspective that I am loved
moreover, I must love back with all the energy of my
heart and strength, yet always falling a little short
…mindful of the energy I receive from The One in Whom I
find purpose and meaning in the Mystery of Faith…Forever.
To The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, be glory, honor, power, and blessings through The Redeemer Son, in unity with the Advocate, the Spirit of Love.
From The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, I seek hope that His words about the purpose of Life are valid, that He is the way that leads to Life…Forever.
With The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, I seek the fierce love so I can have the mind of Christ Jesus, my purpose in Life, and my center…Forever. “That in all things, may God be glorified.” –St. Benedict
Jesus and Me
RESOURCES THAT HELP LIFT MY MIND AND HEART TO GOD
Q & A
Question: Do I need contemplative prayer to be a practicing Catholic? Answer. Catholics have a rich heritage of prayer, dating back to Apostolic times. As you read from the section on contemplative prayer, prayer means a way we communicate with the Sacred. We use various methods to approach God (Eucharist, Penance, Lectio Divina, Eucharistic Adoration, Private Prayer). To be a practicing Catholic, you need to try to love God with your whole mind, heart, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:36) You do that as a member of the living Body of Christ and use the gifts Jesus left us to help us with our struggles of Faith. Contemplation is just an approach to loving others as Christ loves us by using silence, solitude, work, and prayer in the community context.
Question: Why does contemplative prayer focus on the individual? Answer: Everything focuses on the individual. The individual focuses on many individuals linked to the Mystical Body of Faith, the Mystery of Faith. Together, when there are two or three of us in Faith, where Christ is in our midst. Our salvation comes through Faith in being one with Christ, but we do that as individuals in a faith community. No one person is God. No one person is the Church Universal. All are branches, and Christ is the vine. Contemplative monks and nuns live secluded in their respective monasteries as individuals. Still, they are individuals bound together in love to follow their respective rules (e.g., Rule of St. Benedict, Rule of St. Francis, Rule of St.Dominic).
Here are some tips to help you (the individual) form a School of Love (a community of individuals).
1. Begin with your prayer life, not someone else’s.
2. Have in you the mind of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).
3. Each individual has a plan for salvation. God has a plan for salvation through Christ. Make sure your plan fits into God’s plan and not the other way around.
4. Consider asking someone to be your spiritual director (to keep you accountable for what you say you will do).
5. Be consistent in your prayer life. (e.g., if you say you will read Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict every, then do so.) Daily conversion is the greatest challenge of contemplative spirituality. Good intentions don’t make for successful outcomes.
6. Organizing your prayer life is only a means to an end, not your purpose in life.
7. The School of Love is having the mind of Christ Jesus so that you seek God where you are, as you are.
8. Taking up your cross daily is work. If your spirituality is too easy, you might be on the conveyor belt of Life where all you have to do is believe. Belief supports Faith but won’t sustain it. Faith is God’s energy. Belief is the human response.
9. Good work results from Faith but won’t buy you into Heaven. There are three works: good works that come from Faith; bad works that come from evil intentions; and no works that come from the results of Original Sin. Which do you do?
10. Don’t over-organize the School of Faith.
11. The School of Love is having the mind of Christ Jesus so that you seek God where you are, as you are.
12. St. Benedict wrote a Rule so monks might find help denying themselves to take up Christ in their hearts and get rid of the false self (Galatians 5).
13. In the School of Love, Faith is the energy that fuels the heart to cry out Abba, Father.
14. The School of Love helps us practice mercy, forgiveness, penance, reparation for our sins, and seek hope that the words of Christ are valid.
15. Eucharist is a core principle, The Christ Principle, that allows me to decrease and God to increase (capacitas dei). Everyone must have a North on their compass of Life.
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/
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
http://www.saintmeinrad.edu http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/files/assets/basichtml/page-I.html#
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ https://stpaulcenter.com/support-the-center https://www.osv.com/Home.aspx
http://www.osb.org/cist/ http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-weteach/catechesis/catechetical-sunday/word-ofgod/upload/lectio-divina.pdf http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/bernard2.htm https://www.ecatholic2000.com/index2.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_shhU_H5Z0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sfMYn3YcT8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYE7CC1m_II http://www.ncregister.com/ https://cistercianfamily.org/lay-groups/
https://cuf.org/support-our-work/cuf-chapters/ https://catholicexchange.com/seven-capital-sins http://www.catholicapologetics.org/aff/courses.html http://divineoffice.org https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/ http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/
https://www.wordonfire.org/ https://onepeterfive.com/
YOUTUBE
G.K. Chesterton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0b4zteOoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anBuPC6DpvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0b4zteOoI
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHaizmIj3ck https://youtube.com/watch?v=K8qqZup3Bg4www.youtube. com/watch?v=NnXlQWmubYw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGGSxxuBtMk
Scott Hahn and Catholic Apologetics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WmIGLPvEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uL_IAJWvX0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn1tWuIoZsg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIB-sOBDKk
Bishop Robert Barron
https://www.youtube.com/user/wordonfirevideo/videos
FIVE CONTEMPLATIVE WEBSITES When I look up something that puzzles me almost 100% of the time, I use these five sites when I think of contemplative spirituality. I offer these sites as an aspiring Lay Cistercian seeking wisdom and humility. I thought you might like to see what they are and bookmark them.
NUMBER FIVE: CISTERCIAN WEBSITES OF NOTE http://www.osb.org/cist/ You will find many hours of enjoyment clicking on and reading the various sites that pertain to Cistercians. There are two branches of the Cistercian observance, Regular Observance ( O. Cist.) and Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.). Of particular interest to me were the sites that pertain to Lay Cistercians and those highlighting the movement’s early history.
NUMBER FOUR: LAY CISTERCIAN WEBSITES OF NOTE TO MOVE FROM SELF TO GOD
http://www.citeaux.net/wri-av/laics_cisterciens-eng.htm http://www.trappist.net/about/lay-cistercians http://www.carlmccolman.net/category/laycistercians/ Read this website. Carl is a Lay Cistercian of Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers, Georgia, where I aspire to be a Lay Cistercian. It is my favorite website of an individual practitioner of Cistercian piety.
NUMBER THREE: RESEARCH SITES TO GROW DEEPER INTO CHRIST JESUS http://newadvent.org. If there is one source I use more than others, it is New Advent. It contains the Catholic Encyclopedia, Summa Theologica, Bible, Early primary sources or Fathers of the Church, plus other excellent links. Don’t miss this one. I recommend signing up for their newsletters. You can sign up for their daily posting of news.
NUMBER TWO: TEACHINGS OF THE MAGISTERIUM (Vatican)
http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html This is a site on which I have spent many happy hours looking up the actual texts about what the Church teaches, as opposed to what people say we teach but don’t.
NUMBER ONE: MY WEBSITE
https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org
This is my website. I put it as number one because I use it the most, not because I think it is the best. It is the result of my daily Lectio Divina and a poor attempt to share some practical ways to practice contemplative spirituality, emphasizing the Cistercian heritage. I have tried to give you a variety of websites that I use to grow from self to God. They have all helped me to look at who I am in my relationship with God (He must increase, I must decrease).
That in all things, may God be glorified. –St. Benedict
THE CHRIST IMPERATIVES Here are some of the commands that Jesus gave us to help us convert our lives from the World to the Spirit.
• Seeking perfection? Listen to me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Matthew 11:28-30
• Thirsty? Drink of the living waters! John 7:37.
• Hungry? Eat the food that gives eternal Life! John 6:33-38.
• Bewildered? Believe in the Master! John 3:11-21.
• Without hope? Be not afraid! John 13:33-35.
• Lost? Find the way. John 14:6-7.
• Tired because of the pain? Be renewed! John 15:1-7. • Afraid? Find peace! John 27-28.
• Afraid to believe? Believe! John 11:25-27.
• Without a family? Listen! John 10:7-18.
• In darkness? Walk in the light! John 8:12.
• Spiritually depressed? Be healed! John 5:24
Welcome, good and faithful servant, into the Kingdom, prepared for you before the World began.
Being a faithful follower of the Master is the easiest thing to talk about but the most challenging thing to do. As a Lay Cistercian, trying to convert my Life daily to be more like Christ and less like me, I find these imperatives like beacons on the stormy waters of living in a world influenced by Original Sin. Spirituality is work and a struggle because we live in a foreign land, one whose default is not a conveyor belt to get to Heaven. Heaven is not automatic. If it was, why be spiritual? Just sit back and sin bravely.
Christ has shown us the way, given our love as the gold standard, and taught us how to love because he has loved us first by his passion, death, and resurrection. It is this Faith that conquers the World; it is this Faith, that of the Universal Church (those who have died and are in the peace of Christ, those who live on earth and struggle with the conversion of Life, and those purifying themselves). Christ wanted us to live out our moving from self to God amid the community of Faith. This community has the Mystery of Faith as its core. These imperatives help us as a community as we approach the Sacred.
The core imperative is: to love one another as I have loved you. I pray that I am what I hope to become in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. The God who is, who was, and who is to come at the end of the ages. Amen and Amen. –Cistercian doxology
MEASURING SUCCESS
Measurement is an essential part of science and education. It tells us what works and what does not, and more importantly, why. Christ had a system for measuring success, too.
Be careful when you take any test, especially this one. The assumptions will kill you. With that in mind, you should know this before making this measurement. The good news is only one yardstick —have in you the mind of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5).
THE CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE SERIES
If you are interested in purchasing any of the books in this contemplative practices series, they are online at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dr.+Michael+F.+Conrad&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
BLOG: https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org
WHAT IS THE CENTER FOR CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE?
The Center for Contemplative Practice is a ministry of people devoted to providing spiritual resources for adults, such as publishing books, training, blogs, and online meditations.
DISCLAIMER The ideas and meditations contained in any books or blogs shared by The Center for Contemplative Practice do not represent the official, authoritative teaching of the Roman Catholic Church or any Cistercian Monastery or Lay Cistercian group. These ideas are the results of Lectio Divina’s spiritual meditations by the author and reflect only his interpretation of Catholic spiritual thoughts through contemplation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael F. Conrad, B.S., M.R.E., Ed.D., is retired from a whole life of trying to make money and seek fame and recognition by the World, all without much success. Regarding what the World thinks is successful, he has been a failure. Coming to his senses, even after age 82, he now struggles to have the mind of Christ Jesus in him. (Philippians 2:5) Still running the race and searching for the prize, he has had a lifetime of activities to help him in his quest: he is proud to have been a U.S. Army Chaplain, pastor of parish ministry, adjunct instructor of Adult Education at Indiana University (Bloomington) and University of South Florida (Tampa) and Barry University (Florida), high school instructor of religion, trainer of managers and supervisors, adjunct trainer for the Florida Certified Public Manager program, instructional designer for the State of Florida, former Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, and currently a publisher, blogger, and author. He is beyond retirement, now tired. He is a Professed Lay Cistercian member of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers, Georgia, a proud Father, and a humbled husband.
What follows is a poem about my Life. It is, as yet, unfinished, as is my Life, but the elements are all present.
The Poem of My Life
I sing the song of life and love…
…sometimes flat and out of tune
…sometimes eloquent and full of passion
…sometimes forgetting notes and melody
…sometimes quaint and intimate
…often forgetful and negligent
…often in tune with the very core of my being
…often with the breath of those who would pull me down,
shouting right in my face
…often with the breath of Life uplifting me to heights never
before dreamed
…exceedingly grateful for the gift of humility and obedience to The One
… immensely thankful for adoption, the discovery of new Life of pure energy
…greatly appreciative for sharing meaning with others of The Master
…greatly sensitive for not judging the motives of anyone but me
…happy to be accepted as an aspiring Lay Cistercian …happy to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration
…happy and humbled to be an adopted son of the Father
…happy for communities of Faith and love with my wife,
daughter, friends
…mindful that the passage of time increases each year …mindful of the significant distractions of cancer and cardiac arrest
…mindful of my center and the perspective that I am loved
moreover, I must love back with all the energy of my
heart and strength, yet always falling a little short
…mindful of the energy I receive from The One in Whom I
find purpose and meaning in the Mystery of Faith…Forever.
To The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, be glory, honor, power, and blessings through The Redeemer Son, in unity with the Advocate, the Spirit of Love.
From The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, I seek hope that His words about the purpose of Life are valid, that He is the way that leads to Life…Forever.
With The One who is, Who was, and Who is to come at the end of the ages, I seek the fierce love so I can have the mind of Christ Jesus, my purpose in Life, and my center…Forever. “That in all things, may God be glorified.” –St. Benedict
Jesus and Me
Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all; I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures –
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.
Blessed Charles de Foucauld
Former Trappist of N.D. de Neiges
Killed December 1, 1916
The Center for contemplative practice 