Patterns of Prayer, Eugene McCaffrey ocd

First published October 2020

'All religion, all spirituality is in a way a response to, or an awareness of, God’s presence in our lives. Religion is essentially the meeting place of God and humanity, a meeting that takes place here and now in this world of ours, a world he has created and one charged with the grandeur of his presence.'

From The Prayer Project, the work of the Carmelite Friars Community, NSW.

Living in the Presence of God. The Sacredness of the Present Moment. Kerry Hide 

First published 2006

'The scriptures and tradition affirm a sense of divine Presence generation after generation. Presence calls us to attend, to be grounded in the Presence, to dwell in the Presence, to live in the Presence, to learn how to be in the Presence.'

An Unspeakable Name. Theme: Interspiritual Mysticism. Richard Rohr ofm

First published 21 September 2020

'God, who gives us not a name, but only pure presence—no handle that could allow us to think we “know” who God is or have the divine as our private possession.'

Inspiriting the World. Theme: Incarnation. Richard Rohr ofm

First published 26 December 2019

'An incarnational worldview is the profound recognition of the presence of the divine in literally “every thing” and “every one.”'

Looking for the One God inside our Denominational and Faith Divisions, Ron Rolheiser omi

First published 19 January 2015

'Everything we think and say about God, even within scripture and our defined dogmas, is more inadequate than adequate. It reveals some truth, but, this side of eternity, never the complete truth.'

God’s Closeness, Ron Rolheiser omi

First published 20 November 2017

'The mystery of God’s intimate, personal presence inside us is beyond our imaginations. But everything within our faith tradition and now most everything in the testimony of hundreds of people who have experienced the afterlife assure us that, while God may be infinite and ineffable, God is very close to us, closer than we imagine.'

Incarnation – God is with Us, Ron Rolheiser omi

First published 19 December 2016

'God’s presence in our lives. This presence redeems because knowing that God is with us is what ultimately empowers us to give up bitterness, to forgive, and to move beyond cynicism and bitterness.'

The Good News Now – Evolving with the Gospel of Jesus, Elizabeth Johnson

Talk given at Trinity Wall Street (n.d)

'The theology of creation teaches that this spirit of God, the creator spirit, indwells the world, empowering its life. This same spirit of God, I suggest, abides amid the agony and the loss. God, who is love, is there, in compassionate solidarity with the creatures, shot through with pain, and finished off by death, there, in that God-forsaken moment, as only the giver of life can be, with the promise of something more. In daring to think this way, Christian theology draws on a peculiar source of insight all its own, namely the Gospel story of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection.'

Centering Prayer, The Contemplative Society

The Very Basics, How to 'Do' Centering Prayer

Discover the sacredness of life with the desert mothers and fathers, Christine Valters Painter

First published January 2020

'The desert mothers and fathers have much to teach Catholics about contemplation and prayer.'

Need to clear your mind? Meet God at the kitchen sink, Susan Salaz

First published February 2020

'Merton’s views on the importance of contemplative prayer and meditation as a way to find God in everyday activities speak to me as a busy mother with few fringe hours to devote to prayer practice.'

Pandemic life may make mystics of us all, Jessica Mesman

First published July 2020

'The pandemic implications are clear to me: We have become aware that staying home alone unites us in a common cause and that our private actions and mundane choices have meaning beyond our own daily lives. They always did, of course, and to believe so is part of having religious faith. But our attention has been turned by the novel coronavirus to, as Underhill writes, “new levels of the world.” A mystical moment is upon us, whether we’d have it or not.'

Living Life to the Full: The Spirit and Eco-feminist Spirituality, Susan Rakoczy ihm

First published 2012

'The Spirit is both transcendent and immanent and Her immanence is experienced in diverse
ways. Comblin’s five ways of discerning the Spirit – through action, freedom, speech,
community and life – provide a foundation for a pneumatic eco-feminist spirituality. This
spirituality challenges women and men to view creation with a new vision of
interdependence and kinship, to be committed to life and liberation for all and to thinking
globally and acting locally.'