The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Category: secular
THE DIVINE EQUATION: OUR NEED FOR INTIMACY
Intimacy is one of those topics we don’t like to talk about unless it is in the context of darkened room with the person you trust the most in life, and even then, just with hushed tones and deflections of what you really mean.… Continue Reading “THE DIVINE EQUATION: OUR NEED FOR INTIMACY”
THE DIVINE EQUATION
My Lectio Divina meditations usually group up into a unified theme, eventually. Right now, what comes to my mind is about cosmic influences of the Christ Principle, certainly a macro approach to reality. Let me share what I mean by that. I have been… Continue Reading “THE DIVINE EQUATION”
EIGHT THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD TAKING ON HUMAN NATURE
I admit that this Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) idea is as far out as the edge of time, but so is the Holy Spirit. Imagine how Jesus felt when, as the Son of God the Father, he knew all that is but could not… Continue Reading “EIGHT THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD TAKING ON HUMAN NATURE”
STARTING OVER
When thinking about my Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) subject, the concept of starting over came up. Usually, I just slough it off as if it were an unrelated piece of the puzzle and I didn’t know where it fit. This time, I thought of… Continue Reading “STARTING OVER”
THE EFFECTS OF ORIGINAL SIN ON MY CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE
One of those lessons I have had to learn over and over is struggling against my human nature (the world) when I attempt to attain mastery over my struggles to be an adopted son of the Father. I wish is was not a struggle… Continue Reading “THE EFFECTS OF ORIGINAL SIN ON MY CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE”
PERUSING THE OBITUARIES
Old people do weird things. At least in my case, I like to look at the obituaries on my St. Meinrad Alumni website. http://www.saintmeinrad.edu It beats watching the plastic flowers grow in my office. This may be morbid, but I like to look up… Continue Reading “PERUSING THE OBITUARIES”
MOMENTS WITH ST. MICHAEL
THE BACKSTORY Although it has been over two years ago, I still remember it vividly as though it were yesterday. A group of us gathered together to say Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Rosary, then then Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. We came together as… Continue Reading “MOMENTS WITH ST. MICHAEL”
CREEPING TOWARDS THE PAROUSIA
Three things we humans are conditioned to do because of Original Sin are: expect immediate results; become restless and anancy when we are not doing something, anything to fill up dead time; become compulsive about filling in the hole in our lives. I have… Continue Reading “CREEPING TOWARDS THE PAROUSIA”
THE LITANY OF REDEMPTION
On this Good Friday, my reflections wander through the great love Christ had for us to lay down his life for us, we who can’t even keep watch with him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Humans, wounded by Original Sin, are redeemed by God… Continue Reading “THE LITANY OF REDEMPTION”
THE JOY IN THE RESURRECTION
May the Peace of Christ be with you. This is not the peace that the world gives but the presence of Christ’s love in us and through us to our unique world. Here are a few of my reflections as a result of my… Continue Reading “THE JOY IN THE RESURRECTION”
THE HERESY OF THE INDIVIDUAL
Heresies are not something I write about very often, in fact, I would not be writing about this topic at all except that it presented itself to be at 2:30 a.m. this morning as part of my Lectio Divina. My Lectio Divina has always… Continue Reading “THE HERESY OF THE INDIVIDUAL”
LENTEN CONVERSION: IS YOUR JESUS PARANOID?
During this intense time of introspection before the celebration of our delivery from death to life with Christ, it is important to ask the question, What does your Jesus look like? I have never seen the face of Jesus, nor have I seen the… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: IS YOUR JESUS PARANOID?”
LENTEN CONVERSION: Beware of the default of original sin
Original sin affects everything we do as a human. Baptism takes away Original Sin, the Sin of the World, but we still must live out the consequences of living in a condition where everything has a beginning and an end. I reflected on this… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: Beware of the default of original sin”
HERE ARE TEN TEMPTATIONS FROM SATAN I BET YOU NEVER SAW COMING.
The Devil loves to seduce humans into going against God, then laughs heartily at the offender as being so gullible and weak that he missed out on the purpose of life. I thought about how the Devil might dissuade me from having in me… Continue Reading “HERE ARE TEN TEMPTATIONS FROM SATAN I BET YOU NEVER SAW COMING.”
A LAY CISTERCIAN REFLECTS ON: MAKING AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE BEFORE RECEIVING THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Jesus left us several stories and activities that we should do to make him present to us. Clearly, Eucharist, the Real Presence of Christ, the fulfilment of the Last Supper, is paramount among ways to seek forgiveness and ask for God’s mercy. Additional ways… Continue Reading “A LAY CISTERCIAN REFLECTS ON: MAKING AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE BEFORE RECEIVING THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION”
LENTEN CONVERSION: THE PLACE WE CALL HELL IS LIKE…
What is hell like? This is not a topic that raises to the level that I would think about but it did come up in this week’s Lectio Divina meditation (Philippians 2:5). I have not experienced Hell because I have never been there (nor… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: THE PLACE WE CALL HELL IS LIKE…”
LENTEN CONVERSION: WHO IS YOUR JESUS? AN END USER PAUSES TO REVIEW THE CONSEQUENCES OF BELIEVING OR NOT BELIEVING IN JESUS THE CHRIST.
In my Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) today, I wondered about who Jesus is. I think this is part of the mystery of Faith, that probing of the human heart to try to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, and… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: WHO IS YOUR JESUS? AN END USER PAUSES TO REVIEW THE CONSEQUENCES OF BELIEVING OR NOT BELIEVING IN JESUS THE CHRIST.”
LENTEN CONVERSION: HOW LOVELY IS YOUR DWELLING PLACE, O LORD OF HOSTS
Today in a few hours, the Lay Cistercian community of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit (Trappist) http://www.trappist.net, will meet for their monthly Zoom Gathering Day meeting. I would like to share with you some of my preparations for that meeting. In Lectio Divina… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: HOW LOVELY IS YOUR DWELLING PLACE, O LORD OF HOSTS”
WHISPERS FROM A CAVE
One of my favorite Scripture passages is the one where God tells a frightened Elijah the Prophet to go to a cave and He will pass by. This passage has great importance for contemplative practice. We listen to God with the ear of our… Continue Reading “WHISPERS FROM A CAVE”
LENTEN CONVERSION: the most difficult choice you will ever make
The title of this blog is not my own, but the topic of Bishop Robert Barron’s YouTube Sunday sermon this week. I recommend that you subscribe to his YouTube channel. I find that my Lectio Divina meditations are informed by my latest experiences, grounded,… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: the most difficult choice you will ever make”
LENTEN CONVERSION: jUST oNE CHANGE
Lent is a time of reassessment and change. We move from our false self, imprinted with the effects of Original Sin to being free from the hostage to death. During your time of profound reflection in Lent, here are some thoughts I had from… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: jUST oNE CHANGE”
LENTEN CONVERSION: conversio morae
Lent is a period of reflection, a purification of all those false attitudes and ways of thinking that will keep me from realizing the importance of the Resurrection of Christ and its implications for me as I search for God each day. Lent is… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: conversio morae”
LENTEN CONVERSION: don’t squabble over who should give
During Lent, I try to use Lectio Divina as a way to become a more penitential person, being more humble and obedient to the will of God each day. One of my Lectio meditations (not at the level of contemplation) is on the subject… Continue Reading “LENTEN CONVERSION: don’t squabble over who should give”
THE ART OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE
One of the concepts that help me to grow in the capacity of Christ in my heart is that of the Church. I use to think of the Church as being a body of rules and prescriptions that I had to believe in order… Continue Reading “THE ART OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE”
the genesis effect
The first chapters of the Book of Genesis provide the opening written statement of what it means to be human. The oral traditions handed down through centuries surely took on characteristics of their own as different cultures and diverse authors reflected on their human… Continue Reading “the genesis effect”
LAY CISTERCIAN CONTINUITY
During one of our Gathering Days of Lay Cistercians at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery (www.trappist.net), one of our members asked the question about the difficulty of keeping to a schedule to do Cistercian practices. The question also plagues me and how… Continue Reading “LAY CISTERCIAN CONTINUITY”
WHY YOUR CENTER IS CENTRAL TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE
Everyone has a center of their life. It is that one principle, that one value upon which all others find their support. Granted that your center as a twenty-year-old may not be the one you have when you are sixty, but you will have… Continue Reading “WHY YOUR CENTER IS CENTRAL TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE”
FACING FIVE EITHER/OR DILEMMAS
Yogi Berra’s supposed saying, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it,” is witty but perhaps a wise description of choices we all must make if we try to be contemplative in our practice. We live in the temporal time of… Continue Reading “FACING FIVE EITHER/OR DILEMMAS”
IF I WERE THE DEVIL
What would you do to the current political debacle if you were the Devil? I would convince the United States that political parties are a new religion, that hatred of personality replaces public policy, that revenge and calumny substitutes for civility and cooperation, that… Continue Reading “IF I WERE THE DEVIL”
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