Life After Abortion.. The Story of Our Miracle Baby

October 28, 2015 by Be Holy

You Looked Down

October 28, 2015 by Be Holy

You looked down
From Your Cross
To behold faithfulness.
There stood Your Mother.

You beheld her look of grief,
Her suffering Your pain.
You wed it
To Your Own,
Presenting all
Before Our Father’s holy throne.

Awakening

October 26, 2015 by Be Holy

You stretch before me
In wondrous expanses.
Where are your limits, O Lord?
Where the measure
That contains Your domain?

The ethereal sky,
Hugging the mountains,
Kissing earth,
And spilling love across its plains,
Proclaims a God of beauty.

Hidden,yet revealed,
In the minuscule and mighty,
You peer from clouds
That radiate streams of Your glory.

You walk the waters,
Stride across mountains,
Blow like desert sands,
Seamlessly knitting terrain,
Texture, color, and contour
In organic harmony,
To announce Your Presence.

A world of darkness
Awakens each morning,
From its chrysalis,
As hope and promise courts
The sons and daughters of Man.

Quarried, cut and polished,
A darkened crystal,
Receives Your Light.
The soul of Man,
Focuses Your splendor,
And by grace,
You shine out in creations’ purpose.

Your Just Sun, O Father,
Crosses the great divide,
To shine on a "no one",
And "no people"
To stretch before the angels
The measure of Your Mercy.

Spiritualdirection.com | Catholic Spiritual Direction | Centering Prayer’s Misunderstading of Contemplation SpiritualDirection.com / Catholic Spiritual Direction

October 24, 2015 by Be Holy

Centering Prayer’s Misunderstanding of ContemplationOctober 24, 2015 by Connie Rossini Filed under Books, Centering Prayer, Connie Rossini, FEATURED, New Age, Prayer 18 3 1 3 Centering Prayer’s Misunderstanding of ContemplationThe following is an excerpt from Connie’s new bookIs Centering Prayer Catholic? Fr. Thomas Keating Meets Teresa of Ávila and the CDF.This excerpt comprises Chapter Five: The Nature of Contemplation. DetailThomasKeatingDiscussionWithTheDalaiLamaBoston2012Fr. Keating writes, “Contemplation is a fundamental constituent of human nature and hence available to every human being.”[1] This is a serious error. It makes contemplation into a merely human action, like thinking or loving. Fr. Keating says that Christian contemplation and Buddhist meditation “are basically the same thing,” and both employ many methods.[2] He also says, “Contemplation… is not so much a gift as a given.”[3] Contrast this with the Catechism: “Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty.”[4]What does this mean more concretely? If contemplation is a gift, as the Catechism says, then God gives it as he wills and to whom he wills. Contemplation is really a deeper entering into the life of God through intimacy with Christ. It is not an altered state of consciousness. It cannot be achieved by human endeavor. Although God wills to draw every person into this intimacy, that does not mean that everyone, wherever he may be in the spiritual life, has immediate access to it. Human nature is not enough to make one a contemplative. Even the sacramental grace given at Baptism is insufficient to make one a contemplative. Contemplation requires a special act of God. When the soul has done all it can with ordinary grace to draw near to God, God draws near to the soul. This is the orthodox view. Letter to the Bishops indicates that Fr. Keating’s mistake is a Gnostic one: In combating the errors of pseudognosticism the Fathers [of the early Church] affirmed that matter is created by God and as such is not evil. Moreover, they maintained that grace, which always has the Holy Spirit as its source is not a good proper to the soul, but must be sought from God as a gift.[5]

Source: Spiritualdirection.com | Catholic Spiritual Direction | Centering Prayer’s Misunderstading of Contemplation SpiritualDirection.com / Catholic Spiritual Direction