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JOHN MAIN SEMINAR 2008
August 15-17

Quotes from Cardinal Kasper at the John Main Seminar:

“It takes our full devotion to know Christ as truth.”

“Meditation is the route to the centre of life which is the fount of all life”.

“Today we are in a kairos of interiority but, as always, the church easily becomes too busy, too intellectual, too external.”

“We need a new impetus today. Communities like yours, contemplative networks that take us to this great unity.”

“Without a spiritual dimension ecumenical dialogue can make no progress.“

“Ecumenical means entering into the prayer of Jesus and realising his prayer for unity.“

“False ecumenism denies the pains of division. It suppresses pain but does not work a cure.”

“As Christians our meditation means we are never alone because we realise our belonging to the community of the Holy Spirit.”

“The traces of the Holy Spirit can be recognised outside Christianity. The centre of Christian reality is the Incarnation.”

“We can learn from other religions but must remember the great contemplative wisdom of our own.”

“Every Christian is free to choose their own spirituality but all Christians are carried by the great Communion Sanctorum."

“Young people in the church today do not have to carry the burden we in the older generation did. They quickly see the freedom and joy of the Gospel.”

“Prayer is a cosmic energy that brings cosmos, God and humanity together in a unity of love.”

“The one who prays is like a scout looking for the eschatological unity.”

“We have always more in common than what separates us.”

Photo (above): Cardinal Kasper with Laurence Freeman OSB. More photos here.

The Community is now directed by Laurence Freeman, a student of John Main and a Benedictine monk of the Olivetan Congregation. We have our International Centre and a Meditation Retreat centre in London. There are also many other Centres in other parts of the world that you are welcome to contact or visit.

The Community is a kind of 'monastery without walls', a family of national communities and emerging communities in over a hundred countries. The spiritual foundation is the local meditation group, which meets weekly in homes, parishes, offices, hospitals, prisons, schools and colleges - pretty well everywhere that people live and seek. The World Community is ecumenical and serves a universal 'catholic' unity in its dialogue both with Christian churches and other faiths. We encourage and try to support the daily practice of meditation knowing its power to change hearts and so to transform our world.

Each year we run the John Main Seminar and The Way of Peace. You can find previous Seminars and the upcoming ones on these pages. We also sponsor retreats, 'Schools' for the training of teachers of meditation and other programs. We contribute often to interfaith dialogue particularly, in recent years, with Buddhists and Muslims. A quarterly spiritual letter with global and local news is mailed by national communities and is also available online. Weekly readings can be sent directly to your email if you'd like to subscribe.

You can also link to many national community sites and sites with a particular focus such as children and meditation, how to start a meditation group, a site for the Eleventh Step in Recovery, and the spiritual search of young adults.

Information on retreats and other programmes, places to visit and stay, pilgrimages, connections to national coordinators and the location of meditation groups can also be found on this site. You can also find online audio talks for listening or downloading.

Medio Media is the publishing arm of The World Community. Our online bookstore is linked here offering a wide range of books, audiotapes, CD's and videos to support your practice of meditation.

We are always trying to improve the way this site can serve your spiritual journey and especially your regular practice of meditation. Feel free to share your comments or suggestions with us. Please.... come in and browse and feel welcome in our Community.

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05.25.08