From blogger Roma Waterman: Not everyone experiences Easter the same way. For some, it’s a table full of family and laughter. For others, it’s serving in church, pouring out...

In an interview before his passing, Centering Prayer pioneer Fr. Thomas Keating shared his thoughts on dying to encourage others to engage the “small deaths” of contemplation: Most of our troubles are in the brain. Those are the habits of thinking that are unquestioned, or that have been habits of years. When the brain dies, all of the background material and context, or the unconscious [and other] influences, everything is gone. So for the first time in our conscious life, we can make a ...

When we say that God is ineffable, unsearchable, unknowable, we are perhaps trying to express the notion that we can never reach the full depth of God’s love – somehow, there is always more to God’s love than what we’ve already uncovered. This is perhaps why there is always a yearning associated with ...

Contemplative practice is our best attempt to allow ourselves to be fully seen and known by God. Therein lies one of the great challenges of contemplative practice, as we are well-conditioned to hide our wounds – the fear...

Suddenly As I had always known he would come, unannounced, remarkable merely for the ...

On this Palm Sunday, we invite you to let this image from artist Evans Yegon speak to your heart...

Seek out a new (or not so new) acquaintance’s story [for Lent]. When we hear the narrative of someone else’s life, we learn fresh ways that God moves through our lives and connects all our stories to God’s own. And, when we become closer to a person by knowing more about them, the door of our heart opens a bit wider, and we catch a new glimpse of God’s image....

Create something [for Lent]. You don’t even need formal materials for this. Gather what’s near at hand, give thanks for these supplies, and wait for them to present themselves to you in new, combined forms. This kind of prayer allows us to celebrate the goodness of the created world and get a glimpse into the divine imagination...

The MMOC Contemplative Core team invites you to an exploration of the foundations of Christian life: Living the Trinitarian Life - A Dance of Love presented by Deacon Bob Smerek Join together with Deacon Bob as we examine the meaning of the life of the Trinity, and discuss practical applications of the Trinitarian dynamic for daily living. Two sessions will be held: A Lenten "Dance" on March 29, 2025, 10-11:30 AM...

Laura Stephens Reed of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship offers more suggestions for entering into contemplation during Lent: Move your body. Sometimes I am most amenable to the Spirit’s whisperings when I am moving just enough to quiet my mind. Walking or repetitive motions often ...

Laura Stephens Reed of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship offers these suggestions for entering into contemplation during Lent (and reminds us that the Spirit’s wisdom can be found in many places)! Pray with your eyes open. Celebrate beauty of all kinds. Ask for God’s help where you see struggle. This prayer could be as you are...

One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state. the heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty and in faith. –CCC 2710 ​ The role of place and time in contemplative practice is ...

… One makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up [prayer], no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. -CCC 2710 As part of their Daily Meditations, the Center for Action and Contemplation recently shared an excerpt from theologian Beverly Lanzetta’s book Path of the Heart which...

The choice of the time and duration of the prayer [practice] arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. -CCC 2710 Contemplation itself is a pure grace, a gift of God freely and generously given. It may seem...

Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves (Song of Songs 1:7). It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him… -CCC 2709...

Though Catholic and Christiam institutions have gone through periods where contemplative prayer has not been emphasized, contemplation nevertheless forms part of the bedrock of a traditional Catholic understanding of prayer. Consider this excerpt from...

One of the central tenets of Christian spirituality (and indeed much non-Christian spirituality, too) is the necessity of dying to self -- that is, the false self that culture, our own egos, and other people claim us to ...

The New Testament makes roughly 40 references to Jesus praying. Have you ever wondered what the prayer time of Jesus looked like, or considered in what this prayer consisted? Some of these prayers of Jesus were...

Any true mission or vocation must arise from and be anchored in a keen awareness of who we are. Understanding our own belovedness and the particular ways in which we are graced by God ensures that we are undertaking the right mission for the right reasons, and sustains us through the inevitable sacrifices. Moreover, a...

Any “scope” through which we view the Mystery of God is always too narrow, as there will always be some aspect of creation left outside of the scope. The people of ancient Israel occasionally fell into a narrow notion of God, declaring, for instance, thar God had “not dealt thus with other nations, not taught them hi...