Introduction
“Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ” (CCC 2708). We begin with this quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to ensure the reader from the start that the practice of meditation in the Christian sense is something the Catholic Church heartily promotes for its members. It is not some esoteric exercise to be practiced only by cloistered monks and nuns, and it has nothing to do with the “mysticism” found in some pagan Eastern religions.
In the general sense, meditation is the prolonged act of thinking about some object or idea; we are using the word in a more specific sense as will be shown below. The object that is chosen for meditation determines whether the meditation is or is not prayer. As you will see, meditation is as natural as taking a breath of air. In its simplest form there are three principle elements or steps in meditation: consideration, affection, and resolution. These terms are understood here as follows: consideration is the activity of the intellect by which it reasons about some object or idea so as to draw a conclusion; affection is the awakening of a desire within the will; resolution is a firm commitment to carry out some particular act. A further note is needed for the word “affection.” The word is sometimes used synonymously with “emotion” but as used here affection is distinct from emotion. Emotion is something felt in one or more of the senses, whereas affection is something that resides in the will rather than the senses and, as such, is unfelt. However, it is possible for an affection to produce some emotional activity as a side effect. We can see how these three elements are applied to prayer by first seeing how they are used outside of the scope of prayer in the daily decisions we make.
The Process of Meditation in the General Sense
Our example of meditation in the general sense will be based on the process that a typical consumer goes through in the purchase of a car. As you would surmise from what has just been said, there are three stages the consumer goes through prior to his purchase.
Consideration: At the beginning of the car-buying process, the individual considers the various options available in terms of the type of car, its cost, and the accessories that could be included in the purchase. Careful consideration of these items will lead him naturally into the second stage.
Affection: When he begins to find himself especially attracted to one particular car, he has entered the second stage, which is marked by a distinct interest in a particular car. This affection, which may be weak at first, gains strength, and at some point he recognizes that “this car” is the right car. His will is being moved to purchase that car. He dwells on that satisfying thought for some time, and, in doing so, is led to the third stage.
Resolution: When the affection reaches maturity, our consumer recognizes that it is time to formally express the movement of his will (that is, the affection) with a resolution to purchase the car.
One can readily see from this example that we go through the three steps of meditation whenever we make a decision, be it large or small. The practice itself is intrinsic to our nature. If the matter that needs to be decided is simple, the three steps may be so closely compressed that it is difficult to see that there are really three of them, but in matters of greater weight, these three steps are clearly visible. At the conclusion of the meditation, there is still one thing left to do: the resolution must be put into practice, which means, in this case, the actual purchase of the car.
Christian Meditation
Let us now apply this natural activity of the mind to a subject that is suitable for Christian meditation. There is, essentially, no limit to the various subjects that we could draw upon. However, one typically reads from Scripture in an unhurried and reflective manner until coming upon a verse that catches his attention. As will be seen below, the only difference between the process of meditating on a topic of religious interest versus a non-religious topic is the topic itself. Apart from the actual process of meditation, there are other differences, of course, not the least of which is the fact that the practice of meditating on religious topics inevitably brings about an increase of virtue in the one who meditates. We will begin our example of Christian meditation with an individual reading the Gospel of Luke with the intent of finding a passage containing a subject for meditation.
In the first step, consideration, the individual comes upon a verse that catches his attention: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Lk 6:27-28). This begins an interior conversation, one that may draw on other passages from Scripture, episodes from the lives of the saints, or any other source that is capable of contributing to the conversation. The interior conversation begins:
Love has been defined as “willing the good of the beloved.” If I am to love my enemies, then, it follows that I am to see the enemy as my beloved, and not as my enemy. Further, I am to do good to the enemy who hates me, bless the enemy who curses me, and pray for the enemy who abuses me, and, in all of this, I am to be willing the good of the enemy, with a genuine desire for the welfare of the enemy. I see at once that this is no simple thing. Do not my passions get aroused when someone acts toward me in a hateful way, and curses me, and abuses me? Does not my inner being cry out for vengeance, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? Yes, I want to love my neighbor, but what about justice? Does not justice require that the one who has injured me make restitution for the injury before I am under any obligation to love such a person? It seems that this saying is an admirable ideal, but could it actually be something that God expects of us? Perhaps I should consider who gave us this saying. It came from the lips of Jesus, and surely He had many enemies. How did He respond to those who hated Him, cursed Him, and abused Him? His many enemies, after working against Him throughout His public ministry, finally brought about for Him a death of extreme torture on the cross, and His response to all of this was “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34).
The second step, affection, follows naturally from the first as the one at prayer is drawn to the example given by Jesus: “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” He recognizes that the difficult commands of the Gospel, in this case, that of loving one’s neighbor, were not merely given by Jesus, but also lived out by Him to an extraordinary degree. This realization triggers a change in the interior conversation as the individual begins to see the example of Jesus to be eminently desirable in his own life. Moved by what he has come to recognize in the life of Jesus, he begins to express that desire in these words:
Jesus, you suffered extraordinary torments with great patience, while I, on the other hand, abhor the thought of suffering even the slightest injury with patience, and this is especially true when the injury comes from an enemy. But, no sooner had your enemies nailed you to the cross than you prayed for them, begging your Father to forgive them, and even making an excuse for them: “They do not know what they are doing.” So different are my ways. Not only do I fail to truly forgive my enemies, I search for secret ways in which to get my revenge on them. Though I call myself a Christian, I see that it is no more than an artificial Christianity that I practice, one that causes me no pain and views relationships with others as something like business contracts. But you have shown me that this is not the way to live. O Lord, I beseech you, flood my soul with your grace that my cold heart of stone will be made warm and soft like wax, and molded in the way of virtue by what you have shown me here. Help me to cast off my hidden deeds of darkness, so that I may enter into your wonderful light. Grant me the wisdom to see goodness in everyone, especially those who would be my enemies, for you are truly present in them, though your presence is hidden to those who are without the light of grace. Lord, grant me this grace, for I intend, this day, to begin the genuine practice of love of neighbor, though I freely admit that up to this day, I have loved my neighbor very little, if at all.
This interior conversation may go on for some time, or it may be short in duration. What is important is that the conversation be the result of a genuine affection in which the will is being moved to love God, to adore Him, to acknowledge His wisdom and to desire to serve Him, or is being moved to any of a thousand other similar acts of devotion. The number of words is a small matter; it is the ardent desire to reform one’s life so as to grow in holiness by way of imitation of the life of Jesus that is most important. One may experience strong urges as a result of such meditations but, whether weak or strong, as long as such movements are present, one should give way to them. Their duration may be measured only in seconds, or they may last for several minutes. When they cease, as they surely will, the time has come to move to the third step of meditation.
In the third step, resolution, the individual desires to make a general commitment to put into practice the desires that have come about in the second step. This is done with a general resolution of amendment in a particular area of life. The conversation continues:
Lord Jesus, I thank you for showing me the way that I must reform my life in regard to the way I treat my neighbor, especially the troubling neighbor. From this day forward, I resolve to recognize your presence in my neighbor, especially the neighbor who would be my enemy, and to have a genuine love for my neighbor in whatever circumstances he presents to me.
This conversation completes a cycle of meditation. Note that the time required for one of these cycles can vary considerably. It could take as little as a couple of minutes, or it can take considerably longer. In any particular period of time allotted to meditation, it is likely that one will repeat this cycle some number of times until the time allotted for meditation has been expended, at which point the individual makes a specific resolution, drawn from the fruits of this time of meditation, that is to be put into practice that day. The resolution can be very simple, such as greeting an “enemy” with kindness, or it can be more complex. But whatever the resolution is, it must be chosen such that one can expect to be able to carry out the resolution that day.
Further instructions on Christian meditation
What has been presented here is a basic instruction on the practice of Christian mediation. If the reader desires a fuller instruction on this subject, there is no better source than St. Francis de Sales (d. 1622). In his “Introduction to the Devout Life,” he provides a full treatment of the subject in the second part of the book. St. Francis de Sales is a Doctor of the Church, which means the Church has recognized his life and his writings as sure guides for living the Christian life.
Theology and Sanity 