Thoughts are to Contemplative Silence like a Monstrance is to the Host

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines contemplation like this:

A form of wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God’s greatness and goodness in affective, loving adoration; to look on Jesus and the mysteries of his life with faith and love.

I emphasized “wordless prayer” because that is often what people struggle with the most. Critics of…