From Thomas Dubay's Fire Within:
"Christic contemplation is nothing less than a deep love communion with the triune God. By depth here we mean a knowing loving that we cannot produce but only receive. It is not merely a mentally expressed "I love you". It is a wordless awareness and love that we of ourselves cannot initiate or prolong…
"God is love, and the person who loves abides in god, and God abides in him. For Teresa this indwelling presence is the focal point of prayer: wherever God is, there is heaven, a fullness of glory. We are to find Him deep within ourselves, just as Augustine did. We need no wings, only a place of silence where we can be alone and center our gaze on the Guests within. We should note that this type of entering within is just the opposite of introspection, for we are turning away from an egocentrism and turning toward the supreme Other...
"The greatest of all the commandments is before all else a prayer commandment. To have one's whole heart, soul and mind filled to overflowing with the love of God is to be filled with the highest prayer. The core and essence of the transforming union are nothing other than a complete identification with God in love. When one walks lovesick for God, as St John of the Cross puts it, he is at the heights of prayer life, and he is fulfilling the greatest commandment to perfection… This love, says St. Paul, is poured into our hearts by the Holy spirit Who is given to us. Love poured out is, of course, infused love--the two words mean the same thing. The psalmist who declares that he delights in nothing else on earth but his Lord further proclaims that his flesh and his heart are pining with love, that his joy is to be near God. So advanced a love could not be anything but the burning infusions of which Teresa and John speak." Dubay p. 57, 58, 67
I love that!
Posted by: Trent | October 17, 2005 at 06:19 PM
Thank you very much Fr. Dubay!
It thus helped me in my understanding of God and the ways necessary to meet Him at the center of my own spirituality!
Posted by: Dindo Purto | February 18, 2010 at 11:07 PM
Thank you Lord and thanks to Fr. Dubay.
This book "Fire within" has helped me in my spiritual growth.
"God" and "love". Its hard to explain my experience while contemplating with the aid of this book.
Posted by: Jomhar Tuburan | June 26, 2010 at 11:08 PM