Articles
Silence Enflamed: John of the Cross and Prayer.
I’d like to begin by inviting you to enter into the solitude of your own heart, to listen to the
silent music, that canticle of love that resounds in the deepest depths of who we are. It is a song so silent, so sweet, so gentle that it immerses us in the divine passion that seeks to be one with us. This silence stills and awakens our inner eye of love…read more here
Living in the Presence of God
In this article I will draw our attention to the sacredness of the present moment in which we dwell and show how we can nurture a spirituality of Presence through the practice of centering prayer. After situating the image of God as Presence within the context of scripture and tradition, I will focus on various aspects of this Presence: the presence as love, a relational presence, and a dark presence. I will then show how awareness of the Presence unites us to the Presence we are seeking. Finally I will give an example of centering prayer as a way of disposing and opening us to the gift of contemplation that the Presence longs to give us, by leading us to a meeting place with God in our deepest centre, and sensitizing us to the oneness of all, in the uniting love of God…….read more here
Sacred Heart
Beckoning us to enter through the door of silence, beyond the literal into symbolic mystery, these words of Jesus, ‘when you pray go to your room’ draw us to enter the room within the depths of our selves that is sacred and of God. We call this room the heart. Beyond the confines of the physiological heart, this ‘room where we pray’ identifies the soul-place within. It has no differentiation between body and soul. This heart is where eternal, divine love creatively touches us and holds us in being. It is the inner chamber of the core of our being, where we are absolutely one with God. If we gather all our thoughts together and bring the gaze of our spirit to enter into the inner room of our heart, become sensitive to the language of the heart, and are present with contemplative awareness, we discover that we participate in Trinitarian love. We encounter the heart of God. The heart is the place where we enjoy that ultimately we are one with God….read more here
Discerning from the Oneness of Love
These are some of my recent ponderings about discerning, drawing on Julian of Norwich and the Cloud of Unknowing seer. In the article I reflect on discerning from the depths of oneing, sensitising to the stirrings of love, discerning false stirrings and choosing what is hidden between. I also explore the implications of discerning from oneness for spiritual direction…read more here
Quiet Loving
Pray. Be present to the presence of divine love. ‘Pray” is a cry of the yearning heart. It is an expression of our deepest reality. We are human beings created in the ecstatic and tranquil embrace of the Trinitarian love that gives and receives in an eternal making one. Created from the prayer of the Trinity, for prayer, we long to return to this source of infinite peace. This longing for the quiet of the Godhead is at the source of who we are…..read more here
Contemplative Intention
I invite you to enter into the solitude of your own heart, and become aware of the longings of love deep within. This mysterious longing that resounds in the deepest depths of who we are, stirs us and immerses us in the divine desire that seeks to be one with us. This passion of the divine Lover beckons us, as it silences, stills and awakens our inner eye of love, to behold and to enjoy the loving Presence in the inner-most intimate centre of our heart….read more here
You may also be drawn to a series of prayers written to enter into the sacred space of contemplative intention as an accompaniment to this reflection……read more here
Insights from the Revelations of Divine Love and the Contemplation to Attain Love
In response to those who seek encouragement in their longing to yield to the gentle but insistent desire to be grounded in their source, to give of what they have received, and to live a transforming way of conversion, I will explore Bernard Lonergan’s theology of religious conversion and present insights into the nature of conversion from two classic voices from the tradition, Julian of Norwich and Ignatius of Loyola….read more here