Contemplate - St. Dominic's Catholic Church: Home...in us, in some sense, and even through us, as...

Intentional Preachers Contemplate

St. Dominic’s October 2016

Contemplation is a long, loving, look at the beloved, whether that be your significant other,

or the Significant Other. Fr. Isaiah Mary Molano, O.P.

Intentional Preachers Overview What do you mean by Intentional Preachers? In 2013 we began by focusing on Intentional Disciples. It was an opportunity to explore what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to become more intentional about discipleship. Last year we focused on Intentional Seekers. In that series we looked at the doubts and barriers that frequently keep us from getting to discipleship. Now, on the eve of the celebration of 800 years since the founding of the Dominican order (A.K.A., the Order of Preachers), we plan to explore Dominican Spirituality. Many of us find ourselves drawn to this Dominican parish, but we can’t really tell you why. Other orders seem to have a very clear spirituality (e.g., the Jesuits or Benedictines). For this year we’ll discover and explore what it means to be part of the Dominican family. What unique gifts and insights have kept fervor of St. Dominic alive for 800 years. How can those gifts and insights speak today in San Francisco. Our goal is to:

Radiate the Joy of the Gospel from the Heart of the City What is asked of me? First, pick up a booklet at St. Dominic’s each month and follow along. If you can, attend one of the Explore sessions (everyone is welcome) offered each month. If you want to go deeper, sign up for a Small Christian Community . Small communities will meet twice a month to discuss. We hope to be able to offer committed small communities and drop‐in small communities as we get a better understanding of people’s interested. Please see the back cover for specific dates.

When did the Intentional Preacher initiative start? September 2015 was our first month. We will gradually roll it out to the whole parish. We hope to be able to connect people whenever they learn about the initiative or are ready to get involved.

What if I’m not sure how much of this I’m ready to do? Pick up a booklet, and try it out. Pray about it.

I’m interested, but I just don’t have the time. We understand that this will not fit everyone’s interest or schedule. We would like to ask you to pray for this initiative in the parish.

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Format

Each month we’ll have a theme based around some aspect of Dominican Spirituality. We’ll pick scripture passages and other writings that will help us explore this theme. We’ll spend the month going deeper and challenging ourselves. In September and October, we will roll this out to the parish. We will form several small communities. It is not too late to join one if you are interested (see the back cover). We plan to make this a yearlong initiative. Here’s the planned format for each month:

Week 1 - Explore In the Explore session we break open the texts and learn about the theme. This week is led by a presenter who has prepared to take you deeper into the topic of the month. We generally take time to discuss the central readings of the month in small groups and to share the group’s insights with everyone at the session. By the end of the Explore session you should be ready to connect the theme with your life as the month unfolds.

You can explore the theme on your own through this book, or you can attend a presentation (see the upcoming schedule on the back cover).

Week 2 - Share Consider joining a small community to discuss the themes in our lives. There is something powerful about gathering with others to explore and respond to spiritual practices .

If you can’t join a small community , you can take time each day to pray the texts and reflect on your own journey.

Week 3 - Act This week we’ll challenged ourselves to take some practical step in our daily lives. We’ll do this on our own, so if you’re part of a small community, there will not be a meeting this week.

Week 4 - Share Gather again in your small community or reflect on your own.

Bernardus valles, montes Benedictus amabat, Oppida Franciscus, celebres Dominicus urbes.

(Bernard loved the valleys, Benedict the mountains, Francis the towns, Dominic the populous cities)

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Intentional Preachers Contemplate

Starter Questions

What does contemplation mean to you?

Have you ever taken the time to really gaze upon the great mysteries of our faith?

What are the barriers to contemplation in the modern world?

What might be the fruits of contemplation?

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Week 1 - Explore

It is better to enlighten than merely to shine. St. Thomas Aquinas

Last month we focused on the centrality of preaching in the Dominican tradition. But what is the source of that preaching? It is not, as one might expect, many years of formal, religious education. The source of Dominican preaching is a life of contemplation.

To contemplate. The first act of a person striving for holiness is to communicate with God. Contemplation is a long, loving, look at the beloved, whether that be your significant other, or the Significant Other. To study, to ponder, and wonder about the created and uncreated order. It is asking, “Why Lord, did you give us a leaf?” or boring into it and discovering how cytoplasm works. Contemplation is the first step of Dominican Spirituality – to gaze lovingly into the created and uncreated order and finding yourself yearning for more knowledge.

Spirituality of the Order of Preachers – Contemplation , Fr. Isaiah Mary Molano, O.P.

St. Dominic’s great insight was to found an order that brought together the emphasis on contemplation found in the monastic traditions with the active work of preaching and teaching that was desperately need in the world. As lay people today, we can see this need in our own lives. We spend ourselves in the active work of parenting and/or careers, and we often fail to take time to develop the deep connection with the Source that can govern, fuel, and guide all our activities.

This month we’ll explore what it means to contemplate in the Dominican tradition. We’ll tap, like Dominic did, the Bible as our primary source for contemplating the mysteries of a God who “so loved the world that he gave his only son” (John 3:16). We’ll use the technique of Lectio Divina* (used throughout this series) to enter into a long loving gaze our most Significant Other, and to drink deeply from the living waters that flow from the Source of all.

* Be careful not to limit contemplation to the last step of Leciti Divina (of the same name). Contemplation if the Dominican tradition includes the whole process of Divine Reading.

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Exercises

What are major barriers to contemplation in your life?

What is something that you could give up to make more time for contemplation?

When could you find time for contemplation in your average day?

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Main Texts

Contemplation Begins In Love

Contemplation is primarily an act of the intellect, but it begins in love, an act of the will. When the soul loves God, it longs to be united to him. Ardent love for God leads to the contemplative act. Once the soul has found God in contemplation, its love, by a reciprocal process, is increased. In the presence of the one we love, we experience delight; this, in turn, leads to an increase of love. Contemplation, therefore, is a circular motion ( Summa theol. , II II, q. 180, a. 6). It begins in love of God; it leads to our gazing upon him; thus lost in our enjoyment of him, we learn to love him more intensely.

http://opcentral.org/blog/dominicanlifeiscontemplative

Read prayerfully: What insight does this reading give you into what it means to be contemplative? How does it apply to your life?

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God Contemplates The World Through Us

In contemplation, we turn our whole attention to God. But there is something else as well. God's Word, though utterly transcendent in its source, has come down into the world, and has taken flesh. "God", as Simone Weil once remarked, has to be on the side of the subject." The initiative is always his. Accordingly, both in our work and in our prayer, we come to realize that Christ is not just the object of our regard. He is the Word alive within us, the friend "in whom we live and move and have our being". And thus, we can make bold to say, echoing the First Letter of St John: This is contemplation ‐ this is contemplative love ‐ not so much that we contemplate God, but that God has first contemplated us, and that now in us, in some sense, and even through us, as part of the mystery of his risen life in the Church, he contemplates the world.

Recovering the Contemplative Dimension , Fr. Paul Murray, O.P.


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Call Down A Blessing

In some religious traditions, the contemplative life implied an almost complete turning away from the world, and in the case of certain ascetic religious, of a rejection not only of their immediate family and friends, but also of people in general, or at least those who appeared to be dominated by weakness or by worldly passion. Fortunately, however, the impulse towards contemplation in the lives of our best‐known Dominican preachers and saints, was never characterized by that sort of rigid, judgmental attitude. A good example, I think, of the Dominican approach, is that short statement already quoted above by the anonymous Dominican friar writing at St Jacques in Paris in the thirteenth century: "Among the things a man ought to see in contemplation", he wrote, "are the needs of his neighbours", and also "how great is the weakness of every human being". So the authentic contemplative in our tradition, the authentic apostle, does not call down curses on the sinful world. But, instead, conscious of his or her own weakness, and humbly identified, therefore, with the world's need, the Dominican calls down a blessing.



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Contemplation & Apostolic Activity

Some people hold that it is impossible to unite the contemplative and active lives, because each of these lives is so engrossing. The life of prayer claims all the attention of a person; activity claims all his attention also. When Dominic founded the Friars Preachers, some people said it was impossible to have an Order that combined both features...

St. Dominic founded a new kind of Order, one that pursued an intense life of prayer and yet embraced a general apostolic activity. He personally demonstrated that it is possible to be a contemplative of the highest type and also a zealous apostle. But these two lives can be united only when the apostle gives primacy to contemplation. It must be Christian contemplation, pondering the mysteries of our redemption — Christ’s desire to save all souls, his death on the Cross for the redemption of sinners, the Father’s love in sending Christ to us. That type of prayer becomes apostolic; the contemplative seeks the salvation of his neighbor, because, like the early Christians, when he “sees his neighbor, he sees God.”



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Better To Enlighten Than Merely To Shine

For even as it is better to enlighten than merely to shine, so is it better to give to others the fruits of one's contemplation than merely to contemplate.

Summa Theologiae , IIa‐IIae, q. 188, art. 6, St. Thomas Aquinas

It is necessary at the outset to clarify our terms. Stated quite simply, contemplation is a type of knowledge that begins and ends in love; it is more experiential and intuitive than theoretical and discursive. Psychologically, it is very similar to the esthetic experience that results from one's awareness and appreciation of the beautiful. St. Thomas Aquinas describes it as a loving gaze, and St. John of the Cross speaks of it as the loving awareness of God.

Union with God is the goal of the spiritual life, and the bond of that union is the love that is charity. In order to strive more effectively for the perfection of charity, devout souls throughout the centuries have left the world, as it were, in order to lead a contemplative monastic life. Through a life of detachment and prayer, they strove for the most intimate possible union with God. The monastic motto was Solo Deo (God alone).

In due time spiritual authors extolled the contemplative life as the most excellent form of life available to the Christian. This in spite of the fact that St. Augustine (+430), St. Gregory the Great (+604) and St. Thomas Aquinas (+1274) had approved and praised the "mixed life"; that is, an active, apostolic life that proceeds from some sort of contemplation. Indeed, St. Thomas Aquinas went so far as to say that the mixed life surpasses the purely contemplative life in excellence.

Contemplative Dimension of Dominican Spirituality , Jordan Aumann, O.P.


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Key Insights Contemplation Begins In Love

● Contemplation is focusing on God and God’s ways ● Contemplation is an act of love and a response to God’s love ● Contemplation is a dance

God Contemplates The World Through Us

● God first contemplates us ● We can’t contemplate God without being brought down to

encounter the things that God cares about (i.e., Creation) ● God is alive in his creatures ● God contemplates creation through us

Call Down A Blessing

● Dominican contemplation does not involve a turning away from the world

● Dominican contemplation draws us to care more deeply for the world

● The Dominican, in contemplation, sees the “world’s need” and “calls down a blessing”

Contemplation & Apostolic Activity

● It is difficult to be both contemplative and apostolic ● But St. Dominic saw that it was “possible to be a contemplative of

the highest type and also a zealous apostle” ● Some mysteries to ponder: Christ’s desire to save all souls, his

death on the Cross for the redemption of sinners, the Father’s love in sending Christ to us

● When the Dominican “sees his neighbor, he sees God.”

Better To Enlighten Than Merely To Shine

● Contemplation: “a type of knowledge that begins and ends in love” ● “St. Thomas Aquinas describes it as a loving gaze” ● “St. John of the Cross speaks of it as the loving awareness of God” ● “Union with God is the goal of the spiritual life” ● “St. Thomas Aquinas went so far as to say that the mixed life

surpasses the purely contemplative life in excellence”

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Contemplation Passages

The following passages were selected to help contemplate a few of the central mysteries of our faith. Use the Lectio Divina technique described on page 20, but expand it to fill as much time as you have (e.g., 30 minutes instead of 10‐15).

~~~ John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be 4 through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; 5 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. 12 But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.

~~~

John 10:1 "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. 2 But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. 5 But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." 6 Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. 7 So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came (before me) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. 13 This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd,

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and I know mine and mine know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father."

~~~ Matthew 25:31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' 40 And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

~~~ Luke 1:68 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people. 69 He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David his servant, 70 even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old: 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, 72 to show mercy to our fathers and to be mindful of his holy covenant 73 and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father, and to grant us that, 74 rescued from the hand of enemies, without fear we might worship him 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us 79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and death's shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace.

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Extra Readings On Contemplation The Rule of St. Augustine, chosen by St. Dominic as best suited for his purposes in founding the Order, likewise imposes the duty of contemplation. It opens with a statement, in different words, of the Order’s great intention to speak only “with God or of God:” “Before all things, dear brethren, love God and after him your neighbor.” These words are a trumpet call to contemplation. The Rule first ascends to the very throne of God to look on him in loving contemplation; then it descends, bringing his love to souls. Humbert of the Romans, fifth master general, makes a beautiful application of these words to the Dominican preacher in his comment on the Rule:

It is the duty of the preacher at times to devote himself to contemplating the things of God; at times, however, to exert himself in action for his neighbor. The love of God raises him up to the first; the love of neighbor carries him down to the second . . but because each one owes more to himself than to his neighbor, he must give himself more to the quiet of the contemplative life than to the works of the active, like the workers of Solomon, who rested more than they worked. He must seek the things of God more than he seeks the things of his neighbor, and must preach more to himself than to others, preferring the love of God to the love of neighbor, because that is the first and the greatest commandment. Therefore, there is an order in these things and it is rightly written: ‘Before all things love God, and then the neighbor.’


St. Dominic, an apostle among the Albigenses, devoted himself “to prayer and the ministry of the word”, giving “his day to his neighbor, his night to God”. Humbert of the Romans, in his Commentary on the Rule shows how well the first sons of St. Dominic imitated their Founder:

The state of a religious is the state of a contemplative. The things that are preached are learned in contemplation. Speaking of preachers the blessed Gregory said: “in contemplation they drink in the truths which later they pour out in their preaching.” The office of the preacher is, on the one hand, to give himself to contemplating the things of God, and, on the other, to devote himself to activities on behalf of his neighbor. He must give himself to both the active and the contemplative lives. But since everyone is responsible first for himself, the preacher must devote himself much more to contemplation than to the works of the active life.


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If the Dominican prays for the grace of contemplation, then he must be ready to pay the price. No one can become a contemplative unless he is willing to die totally to self. Everything in the Order’s religious life prepares its members to die to self and live in God. The friar begins to die to self when he commences to live his religious life earnestly; when he begins to mortify, put to death, his own will, desires, likes and dislikes. He must even learn to put aside, on many occasions, his own opinions. If he is faithful to the monastic observances, silence, fasts, abstinence, and the many other things that are so insignificant in themselves, he dies to self. Such fidelity to minutiae prepares him for contemplation by clearing away the obstacles, chiefly self‐will and personal vice, which impede it and by requiring the practice of the virtues which promote it, such as obedience, patience, perseverance and charity.


It is undoubtedly very difficult to preserve a contemplative attitude in our contemporary environment: The monastic observances that foster such an attitude seem to be incompatible with an intensely active apostolate. But recognizing that fact, St. Dominic introduced the practice of granting dispensations. While there will always be a certain degree of tension between a demanding apostolate and the contemplative element in Dominican life, one must avoid placing an irreducible dichotomy and opposition between contemplative activity and apostolic action. The motto of the Friars Preachers summarizes it very clearly: "To contemplate and to give to others the fruits of contemplation."

Contemplative Dimension of Dominican Spirituality , Jordan Aumann, O.P.

In traditional religious literature, the word "ecstasy" is often linked with that of contemplation. But, nowadays, on the street, the word means, of course, one thing and one thing only: a very potent and very dangerous drug! Over the centuries, Dominicans have not been shy to use the word on occasion when talking about prayer or contemplation. But the following rather sharp and challenging comment from Eckhart on the subject, is typical. He says: "If a man were in an ecstasy, as St Paul was, and knew that some sick man needed him to give him a bit of soup, I should think it far better if you would abandon your ecstasy out of love and show greater love in caring for the other in his need." "Love" ‐ there it is, that small Gospel word, that harbinger of the grace of attention, that reminder to all of us of what contemplation ‐ Christian contemplation ‐ really means!


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Among all those, within the Dominican tradition, who have spoken and written concerning the neighbour in contemplation, the most outstanding in my view is St Catherine of Siena. On the very first page of her Dialogue, we are told that "when she was at prayer, lifted high in spirit", God revealed to her something of the mystery and dignity of every human being. "Open your mind's eye", he said to her, "and you will see the dignity and beauty of my reasoning creature." Catherine obeys at once. But when she opens the eye of her mind in prayer, she discovers not only a vision of God, and a vision of herself in God as his image, but also a new and compassionate vision and understanding of her neighbour. "[S]he immediately feels compelled", Catherine writes, "to love her neighbour as herself for she sees how supremely she herself is loved by God, beholding herself in the wellspring of the sea of the divine essence." Contained in these few words of Catherine there is, I believe, a profound yet simple truth: the source of her vision of the neighbour and the cause of her deep respect for the individual person, is her contemplative experience. What Catherine receives in prayer and contemplation is what Dominic had received before her ‐ not simply the command from God to love her neighbour as she had been loved, but an unforgettable insight beyond or beneath the symptoms of human distress, a glimpse into the hidden grace and dignity of each person. So deeply affected was Catherine by this vision of the neighbour that she remarked on one occasion to Raymond of Capua that if he could only see this beauty ‐ the inner, hidden beauty ‐ of the individual person as she saw it, he would be willing to suffer and die for it. "Oh Father...if you were to see the beauty of the human soul, I am convinced that you would willingly suffer death a hundred times, were it possible, in order to bring a single soul to salvation. Nothing in this world of sense around us can possibly compare in loveliness with a human soul".


Oh Father...if you were to see the beauty of the human soul, I am convinced that you would willingly suffer death a hundred times, were it possible, in order to bring a single soul to salvation. Nothing in this world of sense around us can possibly compare in loveliness with a human soul.

St. Catherine of Siena

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Recap & Prepare for Week 2

● Reread the text for this week. ○ Try a short (or long if you have time) Lectio Divina each day ○ Pick one of the contemplation passages on pages 13 & 14 or

use your favorite Gospel ○ Pick a word or phrase or thought to carry with you

throughout your day. ○ Find relationships to that word or phrase or theme in the

people and situation you encounter during the day. ● Reflection questions:

What is the essence of contemplation?

What is the purpose of contemplation?

How are the mysteries of our faith connected to your daily life and work?

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Week 2 - Share Individual Option

● Find 20‐30 minutes where you won’t be interrupted. ● (10‐15 minutes) Follow the prayer format ( Lectio Divina ) in the

group exercise below. ● (10‐20 minutes) Spend time reflecting on the questions outlined

above.

Advice For Participating In Small Christian Communities ● The facilitator’s role is to guide the flow of the meeting. They are

not in the group to be experts. Help the facilitators by following their lead.

● During the discussion period, there will be multiple questions or topic for conversation. It is best to take them one at a time (i.e., let everyone share about one before moving to the next).

● Don’t attempt to give the “right answer.” Just share your experience, insights, and perspective.

● Please stay on topic (the questions asked). ● Pay attention to time. Keep your answers on the shorter side. You

can always add more later. ● Make sure everyone gets a chance to speak (i.e., give others a

chance to speak before sharing a second time). ● It’s ok to not share if you don’t feel comfortable, but challenge

yourself to share occasionally. ● Give your attention to the person speaking. Please don’t start side

conversations. ● Avoid asking follow‐up questions. Let people share what they want

to share. It is always good to affirm others. ● Avoid answering other people’s questions (i.e., taking on the role of

expert).

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How To Pray The Scripture Using Lectio Divina ● Goal:

○ Engage one of the scriptures at a deeper level ○ Allow the Spirit to teach our hearts ○ Provide fruit to lead into the discussion and sharing

● Steps (Should take 10‐15 minutes): ● Lectio (Reading, 2‐5 minutes)

○ A participant reads the scripture passage ○ 30‐60 seconds of silence ○ A participant reads the scripture passage ○ As the scripture is being read, the participants are

invited to find a word, phrase, image, or idea that resonates with them. We’ll call this the focus .

○ Example: Imagine reading the Our Father text from Matthew 6. People might focus on: "Thy Kingdom Come," "Lead Us," "Our," the idea of fatherhood, an image of God's Kingdom, Do I forgive others? Etc.

● Meditatio (Meditate, 5‐10 minutes) ○ Stay with the focus from above. ○ There are different ways to do this: Why does it

resonate? What does it mean in my life today? Repeat it as a mantra. Imagine it. How is this connected to seeking God?

● Oratio (Pray, 1‐2 minutes) ○ Whatever comes up in meditation, form into a silent

prayer offered to God. ● Contemplatio (Contemplate, 1‐2 minutes)

○ After speaking a prayer to God, sit and listen or rest in God's love.

● This leads into discussion and sharing. ○ Start with insights from the prayer. ○ Transition to sharing about seeking God.

● Tips ○ There is no “right way,” do what works for you ○ Embrace the silence ○ Let God find you

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Small Christian Community Process ‐ First Meeting (Suggested timing based on a 60/90 minute meeting)

● Welcome & Check In (5/10 minutes) ● Review Format (5/5 minutes)

○ Review the participant’s advice (page 19) ○ Prayer (>30 minutes), review format : Lectio Divina (p. 20) ○ Discussion based on the prayer and the questions (p. 18).

● Prayer (30/45 minutes) ○ Note: We’re going to allocate an extended time for

contemplation this month. ○ Transition Passage: “the Dominican calls down a blessing.”

(p. 9) ○ Lectio Divina : Luke 1:68‐79 (p. 14). Reflect on the mystery

of God. ● Discussion (10/15 minutes)

○ Begin with insights from the prayer experience ○ Discussing the reflection questions (page 18)

● Action/Request (5/10 minutes) ○ The practical exercise is listed on the next page ○ Participants can share thoughts and plans ○ Review date of the next group session ○ Participants can request prayers from the group

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Week 3 - Act

Revisit the exercise on page 6

Actions:

The action this week is to find an extended time to contemplate. Utilize one of the passages from pages 13 & 14 (or one of your favorites). Try to find at least one full, uninterrupted hour for contemplation (longer if you can).

Take the time to write down some of the fruits of your contemplation.

Find someone in your life that you can share the fruits of your contemplation with.

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Week 4 - Share Preparing

● Continue to use the Lectio Divina process used in preparing for Week 2 (p. 18):

○ Try a short (or long if you have time) Lectio Divina each day ○ Pick one of the contemplation passages (pp. 13‐14) ○ Pick a word or phrase or thought to carry with you

throughout your day. ○ Find relationships to that word or phrase in your day.

● Week 3 exercise: ○ Plan to share something about your Week 3 exercise ○ If you were not able to do it, plan to share your barriers.

Individual Option ● (10‐15 minutes) Journal about the experience of the exercise from

Week 3.

Small Christian Community Process ‐ Second Meeting (Suggested timing based on a 60/90 minute meeting)

● Welcome & Check In (5/10 minutes) ● Review Format (5/5 minutes)

○ Review the participant’s advice (page 19) ○ Prayer will be about >30 minutes ○ Review the prayer format : Lectio Divina (page 20) ○ Discussion will follow based on the prayer the Act exercise

(page 22) ● Prayer (30/45 minutes)

○ Transition Passage: “[Contemplation] begins in love of God; it leads to our gazing upon him; thus lost in our enjoyment of him, we learn to love him more intensely.” (page 7)

○ Lectio Divina : John 10:1‐18 (pages 13&14) ● Discussion (10/15 minutes)

○ Begin with insights from the prayer experience ○ Discussing insights from the Act exercise

● Action/Request (5/10 minutes) ○ Review date of the next Explore session ○ Participants can request prayers from the group

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Three Ways To Get Involved With Intentional Preachers

1. Pick up a booklet, and explore on your own. ‐or‐

2. Attend an “Explore” session to learn about this month’s scripture. Everyone is welcome. ‐ or‐

3. Check out a Small Christian Community to join with others to go deeper.

~~~ Upcoming “Explore” Sessions Sunday, October 4, 10:30‐11:30 AM, School Basement

Sunday, October 4, 4:00‐5:15 PM, Aquinas Room

Monday, October 5, 7:30‐9 PM, Aquinas Room

Young Adults’ Session*, Wed., Oct. 7, 7:30‐9 PM, Parish Hall

* The Young Adults group is a community of single and married Catholic adults in our 20s and 30s; to find out more, visit: http://stdominics.org/youngadults

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Connect With a Small Christian Community Contact Scott Moyer at [email protected]

or come to an Explore session to get connected 24

http://stdominics.org/youngadults

Contemplate - St. Dominic's Catholic Church: Home...in us, in some sense, and even through us, as...

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Transcript of Contemplate - St. Dominic's Catholic Church: Home...in us, in some sense, and even through us, as...