Posted on by Kurt Bodling

priestly unity with Christ

“A contemplative priest will have a deep and absorbing sense of union with Christ as priest and as offering in the Eucharistic sacrifice–so much so that his Mass will be going on within him not only when he is at the altar but when he is away from it, and at many different moments during the day.”

Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. Introduction by Sue Monk Kidd. New York: New Directions Books, 2007, ©1961, p. 161.

This strikes me as quite congruent with the way we (some of us, anyway) say that contemplation is carried through one’s day, or that we can “pray without ceasing” by inhabiting the Jesus Prayer.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Pope Paul VI on silence

Quoting Paul VI in his homily in Nazareth on 5 January 1964: “The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God’s inner wisdom and the counsel of true teachers. Nazareth can teach us the value of study and preparation, of meditation, of a well-ordered personal spiritual life, and of silent prayer that is known only to God.”

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Translated by Michael J. Miller. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017. Thought 209. (p. 110)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

a crucial point in the life of prayer

"Infused contemplation, then, sooner or later brings with it a terrible interior revolution. Gone is the sweetness of prayer. Meditation becomes impossible, even hateful. Liturgical functions seem to be an insupportable burden. The mind cannot think. The will seems unable to love. The interior life is filled with darkness and dryness and pain. The soul is tempted to think that all is over and that, in punishment for its infidelities, all spiritual life has come to an end.

"This is a crucial point in the life of prayer. It is very often here that souls, called by God to contemplation, are repelled by this ‘hard saying,’ turn back, and ‘walk no more with Him’ (John 6:61-67). …

“Generally they remain faithful to God: they try to serve Him. But they turn away from interior things and express their service in externals. They externalize themselves in pious practices, or they immerse themselves in work in order to escape the pain and sense of defeat they have experienced in what seems, to them, to be the collapse of all contemplation. ‘The light shineth in darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it’ (John 1).”

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, pp. 75-76. (NOTE: Merton wrote this back in 1959!)

It seems like all the tried-and-true recommendations for deepening a spiritual life, recommendations adopted (with more or less benefit) by most people, don’t always cut it any more for those called to the contemplative life. Then there follows the need for balancing the internal and the external, balancing service with growth, balancing action with contemplation. Sometimes, it seems, one serves others best by turning inward.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

middle way prayer

“To sum up, in prayer there is the danger of falling into one of two opposite extremes. The first is ‘mythologizing’ (or making into an idol) the external forms, when prayer is reduced to the mechanical following of a rule or a method of praying. The second is the rejection of and allergic reaction toward all forms of prayer and asceticism. Those fall into this sad situation who do not know how to combine the external forms with sincerity of heart.”

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. 52.

As in so very much, the middle way is the way of wisdom. In prayer it is best neither to reject formalized liturgical prayer, nor to avoid all extemporaneous and personalized prayer. Those are the head and heart respectively of prayer life. The golden mean brings together the tried and true traditional forms of prayer with the simple and sincere sighs of the heart.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

peace in prayer

“As long as I am content to know that He is infinitely greater than I, and that I cannot know Him unless He shows Himself to me, I will have Peace, and He will be near me and in me, and I will rest in Him.”

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. (NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1958); (pbk ed 1999), p. 97.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

God, writing, and publishing

“It really should not be necessary for my sermons and words to be circulated widely throughout the country. Certainly there are other books that might properly or profitably serve as sermons for the people. I do not know why God destines me to be involved in this game in which people pick up and spread my words, some as my friends, others as enemies. This has induced me to publish this Lord’s Prayer, previously published by my friends, and to exposit it further in the hope that I may also do my adversaries a favor. It is always my intention to be helpful to all and harmful to none.”

Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), page 19.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

meditative prayer

“In meditative prayer, one thinks and speaks not only with his mind and lips, but in a certain sense with his whole being. Prayer is then not just a formula of words, or a series of desires springing up in the heart–it is the orientation of our whole body, mind and spirit to God in silence, attention, and adoration. All good meditative prayer is a conversion of our entire self to God.”

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1958. (pbk ed 1999), p. 40.

This is how we can finally get away from the Sears-catalog-Amazon-wish-list type of prayer that so many Christians are boxed in by.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

diminishment is growth

from a prayer within the text: “When the signs of age begin to mark my body (and still more my mind); when the ill that is to diminish or carry me off strikes from without or is born within me; when the painful moment comes in which I suddenly awaken to the fact that I am ill or growing old; and above all at the last moment when I feel I am losing hold of myself and am absolutely passive in the hands of the great unknown energies that have formed me; in all those dark moments, O God, grant that I may understand that it is you (provided only my faith is strong enough) who are painfully parting the fiber of my being to penetrate to the very marrow of my substance and bear me away within yourself.”

Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. The Divine Milieu. Translated by Siôn Cowell. Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 2012, pp. 50-51.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

God’s schedule

“As we have taught so often, we should not tempt God, that is, we should not determine the when and where and why, or the ways and means and manner in which God should answer our prayer. Rather, we must in all humility bring our petition before him who will certainly do the right thing in accordance with his unsearchable and divine wisdom. But by no means doubt that God hears our prayer, even if it may appear that he does not do so.”

Luther, Martin. “Appeal for Prayer Against the Turks” (1541) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, pages 230-231.

God answers our prayers on God’s own schedule. Not ours. And in God’s own way, not ours. Our schedule for praying should be ‘without ceasing.’ And our way of praying should be believing that God hears us.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

spiritual dry spells

“Be content to remain in loneliness and isolation, dryness and anguish, waiting upon God in darkness. Your inarticulate longing for Him in the night of suffering will be your most eloquent prayer.”

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, p. 103. (NOTE: the text belongs to 1959!)