For the past three years I was privileged to live as a hermit at the Monastery of Bethlehem in Livingston Manor, NY. While I was living there, I served the sisters as their chaplain and the spiritual needs of those who went to the monastery for retreat. When I wasn’t serving the sisters and those on retreat most of my day was spent in solitude, silence, and prayer. Having received a new assignment from my community, I have since come down the mountain and have once again entered the world of active ministry.
Upon leaving the monastery I was immediately taken back and somewhat surprised about how anxious many people are today. Whether it was in churches, airports, on the streets and even in monasteries and religious houses, almost every conversation I have had with someone since leaving the monastery has involved someone sharing with me a certain amount of anxiety that they are experiencing in life. What are people anxious about today? Almost everything: the world, the government in this country, the church at large, the economy, relationships and situations within family, personal issues such as health, finances, and career, etc.
All of us are susceptible to this anxiety; after all we are only human, and we would be foolish to deny that we live in troubled times and that even on a natural level there is much to be anxious about. However, I’ve become convinced that maybe now more than ever what is needed from Christians, regardless of their vocation, is a contemplative presence. In fact, I would suggest that this contemplative presence is a necessary form of ministry in our very anxious modern world.
Do we live in difficult times? Absolutely! Is the human heart complicated? Definitely! Is life in this world uncertain and unstable? Yes! However, the ultimate question is this: is Jesus still Lord regardless of the political, economic, and relational issues that we face? Yes, he is. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
What then is this contemplative presence that is needed in today’s world? It is not another course or seminar that one must enroll in. It is not a new retreat that one must attend or a new book that one must read. Rather, it is the heroic decision by Christians each day to spend quality time sitting at the Lord’s feet (Luke 10:39), with no other reason than to listen to Jesus, love him and allow oneself to be transformed by his presence.
If the world at large is turning away from God, which it would be hard to deny, then we as Christians need to be turning more deeply to God. This contemplative presence, though obviously having personal implications for my relationship with God, is not only for me. Without this contemplative presence we will never know how to or be able to respond adequately to the struggles in the world, the church, and in our own hearts. Without this contemplative presence we will just be adding to the noise, anxiety and fear that is so prevalent both in the world and even in the church today.
The great Russian saint Seraphim of Sarov once said: “Acquire the spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.” In one of my many encounters with people since leaving the monastery a young man was sharing with me the story of his conversion, which was, to say the least, miraculous. This young man is on fire for the Lord, and he was telling me all the various apostolates he was getting involved in, things such as youth ministry, outreach to the poor and teaching RCIA at his parish. He asked me if I thought there was anything else he should do. I thought for a moment and asked him if he had a daily prayer life or daily prayer routine. He looked at me rather sheepishly and said “sometimes.” His reasoning for not having a daily prayer routine was because all his apostolic work sometimes prevented him from praying each day.
I sat down with this young man and said to him that establishing a daily prayer routine is the most important apostolate you can do, both for yourself and the world. The reason for this is simple: if a person is not spending quality time with Jesus in personal prayer each day what can he really offer to the crisis of the modern world? Without personal prayer each day, all the many good things he may be doing for God will quickly dry up and he will most likely abandon them, and maybe even God forbid, the Church in general in a relatively short span of time.
The first thing a Christian should do, whether they have just experienced a conversion or if they have been walking with the Lord for many years, is to make sure their daily prayer life is their priority. What this will look like in each person’s life will obviously look different based upon their vocation, age, and responsibilities. Without prayer and daily personal contact with Jesus who or what are we really bringing to people in all the many apostolates of the Church? There is no denying that the world today needs many things, but most especially it needs Jesus.
On the eve of his passion Jesus tells his disciples, “Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Was Jesus unaware of all the difficulties his disciples would experience throughout history? Was Jesus ignorant of the fact that there would be division and scandal within his church? That governments would be corrupt and atheistic? Or that we would experience heartache, disappointments, and betrayal in our relationships with one another? Jesus is ignorant of nothing!
How then is it possible, especially in the craziness of the modern world to remain in the peace of Jesus and not to let our hearts be troubled? Jesus continues to tell the disciples on the eve of his passion, “Abide in me…as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4).
As Christians living in the 21st century we are given an extraordinary opportunity to witness to Jesus. In an age where many people are beset with anxiety and fear, we can be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). I’m convinced that the most powerful way to be that light in today’s world is by acquiring a contemplative presence, which is the natural occurrence of a soul who spends quality time with Jesus each day.
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