{"id":18779,"date":"2020-04-21T09:30:11","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T13:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=18779"},"modified":"2020-04-21T09:30:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T13:30:11","slug":"contemplation-and-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=18779","title":{"rendered":"Contemplation and Action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Teresa of \u00c1vila and<br>\nJohn of the Cross<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Contemplation\nand Action<\/strong><br>\nTuesday, \u202fApril 21, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8wN-fspKg1Q\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>This\nis a great favor for those to whom the Lord grants it; the active and the\ncontemplative lives are joined. . . . The will is occupied in its work and\ncontemplation without knowing how.<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013Teresa of \u00c1vila<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Author Tessa\nBielecki writes about Teresa of \u00c1vila as an extraordinary example of action and\ncontemplation. In addition to her physical suffering, Teresa also suffered from\ndifficult life circumstances, including the suspicion of church authorities who\ndisapproved of her visions, her Carmelite reforms, and her status as a <\/em>converso<em>, a member of a Jewish family that had converted to\nCatholicism (likely under duress). &nbsp;In her book <\/em>Holy Daring, <em>Bielecki shows us that it was the deeply mutual and\nloving nature of the \u201cspousal\u201d prayer Teresa entered into with God that led to\nsuch bold and faithful action:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teresa\n. . . is not only one of the greatest contemplatives in the Western spiritual\ntradition, but also one of its greatest activists. Tremendously involved with\npeople and projects, constantly on the go, Teresa still found time to make\nprayer a priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She\nfounded new convents at the rate of one and sometimes two per year. . . . She\nwas an ingenious administrator with a flair for organization, an astute\ndiplomat, and wise in the world of finance, litigation, and contract\nnegotiation. Her financial worries, business deals, and personnel problems\ncertainly challenged her life of prayer, but never spoiled it. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contemplation\nand mysticism . . . both mean <em>loving\nexperiential awareness of God: <\/em>not ideas in the head or on the lips, but personal living\nexperience. In the Teresian tradition, this experience takes a special form\nwhich spiritual writer William McNamara calls \u201cspousal prayer\u201d. . . .&nbsp;<em>[It is sometimes called bridal mysticism and is found in\nthe Bible in the Song of Songs.] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teresa\nuses the various stages in human courtship to describe the stages of prayer.\nFirst we meet [with God], exchange gifts and get acquainted. Eventually we are\nbetrothed, and then finally we marry. True love deepens and grows gradually,\nover a lifetime. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But\nthe matter does not end here. Another consequence of prayer is far more\ndemanding: generous, self-spending, and exhausting <em>service<\/em>. . . . The proper relationship between these two\nconsequences is clear in the teachings of Jesus. First, he &nbsp;says, \u201cLove\nthe Lord your God with all your mind and heart and soul and body.\u201d <em>Espousal<\/em>. Second, \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d <em>Service. <\/em>[see Mark 12:30\u201331] . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As\nour prayer grows deeper and more authentic, we want to spend ourselves serving\nGod and the world created out of divine love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To be clear, this type of \u201cspousal\u201d\nor unitive prayer is not just for single or celibate people; it is available to\nall of us who are willing to risk surrendering our hearts and lives fully to\nGod. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Teresa of \u00c1vila and John of the Cross Contemplation and Action Tuesday, \u202fApril 21, 2020 This is a great favor for those to whom the Lord grants it; the active and the contemplative lives are joined. . . . The will is occupied in its work and contemplation without knowing how.&nbsp;\u2013Teresa of \u00c1vila Author Tessa [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18780,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18779\/revisions\/18780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}