by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley How are we to live? This is the question that the Church seeks to answer through its moral teaching. The Christian moral life often is misunderstood and frequently presented in a distorted manner.
Many imagine that it is merely a catalogue of prohibitions or simply abiding by a set of rules, which are often perceived as arbitrary and burdensome. The Church teaches something very different. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that, “The moral life is spiritual worship” (CCC 2031). What does this mean?
Because of our communion with the Body of Christ through Baptism, the whole of our life, including our moral life, is linked with our liturgical offering of the Eucharist. It is what we present to God through, with and in Christ. The Church’s moral teaching enlightens us so that we can “discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” in his sight (Rm.12:2). The Christian moral life is the way we live Go
In his general audience address on May 5, the pope said that the contemplative dimension of the human being which is not yet contemplative prayer is a bit like the salt of life: it gives flavor, it seasons our day. We can contemplate by gazing at the sun that rises in the morning, or at the trees that deck themselves out in spring green; we can contemplate by listening to music or to the sounds of the birds, reading a book, gazing at a work of art or at that masterpiece that is the human face, he said.
The pope said that for those who live in a big city, where everything tends to be artificial and functional, there can be the risk of losing the capacity to contemplate.
May 6, 2021 Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY – Being contemplative in prayer is an act of faith and love, it is the breath of our relationship with God, Pope Francis said during his weekly general audience May 5. Continuing his series of talks on prayer, the pope reflected on contemplative prayer, which is not so much a way of doing, but a way of being, he said. Being contemplative does not depend on the eyes, but on the heart. And here prayer enters into play as an act of faith and love that offers God s breath, purifying the heart and sharpening one s gaze so that one can see the world from another point of view, he said.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
We continue the catechesis on prayer and in this catechesis, I would like to reflect on
contemplative prayer.
The contemplative dimension of the human being which is not yet contemplative prayer is a bit like the “salt” of life: it gives flavour, it seasons our day. We can contemplate by gazing at the sun that rises in the morning, or at the trees that deck themselves out in spring green; we can contemplate by listening to music or to the sounds of the birds, reading a book, gazing at a work of art or at that masterpiece that is the human face…
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