Faithful told: Meditate and you can deal with crises
Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB, international spiritual director for the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) during an interview with CBCPNews CHRISTINE PAGUIRIGAN
MANILA – The best self-help is to be still and connect with God and others.
“We need a new kind of mind, a contemplative consciousness in the modern world, to deal with our crises – we have to develop a new way of seeing and understanding,” shared international spiritual director for the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM), Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB in an interview with CBCPNews.
“All of our problems arise from ego-centered activity, mediation dethrones ego and it reduces sin. It also calms the mind – you see things clearly, seeing the whole picture – helping you make good judgments, long-term good judgment,” he also noted.
Through a “contemplative mind, the priest said, crises and troubles of the community and of the world can be minimized.
Part of the wheel of prayer
“Meditation helps us develop that contemplative mind and it brings communities together,” shared Freeman, who talked about how meditation leads Filipinos to communion.
“This is a marvelous moment, the strong faith of Filipino people – they have now opened to the prayer of the heart,” he said.
According to him, meditation brings people into communion “with God, the community, and ourselves through a contemplative consciousness.”
“We need to see meditation as part of the wheel of prayer – in the center of the wheel is Jesus, and meditation brings us closer to Him,” noted Freeman.
“Meditation is a way to open the hearts and the minds. It puts it in harmony, we need to bring this contemplative consciousness in. Every parish should have a small meditation group,” the WCCM director added.
Contemplative consciousness in the modern world
Sharing his experiences of the practice of Christian meditation in over 200 countries around the world, Freeman discussed its transformative process and how it brings the faithful closer to the core of this year’s theme: “Communion of Communities.”
“The benefits and fruits of meditation are things you can’t measure but they’re very real – love, hope, fulfillment, peace,” the WCCM international spiritual director noted. CBCPNews
