The Life of Virtue

The rich Christian tradition provides that there are three expressions of prayer: vocal, meditative, and contemplative.  Among the spiritual masters, it is clear that the last of these is the very highest form of prayer that a person can attain.  Yet, too few people attain the heights of contemplation.  It is natural to wonder why so many miss out, if contemplative prayer is so great; and it is appropriate to venture a solution for the dilemma. When conversations turn to the subject of prayer, common reactions include, "I don't really like to pray because I don't know how" or "I get distracted too easily."  Both objections pose real problems, but neither is sufficient for neglecting to develop a prayer life.  In fact, once a person understands the way that God intends contemplative prayer to proceed, those two objections that were previously obstacles become sources of deeper prayer. The first obstacle, lack of knowing how to pray, is easily surmounted. ...

The Year of Mercy has been going on for a month now.  In that short amount of time, I have found that I need frequent reminders about the "nitty gritty" of this Jubilee Year.  More than a couple of times, I have forgotten that the Holy Father did not initiate this special year so that I could discuss mercy on a theoretical level (even though these blog posts will be scintillating).  No, he didn't even inaugurate the year so that people could walk through special doors and receive indulgences, as wonderful as those things are.  I suspect, instead, that Pope Francis called for a Year of Mercy so that the faithful would go out to the highways and byways of life and extend mercy to their fellow humans.  This year is for us to BE merciful, to ACT mercifully. Pompeo Batoni, The Return of the Prodigal Son (1773) If we are to develop this habit of merciful action, we need a regimen.  As always, we need not look very far because the rich tradition of the Cath...