As a ‘royal priesthood’, many lay people will applaud Fr Peter Murphy for
encouraging the ordained priesthood to ensure silence after Communion (NZ
Catholic, Feb 25) in preparation for contemplative prayer. Although
“somewhat lost” in the western Church at large, contemplation is still practised as the
chief charism of Carmelite friars, nuns and lay people.
If Fr Murphy experiences “the love of God” by a word “leading one into
stillness”, it must be due to his priestly labours and years of meditation on
the life and death of Jesus Christ. If he’s “teaching contemplative prayer to
children”, it can only be by firstly teaching them to sit in silence, focussing
not merely on a word, but on Jesus himself.
Contemplative prayer is a grace from
God, who I suppose may grant it sooner to innocent children than to adults, but
normally it takes time and good works - and as in every state and stage of
prayer, the company of Christ.
The Carmelite reformer, that spiritual genius Teresa of Avila, insists on
this method. To expect the grace of contemplation by sitting and waiting in
silence is, she says, a subtle form of pride.
There are no short cuts; we have
to put in the hard yards, always with Jesus as our companion, until God raises
us to supernatural heights.
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