If you feel as though you have reached a plateau in your prayer life, or after many years of active prayer, you feel as though you are suddenly stuck, it may be the Lord is calling you to a deeper encounter with Him. The spiritual life is not static, it moves through different phases. And, like any relationship, if it is going to continue to grow, there must be changes in the way we approach prayer. There eventually comes a time in our prayer life when the Lord takes a more active role, and He needs us to begin to detach ourselves from our usual way of finding Him in prayer. This is a process of the Lord moving from our more comfortable and active practice of meditation, to a more destabilizing but interior practice of contemplation. Our primary response must be surrender and receptivity. In this next phase of the journey to God, we must be willing to allow Him to draw us toward Himself, into a place of quiet serenity. This conversation outlines both the prerequisites for this movement and the disposition the soul must develop in order to continue to make progress.
Books:
“Saint John of the Cross: Master of Contemplation” by Fr. Donald Haggerty; Ignatius Press.
“The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross” by John of the Cross; ICS Publications.
Litany of Flights, a conversation with poet Laura Reece Hogan, with Tim Bete, OCDS
The Beatitudes” presented by Deacon Rusty Baldwin, OCDS
A Father’s Heart, with Deacon Rusty Baldwin, OCDS
The Spiritual Nature of Work: Reflections on Bro. Lawrence and Practicing the Presence of God, with Tim Bete, OCDS
Therese Poems by Sarah Law, with Tim Bete, OCDS
The Dark Night of the Soul—Preparing to Meet the Beloved by Deacon Rusty Baldwin, OCDS.
Mary in the Life and Writings of St. John of the Cross by Lynn Bete, OCDS
The Famous Prayer of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity with Frances Harry, OCDS
The 6 Ms with Colleen Sollinger, OCDS
Communism, Carmel, and the Cure with host Frances Harry, OCDS and Angela Winfield, OCDS
Whoever lives in the presence of so good a friend, a homily by Fr. John MacQuarrie
Mt. Zion with Deacon Rusty Baldwin, OCDS
Transfiguration Encounter with Deacon Rusty Baldwin. OCDS
Our Lady Queen of Peace with Herb Edwards, OCDS
St. Pope John Paul II and the Blessed Virgin Mary by Paul Adams, OCDS
Maintaining our Carmelite Identity by Deacon Rusty Baldwin, OCDS
Mystical Union with Mary presented by Frances Harry, OCDS
He is Near by from Mark Danis, OCDS, recorded by Frances Harry, OCDS
On Spiritual Communions with Frances Harry, OCDS
The Well-Ordered Life by Deacon Russell Baldwin, OCDS
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