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Meditation

Christian meditation is a particular way of praying. There are several steps:

  1. Read an inspirational passage.
  2. Look at your life.
  3. See the changes that are needed to bring you closer to Jesus.
  4. Ask Jesus to help you make those changes.

Here are places to find inspiration:

• The Bible, which is the greatest source.

• A spiritual book.

• An Internet site with daily meditations, such as Daily Prayer Online.


To grow closer to Jesus, you need to pray every day. With daily prayer, your life will be more pleasing to Jesus. You will more closely resemble the person that He wants you to be.

Many people find the method of Saint Theresa is helpful to them.

The Way of Saint Theresa of Avila

Place yourself in the presence of Christ. Visualize Him standing beside you. Invite the Holy Spirit into your life. Tell God that you adore Him and love Him. (If possible, hold a crucifix.)

Select some material to read. Use an incident in Christ’s life, or any part of the Bible, or use a book of meditations. It may be a few sentences or a page.

Talk to Christ about the material. Think about how it applies to your life. Ask for His help.

Express your love for God and your desire to serve Him. Give thanks for all His blessings.

Centering Prayer is drawn from ancient prayer practices of the Christian contemplative heritage: the Desert Fathers, Lectio Divina, (praying the scriptures), The Cloud of Unknowing, St. John of the Cross and St. Theresa of Avila. It was distilled into a simple method of prayer in the 1970s by three Trappist monks.

The Way of Centering Prayer
(or Prayer of the Heart)

This way to pray centers our attention on God by using a word or phrase (mantra) such as: Jesus I trust You or Come Holy Spirit.

The Benedictine priest John Main recommended Maranatha. In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, it means Come Lord Jesus. This ancient mantra was used by the first Christian monks, the Desert Fathers. Saint Paul ends his first letter to the church of Corinth with this word.

Sit comfortably in a straight chair, preferably with arms. Remember that God is near and that He wants you to come into His presence.

Relax, close your eyes and empty your mind of all distractions. Breathe deeply in and exhale slowly out.

Select a word or phrase and slowly repeat it to yourself. After a few minutes, stop thinking about the meaning and allow the mantra to lead you to an awareness of the Spirit that Jesus has sent into your heart.

Start with 3 or 5 minutes and build up to 20 minutes. If distractions enter your mind, keep repeating the mantra. Now we begin to experience the presence of the Lord. For Father Main, prayer was not talking or thinking about God, but being with God.

In Prayer of the Heart, don’t have any demands or expectations and don’t try to evaluate your meditation. Just be still and learn to wait on the Lord.


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