St. Teresa of Avila on friendship with Jesus as the key to contemplation and the spiritual life and how all blessings, particularly contemplative prayer, come through the humanity of Christ. This selection is read on the Feast or liturgical memorial of Saint Teresa of Avila on October 15.  If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must com ..read more

Luke’s story of Mary and Martha of Bethany, sisters of Lazarus, teaches us about hospitality, service, action, contemplation, and distraction in pursuit of the Catholic Fullness. I once got a harsh letter from a Baptist lady protesting that she could not find the word “Catholic” anywhere in the Bible. Catholic Means Fullness True, the earliest occurrence of the term is in a letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch, written 20 years after the last book of the New Testament.  But the idea that the Church is “catholic” pops up everywhere in the gospels and epistles.  The Greek w ..read more

A podcast on sisters Martha and Mary of Bethany and what Jesus’s visit to their home, as recorded in Luke 10, has to teach us about action, service, contemplation and hospitality. The story of the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha and Mary in Bethany [Luke 10:38-42] raises questions about hospitality, service, prayer, action and contemplation.  First of all, does Jesus love some people, like Mary, Mary, and Lazarus, more than others?  If so, how is this fair?  Secondly, why would Jesus apparently praise Mary sitting on her behind while Martha slaves in the kitchen?  In ..read more

Here Augustine reflects on hishat famous incident, recorded in Luke 10, when the Lord comes to the home of Martha and Mary.  Martha busies herself with the details of hospitality, anxious and troubled about many things. Martha represents the battle we all face against the distractions inherent in our everyday responsibilities.  For the feast of St. Martha on July 29. O ur Lord’s words teach us that though we labor among the many distractions of this world, we should have but one goal. For we are but travelers on a journey without as yet a fixed abode; we are on our way, not yet in ou ..read more

St. Bonaventure, known as the Seraphic Doctor, teaches us about mystical or contemplative prayer in the Holy Spirit who enkindles within us a raging fire and carries the soul to God with intense fervor and glowing love. Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant, and the mystery hidden from the ages. A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on the cross, full of faith, hope and charity, devoted, full of wonder and joy, marked by gratit ..read more

Ambrose here speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Wisdom of God upon whom we must meditate day and night, whether we are at work or rest, at home or abroad (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9). We must always meditate on God’s wisdom, keeping it in our hearts and on our lips. Your tongue must speak justice, the law of God must be in your heart. Hence Scripture tells you: You shall speak of these commandments when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you get up.  Let us then speak of the Lord Jesus, for he is wisdom, he is the word, the Word indeed o ..read more

All Christians, even the busiest among us, are called to contemplative, even mystical, prayer.  Here are a few tips on how to experience contemplation even in the midst of action. For many, the words “contemplative life” conjures up images of robed monks in choir stalls or veiled nuns behind metal grates.  A chosen few of these sequestered people appear to be favored with revelations from on high.  These we call mystics. Diqualified from Contemplation? Since most of us are called to an active life, we assume that we are disqualified from contemplation.  And t ..read more

Augustine explains that constant prayer does not mean non-stop church services or recitation of prayers, but a ceaseless desire of the heart for union with God in heaven. Here Augustine sounds remarkably like the Greek Fathers of the Eastern Church who teach the Jesus prayer, the prayer of the heart, in the spiritual classic called the Philokalia.  To Pray always means constant desire for God.  This actually is one of the three theological virtues, namely the virtue of hope. I have roared out with the groaning of my heart. There is a secret groaning, which is not heard by man: yet if ..read more