The purpose of our lives is to come to know God, yet on account of sin the eyes of our hearts have grown blind to the presence of God. Just as Jesus healed the ...
As we’ve discussed for a few episodes now, one of the principal pathways to metanoia is prayer. And one of the principal challenges to prayer is distraction. Aside from external distractions which many of us suffer from, we have interior distractions. Even the Desert Fathers, who committed their entire lives to prayer, faced interior distractions from prayer. But they found a solution—short, frequent prayers—or “javelin prayers” as they called them.Follow us on: Instagram: @contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata
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Contemplata Episode 19 | Frequent Short Prayers | Fr. James Brent, O.P.
People—especially busy people—forget we can ask God for help with everything. No matter how busy we are, all of us are able to make frequent short prayers throughout the day. “Lord, help me with this situation at work. Lord, help me prepare the meal, etc.” Proud human beings don’t ask for help, but humble human beings live from one petition to the next. If we season the day with little short prayers, that’s a way to always have, or to develop, a life of prayer.Follow us on: Instagram: @contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata
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Contemplata Episode 18 | The Life of Prayer | Fr. James Brent, O.P.
When people hear the word prayer, they think about the various prayers that we say—the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Anima Christi. That’s one sense of the word prayer. We’re called to not only say acts of prayer, but to live the life of prayer. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives this definition: the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice holy God and in communion with him. Fr. James Brent, O.P., begins to unpack what the life of prayer looks like in this episode.Follow us on: Instagram: @contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata
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Contemplata Episode 17 | Metanoia | Fr. James Brent, O.P.
The purpose of our lives is to enter into the life of the Holy Trinity, and come to know something of the holy, awesome, and awe-inspiring life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The question is, “How?” The Lord Jesus tells us the answer very clearly. In the Gospel of Mark, the first thing the Lord says is this: “the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” The Greek word for repent is metanoiete and it comes from metanoia. Metanoia means the transformation of the mind. Learn more about the pathways of metanoia in this episode of Contemplata.Follow us on: Instagram: @contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata
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Contemplata Episode 16 | The Purpose of Life | Fr. James Brent, O.P.
The purpose of our life is to know, love, and enjoy God. More specifically, the purpose of our life is to know, love, and enjoy the Holy Trinity. In this episode, Fr. James Brent, O.P., meditates on the sign of the cross, a simple gesture that contains two great truths of our faith – that the purpose of our life is to participate in the life of the Trinity and the way is to follow Jesus Christ and him crucified. Follow us on: Instagram: @contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata
The purpose of our lives is to come to know God, yet on account of sin the eyes of our hearts have grown blind to the presence of God. Just as Jesus healed the blind men in the Gospels, so God is now at work to heal the eyes of our hearts by the light of his grace. Contemplata is a podcast for those seeking to grow in contemplative prayer—the loving awareness of the presence of God. Fr. James Dominic Brent, O.P. is a Dominican Friar of the Province of St. Joseph.
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