Self-occupation often impedes Christ from completing the work that He has begun in our hearts. He desires that our interiority shine forth a a temple of His glory but we do not seem to be able to open our eyes to this blessing. Yet the saints encourage us forward. St. Paul wishes us to be filled with inexhaustible riches and the Book of Revelations describes the Heavenly Jerusalem coming down into our midst. Saint Ireneaus describes a transformation into untold glory through participation in the Son's contemplation of the Father - for him, the vision of God is the very life of humanity. Saint Augustine describes contemplation of this same beauty ever ancient and ever new as a light who loves and brings life. Saint Teresa of Avila speaks of a bright light shining through our souls as if they were crystal - and beckons us to draw closer to that deep center where Christ awaits us with love. And St. John of the Cross speaks about a Divine Inflow in which we embrace the annihilation of Christ so that with Christ we might accomplish the greatest of works. Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity proposes the possibility in this life of being so enlightened by the knowledge of God, so captivated by the supreme good, so absorbed in contemplation that a soul actually anticipates the eternal joy of heaven (see her Complete Works, vol. I, Heaven in Faith, #25) . This transformation is possible because faith in the Son of the Father opens up a new inflow of divine life in the heart. He yearns for His life to flow into us and our own desire for prayer is simply a response, an echo, to this great desire.
There are, of course, obstacles to this new life, even in the heart of someone who believes. Sin has caused our bodies to lord over our souls so that we tend to live by what we see and measure instead of by faith. Similarly, our spiritual faculties are in rebellion against each other - so we do what we do not want to and do not do as we know we should, including making prayer a priority. All the obstacles to prayer come from this disorder. These obstacles are disordered thoughts, emotions, judgments, and all kinds of broken memories. When these distract the soul, it can even become tormented, unable to lift up its heart. The Lord desires to remove these obstacles so that His life might more freely flow. But to do this He needs us to allow Him to heal and reconstitue our whole being in His peace and right order.
Here, the great task of prayer presents itself. Saint Elisabeth explains, in the same place that we just cited that we must recollect the inner powers of our soul and silence them before the Presence of God until this unlimited fullness enflames, expands, immerses and even melts the soul in love. This means many things but it especially means that contemplative prayer requires a kind of intense interior battle.
Oftentimes, instead of engaging this battle in a good way, we tend to fight it poorly and then discover ourselves discouraged by frustrating results. On the one hand, some engage prayer too passively, as if they are watching TV and waiting to be entertained. Others engage prayer with a kind of frantic forcefulness, as if they were engaged in some great spiritual feat to impress God. True prayer is more simple than these movements, both of which are too rooted in the limits of human activity, both of which avoid the poverty and meekness of faith.
There is, of course, a deeper movement of surrender, one which must suffer the truth about the heart and God, one that accepts limitations but hopes in the possibilities that God alone can realize. This is a movement of self-forgetfulness, a movement rooted in God, completely trusting in Him. It does not seek to be entertained. It does not seek to achieve. It moves only to be present to the Lord, attentive to His desires, filled with trust in the immensity of His love. This surrender is simple and gentle, but firm and resolved. True contemplative prayer is carried by this wholly loving movement.
The prayer of faith opens wide the door of the heart to Christ. It allows the Truth Himself into the deepest recesses to confront what is not worthy or true, so that He might bear it away. He breathes His Spirit into our passions, our thoughts, our fantasies, our memories and our will until what is not worthy is burned away and what is left is wholly surrendered to Him . Then, He fills the heart with His thoughts, his memories, his passions, his dreams, his will, his judgments. He opens the eyes of the soul to see the goodness of the Father until it allows His whole mystery to be concieved anew. In the deepest spiritual center of the heart one's whole being is received, lives and moves in the filial love of the Son of the Father - this is new life that matures into an obedience and thanksgiving that no power on earth, under the earth or in the heavens can hold back.
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