READING 1
John 7:37-39
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
READING 2
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Contemplative Prayer
2710 The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. 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.
2711 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.
2712 Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more. But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son.
REFLECTION
The grace of contemplative prayer is a grace of pure receptivity. It requires opening the heart and exposing the poverty of a spiritual womb that God has placed there. Jesus said literally, “Out of his koilia [womb] shall flow rivers of living water.” A woman’s womb is an organ that cannot fill itself and serves essentially no purpose until it is filled from the outside and serves the most amazing purpose when it becomes the cradle of new life and brings to birth the infinite good of a human being made in God’s image and likeness. There is an analogous place in every human heart with that same kind of poverty that cannot fill itself and feels useless until it is filled with God and serves the most amazing purpose. That spiritual womb in the heart is the place of contemplative prayer. It is a secret place that we can only expose to God through poor and humble surrender.
What secrets lie hidden in your heart? What is it like to encounter Jesus in your heart in poverty and faith? How often do you gather up your heart under the prompting of the Holy Spirit and abide in that inner dwelling where Jesus always awaits you? Do you allow God to pour His love into your heart through the Holy Spirit?
Litany of the Fearful Heart
Radiating Christ
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