{"id":8545,"date":"2025-02-21T14:36:03","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T19:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/?p=8545"},"modified":"2025-02-21T14:36:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T19:36:03","slug":"a-reflection-una-reflexion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/a-reflection-una-reflexion\/","title":{"rendered":"A Reflection \/ Una reflexi\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Reflection on Last Friday\u2019s Contemplative Prayer Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please allow me to say that it was wonderful to see so many of you come to spend time in contemplative prayer. I\u2019m so glad you had the experience.
\nIf this was the first time you had this prayer experience and were left wondering a few things, let me see if I can address them.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you couldn\u2019t quiet your mind. Don\u2019t worry about it. If you keep returning to the silence with the help of the word or phrase every time you put yourself in contemplative prayer, your mind will slowly calm down with time. Practice makes perfect, as they say.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you caught yourself praying in the usual way that you pray instead of letting the peace of the silence fill your mind and heart. Don\u2019t worry about it. It\u2019s difficult to do something new and to let go of the way we have always done things. The more you practice, the more you will settle into the silence and see the blessings of God that freely enter your life.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you fell asleep. Don\u2019t worry about it. It\u2019s quite pleasant taking a nap in the presence of God. People that are not used to long periods of silence can often fall asleep, especially at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you\u2019re asking yourself: \u201cWhat is the benefit of this type of prayer?\u201d
\nWell, that\u2019s a very good question. My advice is \u201cdon\u2019t expect anything.\u201d What I mean is that we should not enter into any type of prayer with any specific expectation. Contemplative prayer is all about attentive openness and attentiveness to God and what God desires for us.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you\u2019re saying to yourself that you do not have the patience for this type of prayer. How do you know that al-ready? So, you\u2019re going to let your lack of patience keep you from experiencing something that may be really beneficial for you? Give it time. Settle into it first, then make the decision.<\/p>\n

If you incorporate contemplative prayer into your prayer practices, your spiritual life will be enriched. Practice it on your own.
\nSee you next month.\u00a0 \u00a0You\u2019re in my prayers and in my heart.\u00a0 \u00a0Friar Julio<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Una reflexi\u00f3n sobre el tiempo de oraci\u00f3n contemplativa del viernes pasado<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perm\u00edtanme decirles que fue maravilloso ver a tantos de ustedes venir a pasar tiempo en oraci\u00f3n contemplativa. Me alegro mucho de que hayan tenido la experiencia. Si esta fue la primera vez que tuvieron esta experiencia de oraci\u00f3n y se quedaron con algunas dudas, d\u00e9jenme ver si puedo abordarlas.<\/p>\n

Tal vez no pudieron aquietar su mente. No se preocupen. Si siguen volviendo al silencio con la ayuda de la palabra o frase cada vez que se ponen en oraci\u00f3n contemplativa, su mente se calmar\u00e1 lentamente con el tiempo. La pr\u00e1ctica hace al maestro, como dicen.<\/p>\n

Tal vez se sorprendieron rezando de la manera habitual en que rezan en lugar de dejar que la paz del silencio llene su mente y su coraz\u00f3n. No se preocupen. Es dif\u00edcil hacer algo nuevo y dejar de lado la forma en que siempre hemos hecho las cosas. Cuanto m\u00e1s practiquen, m\u00e1s se asentar\u00e1n en el silencio y ver\u00e1n las bendiciones de Dios que entran libremente en su vida.<\/p>\n

Tal vez se quedaron dormidos. No te preocupes. Es muy agradable echarse una siesta en presencia de Dios. Las personas que no est\u00e1n acostumbradas a largos periodos de silencio pueden quedarse dormidas, especialmente al final del d\u00eda.<\/p>\n

Quiz\u00e1 te est\u00e9s preguntando: \u201c\u00bfQu\u00e9 beneficio tiene este tipo de oraci\u00f3n?\u201d. Bueno, es una muy buena pregunta.
\nMi consejo es \u201cno esperes nada\u201d. Lo que quiero decir es que no debemos entrar en ning\u00fan tipo de oraci\u00f3n con ninguna expectativa espec\u00edfica. La oraci\u00f3n contemplativa se trata de una apertura atenta y de estar atentos a Dios y a lo que \u00c9l desea para nosotros.<\/p>\n

Quiz\u00e1 te est\u00e9s diciendo a ti mismo que no tienes paciencia para este tipo de oraci\u00f3n. \u00bfC\u00f3mo lo sabes ya? Entonces, \u00bfvas a dejar que tu falta de paciencia te impida experimentar algo que puede ser realmente beneficioso para ti? Dale tiempo. Acost\u00fambrate primero a ello, luego toma la decisi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

Si incorporas la oraci\u00f3n contemplativa a tus pr\u00e1cticas de oraci\u00f3n, tu vida espiritual se enriquecer\u00e1. Pract\u00edcala por tu cuenta.
\nNos vemos el mes que viene.\u00a0 \u00a0Est\u00e1n en mis oraciones y en mi coraz\u00f3n.\u00a0 \u00a0Fray Julio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Reflection on Last Friday\u2019s Contemplative Prayer Time Please allow me to say that it was wonderful to see so many of you come to spend time in contemplative prayer. I\u2019m so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-heart"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8546,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8545\/revisions\/8546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}