CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES AND PRAYERS FOR THOSE OF LIMITED MOBILITY

As I grow older, the more I think about my next level of evolution for humanity, one that involves a life after death, not an end, but a transformation. My Catholic spirituality has me focusing not on who God is, but rather on who I am, so that I can be present to God as I am while alive on this earthly stage.

I worry less about heaven, which I know is an extension of the kingdom of heaven I create on earth by creating My Catholic Church on earth (making all things new each day by creating new wine skins), using two concepts of Cistercian spirituality, i.e., how much I can grow in Christ Jesus (capacitas dei) and live each day discovering the treasures of being human and how I want to save up good works in this life to decorate that place in heaven where there are many mansions.

My problem, as I am more and more confined physically to my house (except for doctors’ visits) is that my world has shrunk to my house, specifically the hour places in that space where I congregate (the bathroom, my rocking chair in the family room, my offer where I do the best I can to type out dictation from the Holy Spirit for my family and for each of you, and, my bed),

I use a walker to get around, which is awkward but a lifesaver. I take all kinds of medication for my cardiac arrest (April 2025), pacemaker, and constipation (eight medications all told). Gone are the times when I go to Church, receive the Holy Eucharist, and relish the time spent before the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration. Gone is any contact with parshoners or even friends. Hardly anyone visits me in my old age, and yet I am far from being alone. I have rediscovered the presence of Christ as I am and where I am, which I should have been practicing all along, but seemed to have forgotten the gold right under my feet. Awareness is a key component of my spirituality nowadays, and even though I am limited to four places in my house (my monastery), I use them to help me find Christ’s presence in the upper room of my inner self.

Yet, this is the freest I remember feeling in years, and not at all stuffed into a box to sit and watch the plastic flowers grow until I die, hoping upon hope that I don’t see the plastic flowers bloom. I share with you what I want to do from what I have learned from a lifetime of trying and failing to live up to what I think a Catholic is. I use the practices and prayers from my association as a professed Lay Cistercian with stability at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery (Trappist), Conyers, Georgia. http://www.trappist.net

What follows are a series of eight (or nine) blogs on how I discovered how to be present to Christ in that confined house of my, transforming what could have been a mental issue of depression, to that where I have purpose and a reason to consistently and consciously place myself in the presence of Christ in that upper room of my inner self, and wait to “Do what he tells you.”

This energy from a source outside my human experience is how I transform my earthly humanity into the next stage of my evolution, preparing to discern what is good from what is evil, and to carry that with me to decorate my mansion in the life to come. These blogs will be from what I can remember from my Lectio Divina encounters (Lectio, Meditation, Oratio, Contemplatio, and Actio).

I ask that no one follow what I do, for I have made these practices and prayers mine alone. What I would encourage you to do (be you Pentecostal, Evangelical Lutheran, Catholic, atheist, or none of the above) is to find that upper room of your inner self and go there to wait in silence and solitude for the whispers as you listen with the “ear of your heart,” as St. Benedict advises, and then do what that love in your heart suggests. These practices and prayers are what I do as one confined to my house but freed from being hostage to its limitations. “Prefer nothing to the love of Christ,” says St. Benedict in Chapter 4 of the Rule.

All of my personal thoughts, prayers, and practices have been subjected to three filters:

a)SUPREMACY: The Scriptures and Tradition of the teaching authority of the Catholic Church trump my personal theoretical and practical activities;

b)SUBSIDIARITY: I am the only one who can take what the Catholic Universal Church with all its iterations down through the centuries, and give glory to the Father, through the Son, with the power of the Holy Spirit; Concurrent with this idividuality is the notion of gathering of those who come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and that in doing so, have everlasting life now and in the extention of earthy mining for heavenly gold, in a place Jesus has prepared for those who love Him.

c) BEING TETHERED TO GOD WITH THE UMBILICAL OF CHRIST: Being a Catholic means I belong to at least five communities by choice: The Church Universal; The Church Militant on earth with the Holy Father as Chief Rabbi or teacher; The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee under my local bishop; Active member of Good Sheperd Parish with the pastor a my good shepherd; and an additional option for me, a professed member of the Lay Cistercians, Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery (Trappist). Conyers Georgia.

These layers of entanglements are God’s own energy that comes from the Trinity, through the Genesis Principle of the Father-God, continuing through with and in the Christ Principle of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, and available to humans through Faith, Love, and Serving Others, all overshadowed by the energy of the Holy Spirit-God. All of this divine economy exists just for me (and you) since the Principle of Truth spread wings of energy over humanity at Pentecost.

Although I am the only one who can do what Jesus tells me, I do so with others under the umbrella of one, holy, catholic, and apostolic gatherings, which, in turn, are part of the larger Catholic Universal Church (militant, purgative, and glorious). If all the above is real, and I am aware of my place in this river of time from Alpha to Omega, I may seem confined to my four rooms in my house on earth, but actually have the whole universe as my playground. http://www.organism.earth.

I have this power or energy from the Father in Baptism when I am chosen to be an adopted son (daughter) of the Father, given througout my my lifetime when I call Jesus Lord by the Holy Spirit, and then become the tabernacle within my body (Temple of the Holy Spirit) to house the Eucharist that I receive in Communion, and keep cleaned and tidy through penance and forgiveness of sins. This notion of repentance and constantly asking God for mercy for missing the boat, or taking God for granted (the sin of Adam and Eve), depends on me, as an individual, being open to the ontic possibility of the manifest ability of whatever I encounter each day, and treating the person before me as I want to be treated.

As one who is confined to his house because of illness and old age, I am not able to perform all the prayers I used to, especially the Eucharist and Eucharistic adoration. Still, I use the idea from Brother Michael Lauterari, O.S.C.O., our Junior Lay Cistercian instructor of “Doing what you can as you can.” I encourage you to contact your local parish to request Holy Communion if you have not done so. This service comes through the kindness of Eucharistic Ministers, who, like Meals-on-Wheels, generously give of their time to share the Real Presence of Christ with you in Communion. Also, avail yourselves of the Annointing of the Sick, which your parish gives willingly. All you need to do is ask.

You may be lonely, but you are not alone, unless you choose to be.

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