Contemplative Communication

Today is World Communications Day, so I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on what communication means from a contemplative point of view. You’d think that, having a blog about Christian contemplation, this is a topic that I would have given much thought to and regarding which I would have developed a conscious …

Touched and Drawn to the One Ideal (Quotes Vol. 40)

The quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) this past week included one for the feast day of John of Avila, alongside a few on the basic foundations of prayer. The soul whom God has touched interiorly can no longer find rest in anything that is not God. — Saint Teresa Benedicta of the …

A Minor Aerial Disagreement

Caterina marvelled longUpon the mystery of the absenceJesus going up to heaven:Taken away, like the dark night. Teresa, though, had her thoughtsUpon a different mode; she oft said:No! Ascension takes naught awayIt tightens bonds, it brings to light. Caught in the air between them,Each follower now follows not them,But Christ, who is neither absentNor fills …

My Life with Juan, Jan, Văn, and Anno

One May 6th in heaven, Anno was talking to God about his life. He recounted how it was on this day that, sitting in prison, the Lord had made known to him via the authorities that he would be sent to Dachau. And the Lord said, “Talk to me, and I will answer you and …

All God Wants (Quotes Vol. 39)

The quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) this past week moved from the feast day of Catherine of Siena to the singularity of the demand of God, for our love which is shown in being loved (and showing the same love for his other children). No one saw more clearly the miseries and …

Marcel Văn, Mother of Souls

On this first day of Mary’s month, my heart throbs on thinking of those who have loved me as a mother loves her own child. — Văn to his aunt Khánh, 1 May 1947[1] On this first day of Mary’s month, I would like to do the same, for one person who has loved me …

Aestheticism vs. Contemplation of Beauty: Arturo Paoli and Pope Francis

Introduction To close Earth Month, there is a 50-year-old essay that I want to reproduce in its entirety. The reason for this is that I think the text is a precursor to many of the contemplative and eco-spirituality themes of Pope Francis, and it is found in one of the authors he has remarked to …

Exigencies of Contemplative Love for Creation and People (Quotes Vol. 38)

This past week, in the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) I continued on the theme of Christian eco-spirituality for Earth Month, and I honoured Jacques Maritain, one of the biggest influences on me and on this blog, who died 51 years ago today: As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our …

Our Family Tree, Our Common Home, Our House Rules

You’d think that, if human beings were reasonable, the way we manage our home would correspond to the account we make of how the home functions. But when it comes to our common home, this isn’t the case. Etymologically, “ecology” means words about or an account of the oikos, the home. “Economics” means the laws …

Not Everyone “Has a Vocation” in the Narrow Sense: Roma locuta est

One of the paragraphs of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit that has flown most unfortunately under the radar is the following: For those who are not called to marriage or the consecrated life, it must always be remembered that the first and most important vocation is the vocation we have received in baptism. Those …