May 2018
Gospel of Matthew (Mt 6:5-8)
He said to them, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Vincentian Reflection
We’ve all heard and I imagine said “The Lord works in mysterious ways”. Which, by the way is not scriptural or to be found literally In the Catechism.
What can be found the the Catechism is a section (2700) on prayer which specifically describes and defines the the three types of prayer mentioned and briefly discussed last month.
Specifically, the statement in the reflection was
Christian Tradition has retained three major expressions of prayer: vocal, meditative, and contemplative.
So Shirley, working in a mysterious way asked “what is the difference between meditative and contemplative”. Besides not having a good answer for her, little did I know what a row and ruckus her question is out there in the world.
To try and have a good answer for Shirley and all of you, I turned to the Catechism. Mind you, this is a mere “Subsection” within an “Article” as part of a “Chapter” of a “Section” in “Part Four”. Yet, in a matter of four short pages, the Catechism quotes St. John Chrysostom, the Gospel of Matthew (twice), the Gospel of Mark (twice), St. Teresa of Jesus-St. Teresa of Avila, The Song of Songs, the Gospel of Luke, Jeremiah, Ephesians, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Isaac of Nineveh, and St. John of the Cross.
And what I have for you is this
- The dictionary definitions of meditate and contemplate have no relevance here.
- Meditative prayer is active. The Catechism says “Meditation is above all a quest”. Our prayerful thoughts are focused, questioning and seeking.
- For Contemplative prayer, the Catechism quotes St. Teresa with “…it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us”. To this I humbly add being in a quiet state of grace and thus able to hear the whispers of God.
Now, I know this is quite a few words on a topic we’re mostly unaccustomed to talking about. But I hope some of you found this interesting and since we’re in the era of Reuse, Re-purpose and Recycle, I’ll repeat my closing from last week
“So I remind myself and perhaps some present of the importance of persistence in our daily prayer life, so that we can truly dwell in the presence of God in all ways.”
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