Welcome to St. Therese Catholic Church

                         November 2, 2025, Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time:

                   Grades of Prayer – 5. Prayer of Contemplation – Definition (1)

What is Contemplative prayer? On April 8, 2024, the “solar eclipse” event excited many people in Canton. They organized parties, bought special sunglasses to watch “solar eclipse”. Some even wrote wonderful reflections about their experiences and shared how spectacular their experience was. I am sure you had wonderful experience of watching a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or sitting in our backyard with a coffee watching the butterflies dancing around flowers, or the hummingbirds drinking their cup of coffee!! Yes, in simple terms, when you do such “delightful gazing” you are contemplating on that object before you. Think about this, what did Adam and Eve do before they sinned? They had “delightful gazing” upon God’s creation and each other. They were innocent, happy and united in love with God, nature, and each other. Yes, God created us to be in the state of grace, joy, and delightful union. Therefore, we are made for “contemplative life.” But in our fallen state of life, we are unable to gaze upon God. We must put our efforts to reach contemplative state of life. Contemplative prayer is the fifth grade of prayer. When we hear about contemplative prayer, there are some misconceptions about this form of prayer. One of the misconceptions is that this type of prayer is meant only for saints but not for the common people. Some think that this form of prayer requires a lot of time in solitude and silence. Others think that it is beyond their reach despite intense prayer. To have a better understanding of a word, it is always good to refer to the ancient roots of a word. Hebrew uses several words for contemplation: hitbonenut – refers to a deep, analytical contemplation or understanding; haggah – refers to meditate or muse; sichah – refers to meditation or prayer. But the Greek word Theoria (θεωρία) has better meaning, it refers to a deep, thoughtful looking or gazing, and has also been used to mean a spectacle or a sacred sight. In the philosophy of Aristotle, it was used to describe the act of apprehending truth and the ultimate nature of reality, often through a form of insightful "seeing or knowing”, rather than just thinking. In Christian mysticism, the word Theoria is used in reference to the direct vision of God or union with the divine, a state achieved through spiritual practices like study, meditation, and reflection. Speaking of the importance of Prayer in general, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart (#2721). Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery. (2724). We are made for contemplative prayer. So, make an effort to understand this form of prayer and slowly enter into the contemplative prayer. The prayer of simplicity is the first step forward to the contemplative prayer. May the Holy Spirit teach you to ponder on the love of God and may the Blessed Mother help you to gaze upon the face of her son, Jesus.  — Fr. Jesu