The Center for Contemplative Practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Month: August 2023
DON’T SPURN YOUR HERITAGE FROM GOD
I share with you a resource that is of immense value in looking at the heritage of our Catholic Faith. I do so without commentary. To go to the many resources below, just highlight them with your mouse and click. The resource should come… Continue Reading “DON’T SPURN YOUR HERITAGE FROM GOD”
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST: The hero comes home.
If you have not read the works of Joesph Campbell or Mircea Eliade, not only are you missing a big chunk of how to look at being human with a systematic approach to intelligent progression, but how the Ascension of Christ completes the classic… Continue Reading “THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST: The hero comes home.”
DON’T SPURN YOUR HERITAGE: Hymns of the Early Church
A neglected or blind spot in most of my approaches to the Sacred is the existence of early hymns, poetry, and art that depicted what words alone do not convey, namely, that “Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.” (John 20:30-31) Early believers… Continue Reading “DON’T SPURN YOUR HERITAGE: Hymns of the Early Church”
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH, THERE IS NO SALVATION
That statement sounds rather harsh because Jesus died to save all humans. All humans don’t necessarily know that God is God, nor do they love in such a way as to move to the next level of human evolution (adoption by God as sons… Continue Reading “OUTSIDE THE CHURCH, THERE IS NO SALVATION”
CAPACITAS DEI: My neverending quest to grow deeper into The Christ Principle.
For a Lay Cistercian, spirituality, as I see it, becomes a neverending process of movement toward more complexity, as set forth by the Jesuit Paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I have adopted his chart on the movement from where I was to where I… Continue Reading “CAPACITAS DEI: My neverending quest to grow deeper into The Christ Principle.”
LECTIO DIVINA AS A MOSAIC OF IMPRESSIONS: WHAT TYPE OF CATHOLIC ARE YOU?
I asked the question from the Holy Spirit, “What type of Catholic am I, now that I have a template against which I measure myself?” This is the answer I received. I share it with you with the understanding that it is for me… Continue Reading “LECTIO DIVINA AS A MOSAIC OF IMPRESSIONS: WHAT TYPE OF CATHOLIC ARE YOU?”
YOUR HERITAGE: Wise Sayings
Scriptures, according to John 20:30-31 exits for us to assimilate the energy of God in order to come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that believing, we might have lift in his name. God communicates through authors using the Scriptures as accounts… Continue Reading “YOUR HERITAGE: Wise Sayings”
YOUR HERITAGE: The Real Presence
This heritage is not passed down from us to the Apostles but rather comes down from the Apostles through the ages as a testament to our Faith together as Universal, Catholic, Apostolic, and One gathering of believers. Read your heritage and renew your Faith… Continue Reading “YOUR HERITAGE: The Real Presence”
THE POWER OF ONE WORD
Have you the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword?” Words have power. A YES created the world and another YES from the Blessed Mother was the starting button for Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, our friend. Don’t ever underestimate the power of… Continue Reading “THE POWER OF ONE WORD”
THE EUCHARIST IS OUR CORE FOR A REASON: God gives us what we need.
I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.
YOUR FAITH: The Resurrection of the Body
The materials below are from Catholic Answers and are without any commentary. It is the compendium of your Faith, the Church, into which you find your heritage. What the Early Church Believed: Resurrection of the Body The Bible tells us that when Jesus returns to earth,… Continue Reading “YOUR FAITH: The Resurrection of the Body”
YOUR CATHOLIC HERITAGE: Justin Martyr and the Period of the Blood.
Next time you think it inconvenient for you that God asks for your presence at Eucharist, think about the price that the early believers paid. You can’t make this stuff up. Read for yourself and make your own conclusions. You have reason for a… Continue Reading “YOUR CATHOLIC HERITAGE: Justin Martyr and the Period of the Blood.”
THE ART OF CONTEMPLATION: Outline of contemplative practices.
Contemplation, or what I know of it so far, is going to that one place inside you where no one wants to go, a place where you are vulnerable and frightened of what you might find, but one that, like a moth to a… Continue Reading “THE ART OF CONTEMPLATION: Outline of contemplative practices.”
SOLITUDE: The need to be with God.
There are at least four themes of prayer that I have detected in my Lectio Divina. They are not the typical four types of prayer, such as petition, thanksgiving, praise, and reparation. I realized these four themes in my sleep sometime before I woke… Continue Reading “SOLITUDE: The need to be with God.”
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