A deeper relationship with Christ through silence and meditation

By Maria Prudhomme

The Catholic Youth Commission advertised the programme, “Are you committed?”. I began questioning if I was ‘committed’. I said to myself maybe this is an opportunity. What do I have to lose? The answer was nothing.

So, I registered not know what I was getting into, not even telling my friends and family. If it was good, I would recommend it to them. Looking back now, that was very selfish of me because I should have told everyone.

We were sent an outline of all the topics to be explored but the two main commitments you had to make was following through with ‘Pray as you go’ and ‘Examen’, two apps that we were introduced to.

In the beginning, I was excited to do it day in and day out. ‘Pray as you go’ in the morning and ‘Examen’ in the night. Then life started to happen, and I started skipping the Examen in the night and just going to sleep.

As the programme continued and we had to share how we were going with our commitment, I said “But how do they know I am not doing this when the night came?”.

Others shared ways in which they were keeping the commitment and I made a promise to myself, “Maria, if you want to see changes within the simple things you do, you need to develop the discipline.” And I started setting alarms/reminders and I created a no-compromise morning and night routine.

We were exposed to several thought-provoking conversations such as discernment, emotional intelligence, Christian meditation, and self-awareness. What stood out to me and has really become part of me daily, is the use of my ‘Feelings Wheel’ as we tend to not truly express how we feel about a situation but the thought of the situation.

Coupled with therapy, which is offered in the programme, I have now learnt to be gentle with myself in acknowledging my feelings and thoughts. I have grown a greater love for silent and quiet meditation.

This programme started at the perfect time; I am disappointed with myself though for not encouraging my friends and family members to start it with me. I will highly encourage anyone to do this programme the next time it is offered.

I have now gained so much knowledge, experience, and friends that are now my family. I have grown in deeper communion with Christ and myself.

I am enthusiastic to see how the rest of the programme unfolds as I journey into a deeper relationship with Christ.

Contact The Catholic Youth Commission via mail: cyc@catholictt.org; visit their Facebook: www.facebook.com/rcyctt and their Instagram handle: @rcyctt

Did You Know:

Throughout the liturgical calendar, there are a handful of feasts for the dedication of various major basilicas.

These basilicas are located in Rome and have been celebrated by the Church for many centuries.

The word “major,” doesn’t distinguish its size or architectural beauty, but it’s historical importance.

The Catholic Encyclopaedia gives a brief explanation.

“To the former class belong primarily those four great churches of Rome (St Peter’s, St John Lateran, St Mary Major, and St Paul-without-the-Walls), which among other distinctions have a special ‘holy door’ and to which a visit is always prescribed as one of the conditions for gaining the Roman Jubilee. They are also called patriarchal basilicas, seemingly as representative of the great ecclesiastical provinces of the world thus symbolically united in the heart of Christendom.”

Since they are so closely tied to the pope, “they possess a papal throne and an altar at which none may say Mass except by the pope’s permission.”

These major basilicas are also some of the oldest churches in Rome, dating back to the 4th and 5th centuries.

There exists no other major basilicas outside Rome, though there are many minor basilicas scattered on nearly every continent.

(Adapted from aleteia.org)

Editor’s Note: The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port of Spain is a minor basilica.