Explore every episode of the podcast Contemplata

In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the Fourth Beatitude, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied," and how it reveals how we should hear and do the Word of God.

Fr. James explores what it means to live in right relationship with God; through remembering two key phrases, “Thy will be done,” and “my food is to do the will of him who sent me,” we can walk on our own paths to righteousness.

Join us in Contemplata Episode 66, The Hunger and Thirst of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P., invites us to contemplate the righteous heart of Christ.

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In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the First Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and how it reveals the heart of Jesus.

From his birth in Bethlehem to his Passion and death on the Cross, the life of Christ reveals a profound humility. Fr. James explores how true poverty of spirit brings together this humility with complete confidence in the Father, and how we are called to grow in both.

Join us in Contemplata Episode 65, The Meekness of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P., invites us to contemplate the heart of Christ.

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What does Jesus teach us about sorrow?

In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the Second Beatitude, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted, and how it reveals the heart of Jesus.

Jesus lived this Beatitude to the full. He did penance on behalf of sinners, embraced poverty, chastity, and obedience for the sake of the kingdom, and ultimately laid down everything on the Cross. Yet his sorrow did not end in death. In the Resurrection, Christ reveals the consolation promised to those who mourn.

Join us in Contemplata Episode 64, The Sorrow of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on Christ as the man of sorrows and the hope we find in his Resurrection.
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In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the First Beatitude, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and how it reveals the heart of Jesus.

From his birth in Bethlehem to his Passion and death on the Cross, the life of Christ reveals a profound humility. Fr. James explores how true poverty of spirit brings together this humility with complete confidence in the Father, and how we are called to grow in both.

Join us in Contemplata Episode 63, The Humility of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P., invites us to contemplate the humility of Christ
.
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What does it mean to be blessed? Before all else, it means being happy. 

In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., discusses how God’s own infinite happiness is shared with us through the beatitudes. In Jesus’s preaching, he summarized God’s plan for our own happiness. Through the beatitudes, we can learn to become like Jesus in both his holiness and also in his happiness. 

Join us in Contemplata Episode 62, A Portrait of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P. paints a portrait of Jesus’s all-loving personality through the beatitudes. 

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What does it mean to share in the life of Jesus?

In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the extraordinary life of Christ and the gift he came into the world to share with us. Beginning with the Resurrection, Fr. James considers the difference between resuscitation and resurrection, and why the risen life of Jesus is something entirely new: an immortal, undying human life completely permeated by the divine life of the Son of God.

Through Baptism, we are plunged into Christ’s death and resurrection and begin to share in his life. But this life is only beginning to grow within us. Fr. James explores what it means to die daily to sin and selfishness while allowing the resurrection life of Christ to take deeper root in our souls.

The life of Jesus is not simply something we contemplate from a distance. It is a life he desires to share with us.

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Our lives are in the hands of the Lord. Our ability to call upon the name of Jesus helps us to give us instruction, to neutralize our fears or temptation, and to unify us with God. One way to start is through the Jesus prayer. It goes “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., in Episode 60 of Contemplata, The Jesus Prayer, and learn a simple, but powerful, prayer to God. 

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The word of God is the perfect icon of the Father. When you and I see Jesus, we come to know not only him, but his Father as well. As Jesus says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” 

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., in Episode 59 of Contemplata, Jesus, Word of the Father, and learn about Jesus in a new way.  

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Jesus is the Son of God in a special way. As the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus’ Sonship is a mystery that can bear fruit in our spiritual lives. In Episode 58 of Contemplata, Jesus, Son of God, learn about what Jesus’ Sonship means for you. 

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he teaches us to pay closer attention to Jesus the Son of God. 

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Learn about how we can grow close to God in Episode 57 of Contemplata, Listen to Jesus. Through the example of the Saints like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, we can discover new ways to be receptive to the voice of Jesus Christ. 

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how we can listen to Jesus ever more attentively. 

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Learn about how God fulfills His promises in Episode 56 of Contemplata, The Secret of the Upper Room. What should we learn from Mary’s undoubting and faithful example? What should we learn from her life of trust in God’s promises? 

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how God wants to fulfill his promises to us through our prayers. 

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Learn about the divine graces that flow from the Eucharist in Episode 55 of Contemplata, Ask it From the Eucharist. What should we learn from this sacrament, and how should we use it to practice the beatitudes?

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how God wants us to receive graces upon graces from the Holy Eucharist.
 
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In Episode 54 of Contemplata, Be Thou My Wisdom, we learn about the path of divine wisdom. Why is it worth pursuing? And who should we turn to, in order to participate fully in God’s plan for our lives? 

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how Jesus Christ is the source of wisdom God has chosen for us. Drawing from the Biblical book of Wisdom, Fr. James discusses how Jesus has all the qualities of a wise man, and how we can begin to imitate him, acquiring our own wisdom. 

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In Episode 53 of Contemplata, A Word of Love, we reflect on the truth at the heart of the Gospel: God loves us with an everlasting love. Drawing from Sacred Scripture, this meditation invites listeners to receive the Word of God not merely as information, but as nourishment for the soul.

As fear, anxiety, and distraction fill our daily lives, Fr. James Brent, O.P. calls us back to the Cross and to the living Word that reveals the mercy, tenderness, and love of God. Through passages from Scripture and the witness of Mary, who pondered the Word in her heart, this episode encourages us to meditate deeply on the love God pours into our souls through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

A contemplative reflection on faith, Scripture, and the healing power of divine love.

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In this bonus episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on Mary, Seat of Wisdom, and the interior life of grace in the soul. The Christian life is not only belief in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, but participation in it: being formed by the Son, led by the Holy Spirit, and drawn to the Father in prayer.

At the center of this hidden life is the gift of wisdom, by which we come to know and experience God dwelling within us. Within this mystery, the Blessed Virgin Mary has a maternal role in the order of grace, interceding so that Christ may be formed in us and that we may become contemplative souls.

Fr. Brent reflects on Mary’s memory, her pondering heart, and her contemplative gaze upon the life of Christ, showing how the Rosary draws us into her prayer. In praying the Rosary, we are united to her contemplation and, as St. John Paul II teaches, mystically drawn to her side.

The episode also considers the spiritual power of the Rosary, its capacity to order the soul toward God, and the grace given through faithful prayer of its mysteries, even in their fullness each day.

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In Episode 52 of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., takes a closer look at something we often take for granted: what actually happens in baptism.

We say that baptism gives us life, but not just the kind of life we already have. In baptism, something new begins. We receive a share in God’s own life, the life of the Most Holy Trinity, dwelling within us.

Fr. James walks through this mystery in a simple way, helping us see how this gift goes beyond every form of life we know. It is not symbolic or abstract. It is real, and it changes us.

With this life comes grace: faith, hope, and love, along with the virtues that help us live it out day by day. And it is not meant to stay small. It is meant to grow.

Baptism is the beginning of a new life. This episode is an invitation to remember what we have been given and to let it take root.

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In this bonus episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the meaning of our lives in light of it.

We were created to know God, not from a distance, but from within. Through grace, we are invited to become contemplative souls, drawn into the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is our calling, our inheritance, and the deepest purpose of being human: to participate in the life of the Trinity through prayer, adoration, and love.

Listen to the full episode and enter more deeply into the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

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There are many ways in which the Church is holy. The main source of its holiness is Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Church. He unites us to himself, through his Church, through our Baptisms, and through the Holy Eucharist. Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he leads us through a tour of the Church’s holiness in Episode 51 of Contemplata.

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In this bonus audio from Contemplata, we turn our attention to the Holy Eucharist—the gift that stands above every other gift given to the Church.

Drawing from the tradition of the saints and the Church’s own prayer, this meditation reflects on the unique power of the Eucharist in our sanctification. While many paths of prayer and devotion have been given to us, the Eucharist is not simply one among many—it is the Lord himself, given to us, working within us.

This reflection considers the Eucharist not only as a source of grace, but as its cause: actively forming charity in the soul, uniting us to Christ, and giving to each person exactly what is needed for that day.

Featuring a prayer attributed to Saint Basil the Great, this episode invites you to approach Holy Communion with greater faith, expectation, and devotion.

A quiet, substantial meditation to accompany your prayer.

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Often we are attacked by distractions and temptations, which distance us from God. But we do not need to despair, because of our Baptism. The first step towards living a life of constant prayer is to develop a constant awareness of God’s action in our lives. When we are vigilant, we can guard against the things that keep us from Jesus. Join Fr. James Brent, O.P. in Episode 50 of Contemplata, as he walks us through scripture and spiritual theology, on the Road to Constant Prayer.

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As humans we face many difficulties in our day to day lives. It is important to meditate on the presence of Jesus, and of his love, in order to be able to love in return. Loving our neighbors, and loving God through our sufferings can be hard, but a greater knowledge of God’s love for us can make all things easier to bear. In Episode 49 of Contemplata, join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as we learn more about God’s Love. 

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We all struggle with daily adversities, or with lifelong hardships. Who should we turn to for consolation and hope? There is only one good answer – Jesus Christ, who has both the desire, and the power, to help us on our path to happiness and heaven. Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., in episode 48 of Contemplata, to learn more about the real reason to hope. 

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Every time we make an act of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we receive new graces in our souls. Our union with the life of Jesus Christ will grow more and more. Fr. James Brent, O.P. recommends simple prayers of faith, like ‘Jesus, I believe in you,’ even when it feels like our prayer is dry, or God is not present. Learn more about prayer and our relationships with Jesus Christ in Episode 47 of Contemplata.

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Our sufferings are the sufferings of the Lord. We are not isolated individuals - God’s plan is unfolding in our lives. God calls us to become another Christ in our suffering. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Learn more about Christ's presence in our suffering in Episode 46 of Contemplata, hosted by Fr. James Brent, O.P. 

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How do we grow in true humility? In this episode of Contemplata, we meditate on Psalm 131 and learn how silence, prayer, and trust in God shape the humble heart. Drawing on the image of a child resting in its mother’s arms, this reflection invites us to set our souls in tranquility before the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to form us, little by little, in the humility of Jesus Christ.

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The Psalms point out to us the path to life. Learning how to read the Psalms in the light of Jesus can reveal layers upon layers of light - good food for contemplative souls. Watch as Fr. James Brent, O.P., leads a complete Lectio Divina of the very first Psalm in Episode 44 of Contemplata.

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We should love righteousness, which is a right relationship with God. How should we conduct ourselves? “Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart (Wisdom 1:1).” Learn how Fr. James Brent, O.P. explains this important Bible verse, and leads us into greater contemplation of God, in Episode 43 of Contemplata. 

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Scripture doesn’t offer quick fixes—but it truly transforms us. In this episode, Fr. James Brent, O.P., shares how daily lectio divina with the book of Genesis changed one young mother’s outlook on her marriage, her family, and her interior life. Discover how God’s Word quietly reshapes the mind and heals the heart. Watch the full episode 42 of Contemplata, with Fr. James Brent, O.P., to deepen your intimacy with God.

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Fr James Brent, O.P., reminds us that whatever happens to us is also happening to Christ in us. You and I are so closely united with Jesus Christ, as branches are to the vine, that our joys, sufferings, and daily experiences are shared in him.

Watch the full episode 41 of Contemplata to reflect on this profound union with Christ.

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The Lord says ‘I am the vine, you are the branches.’ That is how the Lord wants us to think of the life of grace. Jesus is the head of the body, we are his members. There is a distinction, but there is one common life. You and I are branches on the vine of Jesus Christ. 

You and I can say His life is mine, by the gift of His grace. Christ’s own life comes into us - we ingest His body and blood, and His life is something we receive, consume, and eat.

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Every word of scripture is full of fire from the Holy Spirit. Every time you and I take a word of scripture to heart great things begin to happen in our souls. We begin to recover our sense of the presence of God in our lives and in the world around us. The communion of our Lord Jesus Chirst is a heart full of the Holy Spirit - it is friendship with him, and knowledge of His love for us. It is living in His relationship with the Father, and calling His Father as our Father. 

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The great plan of God is to unite human beings everywhere with His eternal Son, Jesus Chirst, by the power of the Holy Spirit. His plan is to make us live on a whole new level, so that we can worship Him with Jesus. In our baptism the love of God was poured forth into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. When you and I have been loved in that special kind of way we come alive. We are regenerated, refashioned, and recreated in the depths of our souls. And we begin to live the supernatural life of grace. 

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Very often it doesn’t seem like God has a plan. It can feel like everything is going wrong. But we need to remember—God has a plan for the whole world, and for each of us personally. 

St. Paul called God’s plan “the mystery.” Through Scripture, he was authorized by God to reveal this secret plan, hidden in God’s heart since the beginning of the world. What has been revealed is that God’s plan is Jesus Christ. In Him, we are drawn into the Mystical Body of Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, and invited to live according to God’s eternal wisdom and love.

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In order for us to live the spiritual life and really grow in our awareness and knowledge and love of the Holy Trinity dwelling in our hearts, one of the best practices we can take up is the practice of Lectio Divina—the slow prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture. Sacred Scripture is God's present and active medium of communication with us. Reading, meditating, and praying with Scripture is the way to contemplation. 

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Each of us has an interior life—an inner room which Scripture often calls the heart, or the deep heart. And the Lord is telling us to go there to our inner room within each of us. He also tells us to close the door. That's what we've been talking about over the course of this podcast—we are called to become contemplative souls, to wake up to the mystery of the Trinity living and dwelling in our hearts by grace and grow in the sense of the presence of God.

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How do we interact with the indwelling Trinity and live in this presence of God? In this episode, Fr. James tells us there are three things we need to do. First, we need to guard our hearts, and not be pulled away from God by distractions and sin. Second, we need to enter our hearts by finding times of silence and recollection. And, third, we need to simply talk and pray to the persons dwelling within us—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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God is commonly present to all things, but in our baptism, God comes to be present in our souls in a new way, in a special mode. So how can we understand this special mode of the presence of God that we call the indwelling Trinity? In this episode, Fr. James explains that this mode of God’s presence in our souls is something really distinct. It's a way of being present that's person to person, heart to heart, so to speak. 

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Through our baptism, and so long as we are living in a state of grace, each of us has the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living and dwelling in the depths of our hearts. In this episode, Fr. James explains the mystery of the indwelling Trinity, which is so important because this particular mystery describes the point of contact between the highest mystery of them all, the Holy Trinity, and the mystery of our own souls. And one of the marks of the contemplative soul is becoming more and more aware of the gift of the indwelling Trinity that was given to us in our baptism.

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What's in the future? We are weak in our faith and we tend to conceive of the future as if God is not going to be there. In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James explains that in the fifth paraclete promise assures us there is no future without God in it. In fact, the future belongs to the Father. We don’t know the future or what the circumstances or the events of the future will be, but we do know that whatever they are, God will be there for us. The Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us through all of it. 

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The Lord promises to send the Holy Spirit to penetrate the hearts and minds of people who are listening to the proclamation of the gospel. And he promises that when the Spirit comes, he will convince them of sin and of righteousness and of judgment—so the fourth paraclete promise could be called the promise of convincing concerning sin. But what does this mean, to convince the world of sin? In a word, it means that the Spirit will illuminate a person's conscience to realize he or she has sinned.

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Why would we expect anyone today to come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to come to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and to come to practice the Catholic faith? The reason we expect that is because in the third Paraclete Promise the Lord promised to send us the Spirit of Truth to bear witness along with us to these truths of the faith.

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The second Paraclete Promise the Lord gave us at the Last Supper was the promise of memory and understanding. This promise tells us what the Holy Spirit promised will do in us—to bring to our memories all that the Lord has told us and to teach us. 

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At the Last Supper, the Lord promised to send his Spirit to dwell in each of us. And when you and I were baptized, we received the Holy Spirit in a whole new way—we came to have the very person of the Holy Spirit himself living and dwelling in the depths of our souls. You and I can also pray for this indwelling of the Holy Spirit to grow and to increase in us more and more.

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In this episode, Fr. James Brent, O.P., introduces us to what scripture scholars call paraclete promises, which are found throughout scripture and are a great reason to be confident in our prayer before God. Fr. James will point to many of these promises that God has made (which can be found in scripture) and, over the next 5 episodes, he will look at the 5 Paraclete Promises the Lord promised to send in the Upper Room. Pope St. John Paul II focused on these paraclete promises quite a bit. He really believed that this was the place to turn in order for the church and for the world to receive the renewal that we need so desperately.

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Petitionary prayer, meditation, contemplation, the Our Father, and the Hail Mary, the Glory Be. The Rosary has it all. If we stay with it and practice praying the Rosary, the different elements of it come together and gradually we realize that this prayer has the power to dispose our hearts, and the eyes of our hearts can then begin to look at the Lord with more love and affection, and the truth of what he has done for us in each one of the mysteries of his life can really leap forth for us.

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God is a refiner's fire, and he says through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah, “I will refine them as silver is refined.” What does that mean? You and I can ask for God to plunge us into the fire, to purify us, to separate out the lead from the silver within us. And he will do it because God is good and he has these graces of purification for us. The process of purification is going to be different for each one of us, depending upon the different graces of purification God gives us.

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There’s one prayer in particular that’s the best prayer and it is the name of Jesus. When we call upon the name of Jesus with faith, we should expect to receive his grace. The name of Jesus will work in our hearts and will do in our hearts, in a certain way, everything that Jesus himself does in the Gospels.

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“O God, come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me.” This prayer was taught to John Cassian and his friend Germanus by one of the desert monks, Abba Isaac, who told them if they just pray this prayer over and over again, their hearts will be set on fire. This prayer is a prayer you can pray in all circumstances.

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In this episode, Fr. James Brent, O.P., gives an example of how javelin prayers can be helpful in the spiritual life as he recounts a story about someone he knew who was a high-powered lawyer in New York. She barely had any time for extended daily prayer but could see the people around her were looking very lost and empty. She saw in them a real desire for God and wanted to find a way to slake their thirst somehow. By praying these short, frequent, “javelin” prayers, she led a life of serious prayer in the midst of a very busy life in New York City. Her life and her heart became a point of entry for God to enter into this world.

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As we’ve discussed for a few episodes now, one of the principal pathways to metanoia is prayer. And one of the principal challenges to prayer is distraction. Aside from external distractions which many of us suffer from, we have interior distractions. Even the Desert Fathers, who committed their entire lives to prayer, faced interior distractions from prayer. But they found a solution—short, frequent prayers—or “javelin prayers” as they called them.

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