Contemplative Life - Soul of the Mission
The verse that is often quoted is, "The harvest is plenty, labourers are few, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers..." In the face of the urgent need for apostles ~ the solution given first is to pray! Prayer comes before going! What is contemplative prayer exactly? The Second Vatican Council in it's letter on religious life "Perfectae Caritatis" (Perfect Charity) defines it like this: "There are institutes which are entirely ordered towards contemplation, in that their members give themselves over to God alone in solitude and silence, in constant prayer and willing penance. These will always have an honoured place in the mystical Body of Christ... For they offer to God an exceptional sacrifice of praise, they lend lustre to God's people with abundant fruits of holiness and they enlarge the Church by their hidden apostolic fruitfulness" (PC #7).
All the essential elements of contemplative life and its function in the Church are expressed here by the Council. What is interesting for us missionaries is that the same affirmation is found in the Council document "Ad Gentes" (To the Nations) which is the decree about the mission activity of the Church: "Institutes of contemplative life, by their prayers, penances and trials, are of the greatest importance in the conversion of souls since it is in answer to prayer that God sends workers into his harvest..." (AG#40).
The reason for planting the contemplative life in the young Churches is the fact that the contemplative life belongs to the fullness of the Church's presence, and should be restored everywhere. So, a Church without contemplative life would be imperfect ~ unable to "manifest the aspect of Christ contemplating on the mountain" (from the Council document Lumin Gentium (Light of the Nations) # 46.
