A Quiet Place:Weekly Message for 10-10-17

Dear Fellow Digital Pilgrim, pax Christi:

As some of you already know, autumn is my favorite season. If you are curious to find out why, I highly recommend my little book, Autumn Meditations, in which I unpack some of the spiritual meaning behind the characteristics of this natural season. In that book I also share a dozen or so personal experiences that helped shape my own relationship with God and my appreciation of those autumnal spiritual values. Check it out.

One reason I love autumn is because it tends to be a kind of contemplative season. The fading of summer’s buoyancy creates an atmosphere conducive to reflection and healthy introspection. If you feel that life has been speeding up and your soul is starved for some quality God-time (or if you know someone who may find themselves in that situation), I would like to recommend my latest book: A Quiet Place: How Daily Prayer Can Change Your Life. This short and eminently readable book explains the different kinds of prayer (vocal, liturgical, mental), the benefits of growing in mental prayer (there are so many!), a method for getting started in mental prayer, and how to overcome the most common difficulties that we encounter in our efforts to grow in prayer. If you want to jumpstart your own prayer life, this will be a worthwhile read. And if you prayer life is not in need of a jumpstart, then this good be a good tool for you to use in helping someone else jumpstart theirs (a concrete way to live the spiritual work of mercy instructing the ignorant).

Taking some quiet time each day to enter into conversation with the Lord is essential for our growth in holiness. Amidst the multifarious manifestations of holiness exemplified by the saints, that commitment to a daily God-time is one of the main common denominators. And if you don’t believe me, then just ask Uncle Eddy – or at least read a few of his Emails, in which he packs lessons from the lives of the saints and applies them to the common conundrums of life in this post-modern world. If you haven’t yet discovered him, he’s worth a try. You can find his Emails here.

As the days wane (at least here in the northern hemisphere) and the temperature starts to drop, you can continue to count on our prayers for you. The team of collaborators here at RCSpirituality.org is committed to serving you through our products, but also through our prayers. I pray for all our digital pilgrims and digital missionaries every night during a visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary before I go to bed.

Enjoy your autumn! God bless you! In Him, Fr John