In Chapter 3, I described how I am becoming increasingly aware of the presence of Our Father.

As the Spirit was making me more aware of the Father, I began to understand that I was actually joining in the conversation which Jesus himself continually has with the Father.

In fact I now try to begin contemplation by entering into the presence of Jesus and becoming aware that he is inviting me to take my place in his prayer to the Father.

Jesus' own prayer to the Father

Jesus always found time to go away to a quiet place to converse with his Father. What took place in those time of prayer is a deep mystery. We have some insights into it, like his Priestly Prayer at the last supper (John Chapter 17), and his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26: 36-46). Jesus' prayer is profoundly human, but his is a humanity maturing with extraordinary speed as it is impregnated by his identity as the Second Person of the Trinity. Therein lies deep mystery!

I am like a little brother doing what the apostles failed to do in Gethsemane - staying awake, watching and praying. Just as on that occasion he needed their involvement, now he needs mine, meagre as it is. I am a unique part of his mystical body with my own song to sing and prayer to make. But it is only authentic when it is his prayer as well. And, surprisingly, my small part in his prayer is essential for the whole process of transfiguring the world into the glory of God.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We usually end our prayers with the phrase ‘through Christ our Lord. Amen’. For years, I have known theoretically that all our prayers are through Jesus, but the words were just a routine to me. Now I am beginning to experience that I am really praying in him and with him. It is real.

He is the channel of all prayer to the Father. Or, rather, all prayer to the Father is his; we are privileged because he invites us to take part in his prayer. Even non-Christians who pray to God are doing it unwittingly through Christ.

Meditation and contemplation are different but complementary.

Contemplating does not stop me meditating. Meditation is where I ponder in my intellect and feelings about the things of God. Faith always seeks to understand. I find myself agreeing with St Paul when he says:  "All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection" (Philippians 3: 10). But meditation is the prayer of the mind, and it should lead us to the prayer of the heart - the prayer of contemplating our Father with Jesus in love.

We are told twice by St Luke that Mary "pondered things in her heart" (Luke 2: 19). When she was doing that, she was allowing herself to grasp and be filled  with wonder as the loving plan of the Father unfolded. The Holy Spirit was leading her mind and heart and spirit into the utter fullness of God's light. One day, in heaven, each of us will be filled with the "utter fullness of God" (Ephesians 3: 19).

Scripture

I find studying the scriptures a most effective tool for meditation. Scripture is the Word of God, through which the Son of God speaks to us. It is ‘alive and active’ (Hebrews 4, 12), and, through it, Jesus is present and speaking individually in our minds and hearts. A good way to study scripture is to start with each day’s readings at Mass, and asking Jesus to explain the scriptures to us. He will guide your thoughts to deep meanings. You can find the daily Mass Readings on this website: Go to 'Our Mission' and press the  'Today's Word' button.

There are other great ways to use the Scriptures, which we will recommend on other pages of this website.

We contemplate with our spirits

Although contemplation and meditation are complimentary, the Knowing which comes through contemplation is deeper than prayer on the intellectual and emotional level. It is an activity of the far deepest human self, our spirit. Our intellect can be feeble a lot of the time, and our feelings can be wayward, but when our spirits are joined to the Holy Spirit of God, there is within us a continual conversation through Jesus with the Father, even though we may not be aware of it for much of the time. St Paul says ‘The Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words’ (Romans 8: 27). 

Elsewhere in the same chapter, he says ‘the spirit of sons... makes us cry out, "Abba, Father!’ (Romans 8: 15). 'Abba' is the Hebrew word for 'Daddy'. All this activity of the Spirit is going on deep in the Christian's soul. Contemplation is where we deliberately go into that private place within, and seek the face or our Abba. It enables the Holy Spirit's prayer to break to the surface of our mind and feelings as we live our everyday lives. This might last minutes or hours or days – perhaps longer; I know it lasted longer for the great saints, but I am not on their level – yet.

Have you ever thought that your prayer is in fact your personal share of the prayer of Jesus? It's a wonderful thing. Through baptism, I am really and truly incorporated into the risen Lord. And I don't have to do anything to make that present. I just have to relax enough to let the deep awareness of the special Jesus prayer within me well up and build until I am full of him.

What do you think?