The life of prayer is a process that has great advances and setbacks. There is no monotony when it comes to spending time with God. For those who commit themselves to pray, there is a daily adventure waiting for them.

We oftentimes think of the human soul as the microcosm and the universe as the macrocosm, but these thoughts are inversed and misplaced. It is the human soul searching for God that is the true macrocosm. There is an interior universe that is unimagined until it has been experienced in prayer.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church identifies three major types and movements of prayer: vocal, meditative, and contemplative. The three are not always progressive. They often intertwine and almost always depend on one another.

Vocal prayer is the most fragile and inclined to either neglect or exaggeration. Meditative prayer is the center, which can mature vocal prayer and lead us to contemplative prayer.

Contemplative is the most developed form of prayer. It is a close union with God. It is the purest and most refined expression of prayer. When the Christian thinks of prayer, contemplative prayer is the exemplar of what prayer is called to be.

The Catechism takes up the question about contemplative prayer and teaches us: “What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: ‘Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.’”

It is interesting to note that in the answer of Saint Teresa of Avila to the question of contemplative prayer, echoed by the Catechism, the great mystic can only tell us “in my opinion.” Not even she will claim a definitive definition since contemplation touches the mystery of the human heart and the great mystery that surrounds God.

In her opinion, however, Saint Teresa identifies contemplation as shared time between friends. It’s enjoying the company of someone who loves us.

In its efforts to describe contemplation, the Catechism gives another definition: “Contemplative prayer seeks him ‘whom my soul loves.’ It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.”

Contemplation is spending time with the one who loves us, and it is also spending time with the one we love (and desire to love more deeply). In this explanation, we see the true interior journey of contemplative prayer.

The Catechism continues with some practical guidance: “The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart.”

Contemplative prayer cannot rely on the emotions, or on random free time in our schedule. If we are to reach and maintain contemplation, we need “a determined will.” We need to set time aside and hold to that resolution.

No athlete will excel in a sport if their practice is sporadic. No musician will reach excellence if their rehearsals are intermittent. In the same spirit, no Christian will reach contemplative prayer without a set prayer time in which the soul can peacefully aspire, encounter, and spend time with God.

The Catechism insists: “One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty and in faith.”

In this way, the quest of contemplative prayer resembles the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

The Catechism explains: “Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: We ‘gather up’ the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed.”

Contemplation is not easy to reach and maintain. It requires the determination of love and a thirsting desire to be with God.

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