The late Pope Francis once said of the mercy of God, “It is not easy to entrust oneself to God's mercy, because it is an abyss beyond our comprehension. But we must! ... ‘Oh, I am a great sinner!’ All the better! Go to Jesus:” Centering Prayer and other contemplative practices are ways of descending into this wonderfully merciful abyss; Centering Prayer in particular is a plunge, as we throw ourselves into the mercy of God without so much as a thought or a word to cling to. Maybe this is why contemplative practice feels overwhelming at times. Lovers and seekers of God all over the world profess the mercy of God, and many of these same people will express dismay and frustration with woundedness and brokenness, in the world and in themselves. Yet, in a strange way, those wounds – the pain, the ego, the smallness – can feel familiar, comforting, even safe. How easy it is to remain in the confines of that which we can recognize and understand, even if we can sense that space as inadequate for the call of God on our lives. If we truly open up and entrust ourselves to the mercy of God, the wounds would will have to be seen, felt, touched… and the small self that we’ve clung to might be broken open and washed away. We may have to learn a life of falling deeper and deeper into the abyss – the mercy of God.
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