Contemplation is a process of ‘developing an awareness of and availability to God’.  It involves a conscious ‘waiting upon God’ and a ‘willingness to yield to God’. It is essentially a ‘creative response to life in the light of the love of God’.

Contemplation is the centre of the community and the catalyst for community development; the ‘still point’ around which ‘the life of the community revolves’.

We emphasise the importance of contemplation because we believe that ‘community begins and ends with God’ and in contemplation we can ‘meet God who is the beginning and end of the community development process’.

It is in encounter with God through contemplation that ‘all that is good can be defined and affirmed, and all that is evil can be exposed and opposed and our task for the future outlined’.

It is in encounter with God through contemplation that ‘a vision of justice can be revealed and an infusion of grace can be realised’.

It is in encounter with God through contemplation that we can ‘develop discernment in the midst of disorientation, energy when we have exhausted our ability, and endurance where we would have otherwise withdrawn’.

It is in contemplation, therefore, that we can begin to ‘engage with God in the struggle for the salvation of the world’.

Contemplation is a process of ‘developing an awareness of and availability to God’.  It involves a conscious ‘waiting upon God’ and a ‘willingness to yield to God’. It is essentially a ‘creative response to life in the light of the love of God’.

It is in contemplation that a vision for justice emerges:

‘A vision of equality,
in which all the resources of the earth
would be shared equally between all the people on earth
regardless of nationality, colour, caste, class or creed.

A vision of equity,
in which even the most disadvantaged people
would be able to meet their basic needs
with dignity and joy.

A vision of a great society of small communities
interdependently cooperating
to practise political, socio-economic
and personal righteousness and peace
in every locality.

It is in contemplation that we begin to feel the inflow of an infusion of grace to enable us to realise our vision for justice.

‘An infusion of grace that enables us
to begin to deal with the reality
of our limitations and contradictions.

An infusion of grace that enables us
to move beyond angry reactions to just actions
that transcends those limitations
and resolves those contradictions.

‘A vision of equality,
in which all the resources of the earth
would be shared equally between all the people on earth
regardless of nationality, colour, caste, class or creed.

A vision of equity,
in which even the most disadvantaged people
would be able to meet their basic needs
with dignity and joy.

A vision of a great society of small communities
interdependently cooperating
to practise political, socio-economic
and personal righteousness and peace
in every locality.

 It is in contemplation that we begin to feel the inflow of an infusion of grace to enable us to realise our vision for justice.

‘An infusion of grace that enables us
to begin to deal with the reality
of our limitations and contradictions.

An infusion of grace that enables us
to move beyond angry reactions to just actions
that transcends those limitations
and resolves those contradictions.

An infusion of grace that enables us
to respond, if not always with courage,
at least with conviction,
compassionately, constructively, productively.        

We know that there are many who contemplate but do not act and many who act but do not contemplate. However, it seems to us that such people have misunderstood the meaning of both contemplation and action.

Contemplation is the most radical of all our actions. For is the fundamental motive force at the heart of all our efforts to struggle for freedom and transformation. We cannot be agents of freedom and transformation unless we are being freed and transformed ourselves.

‘When we pray,
we come into the presence of a Love so profound
that it challenges all our plans, opinions and prejudices,
and calls us to a cause of pure compassion. 

In the presence of that Love we have to act with love;
because to do anything else seems utterly absurd. 

In the presence of that Love we are set free
from a preoccupation with only meeting our needs
for a vocation of seeking peace
on the basis of justice for all.’

Suggestion For Reflection And Action

Pray much. Pray always.

‘For without prayer, there is no faith;
Without faith, there is no love;
Without love, there is no gift of self; 
Without the gift of self, there is
no help for people in distress.’

Mother Teresa

See my new book Out And Out published by Mosaic Melbourne 2012