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JOURNALING PRAYER

Journaling is a conversation with God in writing. It is not a commen-
tary on daily occurrences nor is it writing down our own thoughts.
Journaling is writing out our conversation with God.
If you need a prompt you can use; “God, something I want to tell you
is…”

Instrumental music can be used in the background.
It is nice to look back at our journal entries from time to time and see
how God has been clearly speaking to us!

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
A form of wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God’s greatness and goodness
in affective, loving adoration; to look on Jesus and the mysteries of his life with faith and
love.

So immediately we can see that Catholic meditation is a cognitive exercise — prayer seeking
understanding; whereas contemplative prayer sets aside that kind of mental effort, seeking
instead a wordless, loving adoration of Christ and his mysteries.

Put another way: in meditation we think; in contemplation we rest our thoughts and simply
love (and respond to love).

Letting Ourselves Be Transformed

A Testimony By Susan Pieper

“Spring of water welling up to eternal life…” (John 4:14)

What would I say has caused and continues to bring forth a spring of water welling up to
eternal life in my life? Hands down I would respond: DAILY MENTAL PRAYER!

Thirty-eight years ago, Fr. Salvatore Scorza, founder of our community, the Apostles of the
Interior Life, taught me about the “spring of water,” and I have never let it go!

Mental prayer, or meditation, is no doubt the most transforming method of prayer that we
have available to us, until God steps in with his methodology called contemplation. And as
th
Fr. Jordan Aumann, OP, one of the greatest spiritual theologians of the end of the 20 centu-
ry, once told me at a conference:

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