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March 7

Contemplation and Action

There are two extremes in the Christian life that should be avoided. The one is to work and serve but not to pray. The other is to pray but not be willing to immerse oneself in the suffering and needs of our world.

Whenever the church in the past has thought in dualistic terms it has

emphasized the personal over the social, the soul over the body, the

spiritual over the material, celibacy over marriage, and contemplation over action. This has led to a one-sided Christianity.

But the church has also thought in much more integrated ways,

recognizing that life is a whole and things belong together. The inner and outer worlds should not be separated and all dualisms should be transcended.

The Desert Father Abbot Silvanus from Mt. Sinai commented to a brother monk, “So Martha is necessary to Mary, for because of Martha is Mary praised.”66 Thus it is important to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn. It is also important to prepare food. It is important to pray. But it is equally important to engage in the work of justice.

Now it is one thing to say that some Christians have the gift to pray and meditate, while others have the gift to work and serve. But to live the Christian life in an integrated way all of us are called to both pray and serve.

Reflection

We pray in order to be with God. We pray to be nurtured. We pray to hear God’s voice. We pray in order to serve. And in the very midst of our serving we also pray.