570. What is meditation? (part 1)
(Comp 570) Meditation is a prayerful
reflection that begins above all in the Word of God in the Bible. Meditation
engages thought, imagination, emotion and desire in order to deepen our faith,
convert our heart and fortify our will to follow Christ. It is a first step
toward the union of love with our Lord.
“In brief”
(CCC 2723) Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought,
imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the
subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2705) Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks
to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and
respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to
sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them:
the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts
of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality,
the great book of creation, and that of history--the page on which the
"today" of God is written.
Reflection
(CCC 2706) To meditate on what we read helps us to make it
our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the
book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are
humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the
heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in
order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" [IT CONTINUES]
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