The secret to becoming contemplatives

IT’S in guarding our mind and heart, seeing to it that they are welcoming and receptive to God, always giving him priority over all other things in our life. That’s the secret, since our relationship with God, insofar as our part is concerned, starts in our mind and heart, that is, when we correspond to him in his presence and his providence over us.

German priest and intellectual, Romano Guardini, once said: “The place where God’s governance is directly experienced is the inmost heart of man: in man’s free will and in his capacity for love.”

I cannot agree with him more. To those who question whether it is possible for us to have any contact or experience of God, the answer is a big YES. But it all depends also on us, whether we welcome him or not.

We have the capacity to have direct experience of God and become contemplatives ourselves even while we are in the middle of the world, immersed in our mundane concerns. That’s because, with our mind, our heart and our will, we have been endowed with the capacity to know and to love him.

To top it all, and even before we do our part, God has already designed that we can and ought to be contemplatives, or to have direct contact and experience with him. And that’s because aside from endowing us with our spiritual faculties, he has gratuitously given us his grace that would enable us to go beyond the natural so as to enter into the supernatural world of God.

God is everywhere. He is actually all around us and also within us. And not only is he everywhere. His presence is a presence of love, of concern, of solicitude. He is actually always intervening in our lives. If we know how to deal with this reality, we can see, feel and understand God’s presence and will for each one of us.

The problem is us. We prefer to be on our own. We are not receptive to God. If ever, we only give him some cameo role in our lives. That is why, God has to beg us to receive him. “My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,” he practically pleads with us. (Prov 23,26)

That is also why Christ, when asked what the greatest commandment was, simply said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Mt 22,37)

We need to pay utmost attention to how we use our mind, heart and will. Do we give them all to God, unafraid that by doing so we are giving priority to God always and we don’t lose anything but rather would gain everything else that will be good for us?

Remember Christ saying: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 6,33)

Let’s just to it that we let these divine words become effective in our thoughts, attitudes and desires, our intentions, words and deeds everyday. That’s how we can be true contemplatives.