A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE
Laurence Freeman, OSB
Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for
fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and
sells everything he owns and buys it.     (Matthew 13:45)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    WHY MEDITATION GROUPS MATTER TODAY?
    Just as in an active project we usually need a team to support us with its diverse
    talents, so in the work of contemplation we need community. Meditation, as
    John Main knew, creates and reveals community. The meditation group is but an
    expression of this truth. There is nothing new about Christians coming together
    to pray. ‘The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; they joined in
    continuous prayer’. This was said of the small Jerusalem church that formed after
    the death and resurrection of Jesus.

    And we can say the same about groups today. There has been in the last thirty
    years or so a revolutionary rediscovery of the tradition of Christian
    contemplation, not just for the cloistered few but also for ordinary men and
    women. This is not a merely academic discovery. The practice of meditation has
    awakened a new awareness that the contemplative dimension of prayer is open
    to each of us and invites everyone. Access is not restricted. It is a privilege of
    grace given by the Spirit to all. But like all gifts of the Spirit, we must do our
    part. If we are to live our particular vocation in daily life with depth and
    meaning, we must actively accept the gift, tending it with humble devotion and
    daily fidelity.

    It is no news that Christianity is in a turbulent transition from a medieval to a
    modern mentality. If we listened only to the media and the sociologists we
    might conclude that the Christian church is in terminal decline. Certainly its
    structures and attitudes are going through a death process, but at the heart of
    the Christian view of death is the certain hope of resurrection.  The Christian
    meditation group, therefore, is one of those positive and hopeful signs of
    renewed life, an authoritatively silent sign, that the spirit prevails.

    Meditation is a universal practice that leads beyond words, images and thoughts
    into the faith-filled and presence-filled emptiness we call the silence of God.
    What is particularly Christian about it is the awareness that it takes us, in faith,
    into the prayer of Jesus himself.  And when we share in the human consciousness
    of Jesus, who is simultaneously open to each of us and to God, we can begin to
    be truly open to one another. We can create and experience the growing union
    of persons we call community. As the fruits of the spirit appear – love, joy,
    peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness, and self-control – so
    also does the grace of recognizing Jesus in ourselves and in one another.   
A Pearl of Great Price
Copyright © 2002
The World Community for
Christian Meditation

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www.comunicasoluciones.com
A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE
SHARING THE GIFT OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION BY STARTING A GROUP
THE WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION