Please explain "Circumincession/Perichoresis" and prayer. We never learned this in Catechism!

[grotto]

Hi - “the how it works” is known only through what Our Lord has revealed to us and so we have Sacred Scripture, and the Church. He has revealed that we cannot know God only through Himself and the Holy Spirit. No one has seen the Father but the Son (as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all one) We will see Him face to face at our Judgement. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Imprimatur +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1994.
The Catechism is easy to understand (and keeps your interest also!) This catechism is the only one that you can trust (others may be good, but this is the “real deal”). Thanks for your posts because I took my copy off the shelf and will keep it handy again.

 

[Scoochy]

True. Fuller understandings can be gained by private revelations or, perhaps, further theological studies.

 

[Scoochy]

I still like my Baltimore Catechism No. 3, Father Connell, 1949. I say: When there’s confusion & chaos, go backwards.

 

[Cathoholic]

Scoochy to Cathoholic . . . .

Maybe you would care to comment on my “2.)” concept?

You mean “what is prayer” Scoochy?

Great question.

I certainly can’t give a pithy answer to such a profound question.

This is from the late Fr. Hardon . . . .

Prayer is Conversation

We begin therefore by describing prayer in as simple a language as we, that is, I can. Prayer is conversation with the invisible world of God, the angels and the saints. We shall take each one of these terms in sequence, and first talk about prayer as conversation.

What is conversation, any conversation with anyone? Or from another viewpoint: What do we do when we engage someone in conversation? We do several things.

First. We begin to converse with somebody when we become aware of that person. Awareness, then, is the first condition for conversation. Suppose I am just talking out loud to myself without realizing that I am being overheard. Is that conversation? Well, no. Why not? Because I was not aware of the other person’s presence. If I was doing anything I was in conversation with myself. In fact, I think most people spend most of their waking hours in self-conversation, which is called, to give it a kind term, soliloquy. Whereas, true conversation is always colloquy. It is not only awareness, but awareness of someone else’s presence besides my own. And so many people go through life, I’m afraid, only dimly aware of anyone else’s presence except their own. That is why self-centered people, even when they are apparently in conversation out loud with someone else, are most often really talking to themselves. Ever watch it? It is a spectacle. Real conversation begins when I become aware of another, with stress on the other, and not only of myself.

Second. Besides being aware of someone, and it has to be someone else, conversation means that I wish to share with that other person something of what I have. I wish to give of myself, of what is inside of me, or a part of me to that other person. There are thoughts in my mind that I also want them to have. There are sentiments in my heart, desires in my will and feelings in my soul, that I do not wish to possess alone. So I enter into conversation in order to share. So true is this, that logically and psychologically I should not begin a conversation unless I have something that I wish to give someone else, which presumably that person does not yet have. That is why the highest act of charity among human beings is conversation, provided it is genuine and not spurious conversation. . . .

http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Prayer/Prayer_011.htm

.

You might be interested in these . . .

http://media.catholicparents.org/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=Prayer-Series-Altier

http://media.catholicparents.org/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=Prayer-Series-Altier-2017

And here is a free series on the Catholic faith I think you might enjoy (although it does not focus on your question on prayer).

http://www.fatheraltier.excerptsofinri.com

 

[Tatum]

If this topic confused St. Augustine, what of us?

Now you know why it isn’t in the Catechism, its for the big boys.
Maybe you should just finger your beads instead of wasting all this time here trying to understand things possibly beyond you…though not beyond others.

Its like learning to ride a bike. It doesn’t matter if you cannot fully understand the manual or were never taught the “101 interesting bike tricks” supplement. All you need to do is get on the jolly thing and learn from direct experience as best you can.

You probably already know the bike trick that you were never taught even if you cannot recognise it when written down by other bike riders.

You also might want to repair that hole in your cheek.

PS you were a Catholic from the womb of baptism not your mother’s
Clam shells aren’t associated with baptismal fonts, baptismal dippers and holy water stoops for no reason.
You do know what the shells symbolise don’t you…even if not in the Catechism!

 

[Scoochy]

Thank you for your kind advice. You’re right. On these blogs nobody knows the depth, or abilities of anyone else.

 

[Scoochy]

Thank you for your kind (name removed by moderator)ut. Haven’t read the additional links, yet, but will. Love Servant of God, Fr. Hardon. Would like him even better, if I could hear him well; he’s so quiet. JMJ