Tag Archives: Contemplation
Contemplation Gives Power to the People
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Contemplation Gives Power to the People Thursday, July 13, 2017 If religious teachers told their parishioners about contemplation, where individuals can experience the mercy of God for themselves, they would not be so dependent upon the clergy. Although this codependency is not engineered maliciously, it does create job security. We Read More »
Revolutionary Contemplation
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Revolutionary Contemplation Tuesday, July 11, 2017 Today, we continue Archbishop Rowan Williams’ address to the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2012. [Contemplation] is very far from being just one kind of thing that Christians do: it is the key to prayer, liturgy, art and ethics, the key to the Read More »
Silently Gazing upon God
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Silently Gazing upon God Monday, July 10, 2017 In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI invited Rowan Williams, then Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Church in England, to address the Synod of Bishops on the topic of evangelization. Williams is a brilliant theologian and man of prayer. His address Read More »
Connecting with Universal Meaning
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Connecting with Universal Meaning Sunday, July 9, 2017 Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing: God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. —St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) [1] Contemplation is a most radical form of self-surrender and Read More »
A Tuning Fork
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 A Tuning Fork Friday, June 30, 2017 Contemplative prayer is like striking a tuning fork. All you can really do in the spiritual life is resonate to the true pitch, to receive the always-present message. Once you are tuned, you will receive, and it has nothing to do with worthiness Read More »
Action and Contemplation
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 Action and Contemplation Monday, June 26, 2017 The words action and contemplation have become classic Christian terminology for the two dancing polarities of our lives. Thomas Aquinas and many others stated that the highest form of spiritual maturity is not action or contemplation, but the ability to integrate the two Read More »
Franciscan Spirituality: Week 1 Summary
Franciscan Spirituality: Week 1 Summary: Sunday, June 4-Friday, June 9, 2017 For Francis of Assisi, the true “I” first had to be discovered and realigned (the prayer journey into the True Self). Then he had to experience himself situated inside of a meaning-filled cosmos (a sacramental universe). Finally, he had to be poor (to be able to Read More »
At Home in the World
Alternative Orthodoxy At Home in the World Friday, June 2, 2017 Franciscan alternative orthodoxy emphasized the cosmos instead of churchiness. For the first few centuries, Franciscans’ work was not about the building of churches and the running of services in the churches. We were not intended to be parish priests. Francis himself refused priesthood, and Read More »
Everything Belongs
Alternative Orthodoxy Everything Belongs Thursday, June 1, 2017 Jesus and Saint Francis had a genius for not eliminating or punishing the so-called negative side of the world, but incorporating and using it. Francis, simply imitating Jesus, goes to the edge of town and to the bottom of society; he kisses the leper, loves the poor, Read More »
The Law of Three in Action: Weekly Summary
The Law of Three in Action Summary: Sunday, March 19-Friday, March 24, 2017 This week guest writer and CAC teacher Cynthia Bourgeault dove deeper into the Law of Three, a metaphysical principle found in the basic structure of the universe and in the Trinity. The political and religious culture wars of our era could be Read More »
