The Contemplative Hunger

by Donald Haggerty

A soul desiring to give itself in love to God faces great challenges that require understanding and some encouraging advice. Written in a style of short and effective meditations on prayer and contemplative spirituality, the concise reflections in this book address the heart of a soul's interior response to God. God's desire to draw souls to a deeper gift of themselves is inseparable from his desire to draw them into a deeper encounter with the sacred mystery of his presence. Offering an abundance of insights into the value of silence, deep faith, trust and interior surrender to God, Father Haggerty also illumines the link between contemplation and love for poverty and the poor, and makes a strong appeal to the importance of prayer as the primary answer to the crisis of faith that afflicts so many people today. The longing of souls for a deeper contemplative encounter with God is indeed a sign of the times. When it is nurtured properly and begins to burn as a passion of the soul, the love for prayer becomes a lifelong quest.

Genres: Spirituality, Theology, Catholic, Religion

259 pages, Paperback

Published January 5, 2016

Reviews

[djt · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "The Contemplative Hunger" Fr. Haggerty discusses the contemplative draw to silence, solitude, and contemplative prayer. Through references to the writing of several saints and others, in particular Carmelite saints (St. John of The Cross; St. Teresa of Avila; St. Therese of Lisieux: and others) he gives his view on how, and why, so many are drawn to contemplative prayer. He talks about cloistered monks and religious to some extent, but the majority of the book is focused on how to be a contemplative in the world; in a busy, day-to-day life. The book is so filled with in-depth discussion of what brings a person to search out silence and solitude and how there is always a continuing hunger for deeper knowledge of God in our lives, and His will for us. Fr. Haggerty offers suggestions on how to stay faithful in prayer and in faith, especially in today's most secular world. He gives encouragement to those experiencing aridity in their prayer life, and also to those who are completely "on fire" in their prayer. The message I took away from this book was this: God is love and to be close to God, to experience His true presence in our lives, we must also be love and give love and respect and assistance to all others - ALL others. He also spoke of the importance of persistence in prayer. He tells us finding God in our lives isn't always given to us by some deep spiritual "feeling" and/or consolation in our prayer, although we very well may have these experiences now and then. What is important is to eventually come to the realization that God is present in all of our lives, each and every day and to become aware of this divine presence and be grateful for His divine providence. Anyway...going on way too long since there aren't words enough to describe the wealth of information I've received from this writing on meeting God in silence and solitude in prayer. It's a book I would definitely recommend.

[Kevin W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of Fr. Haggerty’s writings. This book and its prequel “Contemplative Provocations” have had the biggest impact on my prayer life this past year.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read of his. This is a pretty amazing look at the contemplative life in an accessible manner. There is a lot of fuel to dwell on here.

[Chris (thebookaholic) Padgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that invites you to slowly soak in each section. So much of this book was profoundly impactful and truly insightful to me. I think it will resonate for anyone interested in the topic of contemplative prayer. Simply put, our offering to Jesus our poverty is the invitation extended to those who wish to enter deeply into prayer, which so often isn’t coupled with consolation. This tension is an invitation to selflessness and even is an acceptable offering to Jesus for the souls of others. Rich and deep.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a third order Carmelite, I enjoyed this book because it brought into focus what is happening in my life, I believe all love of God with your whole heart in contemplation, has to lead to perfect union with Christ to love of neighbor, after all Christ whole mission was to reconcile souls to the father, if we do not feel the urgency of that mission we are not in perfect union with Christ.

[Marian Bart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, dnf. The first chapter just kept repeating itself. I couldn’t go on even though I loved his Conversion book. Disappointing.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lightly neWsy book about the present climate of contemplation compared to the past. ForeWord from Burke. Challenging but unclear to me on the relationship betWeen serving the poor and the charism.