Letter and Spirit, vol. 2: The Authority of Mystery: The Word of God and the People of God

Top Highlights

“Now reading is the diligent examination of Scripture with attentiveness of soul. Meditation is the studious action of the mind as it searches out the knowledge of hidden truth under the guidance of its own reasoning power. Prayer is the heart’s devout reaching out to God for the removal of evils or the acquisition of goods. Contemplation is a certain elevation above itself of the mind suspended in God, as it tastes the joys of eternal sweetness.” (Page 176)

“The Word—made flesh in Christ and spoken in the human language of Scripture—cannot be known or understood apart from the Church. All the interlocking organs of the Church’s tradition—apostolic succession, the canon, the rule of faith, the teaching office, the divine liturgy and sacraments—serve the Church’s mission of protecting and proclaiming the Word.” (Page 7)

“It is only the goal that gives meaning to the path” (Page 217)

“To swim’ is a verb and ‘swimmer’ is the noun. ‘To run’ is a verb and ‘runner’ is the noun. ‘Liturgy’ is a verb and ‘Christian’ is the noun. Liturgy is the activity of Christians, and Christians become what they do. My teacher, Aidan Kavanagh, also used to say ‘I don’t go to Mass because I’m Catholic, I’m Catholic because I go to Mass.’” (Page 58)

“From all this we can gather that reading without meditation is arid, meditation without reading is prone to error, prayer without meditation is tepid, meditation without prayer is unfruitful; prayer with devotion obtains contemplation, while to obtain contemplation without prayer is rare or miraculous.” (Page 185)