Paraphrasing Francis Thompson’s The Hound of Heaven, I fled the image of the Crucified Jesus “down the nights and down the days…I fled him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind…” Always knowing that one day I would have to embrace the Crucified Jesus. Now very late in life, I find myself […]
Divine Dialogue
November 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
In spiritual circles, the word “discernment” has two meanings: the perception or discovery of a movement of Spirit-given grace; and the procedure that best disposes a person for such discovery. However, behind these concepts is the important faith vision that is fundamental to our relationship with God: namely, that God is constantly communicating to us […]
Compassion through Contemplation
November 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The Scriptures do not disclose Jesus’ life of contemplation. But how else can we explain Jesus’ intimate closeness to God? In Jesus Before Christianity, Fr. Albert Nolan, O.P. states: “It is generally agreed that somewhere at the heart of Jesus’ mysterious personality there was a unique experience of intimate closeness to God—the Abba experience…we know […]
Thinking Outside the Box
September 12, 2011 by
If we want to appreciate Christianity, if we want to deeply encounter Jesus, if we want to live a spiritual life, we must think outside the box. The box being our purely rational minds. In his book, The Naked Now, Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM explains that our minds can prevent us moving “from mere belief […]
