This makes me think.... a profound prayer for a contrite heart

With a Contrite Heart


Prevent me, Lord, from confounding
The mystery of you life in me
With willful self-mastery.
May my gentleness not be a facade;
May it flow froth from my inmost center
Where you reign supreme.
Save me from becoming
A proud paradigm
Of perfect self-control,
A worshiper
Of poise and self-possession.
Save me from pressure 
Of exalted ideals
That deny my humanness
Let my soul not be maimed
By perverted gentility
Grant me the gift to pray
With a contrite heart
And be saved daily 
From the deception
Of pious fantasies.


-- Adrian van Kaam, from Practicing the Prayer of Presence, with Susan Muto.

This makes me think... prayer and love of neighbor are linked

Q: How does loving my neighbor -- husband, wife, children, friends, co-workers -- contribute to my contemplative prayer?


A: I may begin with the theological core of the matter: there is only one virtue of charity by which we love God, ourselves, and our neighbor. If I am not loving others -- although not necessarily liking them -- I cannot have a deep prayer life, for its heart, love, is missing. My prayer will be no better than my love for others. No set of techniques... will be able of themselves to improve it.


...


The whole of life is lived in the divine presence, which is an atmosphere of love. We are urged by St. Paul "to live through love in his presence (Eph 1:4).  St. Augustine also shrewdly noted that "in loving our neighbor the eye of our mind is purified to contemplate God." Loving our associates requires that we practice other virtues: humility, gentleness, patience, obedience. Thus we are purified of our faults, each of which may be an impediment to growth in divine intimacy.


---Thomas Dubay, S.M. Seeking Spiritual Direction,  Servant, 1993.