Carl McColman's Blog, page 57
June 1, 2016
Charismatic Mysticism
What is the Relationship Between Gifts of the Holy Spirit and Contemplative Prayer?
“Do Gifts of the Spirit, especially those like tongues, have any connection with mysticism?Historically, theologically, experientially, in connection with the Divine…If so, in what way, and if not, why not?”
A few months back, I asked folks on Facebook if they had any questions they would like me to address on my blog. Here is what a person named Annawrote in reply:
Well – this was a question I asked when I wa...
May 25, 2016
Mystagogy: the Heart of Spiritual Formation
Catechesis as a Template for the Contemplative Life
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults — the Catholic process by which adults enter the Church — suggests that there are four stages or stepsin the process of Christian initiation. These steps — evangelization, catechesis, initiation, and mystagogy — not only define the journey ofgeneralformation in the life of Christ (in other words, “becoming a Christian”) but they also give us insight into the process by which followers of Christ are...
May 18, 2016
Coming in the Fall of 2016
A Book to Celebrate the Greatest Christian Mystics
Christian Mystics
Friends, I’m so excited to announce my forthcoming book, due in October2016 from Hampton Roads Publishing Company:Christian Mystics: 108 Seers, Saints and Sages.
This book is designed to be a companion volume toThe Big Book of Christian Mysticism.While that book explained the “what” and “why” of Christian contemplative spirituality, this book covers the “who” — by profiling the lives and teachings of over 100 of the most sig...
May 17, 2016
“We have been given the Holy Spirit”
A Sermon Preached for the Worker Sisters and Brothers of the Holy Spirit Annual Retreat, May 13, 2016
Jesus returned to Nazareth, the town where he had been brought up. And on the Sabbath day, he went to the synagogue, as was his custom. On this particular day, he was appointed to read, and the passage for the day came from Isaiah — the same passage we heard, just a few minutes ago.
Jesus unrolled the scroll, and found the place where the following words were written:
The Spirit of the Lord i...
March 23, 2016
This Silent Blog is Going Silent
(But Only Until Pentecost)
I hope you have had a wonderful and prayerful Lent, and that your Holy Week is likewise a time for reflection and contemplative waiting. Here’s looking forward to Easter — and the Easter season. May it be filled with joy, warmth, and plenty of “alleluias”!
One thing thatwon’t be part of this Easter season: new posts on my blog.
I’m taking the Easter season — basically, March 26 through May15 — as a kind of mini-sabbatical. So I do not expect to publishany new conte...
March 16, 2016
Do Contemplatives Need the Church?
And while we're at it: does the Church need contemplatives?
A post on this blog received the following comment yesterday:
Having been with the Catholic Church and seminary trained for all my 71 years of life . I am naturally contemplative . But I do now believe practising formal meditation/contemplation is false . Aren’t we missing the point if we try and set time aside for contemplation?
Surely if we are made in Gods image we are already suffused with Gods holy grace and we are divinised, so...
March 9, 2016
Three Approaches to Prayer When the Dry Times Come
Spiritual Aridity Requires Patience and Perseverance — and More
St. Catherine’s, one of the oldest Christian monasteries, is in the Sinai desert where monks have prayed for some1500 years.
A friend of mine posed the following question recently on Facebook:
You may have written about this before but how about dry times in prayer? What to do? Does it really mean anything? Can we have an impact on it or do we patiently wait it out?
The fancy term here is “aridity.” I suspect anyone who has attem...
March 2, 2016
Is There a “Contemplative” Personality Type?
Introverts, Extroverts, and the Prayer of Silence
Silent prayer is for all personality types.
I once heard Richard Rohr tell a charming story of giving a retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Thomas Merton lived. Rohr was surprised to find that not all the monks particularly cared for Merton. When heasked about this, one of the brotherssaid, “Merton told us we weren’t contemplatives, we were just introverts!”
It’s a sweet story and the audiencechuckled when we heard it, but it does point...
February 24, 2016
Five Essential Dimensions of Christian Prayer
Deepen Your Intimacy with God through Each of these Ways of Praying
I talk a lot about silent prayer in this blog, which is understandable considering that my focus is on contemplative prayer, which the Catholic Catechism describes as “wordless prayer.” As importantas silence is to contemplative and mystical forms of prayer, it’s only one of fiveessential dimensions of Christian prayer. In this post I look at allof these dimensions of prayer: what they are, why they matter, and how to cultiva...
February 17, 2016
Seven Blessings of Silent Prayer
Why Contemplation Matters — For All People of Faith
Silent prayer — contemplative prayer, what the Catholic Catechism calls “wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God’s greatness and goodness in affective, loving adoration” — is an important element of a mature Christian spirituality. The Bible instructs us to “be still and know… God” (Psalm 46:10), and even promises us that “silence is praise” (Psalm 65:1, translated literally).
I thought it might be helpful to reflect on the many...
