Advent

WALKING IN LIFE

Lovely day, gentle fall weather –

clear blue sky – cool air –

light breeze – bright sunshine

highlight slowly turning leaves.

I feel the calm – soothes me –

clashes with my feelings inside –

worries – cares of life –

I face a pending ambulatory operation –

not too serious – but still surgery.

Financial cares – What to do?

What not to do? Decisions to be

made – I feel them on my shoulders.

Walk in the fall sunshine

helps me – washes me – soothes me.

At times in life, so much falls on me.

It makes it hard to breath.

Sunshine reminds me of something –

do not let life get you down –

Jesus is in charge – I put all

my cares in his hands.

He knows them already.

But I give them to Jesus –

I know he loves me – he never

let me down – will not do

it now either.

Robert Trabold

                                            -------------------------------------

ADVENT

Robert Trabold

            When November comes around in our calendar, we notice that the days get shorter and we no have the long ones of summer.  Everything in the garden slows down.  The annuals slowly die in the cool weather and leave their seeds for next year’s growth.  The perennials slowly lose their flowers and leaves and wait for the spring to start again.  The trees lose their leaves and we can see the stars through their bare branches in the night. When we leave our work at 5 PM, it is already dark or getting there and we do not have the nicety of going home in the daylight. We shut down our garden and move away our furniture which will be used again in the springtime. Darkness comes earlier each day and we now spend more time indoors where we have light and heat. 

            The coming of the darkness has also a spiritual significance. Experiencing the darkness awakens in us a desire to have the dawn and light come again. Darkness has a sense of mystery which surrounds us and touches us.  It is symbolic of the mystery of God who is completely other and transcendent and about whom we really can say nothing. Yet the divine is the ground of our being and the source of our life on earth.  It is also present in the universe with its enormity and uncountable stars and planets and which just keeps on growing after the big bang. When we look at the winter sky with its many stars, we feel the mystery of the expansive universe and of our place in such a vastness.  The darkness of the autumn and the coming wintertime is also symbolic of the darkness of our life on earth and in the world. As human beings we yearn for a world of justice and peace, but our daily life tells and shows us that the earth is far from this.  We are constantly plagued by violence, hatred and injustices.  Each day on the television and in the newspapers, we read about endless wars which consume millions of innocent people and of hatred between groups which starts such violence.  It is painful to see our country involved in such wars which never end and whose rational is questionable. We participate in social movements to address these issues and at times, we feel that we are climbing up a never ending mountain of injustices and violence.  Against these realities, it is easy to give up hope and our dream of a better world.

            But the darkness of the autumn and of Advent also awakens in us the hope and desire that someday there will be a light glimmering in this darkness and promises us salvation from the problems surrounding us and our world.  This glimmering light appeared over 2000 years ago in Bethlehem and comes back every year to illuminate our life. At that time, the world was also dark with violence and injustices. People had to come to grips with the darkness in their personal lives and the life of the world. Things were not easy then. In some obscure corner of the world, in a poor small town, a child was born who was to be a sign of a new hope and world.  Men and women no longer have to be trapped in their own sins and selfishness and the violence and injustices of the world.  A savior was born who would show us the way to live in another way and bring justice and peace to a war torn world. There is now a light that shines in the darkness all around us.  This is why Advent time is a time of extra prayer and penance where we try to prepare ourselves for the coming of this light, Jesus Christ.  God has been good to us and has not let us sit in the dark with the intractable problems of our personal life and that of the world.  The light that has appeared shows us a way out and we have to prepare ourselves to receive the savior Jesus and to apply his teachings to our life and to continue our protest movements which confront the evil in the world. This is not easy endeavor but one that is very important and gives us hope for our lives now and in the future.

            The darkness of the autumn and Advent is mysterious and hangs over us each day. But it need not drag us down because we see the light at the end of the tunnel. The light of the Christmas season brings us so much joy and hope for ourselves and our world.

                                  

Healing & Meditation, Brazil

WAITING HALL

Big crowd – all dressed in white –

young people – elderly – children –

parents – people in wheel chairs –

crutches – arms – legs with bandages.

Quiet in the room – people positioning

themselves for the encounter.

Guides lead prayers – encourage people

hoping for a cure.  People from all

over – North America - Europe – Brazil –

all dressed in white – white like

angels – waiting the touch of God.

Such is our life on earth – our

pilgrimage – sunny days – rainy ones –

healthy days – sick ones. Human

bodies are beautiful – rise to many

heights – but falls also – our mortality.

We will not live forever – we came

from dust – will return there.

So we all sit in white in the big hall.

We are waiting to be touched.

Centuries ago,

Jesus touched – healed.  In that

long waiting hall, we all have the same

hope.  Let the heavens open – we are

all dressed in white – waiting.

Let Jesus come back – touch us again.

Robert Trabold

                                                        -----------------------

ON PILGRIMAGE: ABADIÁNIA

HEALING AND MEDITATION

Robert Trabold

           

            For many years, I have been active in the John Main Meditation Movement and the Centering Prayer Movement. I have developed a discipline of silence in my life and meditate twice a day for 20 minutes.  I say the mantra and try to rest in God’s presence.  It is a prayer without words where I touch the presence of the divine at my center and still point. It is also a prayer without petitions because I sit in the naked presence of the Lord knowing that he already knows all my needs.

            Recently, I had a new experience of contemplative prayer in the setting of a healing ministry.  I have a condition in my body that Western doctors cannot heal.  I have heard many people speak of the healer, John of God, in Abadiánia, Brazil and that it is quite an experience to go there.  I also read a book on his work, John of God: The Brazilian Healer by Heather Cumming and Karen Leffler.  I decided to make a pilgrimage and ask John to heal my health condition and attached myself to a group making this trip.

            After long flights from New York to Brazil, I did get to Abadiánia.  It is small town about an hour and a half from the capital of the country, Brasilia, and lies in beautiful mountain country. The place is very rural and one has lovely views over the hilly countryside. The place where John of God works is a small campus with several healing rooms where he is present, many places where one can sit and meditate in quiet.  The lovely views over the hills add to the silence. There is also a book store with religious items and a place where one can buy healing herbs. The whole tone of the pilgrimage is one of silence and prayer and the guides stressed that the healing take place in prayer. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, when John of God has his public healing services, the town and hotels fill up with people who want to meet him and participate in these events.  There are not only Brazilians, but many people from North America and Europe. His fame runs far and wide and people come from all over looking for help.

            Although I went with a group and there was much and good communication among us, the whole tone of the week was one of silence and prayer. Even our rooms in the hotel were simple with a bed, place to put your clothes and a bathroom. There was much time to ourselves where we could go to various places set aside for prayer and silence. I was attracted to spend much time in a little space which overlooks the hilly country and mountains in the distance.  It had an air of quiet and this silence settled over me. I was able to sit there for long periods of time repeating the mantra and trying to touch God’s presence. In the back of my mind, there was also the question of healing which myself and the multitude desired. So in one sense, there was silent contemplation but also a prayer of petition concerning our healings. I noticed that this yearning was always present but did not disturb the resting in the silent presence of the divine at my center and still point. This was also prevalent in the public services of healing that John of God held. There were hundreds of people present and all were quiet and in prayer. John of God always says that he does not heal, but God does. It was amazing how the multitude of people understood this and rested in quiet. Even back at the hotel where there was a fair amount of communication among the group especially at meal time, there was a tone of silence and people knew that prayer was the key to our going there. It just happened that I had a room to myself and I could use this privacy to rest and pray. There was no one around to disturb me.  Abadiánia is in a tropical country with much sunshine.  This light added to the contemplative atmosphere and gave a joyful tone to the quiet. The tropical flowers with their many colors were beginning to bloom in the rainy season and added to the prayerful atmosphere.

            This quest for silence and prayer was stressed when we meet with the leader of the group, Heather Cumming, and in conversations among ourselves. Heather tried to explain to us the whole healing dynamic of the place. Also, after each of us participated in the ceremony of spiritual surgery, we were counseled not to speak for 24 hours.  We sat at a special table during meals to ensure this and were silent in our rooms and the places for prayer on the campus. Heather also gave us advice on how to continue this prayerful dynamic back home since healings often take place over a period of time.

            In sum, I can say that this was a contemplative pilgrimage to a sacred place to meet a holy man and I made this trip requesting a healing of our physical and spiritual wounds. The aura of retreat and quiet permeated the whole week and dynamic. It was the same silence and quiet I experience in my daily meditation back home. Here, it was pierced by my making this pilgrimage in a group and being able to share this experience with others having the same goal. We were freed from our daily cares and work of our daily life and had time and encouragement to open ourselves to the divine and communicate this experience with others on the same pilgrimage.  We all had one spiritual goal which united us, that is, prayer and healing.

Presence

ETERNAL SILENCE

I sit in the ocean breeze- gently

cool on a hot summer day.

Sea in the distance – I enjoy

its deep blue. – yellow sand –

green shore grass add to the peace.

I feel a silence – eternal silence –

coming over me – penetrating my center –

still point.  It grasps me –

my breathing adds to the silence.

Silence – I feel is eternal –

comes from eternity.

Like a knock on the door – alerting me -

some one is knocking – divine visitor.

Silence is mysterious – has depth I

cannot fathom – grasp.

I sit in this presence – knowing that

the knock at the door is one of love.

Someone loves me – wants my attention.

So I have to sit in this eternal silence –

leading me – giving me a peace –

fullness that no one can give.

No one else can go so deep – love –

dark – mysterious.

It takes my hand – leading me to a

safe shore – no matter how strong

storm winds blow.

Robert Trabold

                                                   --------------------------------

A GENTLE TOUCH:

‘PRESENCE’ IN THE CONTEMPLATIVE PATH

Robert Trabold

I sleep but my soul wakes.

I hear my beloved who knocks at the door.

Song of Songs, 5:3

            At the heart of the contemplative journey is the sense and realization that a presence has entered our life. Without us necessarily looking for it, we are gently touched by someone.  In the midst of our ordinary life and activities, in a peaceful moment of walking in nature or a visit to a quiet chapel or in other moments of pause, we experience that we are in the presence of another. It comes into our life as a robber in the dark of night unannounced and not sought by us.  Someone touches us at our center. As time goes on and we experience this presence more deeply and frequently, we feel that there is a deep sweetness to this advent and a desire on our part to experience it more. This presence revealing itself in my ordinary life is a mystery and has an uncommon element to it.  It appears at the center of my being, closer to myself than perhaps anyone can be or even closer to myself that I am.  On the other hand, despite this immanence, I cannot grasp this presence; there is an aura of mystery to it and it is something ineffable.

           

Contemplatives and mystics through the ages have written about this presence at the human center.  They are overwhelmed by it at the depth to their person and find with time that their whole life revolves around it. John of the Cross states this well in the opening lines of his poem, ‘The Flame of Love’

O living flame of love

That so tenderly wounds

My soul at its deepest center:

 It is a personal reality who is calling the contemplative to friendship.  We realize also that this presence has taken the initiative to reveal itself to us.  We did not look for it but in its own mysterious way, it has made its appearance.  It has touched us in the deepest spiritual sense. In experiencing this presence, mystics are living at the center of all religion, that is, in the mystery of the absolute reality and its being the true root of all human experience.  It is a reality transcendent to us and to the other things in the world but also immanent to us. The question of who God is and who we are become related because this presence is at our center. We cannot answer the question of our identity if we do not take into account this presence at our center and its call to us.

           

If we quietly listen to this call, we see that we are being wooed by the Lord. He is at the center of our person loving us and wanting us to love in return.  As Julian of Norwich so beautifully said, “God loves us and delights to be in our presence, He wants us to love Him and delight to be in His presence, and all is well.” John of the Cross states the same in his poem ‘The Flame of Love’

In my heart where you secretly dwell

With your delightful breath

In glory and good will,

How soothingly do you woo me!

If we reflect on this verse, it stuns us that the divine is wooing us in our contemplation to meet in silence and darkness so that it can entice us to love in return.  The Lord reveals Himself to us and calls us to enter into the rapture of His love. As time goes on, we realize that we are no longer the center of our life with its desires and the importance of our ego; our life now is centered on God and we are subject to Him/Her. We realize that we cannot become our true self and grow into our true depth if we do not give ourselves to this presence. This whole relationship with the presence of God within us is a difficult one because we can never grasp the transcendent.  It is always beyond us. The mystics rightly say that we can know and experience God only in silence and in the night. The center of our life and the question of our identity are related to God whom we can never grasp but whom we can only desire.  As time goes on, the question of desiring the Lord becomes paramount in our lives because that is how we can touch Him.

            The advent of the presence of God in our contemplative path sets up conflicts within us.  First, the Lord calls us to change and struggle against our selfishness and pride things also afflicting all humans.  It is a hard struggle and one lasting all our life. Secondly, as the divine presence grows to dominate more of our life, we lose our taste and liking for many things of life, such as, our work, hobbies, art, etc, and look forward to being in the quiet and silence of this presence. Thirdly, the traditional ways of our praying with many words and thoughts give way to a prayer where we quietly sit in the Lord’s presence with no words. We are just there.  This is a big change and it will time for us to get used to it.  Also, we may lose our liking and interest in the more ritual and ceremonial aspects of religion and find that our religious and prayer life is centered on the quiet experiencing of His presence to us. All the above three changes impact on us and change our life as we grow in our contemplative path.

            In sum, this immediate but obscure experience of God’s presence in our life is the center of contemplative and mystical paths.  This is what we are called to and how the Lord calls and reveals Himself to us. It is something we did not ask for but came into our life.  Many of the mystics refer to metaphor of the spiritual sense of touch to describe this advent in our life. St. John of the Cross in his poem ‘The Flame of Love’ speaks of it as

‘a gentle touch.’ The touch is there and real but it also a mysterious one because God is transcendent and ineffable to us. This touch sets up within us a desire for the divine as we want to enter more into this mystery and presence.  The first two lines of the poem “The Dark Night” of John of the Cross sum up this desire.

On a dark night,

Afflicted and aflame with love.

            As a deer yearns for running water, so my soul thirsts for you, O Lord.

                                                                                                Psalm  42

           

                

           

             

             

           

           



Prayer in the Summertime

SPRING GARDEN

Gentle warm spring air touches me –

brushes quietly my face –

I delight in the scent of fresh cut grass –

perfume smell of the lilacs pervades all –

laughing snow ball bush – throwing

blossoms in all directions.

Happy bird in love calls its mate.

Peace settles over me –

quiet - silent.

Within me, I feel a presence –

mystery –

pervading my whole being.

Voice of God – my Beloved

is silence

so I know who is knocking at the door.

Loveliness of the spring garden

welcomes - ushers in this visit –

let me sit on the garden bench and enjoy it.

But I feel laying on me the injustices - violence of

the world –

my country’s war making –

killing innocent women and children.

Quiet of the garden - gun shots of war

collide –

I feel both within me.

Let me not be discouraged –

I place my hope in my Beloved – the divine.

Life – world - their problems are beyond me.

I rest in the presence of Someone bigger –

He will not forget me and my world –

I leave it in his hands!

Robert Trabold

                                              --------------------------------------

PRAYER IN THE SUMMER TIME

Robert Trabold

            For us contemplatives, we try to be faithful to our discipline of silence so that we can encounter God in prayer at our center and still point.  We meditate twice a day each for twenty minutes to have this meeting with the Lord. I live in a house that has a garden and I find that the stillness of the evening garden a wonderful opportunity to have this encounter. But the summer time and the opportunities to be outside offer us other occasions where we can experience the wonder of God in the power and beauty of nature.

            I like the springtime when the first flowers come out of from the winter time particularly the first roses.  Roses love water and the spring rains make them extra big and lush in their colors. Their bigness exudes the loveliness of the spring time. They tend to be smaller in the later summer which is a dryer season. Being so big, their aroma is very strong and one can smell it already at a distance. Portulacas, which are small plants but bloom without end in the high summer time, give me much joy. In their flower boxes, they bloom profusely and exude such joy with their sheer numbers, cheerful colors and fidelity in blooming each day. Also, I am fortunate to live near the ocean seashore and go there regularly to admire the ocean and its changing colors, the yellow sand and the varied vegetation of the shore. These things combine with the vastness of the sky which here on the East coast varies from day to day. Summer time is the time of sharp storms which can also do much damage. I often watch the storm coming with the fierce cloud formation, lightening flashing from left to right, rapid winds picking up and then the heavy downpours of rain which makes one run inside. We experience the power of nature and see how insignificant we are in face of such force. After a while, the storm passes and we are immersed in silence which covers the neighborhood and the gardens. What a difference from a few minutes before when we experienced such downpours, thunder and lightening. We are silent as we stand in front of the power and majesty of nature.

            All of the above can provide us with moments of admiration and prayer.  We are humbled when in the spring and summer, we watch the process of growth start and grow.  It is so vast and complex and returns each year. This provokes within us a sense of gratitude when we see the loveliness of the natural world unfold around us. We have a sense of humility when we see the power and force of the natural world which can have positive and negative effects.  Storms can bring needed water but their force also can cause much damage to the neighborhood and ordinary living. All these reactions can be helpful to us in our prayer life.  As contemplatives, we strive to encounter God in stillness and silence and cultivate a discipline of silence so we can do this each day.  But we can use these other reactions that we have in experiencing the wonder, beauty and power of nature to which we are exposed to in the summer time. They give us other glimpses of the power and wonder of God who is present in the natural world around us. They can bring a richness of feeling which stay with us while we are in silent contemplation. Also, when we are distracted in our meditation, these feelings of wonder can help us to return to the silent presence of the divine.

            As contemplatives, we are committed to encounter the divine in silence at our still point and center. But let us also use other spiritual experiences around us to which we are exposed in the majesty and power of nature in the summer to grow in the rich spiritual life which the Lord calls us to.

                                              --------------------------------------

           

Bede Griffiths & John Main

STILLNESS AND QUIET

Hardly anything moves – no wind –

neither bushes nor trees swaying – surprising

for a winter’s day at the seashore.

Everything is in suspended animation –

blinding sunshine gives the same impression

even its gentle warmth is motionless.

Vast blue sky does not move –

no clouds to break it up –

all is still!

Not even the vastness of the sky

disturbs the silence.

Is this why I came to the sea?

I leave behind my hectic life –

house cleaning – garden pruning – e-mails –

anti-war demonstrations – neighborhood meetings.

Am I looking for something else?

Is someone pulling me to the seashore?

Stillness - emptiness

start fires burning within me.

I am waiting – catching my breath –

my eyes are straining – the absolute overwhelms me.

My Beloved is knocking at my inner most door –

a door that He can only knock at.

No one else can enter so deeply within me.

Fire burns – my heart beats faster –

my breathing speeds up –

my whole body trembles.

My Beloved is touching me – wooing me

to love –

I lay back my head - rest in

ecstasy.

Robert Trabold

                                                   ------------------------------

BEDE GRIFFITHS ON THE

SPIRITUALITY OF JOHN MAIN

Robert Trabold

            Several years ago, Bede Griffiths was asked to give a talk on the spirituality of John Main at the yearly John Main seminar. He was uniquely positioned to give good insights into the significance and meaning of the latter’s thought.  Griffiths was a European born and raised in the West and then spent many years working in India. As a result, he had a grasp of the Western and Eastern contemplative traditions and was able to see how Main in his own way made a good synthesis of the two and brought to his world a deeper understanding of our contemplative path to God.

            Griffith mentions that Main saw that Western people had trouble and difficulty with the Christian churches and their teaching; they did not want words and thoughts but were looking for a direct experience of God. Such an experience goes back to the fathers and mothers of the desert in the early years of Christianity where they expounded a vision of God through love. Main believed that in each person there is an archetype of the ‘monk’ Every individual has the eternal potential to experience God and when this happens, we are the new creation in Christ. In all men and women, there is a desire to reach and touch the divine who is the ultimate meaning and truth of life. The Lord resides within us in the deepest part of our person.

            In the West, our image of God is one of the Father is heaven who is above and beyond us. In the East, religious traditions see rather God as the ground and source of being in the world. Both traditions are true and compliment each other. Main mentioned that in modern life, people are very busy with the things of the world and have lost the capacity of depth where we enter into ourselves so as to have an encounter with God. The challenge for modern people is to recover that capacity to encounter the divine at their center and still point. We need to develop that discipline of silence in which we go beyond ourselves and the appearances of the world and touch the ground of our being who is the absolute and is within us. An understanding of God in the Eastern tradition is helpful in this endeavor.

           In meditation groups, people are looking for this deeper meaning in life which is the reality of God. On the other hand, modern people have lost this capacity to enter into themselves and encounter the divine reality. This is due to sin which alienates us from our true goal in life.  We get lost in the appearances of everyday things and lose sight of our true goal in life. We become the new creation in Christ when we go beyond the appearances of every day life and get to the real source of human living. We have to go beyond our ego which is cut off from God and other people and transcend this ego. We open ourselves to the way of transcendence which is the way of love and expand ourselves so as to be open to the divine and others. Griffiths mentions that John Main saw prayer and meditation as the way to go beyond appearances and touch reality. This reality is God who is always revealing his/her self behind all externals. Western people are restless and do not find the divine and the ultimate meaning in life in words or thoughts but desire to experience the divine.  Griffiths believes that Main can show people in today’s world a way to do this and should encourage us who are involved in different meditation movements to be faithful in our efforts. Our contemplation puts us on a path where we touch God, the ground of all being, and helps us attain our transformation and that of the world in Christ. There is no more important task in our life.

                                                       -----------------------------

             

On Pilgrimage

MOUNTAINS OF SEGOVIA

Sunshine baths all –

high mountains with snow tops

do not move – quiet in the beauty.

Gentle breezes touch my body –

bring a desired coolness to me.

Wheat fields are still green – summer

heat will turn them yellow – ripe.

Scene has me dream – John

of the Cross dreamt here too for hours.

He would gaze – walk through fields –

woods.  He met someone here – told

his students – this was the best place for the meeting.

I took a long trip to get here – I want

to dream the same – meet someone

in the mountains – fields – sunshine.

All is quiet – rests in silence.

Gentle breeze blows the leaves –

otherwise just peace.

Silence betrays a presence –

language of God is silence.

John felt – heard that language –

walked through the fields listening.

So I sit here – on a bench – listening

to the silence – feeling the presence –

knowing that someone loves me – touches me.

He is happy I made such a trip –

happy to see me here.

Robert Trabold

                                                     -----------------------------

ON PILGRIMAGE:

CASTILLA & LEÓN, SPAIN

Robert Trabold

            For many years, I have been active in the Centering Prayer Movement and the John Main Meditation Movement which basically teach and encourage people to grow in mystical prayer, that is, prayer of silence in which we encounter the divine at our center and still point. Because I am involved in these contemplative prayer paths and meditate  this way twice a day, for several years, I have been drawn to make a pilgrimage of silence to Castilla & León in Spain where two great mystics, John of the Cross and Theresa of Avila, were born, lived and are buried. After getting off of my flight in Madrid, I go to Segovia where John of the Cross lived and is buried. From there, I visit the city of Avila where Theresa was born and worked and go to the Monastery of the Incarnation where she lived most of her adult life. I can see the room she lived in, a small museum with samples of her letters and books and other personal items and a visit to the chapel where she worshipped with the community. I then go to Salamanca and from there, visit the small town of Alba de Tormes where Theresa died.  She was traveling, fell ill, died and is buried there. Her remains are in a small church and placed above the altar.

            In Segovia, John of the Cross is buried in a chapel in a church and residence that he himself designed.  It is outside the medieval walls of the city of Segovia and close to the farm lands that surround the city. In the distance are snow capped mountains which make a lovely scene. John is buried in an ornate baroque chapel and when I visit there, I feel the silence of the chapel and the presence of John. I sit there for a long time repeating my mantra and rest in being in the presence of such a great mystic. He told his students that the best prayer is to walk out in the fields and mountains and in the beauty of nature and its quiet, one can have an experience of God. When I am there, I take John’s advice and walk in the fields enjoying the lovely scenery and quiet of the snow capped mountains and fields around me. I feel God’s presence intensely and relish such a gift.

            While in Segovia, I take a one day trip to Avila which is also a medieval city on top of a hill with its walls intact. The visit to the Monastery of the Incarnation is moving because Theresa lived there most of her life. She had frequent apparitions of Jesus and one can visit the sites where these took place and the parlor where she and John of the Cross met since he was her spiritual director and both worked on the reform of the Carmelites male and female religious orders. The highlight of the visit is to go to the chapel and one can see the spot where she had her mystical marriage with Jesus, that is, she entered the unitive way of close love with the Lord.  On that occasion, John of the Cross was at her side. It is good to remind ourselves that we are all called to such a union of love with Jesus, not just the great mystics like Theresa and John. The goal of contemplative prayer with its discipline of silence should lead to a person’s purification and becoming Christ like in our thoughts and actions. With that, we grow in love with the Lord and there is a deep union between us.

            The next step in the pilgrimage is a trip to Salamanca and to a small town, Alba de Tormes, on the outskirts of that city. Theresa was traveling, got ill and died in the latter. The church she is buried in is small and in recent years, has been restored. A new roof, an inside paint job, new floor and pews add to the loveliness of the baroque church. When I go to visit, I always feel a great silence.  I believe that it is Theresa leading me into the silence of God and having me sit there in the presence of the divine. One can now go up a short staircase and to a room behind the sarcophagus of the saint.  It is a moving experience to be so close her remains and it touches one deeply. From the church, one can visit the room where she died and a small museum with her personal items and writings. Her body is uncorrupted and the relics of her heart and arm are still intact. When one looks at her heart, one sees that she was a stigmatic. Her heart has the interior wound of Jesus; she told no one of this in her life time and it was found out only after her death.

            The pilgrimage that I make to Castilla & León in Spain is not with a group but I go alone. I call it a contemplative pilgrimage and am in silence most of the time. It is an immersion in prayer where I attempt to have an encounter with the Lord in the land where these two mystics lived. I look to have a direct experience of the divine who is the ground of our being and the goal of our life. The Lord calls us to have a relationship of love with him which is deeper than any human love we can encounter.  God is present to us as no other human person can be. I make this pilgrimage hoping that John and Theresa will help me in this inward journey to encounter the divine; they themselves responded well to this mystical call from God in their lives and it is an example and inspiration for me to follow.

            When I left for Spain at the end of May, I was concerned about the large demonstrations that we going to take place in Chicago where the NATO meetings were being held. Chicago’s police do not have a tradition of being non-violent. When I arrived in Spain on May 22 and went to my first destination Segovia, I encountered a large demonstration of students and teachers who were part of national strike to protest the cuts in funding for education. I made my contemplative pilgrimage in a world full of injustices and violence. I am hoping that this prayerful journey will bring more justice to our troubled world and give me strength to continue to protest and march until a new world is born. I am sure that John of the Cross and Theresa of Avila will not let me down and encourage us all who are in this struggle.

                                                        ----------------------------