Dear Group Leaders and Friends in Christian Meditation,
Happy Easter!
As we continue along the way of these 50 days of Easter, I give thanks for the gift of faith that each of us has been given in the Risen Jesus. We come from different branches of the Christian family, but we all are following our baptismal call to have Christ live through us in living out our baptismal commitments into the Jesus movement that we call Church. Every time we sit down to meditate, we take our attention off ourselves and place it on Christ, leaving our thoughts, desires, concerns, fantasies and illusions aside. Our mantra can free us from our often-overburdened egos. We simply place our attention on our mantra, “maranatha”.
When I was a young priest, I thought of myself as a budding activist. I preached some fiery homilies. I took a lot of heat from bishops. I was brash in my attempt to be an outspoken priest. I attended rallies and peace marches at home and around the nation. Standing up for my values was an important part of my priesthood. My values continue to be important to my life and Christian faith. I continue to attend rallies, and I still share what is important to me in my understanding of what it means to be a person of faith in the current climate.
Over the years, I have begun to understand that God has called me to be a contemplative person. I cherish the idea that in spiritual life, we are always beginners. That takes the stress off the notion that one could ever really be “successful” in the contemplative life. As we all know, it is Christ who does the work. We simply need to show up and I am getting pretty good at having my body show up to meditation, even though often my mind is on a ride in fantasyland. The mantra has been a tremendous influence on prayer and in my life.
When I realize I am distracted, I begin to say the mantra again, maranatha. I once heard Fr. Laurence speak about all our prayers being encapsulated in the mantra. My prayers for peace, kindness, forgiveness, and nonviolence all are shared when I sit still, in silence and in the simplicity of saying the mantra.
Now, that doesn’t mean that our call to live the kingdom in the present moment excuses us from action. Pope Francis of happy memory, put it this way: “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them.” Living a contemplative life doesn’t excuse us from acting on our values. Our action flows from our contemplation. We learn to no longer react to the challenges of the world but to respond to them as Jesus would. We allow the Risen Christ within us to respond to the needs of the world. Since Christ is in all of us because of the Resurrection of the Lord, it is the Christ in us serving the Christ in others who are desperately in need of compassion and love.
Some time ago, as a national community, we shared together in the 2024 John Main Seminar, hosted in New Harmony, Indiana. Now we will have the opportunity to have an in person follow-up to that gathering with conversation, meditation, good food, companionship and community! It will happen in Parma, OH at the Jesuit Retreat Center, Oct 10-12, 2025. For more information and to register, click here.
We hope you will consider joining us. It will be a good opportunity to continue to strengthen our community and find new ways of sharing the gift of Christian meditation. All are welcome.
As we continue along these 50 days of Easter, may our God bless each of us and our world with peace, compassion, love and new life. Happy Easter!
Warmly, Kevin Maksym
