A sense of the Communion of Saints has been developing in my heart as well, as I pray the prayer of contemplation.

Again this is a knowing. It is not there all the time yet, but every so often I sense that my prayer is not private. As I become more aware that my communication with our Father is part of Jesus’ prayer, I sense that it is the prayer of everyone else as well. 

I am beginning to experience the knowing that, when I stand in the presence of Jesus facing the Father, I am surrounded by all my brothers and sisters of the whole human race. We are all there together. My salvation is bound up with all of theirs. I cannot know peace until they also have come home into the joy of the Trinity.

That is a daunting thought and would be too much for me to accept if it did not arise from closer contact with the burning heart of Christ. There I find absolute determination and sureness that it will be accomplished. 

Hell and Purgatory

Here I am puzzled by all the teaching about Hell in the Scriptures and teaching of the Church. I don’t know how to synthesise my sense of Christ’s burning desire that all human beings come home into the Trinity, and the dreadful possibility that some will be eternally dammed. I place my hope in Christ’s words, ‘With God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19: 26).

I also find the Church’s teaching about Purgatory extremely powerful. Is it possible that the personal judgment, which each of us will face, will be such a clear vision of the utter beauty of God’s love that even those with the most hideous sins will respond positively? I deeply hope that it is. I pray daily for the souls in Purgatory. I pray also that others will pray for me when I die.

I find today that people tend to stress their appreciation when somebody dies. That is good because people mostly live lives of quite goodness which should be celebrated, but, compared with the glory intended for us, their goodness is in need of enormous development in Purgatory under the shelter of the wings of Christ. 

The people living in the world now

But it is all my brothers and sister living now that I am more aware of. I get a sense when I am with Jesus before our Father that, while I seek to open up to his love, I am opening floodgates for his divine grace to pour on my brothers and sisters. How and where I do not know - it doesn't matter. Somehow in a lovely way my contemplation and all my prayer is helping some others move forward to glory.

This awareness is so insistent that I have been writing a document on this effective intercession. It will come onto the website soon, and I may make it into a succession of videos. I will let you know when it is ready.

Nuns and Monks

As I become more aware of this intercession effect of contemplation, it makes a lot more sense to me of how contemplative nuns and monks work. Theirs is probably the greatest service to God and our world.

The Ligurgy

It also underlines the vital necessity of the whole liturgical activity of the Church which is made up of the Mass, the Sacraments and the Divine Office. All over the world, in thousands of Churches, monasteries and personal places of prayer this activity proceeds each day. There is a continual outpouring of love to our Father. It is the personal prayer of Jesus which he gladly shares with his people. We can never overestimate the floods of grace that our Father pours out in response

What do you make of this?