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Dear friend, as you dive deeper into prayer, especially contemplative prayer, I hope you discover great riches await you. Prayer, I believe, is the most practical of ministries one can experience. In prayer, we commune directly with God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And He communes with us. The world, even the Church, tends to impress upon us a false narrative that our identity and value is found in what we do. In reality, as our Lord taught, our identity is based on whose we are. Our being eclipses our doing. You are God’s beloved! That is your identity. He communes with you through prayer, both prayers of petition and prayers of contemplation. You have opportunity to intercede for others – that dear one is the epitome of great practical ministry.
In Him,
Abbot DanI think you will find a good introduction in this short course. It was designed specifically for those wanting to discover some basic ways of deep communion with God through prayer.
Peace,
Abbot DanBrandon, I hope that your question was answered to distinguish contemplation from meditation. In Lection Divina, Holy Scripture is read in four stanzas. The first reading is an invitation to “open the ear of your heart” and simply listen to the Word. After a brief period of stillness before God, the passage is read again. This reading invites us to reflect on the Word. The Latin word used for this practice is Meditatio, which is misinterpreted as meditation in the Eastern sense. However, Meditatio is really reflection. You ask “What does the Word say to me?” A good pattern is to reflect on a word, phrase, situation, person, or some other thing that struck you in a particular way during the reading. In the third reading, ask yourself, “What do I reply?” What is your response to God’s message? This third stanza is Oratio, or prayer. Though all of Lectio is prayer, this is a time for responding to God. The fourth and final reading of the same passage is called Contemplatio, which is a time of rest. Sometimes we are led beyond prayer into a quiet and attentive resting in the presence of God. After a period of resting, I like to conclude Lectio Divina with The Lord’s Prayer.
While meditations (in its Eastern concept) is clearing the mind, Christian Contemplation is focusing the mind. Hope this helps.
Abbot Dan
Carol, I want to welcome you to Christ Mission Academy and this course, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. I pray you will find this course beneficial to your spiritual formation. I feel this is an excellent introduction to monastic spirituality. I invite you to check out the other course offerings as well.
Our goal is to offer quality, tuition-free education to all who desire to study. If you have comments or recommendations, please contact me directly at dan@christmission.us.
God bless you…
In Him,
Abbot Dan
