Realising the Sacred: The Ways of a Contemplative Synodal Church

How can the Church ensure that its worship, life and mission flow from an encounter with the God of love, mercy and faithfulness? How can its members develop and sustain a loving personal relationship with Jesus? How can it ensure that it places itself in all it does and thinks under the guidance of the  Holy Spirit? In other words how can it ‘Realise the Sacred’  both in the sense of ‘coming to know’ the Sacred and of ‘bringing it about’ – by turning to  the ways of contemplation? Can these ways bring unity to the rich diversity of the Church and hence hope and love to a fractured world?  In 1980 Eric Doyle OFM wrote: ‘The greatest challenge to organised religion in the western world now is whether it can guide individuals along the paths of their own inner depths and show how the riches in those depths can be recognised, accepted and put at the service of all creation and closely related to this, whether it can teach people to commune with God and nature.’ This work seeks to address this challenge by encouraging all Christians to embrace the contemplative practice of silent prayer as the basis for all worship, life and mission of the Church, consciously and with full-hearted intent.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS Foreword v Preface vii Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 17 Chapter 1: Realising the Sacred the Contemplative Way 23 Chapter 2: The Contemplative Spirit of Jesus 63 Chapter 3: Worship as Emissary of a Contemplative Church 79 Chapter 4: Community as Emissary of a Contemplative Church 111 Chapter 5: Mission as Emissary of a Contemplative Church 149 Chapter 6: Dreaming 165 Select Bibliography 181

About the Author :
David Jackson was born in Bradford 1938. After ordination in 1964, he studied at Cambridge and Lancaster universities and undertook seminary teaching. He married in 1973 and began a career in  Religious Education, subsequently becoming inspector for RE. In 1985 he became the first Coordinator of the Bradford Interfaith Education Centre. From 2000-2011 David was the Leeds diocesan Coordinator for Interreligious Relations and a member of the CBCEW Committee for Other Religions. In 2020 he ‘graduated’ as a Laudato ‘Si animator; he also served on the diocesan Synodal Steering Group. He has been increasingly drawn into the practice of contemplative prayer.

Review :
David centres his theme of the necessary ongoing renewal of the Church in the practice of contemplative prayer, a phrase which within the Catholic Church is usually reserved for monks and nuns. However, he points out that in the world at large the reality of contemplative or mystical prayer is a universal phenomenon at all times and in all religions, but under different names. This life of interior prayer leads out into true and fruitful action in the world. These two directions, ad intra and ad extra, are held together by the One who is the Union between Father and Son, the Holy Spirit and he shows how the Synodal Way with its practice of ‘conversations in the Spirit’ as initiated by Pope Francis, can, and perhaps must be, the way in which we find that centre round which the coming Church may live and grow to the glory of God and his Son Jesus Christ. Brian Hamill President of the Newman Association David Jackson has written a timely book with two major features: the significance of synodality in the Catholic Church, and the underpinnings of the mystical tradition both past and present as the means of experiencing the Spirit of God at work – a task for all the baptised – in a process of ongoing contemplation. Fr Paul Lyons, former director of human and psychological development Realising the Sacred is the result of years of reflection by an older sage who loves the Church. He roots the synodal approach of Pope Francis in the person of Jesus and his relationship with the Father. David Jackson’s experience of working with women and men of other faiths enables him to see a similar call to a contemplative dimension in the lives of every person of faith. His imaginative, sometimes profound and occasionally provocative outcomes of taking synodality seriously are a real challenge to everyone in the Church. His reimaging of worship, community building and mission are a breath of fresh air, urging us all to become more open to the inclusiveness, compassion and mercy of the Lord. Fr Jim O’Keefe, former rector of Ushaw College David Jackson encourages the reader to face up to all the wonderful challenges as we become Church today, by going to the heart of the matter. His theme: the People of God are self-consciously waking up to the notion that they are on a contemplative journey into new territory, the contours of which are only just beginning to emerge. Fr Nicholas Postlethwaite CP