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EDWARD MCCORKELL
Contemplative, or Centering, Prayer is an experience of a deeper relationship with God—as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The greatest proof, the acid test you can call it of genuine contemplative prayer, is in our interpersonal relationships. Are they truly charitable, and loving, and compassionate? Compassion is the word that the Hindu and Buddhist traditions use. But even in our Christian tradition, Jesus has said that: “By this all men shall know you are my disciples, that you love one another.” One of the most important expressions of love is compassion. That is the entering into the painful experience of another person—and suffering with them. That is compassion.
L..M.: Even with people we don't like, or those who don't like us.
E.M.: One can feel a certain antagonism toward people because they aren't attractive to us. The thing we have to remember is that genuine charity—the charity of the gospel, the charity and love that Jesus taught-is a matter of the will. It is not a matter of emotions or feelings. For me the essential character, or characteristic, of genuine love is the willing the good of the other person. That is essentially what love is. Paul says that the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So it is a gift that we ask God to give us—it's not our doing. Genuine love is in the will, and the will can overcome the limitations of feelings.
L.M.: Contemplative prayer can also help us deal with the moments of loneliness we feel in this life.
E.M.: Exactly.
L.M.: That's being out of tune. And we need to be, to get back in tune.
E.M.: That's right. And that is where the trinitarian circle of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit enables us to overcome that. I don't like to use the word solitude, but solitude is part of that.
L.M.: Solitude can be very positive.
E.M.: But loneliness—we don't have anyone who really loves us, or at least we feel that nobody really loves me. Still, we don't have to worry since we have
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