Life experience will tell us that prayer does not erase suffering and hardships. In fact, the great irony is that prayer often calls us more deeply into them! As we grow in our contemplative practices, a common fruit is...

Laudato Si, Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical on the environment, was released ten years ago. His powerful teaching concerning our responsibility to care for all of creation highlights several themes. We are called to renew our relationship with God, one another and the created world. God created the world and ...

Fr. Steve recently offered a homily on the value and significance of silence in the mass. This emphasis on silence as a means and medium of c...

Fr. Richard Rohr elaborates on St. Paul’s instruction for praying contemplatively: Paul says that you should “Pray with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond all knowledge, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). First, you must begin with the positive, with...

A May 16 report by Consumer Reports describing the prevalence of PFAs in our environment reveals their presence in non-stick cookware, water-resistant clothing, food packaging and cosmetics. This category includes over 14000 chemicals that persist...

One of the creative tensions that the contemplative practitioner faces continually is the tension between means and end. On the one hand, contemplative practices, which count among their ranks participation in the Eucharist, are a manifestation and actualization of our relationship with Divine Love, expressions of the communion that simply is. On the other hand, every contemplative practice can just as rightly be ...

No doubt many of us have received communications in the last several days addressing the harmful measures included in the “big, beautiful bill” moving through Congress now. The Ignatian Solidarity Network and USCCB Justice for Immigrants have written...

Contemplative author Carl McColman reflects: How do we pray to the God who is Love/Lover/Beloved? To answer this question, I’d like to propose three ways of thinking about — and encountering — God, right here in our own bodies. These three ways of encountering God correspond to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. Remember,...

All contemplative practice hinges and capitalizes on the revelation of the indwelling Spirit of God. The typical dualistic, rational mind can recognize God in some sense, but always as an “Other,” in the heavens, in the cathedral, in the Scripture – and God is truly to be found there by those seeking with open hearts. But,

Christian teacher and Roma Waterman offers more practices to help us preserve the spirit of Easter: Scripture Anchors: Write a scripture on a ...

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the USCCB are urgently requesting Catholics to email our members of Congress, asking them to reverse terminations of ...

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 ...

The Church traditionally celebrates the birth of St. Joseph on May 1 and this Jubilee Year, the Church honored him and all workers in early May. As the patron saint of workers, St. Joseph symbolizes the dignity of ...

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 ...

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, let’s reflect on this beautiful prayer (edited for length) from Education for Justice, a project of The Ignatian Solidarity Network. Let us rejoice in Mary, our mother and sister, and know her presence at our side as she once stood at the side of her Son, Jesus. May she...

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...

Earth Month has drawn to a close. Let’s continue to be good stewards of the health of our planet and its inhabitants. Did you know that only 5-6% of plastics are recycled (regardless of what the container might say)? Most of it ends up in ...

The Way Toward Easter In this time of conflict and violence, When so many are armed and angry, We walk with the peacemakers, on the difficult road toward peace. In this time of mourning for ...

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