Contemplative Haven: The Call 
The Call
Who is called to contemplation? Well, the short answer is, we all are, as baptized Christians.
In Open Mind, Open Heart, Thomas Keating writes, "Contemplative prayer is the normal development of the grace of baptism and the regular practice of lectio divina." Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange also considers it to be, if I may put it this way, a 'perfectly natural' supernatural phenomena. In Christian Perfection and Contemplation, he states: "...if we are truly convinced of the essential supernaturalness of faith, we understand that mystical contemplation is the normal blossoming of this theological virtue united to charity and to the gifts of the Holy Ghost."
Normal development. Normal blossoming. That is very comforting. That is very encouraging. So then, why, as Catholics, are we not brought up with this attitude? Why are we not given the proper instruction on the normal and to-be-desired development of our prayer life? Why is contemplation rarely, if ever, the subject-matter of homilies? Why is it considered something the average person needn't be made aware of?
In Fire Within, Father Thomas Dubay comments that the "minimalistic" view of prayer and the spiritual life has become deeply engrained within us, and that many of us have come to accept a "two-way" and "two-tier" mentality: two ways to God, one for the average person and one for the elite, and two tiers of holiness, one ordinary and one extraordinary.
Father Dubay is adamant that these theories are false. He states:
"They who think that fullness of contemplation is meant to be confined to an elite few do not understand the contents of Sacred Scripture,"
In Open Mind, Open Heart, Thomas Keating writes, "Contemplative prayer is the normal development of the grace of baptism and the regular practice of lectio divina." Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange also considers it to be, if I may put it this way, a 'perfectly natural' supernatural phenomena. In Christian Perfection and Contemplation, he states: "...if we are truly convinced of the essential supernaturalness of faith, we understand that mystical contemplation is the normal blossoming of this theological virtue united to charity and to the gifts of the Holy Ghost."
Normal development. Normal blossoming. That is very comforting. That is very encouraging. So then, why, as Catholics, are we not brought up with this attitude? Why are we not given the proper instruction on the normal and to-be-desired development of our prayer life? Why is contemplation rarely, if ever, the subject-matter of homilies? Why is it considered something the average person needn't be made aware of?
In Fire Within, Father Thomas Dubay comments that the "minimalistic" view of prayer and the spiritual life has become deeply engrained within us, and that many of us have come to accept a "two-way" and "two-tier" mentality: two ways to God, one for the average person and one for the elite, and two tiers of holiness, one ordinary and one extraordinary.
Father Dubay is adamant that these theories are false. He states:
"They who think that fullness of contemplation is meant to be confined to an elite few do not understand the contents of Sacred Scripture,"
and
"Scripture and the official Church take for granted that personal contacts with the God of revelation do occur, and indeed ought to occur....Vatican II spoke of all the faithful tasting fully of the paschal mysteries and burning with love during liturgical celebrations. Our chief ways of growing in the understanding of revelation, noted the council, are contemplation and the experience of divine realities."
Father Dubay devotes Chapter 11 of Fire Within to understanding the "universal call" of contemplation as found in the teachings of Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross. Also, if you have never read the description of contemplative prayer in the Catholic Catechism (2709 - 2724), it is very beautiful in its simplicity.
Speaking one time about revelation, John Henry Cardinal Newman said something which I think aptly suits contemplation and the "elite" mentality as well; he said: "...it is not you that are worthy of the gift, but it is the gift which is worthy of your Creator."
posted by Gabrielle at 1:59 AM
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