REL 255: Spiritual Formation for Ministry

Retrieves from obscurity the lost art of contemplative prayer as practiced for sixteen centuries in monastic tradition, and provides 500 thematically arranged scripture texts as rich resources for this intimate prayer.

Scripture brings the Word of God to us when we read and welcome it in faith as the Word which comes from God and leads to God. Scripture is the means by which we live in God. The ancient monastic (and patristic) way of reading Scripture involves reflection (meditation) and prayer. It is listening to the Word, allowing the Word to become active in our lives. It is, in the words of Saint Jerome, 'opening our sails to the Holy Spirit without knowing on what shores we will land.'