Contemplative Prayer, Praying Always, and Discernment - Catechism Answers w/ Dr. Scott Sollom

What this episode is about

Dr. Scott Sollom discusses the concepts of contemplative prayer, the practice of praying constantly, and the importance of discernment as outlined in the catechism. He addresses common questions from the community, fostering a deeper understanding of prayer's role in personal faith and spiritual growth.

Key takeaways

• Prayer's power peaks when you speak from the heart, not from a script—it's quality over quantity.
• Mornings are a prayer goldmine—your mind's a blank slate, ripe for divine dialogue.
• Trust is the bedrock of prayer; like a good relationship, it thrives on vulnerability and belief.
• The Lord’s Prayer parallels the Holy Spirit's gifts; a divine blueprint for connection and grace.
• Best prayer time? It's when you're most awake—body and soul—like a spiritual Power Hour!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Dr. Scott Solum (Main speaker)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Ascension Press, Dr. Scott Solum, Jesus Christ, Francis University
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Baltimore Catechism
3. 10:00 – 15:00: St. Jose Maria Skereva, St. John Paul II, Jesus Christ, Ascension Press

Notable quotes from "Contemplative Prayer, Praying Always, and Discernment - Catechism Answers w/ Dr. Scott Sollom"

• Let's go ahead and get started. Welcome to Catechism Answers with Ascension Press. I am Dr. Scott Soulm, professor of theology at Franciscan University and the director of our catechetical institute here at Franciscan University.

  about Dr. Scott Solum · at 0:23

• Perhaps I'd be remiss not to talk about the Lord's Prayer because of course if Jesus Christ himself says this is how you ought to pray. It would be silly not to at least talk a…

  about Jesus Christ · at 4:50

• What's the gift of understanding? And maybe I should say I'm I'm I'm borrowing some of these definitions for the gifts of the Holy Spirit from more or less from the Baltimore Catechism from the United States. They're they're not.

  about Baltimore Catechism · at 6:38

• Important this is that the ley all of us are called to sanctify ordinary life that the dogmatic constitution on the church from the second Vatican council lumingencium really…

  about St. John Paul II · at 10:23

• There are a number of prayers if you want to look on the internet, there's a number of prayers like there's a novena for peace at work. There's St. Jose Maria Skereva. There's…

  about St. Jose Maria Skereva · at 13:41

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Dr. Scott Solum — Person · Main speaker · 1 mention · first at 0:09
  He introduces the show, frames the Q&A format, and provides the episode’s teaching on prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, contemplative prayer, and discernment.
• Jesus Christ — Person · Central referenced religious figure · 2 mentions · first at 4:53
  Cited as the authority who teaches the Lord’s Prayer ('this is how you ought to pray') and as the simplest prayer invocation ('Jesus') for praying during focused work.
• St. John Paul II — Person · Referenced authority / saint · 2 mentions · first at 10:51
  Invoked to support the idea that lay people are called to sanctify ordinary life—used to frame how work can become prayer.
• St. Jose Maria Skereva — Person · Referenced saint (name likely mis-transcribed) · 3 mentions · first at 10:27
  Mentioned as a source of prayers related to work; the transcript likely intends St. Josemaría Escrivá, known for teachings on sanctifying work.

Books & papers

• Baltimore Catechism — Book · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at 6:45
  Cited as a source for definitions of the gifts of the Holy Spirit during the discussion on prayer.

Companies & orgs

• Ascension Press — Company · Business focus · 3 mentions · first at 0:25
  Produces the Catechism in a Year podcast and related materials, mentioned as the platform for the discussion.
  Section and as we roll through typically it brings up questions in our hearts and in our minds and so the wonderful people of Ascension Press try to cultivate and curate those…
• Francis University — Company · Affiliation · 1 mention · first at 0:27
  Affiliation of the host, Dr. Scott Soulm, and location of the catechetical institute he directs.
  Press. I am Dr. Scott Soulm, professor of theology at Franciscan University and the director of our catechetical institute here at Franciscan University.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:01 Welcome. If you're just tuning in, we'll get started in just a second. So, maybe grab your coffee, water, or tea, make yourself situated. It's really nice to be with you again. Thank you for joining us. If you have uh an opportunity to let us know in the comments section where you're coming from, uh where you're tuning in from, that's always fun to see. Let's go ahead and get started. Welcome to Catechism Answers with Ascension Press. I am Dr. Scott Soulm, professor of theology at Franciscan University and the director of our catechetical institute here at Franciscan University.

0:35 Our task here is wonderful and fairly straightforward which is um we're rolling through the catechism of course with Father Mike Schmidtz the catechism in a year and we're in the prayer section and as we roll through typically it it brings up questions in our hearts and in our minds and so the wonderful people of Ascension Press try to cultivate and curate those questions that come up on YouTube or on Facebook and um we do our best to answer a couple of them here each week in our little studio. Couple housekeeping items. If you're on YouTube and you'd consider joining our YouTube uh channel so you don't miss a video, that would be fantastic. If you have any questions, you can place those in the comment section right below. If you would like to join on Facebook, and by the way, the Facebook link is just uh right below as well if you're tuning in on YouTube. Uh if you're on Facebook and you want to

1:21 ask a question, just place the question under uh whatever weekly video that you happen to be watching and that'd be fantastic. the Facebook community for this uh particular Catechism Answers podcast is really great and wonderful. There's so many good people and you can see kind of relationships being established and uh it's very charitable friendly place to hang out. Okay, so I think we have four questions um most of them having to do with prayer. We'll do our best to get through these and um let's start with number one.

1:52 Is there a way we ought to pray that's the best way to pray? I should say the word ought is in quotes. Is there a way we ought to pray that's the best way to pray? I'm going to answer this in I'm going to try to answer this in two ways. Uh the first I suppose is just kind of very practical. Um and that's to say I think there's a couple practical things that we ought to do when we pray at least as best we as best we can. And the first is this. Um we want to give the Lord our best time. whatever time of the day maybe that like you have the most energy. You're the most there. You're the most focused. If you if we can give the Lord that time, that's amazing.

2:29 That's that's putting a kind of a priority on our relationship and our dialogue with the Lord. And that will be rewarded a thousand times over. For me, my best time of the day is usually roughly like 10:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. when I'm usually teaching a class. So, it's a brief 15 minutes. It passes like the wind and then it's gone. But um the second best time for me to pray, this is just me sharing, but so um I'm not suggesting it's normative, but um when I first wake up before I check my phone, check my texts or start doom scrolling through all the terrible things that might be happening in the world before I let various thoughts intrude on my mind for what has to happen today. What are the things that can go wrong? What do I need to do? Um before any of that happens, when I wake up, my my mind tends to be and my heart tends to be a fairly blank slate. And if I if I just roll right into some prayer, right? Then

3:15 it's like my body and mind have already arrived at that kind of state of being open and um and uh ready. I have the capacity with with noninfiltrated by so many so many um obstacles and difficulties that it's actually a really easy time to pray. But I suppose for for the first practical point, we want to try to get the Lord our the best time, the most optimal time in any event. Second on the how we ought to pray is um slowly. I think praying slowly is really important. The Lord isn't impressed with um a thousand words or 10,000 words. The Lord is impressed with um that surge of the heart that we've talked about from the catechism. You know, to be personally present. So, I might use uh by analogy a couple times during this particular podcast. um my my my relationship with my wonderful wife and um you know the time we spend together isn't really measured qualitatively by how many words I say or how many words

4:06 she says. It has to do with what we're actually communicating and how we're actually listening to each other. So praying slowly. So as an example um when I when I when I pray to the Lord and give thanks for each of my children. I have five wonderful children. I I just take a minute and hold them in my mind's eye and I picture each of their sweet faces and I actually let myself be thankful for them so slowly uh and from the heart and and finally on on this kind of practical note uh to pray with trust to trust that God's there to trust that God hears me to trust that God will answer my prayers to trust that I am in a relationship with the Lord who loves me and who also wants to speak to me so on a practical note I think that's how ought to pray in general. There's so much more to say about this, but um perhaps um I'd be remiss not to talk about the Lord's Prayer because of course if Jesus Christ himself says this

4:55 is how you ought to pray. It would be silly not to at least talk a little bit about the Lord's Prayer. So let's talk about the Lord's Prayer kind of briefly but kind of not. And I just want to note there's seven petitions to the Lord's Prayer and there's seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. I've referenced this a time or two before but never kind of thoroughly for each petition. So there's there's seven petitions that we pray and then it turns out the Lord is is is giving us seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And it seems to me that that's not just by coincidence. Um I should say this isn't the catechism doesn't list.

5:28 Here's the seven petitions and here's how they correspond to the seven gifts. But a number of thinkers, theologians, and saints have made correspondences. And I'm going to take a shot here at uh some correspondences that that um I wouldn't be the first to to to put it this way, but different saints have different correspondences and that's but the main point here is this. When we pray the Lord's prayer, when we're praying these petitions, there's a way in which we want to be present to the reality that this petition has already been answered by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to be open to receiving kind of growing kind of cultivating those gifts. So, let's roll through each of the petitions and then how that petition is kind of like like a puzzle piece. The gifts of the Holy Spirit match and correspond to it. So, for the petition, hallowed be thy name, the Lord gives us wisdom. So, what is wisdom? Wisdom is um

6:14 that's the gift by which we desire and direct our whole life to the Lord um for his honor and for his glory. So I'm praying, hey Lord um hallowed be thy name and then the Lord's going to give me an actual gift of the Holy Spirit wisdom which going to help me to keep his name holy to direct my whole life to his glory. We pray thy kingdom come and the Lord gives us the gift of understanding. What's the gift of understanding? And maybe I should say I'm I'm I'm borrowing some of these definitions for the gifts of the Holy Spirit from um more or less from the Baltimore Catechism from the United States. They're they're not um direct quotes. The catechism doesn't do an amazing job. The our our current catechism, which is awesome in general, but if it has a couple weak spots, one of them would be the definitions for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So, I'm taking it from the Baltimore Catechism. But

7:01 that kingdom come, the Lord gives us the gift of understanding. So understanding helps us to see clearly uh the mysteries of faith. It helps us to see with the eyes of faith. Right? When I pray thy kingdom come, I'm praying on the one hand, I'm looking forward to the fullness of time for for God's kingdom to be fully present. Right? Um but I'm also praying that right now I can see what it is that the Lord's doing. I can kind of see the movement of the Lord um in whatever situation that I'm in. That's kind of seeing with the eyes of faith an understanding of how heaven how the Lord is breaking into this present moment.

7:34 That's understanding and that's already an answer to the to the petition, thy kingdom come. And then we pray, thy will be done. And for thy will be done, the Lord gives us uh the gift of knowledge. So what does knowledge do? Some people get understanding and knowledge confused because they both seem like they're intellectual gifts. So maybe they're the same. If understanding is like seeing what the Lord is doing, knowledge helps me to discern what I'm supposed to do in this situation. It's one thing to see what the Lord is doing. It's another thing to think what's my role? What's God calling me to do in this particular situation?

8:09 The next petition, give us this day our daily bread. And the Lord gives us fortitude. Of course, the gift of fortitude is going to strengthen us to do God's will. We pray forgive us our trespasses and the Lord gives us the gift of piety or right reverence. Piety and right reverence helps us to to love God as a father and to obey him because we love him. You remember there's imperfect contrition. I'm really sorry because I'm afraid of hell. There's perfect contrition. I'm really sorry because of the love that you've shown me and the love that you are and the love I have for you. So piety helps us to to love God as a father and to obey him because we love him. And in that way, it's a response already. It's a gift of the Holy Spirit that's a response to our petition to forgive us our trespasses.

8:52 We only have two more to go. Lead us not into temptation. The Lord gives us um right judgment or counsel. And right judgment or counsel warns us of the deceit of the devil. It's like little spiritual antenna that we keep up that kind of help us to see where the dangers might be. And that gift, right judgment, is an answer to the petition, lead us not into temptation. finally deliver us from evil and we are given the gift of fear of the Lord or awe and wonder which fills us with a dread of sin. So I say this because of course the Lord teaches us how to pray and these are the petitions. He also gives us already through the Holy Spirit an answer to each of those prayers. And as we're praying each of those petitions, if we can kind of hold in our mind and hold in our hearts the ways in which the Lord is perhaps already answering these petitions through these gifts, there's a way in which we're we're that that we're

9:44 allowing ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit to give us the capacity to enter into that prayer and to receive the answers to those petitions already here and now. I hope that made some sense. That's question number one. Question number two, since we learned we can always pray, I would like to have some examples of prayers I can pray while doing some tasks where I need to be very concentrated and focused. So prayers to pray while doing tasks while we're working and perhaps we're very concentrated and focused and at the same time we're always supposed to be praying. So this is a really great question, a really great point. I think I'm I'm going to try to say four things about it. The first is just an acknowledgement of how important this is um that the ley all of us are called to uh sanctify ordinary life that um the dogmatic constitution on the church from the second Vatican council lumingencium

10:37 really kind of brought this back to the four the the ley aren't just people who like you're not a priest you're not a religious oh you just go have kids and give money to the church you're a lady or something um we have a particular role which is to to to sanctify ordinary life as St. John Paul II would say it. And so what we what we want to do in this way like we have God's life in us and whatever it is that we're doing, we're we're bringing God kind of to bear on it. We're like 11, right, in society. And um I say this because a part of the answer to the question of how to pray while we're working. It really resides in the fact that um our work should um in some way become our personal prayer.

11:16 Our work should become our personal prayer. that prayer and work aren't two separate things, but rather like work is an extension of our prayer life. I think that's really really important. I'm going just looking at the catechism here, 2745. This is my awesome Ascension Press catechism, which is really sweet. It's like leather and has a has a nice rib, the color ribbons and stuff. I love it. Uh so 2745 says this. It's the small tiny indented piece of 2745. He prays without ceasing who unites prayer to works and good works to prayer. Now this in particular isn't just talking about work work which I think the question has to do while I'm actually working but but nonetheless it doesn't exclude our actual if I can say work work to pray without ceasing so that um our work actually becomes um the work of God. There's a fun Latin way of saying this oparatio dei go you know God's work. So if I'm at work and I'm of

12:15 course I have to have a prayer life. Someone once told me in order to pray all the time you have to pray sometimes. So presumably you have a prayer life, you know, and then that extends into your work life and and now if I'm I'm trying to work in charity and I'm trying to work according to the virtues and and I'm trying to bring God's kind of keep my antenna up for um any prompings of the Holy Spirit and uh being docelled to the Holy Spirit and and by doing that my work itself becomes a prayer and my work itself becomes you know the work of God.

12:45 I feel like I'm not getting that out as well as I could, but there's something there about work and prayer that go together. You know, like wham, lemon, ding, dong, zippity, ding-doo. Um, so maybe one way to say this before we get to the point two, three, and four is that prayer doesn't always require words. Of course, there's vocal prayer, uh, which we've talked about, meditative prayer, contemplative prayer, but prayer doesn't require words, and that's something to think about. Um, three more thoughts. So, point number two, when I'm at work, um if I'm doing well, I suppose you could say, in my prayer life, um I find myself praying intermittently. I've got like seven big tasks that day. I complete one task, I put that aside, I pray for a second or for 90 seconds or for two minutes and let that let myself kind of be reggrounded in the Lord. And depending on the time of the day and what's going

13:31 on might might also indicate what prayers that I might pray. But praying intermittently, kind of infusing the day intermittently with prayer is a wonderful thing. Um point number three, um there are a number of prayers if if you want to look on the internet, there's a number of prayers like there's a novena for peace at work. There's um um St. Jose Maria Skereva. There's a couple of different prayers um that that are offered on various websites. I don't want to say them out loud because I'm not actually sure um if you know if if if uh there's there's something that are copyrighted or something. So I won't but but they're really easy to find. So that's one possibility. But finally, I just wanted to say this. The easiest, quickest, shortest, and and and awesomest way to pray quickly is Jesus.

14:10 Just the name of Jesus. Jesus. That's it. And um I So the question had to do with uh praying and I'm I'm going to a task that's very I have to concentrate and I have to focus, but I want to be able to pray. Um how do how can I do that? Just the word Jesus comes off the lips and the heart so easily and so wonderfully. um and so short that that that itself can be you know your prayer your kind of constant way in which you're extending your prayer life into and through your work. Question number three, I'm confused about contemplative prayer. The description to me sounded very abstract and I feel like I need concrete steps for actually how to pray this type of prayer. Do you have any examples, steps or ideas? So, contemplative prayer, concrete steps, examples or ideas. I mean, I'm going to try to say maybe three things here. The first is we we did a we answered a question on the podcast on Lexio Deina where we talked a

15:10 little bit about that in terms of steps like to to to read, to meditate, to respond, and then and then to rest. And we talked about those as a possible um kind of ladder or steps towards towards contemplation. So, that might be worth reviewing. The second thing I'll say is this, and again, forgive me for um talking about my my wonderful wife. But let's say I go on a date with my wife, and I'm going to try to link this to um vocal prayer and meditative prayer and contemplative prayer. But let's say we go on a date.

15:42 There's this place in Pittsburgh we've been going. It's really awesome. It's jazz restaurant. And we're hanging out. And usually on the way to Pittsburgh, it's not that far of a drive. We chitchat, we talk, you know, it's kind of like vocal prayer. We're just talking and we're sharing. and usually about our our jobs or our kids or something going on, friends, whatever the case might be, plans. And then, you know, we're at the restaurant and and now we're kind of moving into what whatever however you might might phrase it, but kind of more grandiose things, more deep things, um things beyond the the the day-to-day uh work a day world, you know, and sharing more maybe uh from the heart.

16:17 And in in a sense, this is kind of like meditation. we we move kind of from from just words, you know, to to these these kind of images and this sense of the Lord's presence. Um, but finally, and the point I'm trying to get at here is sometimes we're on a date and then it kind of moves into this wonderful just being together. Like we're just there together. We're hanging out. Maybe we talk a little bit and then sometimes we don't and we're just enjoying each other's company. Maybe we go for a walk along the river afterwards. And there's just there's something about the relationship and and those moments that are um that are like like kind of pregnant with kind of um what's the word I'm looking for? Almost tangible. Um you can just kind of feel the closeness.

16:53 It's just it's just there. We're just present to each other. Our our hearts are connected. And um that's what contemplative prayer is. And I'm saying that in part because um it's not it it's as we we've been over this before, but the catechism describes contempl contemplative prayer as a a a gift and a grace. That's in 275 2713. In 27:15, it talks about contemplative prayer as like a gaze, like a loving gaze. You know, I look at my wife and she looks at me and there's something there's like a dynamic. There's a relationship there and we're kind of resting in that. It doesn't actually even require words. It can have words, but it doesn't have to. And I'm saying this in part because um to get to contemplative prayer, uh it's not the kind of thing you can plan out necessarily. I'm going to say this, then I'm going to think this, and then I'm going to feel close to the Lord. And of course, prayer isn't about feeling, but

17:46 I'm going to be close to the Lord. I'm going to be in the Lord's presence. Um in fact, kind of like being on a date with my wife. If I if we try too hard to like, hey, let's do that thing where we like feel close to each other and like gaze into each other's eyes. Ready? Go. It doesn't really work. work, it makes it kind of weird and actually becomes an obstacle to being close at all. And perhaps the same thing is true in in prayer, just to uh to to to pray vocally. um let's say you're praying um uh the rosary. Let's say you're praying a decade on the enunciation to pray those words vocally to meditate on on the enunciation and and to to think about Mary's situation about the angel Gabriel about the Lord's whatever it is we're meditating and and perhaps that's going to help move us into just resting in the awesomeness of the Lord, the Lord's plan and just grat gratitude fills us whatever might happen there.

18:32 There there are steps vocal to meditative to contemplative that that can work but there's a way in which it's a little bit elusive and if you try to do X Y to get to Z it it doesn't necessarily work that way. So the best thing for contemplative prayer is to continue to enter into the Lord's presence regularly to have trust that the Lord is there. And then if I don't feel close to the Lord that particular day, I know that he's still there. And um I'm not going to doubt that and I'm not going to try to kind of work myself up into a lad until I feel contemplative because none of that will actually work.

19:02 Um I know that isn't exactly helpful perhaps for the question, but um that's that's the best I could do it by way of kind of advice on contemplative prayer. If you have a chance to go back to where we did Lexio Debina again, that might be helpful. Okay, question number four. I recently had a situation that I prayed very hard about and I felt I had been given an answer. I acted on that answer and subsequently I have been drowning in selfdoubt. I trust God, but I don't trust whether I discern God's will properly. How can I ever know if I am doing his will or my own? So this this in in general the question is about discerning God's will and then how do I know whether I'm doing God's will? So I'm I'm going to actually answer this um here and now as best I can kind of in large lines and at our next podcast I promise I'll get because this is going to be a long question.

19:59 I'll get deeper into into the various possible steps. Um, but I wanted to note a couple things that are really important about the question and the way that it's phrased, which already shows that this person um has has at least a sense, a good sense of um of of of the path for following the answer or finding the answer. Um, and and the first is the petition of the Lord's prayer, thy will be done. That the what I love about this question is it's already based on the premise that this person has prayed and is trying to follow God's will. And that's like step one in our entire lives. That's that's that's the heart of prayer. We we've talked about this before in this podcast. The heart of prayer is seeking God's will.

20:40 Second thing about this question is of course there's some self-doubt. I just want to say everybody has self-doubt about whether we're doing God's will exactly and and that's in some ways um you're in really good company. And we could name a number of biblical figures, you know, people um in our faith tradition going all the way back to Moses. Um Joseph, um there's me. Uh although I'm not putting myself with Moses and Joseph, but there's just all of us, you know, spend time thinking about I'm trying I want to do God's will. What is God's will? I think it's this. I'm doing it.

21:14 Uh oh, am I doing it right? That's perfectly normal. There's there's nothing wrong going on there with that kind of thought process. But it needs to be followed up quickly. And this is the third point with trust, you know, to to trust the Lord. So, allow me to say something I've said once before in this podcast, but I think it's worth saying again. We we have this kind of difficulty, this kind of problem, if you will, where um we have we have God and and his his plan and his providence. And then we have little old me and I'm trying to discern God's plan and providence and and and according to my own free will and my intellect, I'm trying to do my thing according to God's will. And um how this works is there's a lot of conversation, a lot of dialogue, there's a lot of probably dissertations written about this. And you could say there's kind of a large spectrum, a a large range of thought on how this

21:57 works. And so maybe this is kind of going to be a caricature on purpose just to get the point across. Maybe on one end of the spectrum is um an almost a scrupulosity where um like how many pieces of broccoli does God want me to eat at lunch? Is it six or is it seven? I'm not sure. And so I'm going to go through life with like a magnifying glass, like I'm some kind of a an investigator trying to figure out exactly how many breaths I should take and how many steps I should take and whether I should call this person first or answer that email first and kind of get lost of whether I'm doing the exact thing that God wants me to do right now.

22:27 Um, and again, that's a caricature uh on purpose. But the the other end of the spectrum is you know what, just love God and do whatever you want. As long as you're loving God, just love God and do as you will, which is a rough quote from a saint. And so you can kind of see in both of these some some goodness and also a little bit of possible um difficulty. And I'm I'm saying this because on the one hand it's really well and good to think what is God's will. I really want to do it. I want to discern it. I want to pray over it. I want to continue to discern whether it's right.

22:58 That's good. That's important. That's an adult spirituality. And at the same time, like a child, we have to remember that God's in charge. Um, God writes straight with crooked lines. In insert whatever, you know, kind of maxim that fits in here with with uh Christian disciplehip. But it is the case that whatever I'm doing is I'm trying to do God's will. He's in charge. Um, not only can he draw good from evil itself, he can draw good from my attempts to follow his will and I can rest in that. Last point for now is um having someone along with you who is perhaps a spiritual help, a spiritual adviser or perhaps even a spiritual director can be really helpful in these situations.

23:43 Someone who knows you, someone who knows what the actual situation is that you are discerning, someone who's hopefully um if there's in any help spiritually, especially as an adviser or director, they're they're further down the path, you know, than you are. If you're on a journey, um it's always good to have um someone who's leading, you know, you along the path, who who's who's who knows the path. And um it it can be really helpful to have that kind of a person. It doesn't necessarily have to be a priest, but it can be a priest with whom you can banter and bounce these things off of and as a sounding board kind of come to terms with what's happening, what you thought was the right thing, whether it's not the right thing. Now, be known, I guess, is the main point. Get known. be known by somebody in a regular fashion. What we'll do uh we'll we'll revisit this question on the next podcast, I promise

24:31 on spiritual discernment and um and and God's will. So I guess you'll have to stay tuned for a part B for this question number four. Um that's all the questions that we have for today. It's really great to be with you. Thank you for following along on the catechism in a year. If you do have questions, please do let us know on the comment section uh on Facebook or on YouTube. And God bless you this week. I hope you're staying warm wherever you might be in this cold January. Let's close with a prayer. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. All glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, a world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks again. I'll see you next time.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Contemplative Prayer, Praying Always, and Discernment - Catechism Answers w/ Dr. Scott Sollom"?

Dr. Scott Solum (Main speaker).

What is "Contemplative Prayer, Praying Always, and Discernment - Catechism Answers w/ Dr. Scott Sollom" about?

Dr. Scott Sollom discusses the concepts of contemplative prayer, the practice of praying constantly, and the importance of discernment as outlined in the catechism. He addresses common questions from the community, fostering a deeper understanding of prayer's role in personal faith and spiritual growth.

What is mentioned in this The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) episode?

7 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Dr. Scott Solum, Jesus Christ, Ascension Press, Francis University, Baltimore Catechism, St. John Paul II. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Contemplative Prayer, Praying Always, and Discernment - Catechism Answers w/ Dr. Scott Sollom"?

The episode runs 25 min; the transcript is about 5,334 words in 36 timestamped sections.

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