We find the essence of holiness deep in the Scriptures, in the teaching and imitation of Jesus. When a Christian lives a particular way of holiness back to its scriptural source, we see in the person the Church as it waits for the Saviour, beyond all activities and ministries. We hear the testimony of that holy person speaking both of the peace and the energy of the last times, which the holy one sees as now. This is the experience of the contemplative. The contemplative aspect of the Church, where the Spirit is rushing things along to their fulfillment in his chosen one, has long been neglected. We are simply not aware of it in our ministerial preoccupations. Yet it is the place where all ministries are directed. In this book the author has chosen four ways of holiness which, if taken back to their scriptural source and lived there, help rectify the imbalances in our doctrinal and ecclesiastical life. Monasteries dedicated to profound Christian contemplation, as privileged places where the imbalance is righted, are essential to the revelation of the true nature of the Church, both in the daily reality as well as in the searing vision of Christ in glory.
