VIRIDITAS2: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
When I was about 21 years of age, I found a book with a very simple method of meditating on the Gospels. Thus, I began practicing meditation on my own. From this experience, I was moved to read the biography of St. Teresa of Avila, which led to the reading about St. Therese of the Child Jesus of Lisieux. I found inspiration in reading the lives of the saints. Even though I did not understand everything that was written, there was something yet that drew me. I would say that it was prayer that was drawing me and which finally drew me to the Carmelite order.
There are many types of methods of prayer. People today are really thirsting for spirituality. They are exploring different forms of Eastern meditation. There are also the different forms of Christian meditation, like Centering Prayer and mantra meditation as taught by the Benedictine John Main. From the Benedictines we also have the practice of lectio divina.
It was from a little Ignatian pamphlet that I learned the Jesuit form of meditation. Simply, to read a part of the Gospel, sit with it quietly and reflect on it, and then talk to the Lord from the heart. There is also the Carmelite way of prayer which is really simple. Following the charism of Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross, we learn that to be good friends with Jesus and with one another in prayer and service to the church is what is important in life.
Many people turn to some form of quiet prayer in their thirst for God. Even though they might not realize it right away, it is a thirst for something deeper — to come to face themselves so that they feel more at home with who they are and with God.
Of course, there are dry times, or times (especially when our health is challenged) when we might feel low, wonder where we are going, be confused or have doubts. Everyone has those times. But, when we try to be faithful to prayer, even in those times, we will come out strengthened. The experience of God is not something you always feel. Faith is not a matter of feeling, but a matter of will. Jesus calls us to trust. By our willingness to trust, to develop trust knowing that day-by-day God will never abandon us, we come to know that, as Jesus healed the child sick with convulsions, everything is possible for those who believe.
Prayer, simply is friendship with Jesus Christ. God loves us. We were created out of love and for love. That is why we exist. God desires to have friendship with us. And that is what prayer is all about. When you are friends with Jesus, just as in any friendship, you will keep on trying to develop and deepen that relationship. We do not have to earn or merit God’s love, it is always there. If you want God as your friend, give God time as a friend. That’s what prayer is.
Father Daniel Chowning, OCD, is originally from Indiana. He is 43 years professed as a religious and 34 years ordained as a priest. He is a definitor (consultor) of the Discalced Carmelite Order stationed in Rome. He was in Hawaii last month leading the Carmelite Sisters on the Pali in retreat.
