Staying Open
Staying Open Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. —1 Corinthians 13:7, NASB This love—whose source is God’s very self—is an open-heartedness. You can tell when ...
Praying through Art
Praying through Art Paul’s prayer in his letter to the Ephesians is a favorite succinct statement of his wisdom, and it is a prayer for you, as well: I bow my ...
Midrash
Midrash The Jewish practice of midrash is a way of interpreting Scripture that asks questions more than seeks always certain and unchanging answers. It allows many possibilities, many levels of faith-filled meaning—meaning that ...
Reading Scripture with the Mind of Christ
Reading Scripture with the Mind of Christ Looking at which Scripture passages Jesus emphasizes (remember, the Hebrew Bible was his only Bible!) shows he clearly understands how to connect the “three ...
Letting Go into God
Letting Go into God It is said that Francis’ great prayer, which he would spend whole nights praying, is “Who are you, God? And who am I?” Contemplative prayer helps us ...
Bodily Knowing
Bodily Knowing St. Francis objectively experienced mutual indwelling with Jesus and with all of God’s creatures. We see this most clearly late in his life when the cruciform shape of reality ...
Saying Grace
Saying Grace Many cultures have a beautiful tradition of saying a prayer before or after a meal, expressing gratitude and asking for blessing. If we are accustomed to praying over our ...
Living in the Flow
Living in the Flow By being observant of your own emotional life and perhaps getting in touch with your own unconscious, you might become aware of your psychological blockages to experiencing ...
Body Prayer
Body Prayer If the incarnation is true and we are the Body of Christ, then prayer is fully experienced when it is also from the bottom up, when we “pray from ...
The Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart As a Catholic, Richard Rohr was often puzzled by the continued return to heart imagery among our saints and in our art. The “Sacred Heart” of Jesus and ...
Tonglen
How to Practice Tonglen Pema Chödrön teaches us “sending and taking,” an ancient Buddhist practice to awaken compassion. With each in-breath, we take in others’ pain. With each out-breath, we send them ...
Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina Lectio divina is a contemplative way to read short passages of sacred text. With the first reading, listen with your heart’s ear for a phrase or word that stands out for you. ...
Being a Mirror of Goodness: An Intention for the New Year
Being a Mirror of Goodness: An Intention for the New Year Adapted from: Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN Tara Brach, PhD The ...
Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer This is what you are to do. Lift your heart up to the Lord with a gentle stirring of love, desiring him for his own sake and not for ...
Examen
A great way to pray is to look for God’s presence in your life. More than 400 years ago St. Ignatius Loyola encouraged prayer-filled mindfulness by proposing what has been called ...
