The Church is a natural home for all who wish to pray, and the more faithful the Church is to its charter the more effective it will be as a school of prayer and contemplation. There is no better accompaniment to growth in prayerfulness than a strong sacramental life and the constant proclaiming and hearing of the Gospel. The company of those who accept to rule their lives by Christ’s teaching is a major advantage in the spiritual quest. The Church’s outward movement toward aiding those who have less of anything can counterbalance any tendency to become too absorbed in one’s own inner processes.
There is much wrong with the Church, but we are the Church. As we are purified by God’s grace, we may begin to be more aware of just how much we have to contribute toward making the Church (or at least our part of it) a spiritual home for all who seek God. A place, too, where those who cannot yet grasp the ultimate meaning of their own experience may find counsel and understanding.
Michael Casey, OSCO
Toward God, p. 138
“The Church is a natural home for all who wish to pray, and the more faithful the Church is to its charter the more effective it will be as a school of prayer and contemplation.” As an oblate I think the reverse order of that truth might also be true: the more faithful the Church is to the school of prayer and contemplation the more faithful the Church is to its charter.