Desert Living
Contemplative Living as the Context for Contemplative Praying
by
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CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Desert Living Is Religious Life Dying in the United States Today?
Religious Dress Contemplative Living as the Context for Contemplative Praying
St. Bruno’s Life of Religious Retirement A Life of Religious Retirement
Celibacy, an Undivided Love of God St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Ascetical-Mystical Life
A Monastic Reflection on St. John of the Cross The Importance of the Ascetical Dimension in Spirituality
Apophatic Living as the Context for Apophatic Praying Healthy Fasting
St. Anthony’s Life of Religious Retirement Fasting in the Christian and Religious Life
The Call to Perfection Forty Days in the Desert
Specialists in Contemplation A Vocation within a Vocation
The Way of the Few
Part II: The Living Desert: The Ascetical Dimension of Desert Living
Do You Want to Find or Lose Your Life?
You Cannot Serve Two Masters
Our Celibate Love of the Lord
Why Celibacy?
Preparing in the Desert the Way of the Lord
The Humble Rejoice in the Lord
Renouncing the World
Widows and the Anawim, the Poor of the Lord
A Heart Reserved for God Alone
St. Benedict Renounces the World
Signs of Faith
How to Contemplate the Glory of Christ
Sent to the World, but Not of the World
The Ascended Life
Persecuted because Not of This World
John the Baptist’s Desert Living
The Rich Have Already Received Their Reward
A Life All of One Piece
Glorying in the Cross
Come Away to a Desert Place
The Monastic Life, the Ideal of St. Benedict
Strangers and Exiles on Earth
Preparing the Way in the Desert
Good News for the Poor
Evangelical Poverty
The Poor in Spirit Rejoice in the Lord
Persecuted for Being Different
Good News to the Poor John the Baptist’s Desert Living
Come Away to a Desert Place Communion with God in a Desert Place
The Contemplative Silence of St. Joseph the Worker The Simplicity and Poverty of St. Joseph
St. Bernard’s Ascetical-Mystical Path St. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Contemplation of God’s Glory
The Nuptial Love of the Virgin Mary The New Jerusalem
A Kingdom of Light and Peace
Appendix
Official Church Teaching on Celibacy and Marriage
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Many seek a life of deeper contemplation and union with God, but few see the connection between this desire and the need to live apart from the world.
There is an essential connection between contemplative living and contemplative praying. Contemplative living consists of being apart from the world. One must have a heart that is reserved for the Lord alone and remain separate from the delights, sights, and sounds of society. By doing this, one can seek God with an undivided heart. Fr. Steven Scherrer, a Roman Catholic priest, lives as though he’s still in the deserts where he once conducted missionary work. Without a telephone, television, radio, or newspapers, he reflects on his life while praying and fasting. Along with his personal insights and experiences, discover: • Whether religious life in the United States is dying • The history of asceticism and the monastic life • How to commune with God in a desert place • The importance of fasting • And much more! Journey with a Roman Catholic priest through decades of desert living and discover how to seek God in a desert place.About the Author
Fr. Steven Scherrer, Th D, a Roman Catholic priest, was ordained in 1972. He earned a doctorate in New Testament from Harvard University and fell in love with the desert as a missionary among the nomadic Turkana people of northern Kenya. He lives a contemplative, monastic life in Ossining, New York.