Creating a contemplative heart that reaches out to the world

Our faith calls us to become reflective people. There is a need to have a contemplative stance which places us at the heart of the world and in the heart of God. We are called to quieten out the static which can surround us so that we can engage in the particular work that has been entrusted to us. In a world where we are called to process more information and images than ever before we seek a way which engages our hearts and minds. This is never clearer when we are called to respond to people in great need: the refugees fleeing persecution; people seeking to rebuild lives after natural disasters; young people seeking to build lives of hope and the list goes on.

As Catholics we are called to be people who are moved into action but this needs to be more than a reactive response. We are called to engage with our experiences of the world. This is the first stage of wisdom. However, we also need to learn more about the situation and what resources we have to respond to those events. By looking at our own experience and our ability to think through the issues we are able to prayerfully consider what is the right response for this moment both for ourselves and our community. Lastly we can consider what it is that we can practically do to help others. It takes our heart, our mind and our soul to be all engaged in any work we undertake. We need to be people who see, judge and act. This never occurs once only but allows us to grow in our understanding of how our faith informs our actions and our actions inform our faith.