Contemplative prayer is hearing the word of God … Contemplative prayer is silence.—Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994 edition, p. 652
LTRP Note: Since 2002, Lighthouse Trails has continued to issue warnings about contemplative prayer. We began our warnings after meeting Ray Yungen in the year 2000 and examining his extensive research. One of the first things we learned was that the roots of contemplative prayer (and centering prayer) came out of the Catholic Church beginning with the Desert Fathers in the early AD centuries, then later through Catholic monks such as Thomas Merton, Basil Pennington, and Thomas Keating. Today, contemplative prayer is growing exponentially within Protestantism and evangelicalism (having entered largely through Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. We believe contemplative prayer will play a major role in bringing together a global apostate “church” that the Bible defines.
The reader below is referring to an article we posted on August 15th titled “Interest in Contemplative Catholic Monasteries Increasing,” which referenced Yungen’s work in showing how the Catholic Church is using contemplative spirituality to expand itself.
Dear Editors:
In the article by Ray Yungen . . . “Contemplative Spirituality – the Source of the Catholic Church’s Expansion,” Yungen refers the reader to “pg. 652” of the 1994 RCC catechism. I’ve checked the catechism online, and it has no page numbers as such, just numbered articles and statements, of which there are thousands.
If the reference number to the specific statement Yungen was referencing could be given, that would be a great help. Chas.
LTRP Response: Since the page numbers for this quote will vary in different editions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are providing the following location information:
To find the quote, which Ray Yungen included in his article, as well as an entire section on Contemplative Prayer in the Catechism, please refer to: Part Four: Christian Prayer -> Section One: Prayer in the Christian Life -> Chapter Three: The Life of Prayer -> Article One: Expressions of Prayer -> III. Contemplative Prayer.
(photo from John Caddock’s booklet cover by LT: Brennan Manning’s “New Monks” & Their Dangerous Contemplative Monasticism)
Well, being a devout Catholic for nearly 30 years, I can tell you that you are spreading lies, like Satan.
There is one church founded by Christ- the Catholic Church, which translates to “Universal Church”.
Again, Christ brought this Church about and no man has any power to defeat it. It will stand.
Like every church today, we’ve seen evil infiltrate. This IS Biblical!. We would do well to unite as one force against the evil among us. Throwing stones at something you don’t understand, who is a brother/sister in Christ, serves no purpose.
Contemplative prayer is NOT mysticism, in any way. Kinda makes me giggle that those who consider themselves wise would throw that out there. Seems another trick of the evil one.
Check yourselves!
There is a priest who recently left the priesthood and has been featured over the yrs. on Fox Cable News. Maybe he wants to get married? Who knows? Instead of Father he is now called a theologian. Wish I knew why he left the priesthood? I have an uncle who left the priesthood and then married my aunt. This uncle had left the R. Catholic Church and accepted Jesus as his Savior, becoming a Protestant and also an evangelist. My uncle was born in San Sebastian, Spain.