Posted on by Kurt Bodling

becoming a mystic

“We become mystics or contemplatives only through the grace of God as work in our lives. Any effort we make to do it strictly on our own is likely doomed to failure. Indeed, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing has stern words for those who, through pride and the folly of their own imagination, try to become mystics or contemplatives without humbly relying on the guidance of the Spirit. He calls these pseudo-mystics the ‘devil’s contemplatives’. Contemplation and mysticism are always gifts from God. But God will never force those gifts on anyone God is not in the business of spiritual coercion.”

McColman, Carl. The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: an Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023, p. 176.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

why we pray

“Why should I pray? Basically it is for the sake of praying. There is much else we might claim about prayer–it is for the sake of the world, it is for those in need, for the Church, for individual souls–all of which is true. But unless it is rooted in the boundless freedom of love and confidence in God, it is void and crippled. It has some effect perhaps, but lacks the current of grace and graciousness that flows from God.”

Quenon, Paul. In Praise of the Useless Life: a Monk’s Memoir. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2018, p. 5.

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benefits of regular prayer

“The duration of prayer influences its quality, because a longer period of time helps the body assume a deeper prayer stance. In addition to this irreplaceable prolonged prayer, it is important during the day to consecrate the present moment by reciting a few invocations. One of them, the Angelus, has a long tradition in the Church. … Moreover, even in very different places, knowing that at that precise moment all are praying with the same formula strengthens our awareness of being interdependent in Christ.”

Okumura, Augustine Ichiro. Awakening to Prayer. Translated by Theresa Kazue Hiraki and Albert Masaru Yamato. Washington, DC: ICS Publications, Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1994, p. 64.

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sin cannot harm us

“Therefore, just as it is impossible for Christ with his righteousness not to please God, so it is impossible for us, with our faith clinging to his righteousness, not to please him. It is in this way that a Christian becomes almighty lord of all, having all things and doing all things, wholly without sin. Even if he is in sins, these cannot do him harm; they are forgiven for the sake of the inexhaustible righteousness of Christ that removes all sins. It is on this that our faith relies, firmly trusting that he is such a Christ as we have described.”

Luther, Martin. “Fourteen Consolations for Those Who Labor and Are Heavy Laden” (1520) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, p. 165.

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cling to Christ’s righteousness

“We are set down, I say, in Christ’s righteousness, with which he himself is righteous, because we cling to that righteousness whereby he himself is acceptable to God, intercedes for us as our mediator, and gives himself wholly to us as our high priest and protector.”

Luther, Martin. “Fourteen Consolations for Those Who Labor and Are Heavy Laden” (1520) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, p. 165.

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source of inerrancy

“The insistence on an ‘infallible’ or ‘inerrant’ Bible has grown up within a complex cultural matrix (in particular, that of modern North American Protestantism) where the Bible has been seen as the bastion of orthodoxy against Roman Catholicism on the one hand and liberal modernism on the other. Unfortunately, the assumptions of both those worlds have conditioned the debate. It is no accident that this Protestant insistence on biblical infallibility arose at the same time as Rome was insisting on papal infallibility, or that the rationalism of the Enlightenment infected even those who were battling against it.”

Wright, Tom. Simply Christian. London: SPCK, 2006, p. 157.

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words about silence

"Since God is so ultimately unknowable–the divine light is so dazzling that it blinds us–perhaps it is reasonable to say that the word of God is so overpowering that we can experience it only as (and through) silence.

“As soon as I say that, however, another paradox emerges, for I am using words to testify to God’s ‘meta-wordness.’ This paradox has been part of the mystical tradition since the days of the biblical writers (if not before). We cannot put God into words. And, it appears, we cannot stop trying to do just that.”

McColman, Carl. The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: an Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023, p. 167.

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different burdens for different people

“Since it is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are weak, one simply cannot place the same burden on everyone. … When a strong man travels with a weak man, he must restrain himself so as not to walk at a speed proportionate to his strength lest he set a killing pace for his weak companion.”

Luther, Martin. “Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague” (1527) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 120.

Comment: It is an act of discernment and wisdom to realize the need for variety in practice or requirements because different people have different levels of tolerance. There should, of course, be measures taken to promote growth and build spiritual strength, but when everyone is starting from a different place the means for growth and strength have to be different.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter silence

“The grace of Easter is a profound silence, an immense peace, and a pure taste in the soul. It is the taste of heaven, away from all disordered excitement. The Paschal vision does not consist in a rapture of the spirit; it is the silent discovery of God.” Thought 205.

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017, p. 106.

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contemplatives convert

“I’m also reminded of the lesson of St. Francis where he says that it is not the preachers who will be rewarded by God for converting the masses but the contemplative brothers in the far-off and isolated hermitages scattered throughout the mountains and hills. Often it is our sacred stillness that brings the greatest missionary activity.”

Talbot, John Michael. The Universal Monk: The Way of the New Monastics. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2011, p. 72.