THE JOURNEY OF ABRAHAM AND DEEP PERSONAL PRAYER

Salvation HistoryThere are countless ways the Bible has been used and abused down through history. We need to continuously return to a simple truth about the Sacred Book and its message. An accurate description of the Bible is this: the Bible is the story of Abraham and his family and their experience...

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COMING HOME: THE GIFT OF CONTEMPLATION

Teresa has this powerful and relevant statement in this crisis of “moving on up” from the third dwelling places to the fourth dwelling places. Teresa describes it this way: “With humility present, this state (third dwelling places) is a most excellent one. If humility is lacking, we will remain here...

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THE CONTEMPLATIVE SWITCH

Teresa of Avila lays out a map for seeking God in her classic on the spiritual life, The Interior Castle. She describes seven stages or dwelling places. For most of us, the third dwelling places is most relevant to our search.The movement from the third dwelling places to the fourth dwelling places...

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KEEPING OUR EYES FOCUSED ON JESUS-2

Part TwoFor St. Teresa of Avila, it is the personal encounter in following Jesus that unveils the loving mercy of God. This gift has its privileged communication in deep personal prayer. Prayer is always her top priority. For this Carmelite saint, the prayerful encounter with Jesus constantly stands...

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KEEPING OUR EYES FOCUSED ON JESUS

Jesus walks into our lives through the Gospels. The Gospels are a privileged part of the word of God. The Gospels give us today, as they have done all through Christian history, an opportunity to discover Jesus just as the first disciples did when they joined him on the dusty roads of Galilee. The Gospels...

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PATHWAY TO PERSONAL RENEWAL

The Carmelite tradition states clearly that we are called to union with God. This is the goal of our full human development. This is the pilgrimage returning to the innocence of Paradise. We achieve this by a process of purification and transformation that begins with our effort to live an authentic...

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JESUS TEACHING ON PRAYER

Jesus taught the people to start from where they were in their life situation. Jesus then invited them into the mystery of the kingdom. There was special emphasis on the parables as the method of his teaching. In the parables, he taught that prayer should be urgent, insistent, forgiving and always steeped...

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AN OBSTACLE IN DEEP PERSONAL PRAYER

The Real Difficulty in Prayer: God’s AttitudeA little bit of our heart is never enough. God is never satisfied unless we offer ourselves completely. God always wants more, the whole thing. Love is not about a little bit. All the problems in prayer are rooted in this divine posture. On our part, we are...

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AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEEP PERSONAL PRAYER

Christian MeditationA second method of prayer is Christian Meditation. It is truly different in its approach from lectio divina and other forms of meditation where the mind is a vital component of the prayer. Christian Meditation is a contemplative approach to prayer that centers on silence. It hopes...

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4. THE PRAYERFUL READING OF THE BIBLE

An Opportunity for Deep Personal PrayerThe Prayerful Reading of the Bible: Lectio DivinaVatican II brought the word of God in the Bible to the center of all Christian spirituality. This revival has led to a growing practice of prayer that has had a long tradition in the church. This is called lectio...

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THE BIBLE AND PRAYER

An Opportunity for Deep Personal PrayerIThe People’s Experience of GodThe Bible is a love story of God and his people. It is simple and clear. Yet, it is also complicated because this love absorbs human frailty and sin covering centuries. The creation accounts in Genesis are written in their own symbolic...

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AN OBSTACLE TO DEEP PERSONAL PRAYER

Prayer of Petition: Complex and Easily Distorted IThere are two fundamental points about the prayer of petition. We start with an awareness of our dependence on God. Second, whatever our petition may be, it must lead to God’s plan for our salvation, the Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus in the Gospels....

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A TRUE TREASURE

In the very first days of his Pontificate, Pope Francis proclaimed the importance of prayer. In a daily homily he said:“The Lord tells us the first task in life is prayer. But not the prayer of words, like a parrot; but the prayer of the heart gazing on the Lord, hearing the Lord, asking the Lord.”This...

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