Today is World Communications Day, so I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on what communication means from a contemplative point of view. You’d think that, having a blog about Christian contemplation, this is a topic that I would have given much thought to and regarding which I would have developed a conscious …
Tag Archives: Beauty
Aestheticism vs. Contemplation of Beauty: Arturo Paoli and Pope Francis
Introduction To close Earth Month, there is a 50-year-old essay that I want to reproduce in its entirety. The reason for this is that I think the text is a precursor to many of the contemplative and eco-spirituality themes of Pope Francis, and it is found in one of the authors he has remarked to …
Continue reading “Aestheticism vs. Contemplation of Beauty: Arturo Paoli and Pope Francis”
Contemplating the Beauty of Nature and Transfigured Human Nature (Quotes Vol. 37)
This past week, all the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) spoke of a Christian eco-spirituality for Earth Month, including a connection noted by Benedict XVI between contemplating nature and contemplating Christianized human nature: My soul, while enjoying the beauties of nature, was also tasting the sweetness of spiritual joys. — Marcel Văn …
Continue reading “Contemplating the Beauty of Nature and Transfigured Human Nature (Quotes Vol. 37)”
Contemplation with Christ at the Start of Earth Month (Quotes Vol. 35)
This past week, all the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) spoke of the Christian (i.e., Christic) character of contemplation, as well as transitioned into Earth Month, with a special focus on the silence of nature: There is no prayer, no contemplation, unless Christ be in the soul, and unless an imitation of …
Continue reading “Contemplation with Christ at the Start of Earth Month (Quotes Vol. 35)”
Holy Week and Easter (Quotes Vol. 34)
This past week, all the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) spoke of the time we are in: Holy Week and Easter. Contemplation is paradise on earth, a crucified paradise. — Jacques Maritain Contemplation is not anesthesia, imperturbability, deliverance from all that might agitate a person, an ascent to the Sea of Tranquility. …
To Become the One God Made You to Be (Quotes Vol. 33)
In this fifth week of Lent, quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) followed up on the last quote of the previous week. The focus is the work that the dark night, contemplation, and our relationship with God in general accomplish: making us the one God created us to be, nothing less, nothing different, …
Continue reading “To Become the One God Made You to Be (Quotes Vol. 33)”
Marcel Văn and Grateful Contemplation of Creation
In the writings of Marcel Văn, that little Vietnamese Redemptorist brother from the middle of the last century, we find a lot of similarities to the teaching of Pope Francis about Chistian contemplation. He connects contemplation to an experience of the transcendentals. In particular, what we contemplate is beauty. That beauty can especially be that …
Continue reading “Marcel Văn and Grateful Contemplation of Creation”
Between Natural Beauty and Supernatural Suffering (Quotes Vol. 31)
In this third week of Lent, quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) continued the duality of a Laudato Si’ Lent and a Lent of the way of the Cross. To love sufferings and afflictions for the love of God is the highest degree of holy charity. — Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Contemplation, which leads us …
Continue reading “Between Natural Beauty and Supernatural Suffering (Quotes Vol. 31)”
The Transfiguration that Captivated Marcel Văn: Smile and Gaze
When the Holy Spirit comes down upon us and animates our actions from within, this affects the dispositions of our body. Over time, these actions, in their unpredictable variety, begin to shape the features of our face and the comportment of our joints and muscles. Marie-Joseph Le Guillou, following quite a bit of the tradition, …
Continue reading “The Transfiguration that Captivated Marcel Văn: Smile and Gaze”
From Niagara Falls to Golgotha (Quotes Vol. 30)
In this second week of Lent, quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) moved from a Laudato Si’ Lent, i.e., contemplation of God the Creator, to a Lent of mortification, i.e., the experience of the Cross. I am going back again to the water which pours itself out before me. It is also an …
Continue reading “From Niagara Falls to Golgotha (Quotes Vol. 30)”
Contemplative in the Mud 