The Center for Contemplative Practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Month: June 2025
ONE-A-DAY SPIRITUAL VITAMINE
Try this on for ten days. Read Chapter 4 of St. Benedict’s Rule. Just read it without any delay or thinking too much about it. https://christdesert.org/rule-of-st-benedict/chapter-4-the-tools-for-good-works/ Take your time with this next vitamin. Read Chapter 4 for 30 days, unbroken, any time during the… Continue Reading “ONE-A-DAY SPIRITUAL VITAMINE”
GOD AS “ONE WHO CAN SET THE ULTIMATE BOUNDARY .”
As I sat on my couch in the upper room of my inner self, trying to slough off those tendencies to control the boundaries of who I think God is, and ultimately who I am, the concept of boundaries crept into my consciousness. That… Continue Reading “GOD AS “ONE WHO CAN SET THE ULTIMATE BOUNDARY .””
MAKING NEW WINESKINS: Waiting for Christ without conditions
It is an annoyance to my prayer each day that I must cleanse my way of meditation to prepare myself to meet Christ. Why can’t I just cut to it and move directly, without reservation, to contemplation? I set all kinds of conditions when… Continue Reading “MAKING NEW WINESKINS: Waiting for Christ without conditions”
SKILLS I WISH I HAD WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CATHOLIC
I have been blessed to have been a Catholic (Roman Rite) since I can remember, but I am not the same Catholic I was way back then (1940). I use the analogy of new wine being placed in new skins and not old ones… Continue Reading “SKILLS I WISH I HAD WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CATHOLIC”
THE BOUNDARIES OF MY HUMANITY: God tells us THE WAY.
In the up and down experience of this life (so far), four overarching themes pop out at me, some of which I have commented about in past blogs. But some are still challenges to my thinking. These giant swaths of meaning are like huge,… Continue Reading “THE BOUNDARIES OF MY HUMANITY: God tells us THE WAY.”
VISIO LECTIO: What do you see?
Focus on this photo. Level One: What do you see? Physical characteristics only. See what is there physically. This is the physical universe in which we all live. Level Two: What do you see? Mental characteristics only. The Mental universe takes the physical universe… Continue Reading “VISIO LECTIO: What do you see?”
HOW TO HAVE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION WITHOUT THE EUCHARIST
If, like me, you are confined to your home, you miss the Eucharist at Mass and also Eucharistic adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. There is no substitute for being present at Eucharist. The problem is, I can’t be present. Televised Eucharist is good, but… Continue Reading “HOW TO HAVE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION WITHOUT THE EUCHARIST”
CAPACITAS DEI: My growth in awareness of what it means to be human at my deepest level.
Catholicism, for me, is not something I fit into or must conform my behaviors to, as much as a marvelous set of tools and hints coming down from age to age from Christ as interpreted by those choosing to wear the sign of the… Continue Reading “CAPACITAS DEI: My growth in awareness of what it means to be human at my deepest level.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING CONSISTENT AND CONSTANT WHILE SILENT IN PRAYER
I am surprised that some unexpected and unintended products keep cropping up as I get older and simply resign myself to letting go (abandonment) and waiting to hear what Christ has to say to me today, right now. To reach this stage of spirituality,… Continue Reading “ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING CONSISTENT AND CONSTANT WHILE SILENT IN PRAYER”
THE GRAND WATCH: Waiting for Christ in the silence of my heart.
I have been exposed to many ideologies and “isms” throughout my lifetime. Some, or even bits, of information I have elected to keep as part of the solution of what it means to be human at the deepest level of my awareness, the amalgam… Continue Reading “THE GRAND WATCH: Waiting for Christ in the silence of my heart.”
THE TEMPTATION TO BELIEVE EVERY YOUTUBE TOPIC
I have discovered an intriguing yet almost imperceptible fact while watching some YouTube clips about Pope Leo XIV. They purport to give facts about what Pope Leo said about being catholic, and even some of the entanglements of political infighting. However, upon closer inspection,… Continue Reading “THE TEMPTATION TO BELIEVE EVERY YOUTUBE TOPIC”
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