The hiding place of God, the revelation place of God, is the material world. You don’t have to put spirit and matter together; they have been together ever since the Big Bang, 14.6 billion years ago (see Genesis 1:1-2 and John 1:1-5). You have to get on your knees and recognize this momentous truth as already and always so. The Eucharist offers microcosmic moments of belief, and love of what is cosmically true. It will
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Our whole spiritual progress is a ‘search for the place of the heart’. Little by little, the conscious self frees itself from idols, strips away the dead layers and illusions, and ‘descends’, like Psyche holding a lighted lamp, into the dark crypt of the heart. Sanctuary, crypt and tomb become the bridal chamber; the ‘heart-spirit’ is remade in the fire of grace, it trembles with joy, it bursts into flames, the world and humanity are
Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, Abba Joseph, as far as I am able I say my little office, I keep my little fasts, I pray my little prayers, I meditate a little, I live in peace, and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do!” Then Abba Joseph, stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten torches of
My behavior tortures me. I can’t hide from You, Omniscient God. You know how much my behavior tortures me. I don’t act well. My manners show desperate fluctuations. I usually travel between extremes. My condition oppresses me so much, God, often I exhibit a bad picture of myself. My relationships with other people are not developing well at all. One day I seem stupidly rude and impolite, and the next day I reach a level
“KNOCK AND THE DOOR SHALL BE OPENED” (MT 7:7; LK 11:9) “Let us sit still and keep our attention fixed within ourselves,” says Evagrius. Simone Weil describes prayer in much the same spirit when she says “Prayer consists of attention,” and “the quality of the attention counts for much in the quality of the prayer.” The practice of contemplation begins with our attention and our bodies. The basics are simple. We sit down and assume
Jesus Is Poor Jesus, the Blessed One, is poor. The poverty of Jesus is much more than an economic or social poverty. Jesus is poor because he freely chose powerlessness over power, vulnerability over defensiveness, dependency over self-sufficiency. As the great “Song of Christ” so beautifully expresses: “He . . . did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself . . . becoming as human beings are” (Philippians 2:6-7).
To be a Christian means to necessarily be an optimist because we remember what happened on the third day! We know the final stage of death, Jesus’ leap of faith, was not in vain. He was not put to shame, and “God raised him up” (which is the correct way to say it, and not that he rose himself). Most of human life is Holy Saturday, a few days of life are Good Friday, but
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (and with all your strength). Matthew 22:37, Mark, 12:30, Luke 10:27 How do I love Thee my Lord? I love Thee when I turn my back to bitterness, forgiving spite and might To caress and bless the broken-hearted walking dead. I love Thee as I abandon sleep to dawn metallic bangles and belts-tight
Without temptation the monks become careless. They let themselves go, and so live any old way. Temptations force them to live consciously, to exercise discipline, and to be wakeful. Thus the monks don’t pray for temptations to stop, but for God to give them enough strength. The story was told of Mother Sarah, that for thirteen years she endured being violently assaulted by demons of impurity. She never prayed for the struggle to cease, but
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