Questions
"But there are questions, lots of questions. And it is good to live in the question. A pat answer is closed, it is finished; that's it. It goes no where and leaves little room for hope. A question, the mystery, opens the space for us. It is full of possibility. It gives hope of life and ever more abundant life. Our faith, solid as it might be, is full of questions. And therefore full of life and hope."
— Living in the Question: Meditations in the Style of Lectio Divina
We Are God's Dream
"We do not know how precious we are in ourselves. As Dame Julian of Norwich, that delightful English mystic declared, we are God's dream, his homiest home. We have too little respect for ourselves, too little esteem for our own importance. God sees things otherwise."
— Living in the Question: Meditations in the Style of Lectio Divina
Death of the False Self
"God is the source of all that is. We are totally dependent on his largesse. Fully accepting this means the death of the false self, that projection which we seek to create out of our own doings and havings. It means the freedom to be my true self and to celebrate this gift of God to me and to everybody else. Indeed, it is the only thing I can give others that has true worth: my true self. It means living in the domain of complete freedom, joy and peace, because I no longer have to create myself but live in the bounty of a God of limitless bounty and benignity."
— Living in the Question: Meditations in the Style of Lectio Divina
Techniques of the East
"I would like to say that we Christians should not hesitate to make use of the good techniques that our wise friends from the East are offering, if we find them, in fact, helpful. As St. Paul said: 'All things are yours, and you are Christ's and Christ is God's' (I Cor, 3:23). We should not hesitate to take the fruit of the age-old wisdom of the East and 'capture' it for Christ. Indeed, those of us who are in the ministry should make the necessary effort to acquaint ourselves with as many of these Eastern techniques as possible. Not that we will necessarily find them useful in our own prayer seeking, though that might be the case, but that we might be prepared to enter into intelligent dialogue with Eastern spiritual masters and, more important, that we might be prepared to help our fellow Christians, who do learn these techniques and find them helpful, to integrate them into their Christian faith experience. Many Christians who take their prayer life seriously have been greatly helped by Yoga, Zen, TM and similar practices, especially where they have been initiated by reliable teachers and have a solidly developed Christian faith to give inner form and meaning to the resulting experiences."
— Finding Grace at the Center: The Beginning of Centering Prayer
A Listening Attitude
"And so we go along, listening to the Lord, who is the Way; listening to one another, who share the way; listening to the way itself. The habit of beginning each day sitting still for a bit, listening to the Word of God who is the Way, engenders in us this listening attitude, this sensitivity that hears what each person, each event, each thing has to say to us. Life is rich, very rich, with communication. Let us listen together. Let us share what we hear. Let us walk together in the way, more sure for our being together and hearing together. And may we all come together to journey's joyous end."
— Listening God's Word for Today
Die to Self
"Jesus said that we must die to self. It is precisely this false self that he is talking about. This self which we construct and which in turn imprisons us and makes us serve it in varying degrees of misery."
— True Self/ False Self: Unmasking the Spirit Within
Centering Prayer
"In the center of your being lives God: Father, Son, and Spirit. Centering prayer allows you to experience His presence and be touched and transformed by Him.
"Simply sit, relaxed and quiet, enjoying your own inner calm and silence. For a few minutes, listen to His presence and allow yourself to be touched by it.
"After a time, perhaps a single word will come: Jesus, Lord, Love, or any word that captures your response to His inner presence. Place into this word all your faith, your love, as you enter more and more deeply into Him. Slowly and effortlessly, repeat your word. Allow it to lead you more and more deeply into God's presence at the center of your being, where you are in God and God in you. Surrender to His re-freshment and re-creation.
"Center all your attention and desire on Him, leaving your faculties at peace, allowing Him to draw you into His perfect prayer of adoration, love and praise. Let it happen. Whenever you become aware of any thoughts or images, simply return to your word.
"In coming out of prayer, move slowly to silent awareness and then a conscious interior prayer, such as the Our Father, savoring the words and meaning, entering into them.
"The centering prayer may be used once or twice daily for twenty minutes or more.
"If you are faithful to it, you will soon discern in your life the maturing of the fruits of the Spirit:love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, and kindness.
"You shall be truly abiding in Him and He in you."
— Finding Grace at the Center: The Beginning of Centering Prayer
Heavenly Friends
"I have spent many hours reading the writings of my heavenly friends, letting them speak to me from their hearts to my heart. Besides the inspired authors of the sacred Scriptures, those who have especially nourished me are an early Cistercian, Bernard of Clairvaux; the other Cistercian fathers; Columba Marmion; Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Merton; and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
"I believe all these friends in heaven, in some way in the Lord, are able to maintain a caring watch on my life and in their great purity and freedom are able to intercede most effectively for me with the Lord. When Jesus made us his friend he made us all friends. I look forward to heaven, when we will be able to enjoy one another totally and forever."
— M. Basil Pennington quoted in The Lure of Saints: A Protestant Experience of Catholic Tradition by Jon M. Sweeney
