Dr. Gregory Bottaro - The Mindful Catholic: Finding God One Moment at a Time

PRAISE FOR THE MINDFUL CATHOLIC

Through his insightful exploration of the principle of mindfulness, Dr. Bottaro has given his readers a powerful tool to grow in psychological and spiritual health. This book will be of tremendous benefit for anyone who wishes to develop healthy, joyful, and holy relationships, beginning with our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

MOST REVEREND FRANK J. CAGGIANO

Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut

This is an outstanding and timely book. If people follow its program many psychologists will be out of work.

PAUL VITZ, PhD

Author and professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences

The Mindful Catholic is a beautiful expression of how to live in the intimacy of a relationship with the Father who loves us. Ive known and trusted Greg Bottaro for many yearsfirst as a student of mine and, now, as a teacher from whom Im learning. This wonderful integration of timeless truth with modern psychology can help us all live more peacefully in the trust that God calls us to.

CHRISTOPHER WEST

Author of Theology of the Body for Beginners

Spending too much mind time in the past or future leads to distressing emotions and self-defeating behavior. Dr. Bottaro teaches how to live in the present, the now of life, for our benefit and that of those we love.

DR. RAY GUARENDI

Author of Advice Worth Ignoring

Dr. Bottaros work on Catholic mindfulness is a practical application of deep theological teachings from the works of St. John of the Cross and St. Augustine. Mindfulness, through this lens, continually leads and connects us to the reality of the indwelling life of the Trinity, as well as being made in the image of God, with our facultieswhen present to Lovemoving us toward the Good.

MOTHER MARY ELIZABETH OF THE TRINITY, OCD

Sub-Prioress of the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen

We all long for peace, healing and transformationemotionally, spiritually, and physically. Dr. Bottaros informative, creative, and practical presentation of mindfulness through the lens of the Christian mystical tradition offers an authentic spiritual path for Christians who may be wary of a spiritual practice originating from Buddhism. The Mindful Catholic: Finding God One Moment at a Time is a welcome and important contribution to the vast literature on mindfulness meditation and the possibilities it offers for personal and collective transformation in Christ.

FR. DANIEL CHOWNING, OCD

Definitor, General Curia of the Teresian Carmel

Copyright 2018 Gregory Bottaro

Published by Beacon Publishing

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture passages have been taken from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. Copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.

All rights reserved.

Quotes are taken from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America (indicated as CCC), 2nd edition. Copyright 1997 by United States Catholic ConferenceLibreria Editrice Vaticana.

Design by Madeline Harris

ISBN: 978-1-63582-017-1 (hardcover)

ISBN: 978-0-9841318-5-3 (softcover)

ISBN: 978-1-929266-46-3 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bottaro, Gregory, author. Title: The Mindful Catholic: finding God one moment at a time / Dr. Gregory Bottaro. Description: North Palm Beach, Florida: Beacon Publishing, 2018. Identifiers: LCCN 2017052404 | ISBN 9781635820171 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780984131853 (softcover) | ISBN 9781929266463 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: SpiritualityCatholic Church. | Spiritual lifeCatholic Church. | Mindfulness (Psychology) | AttentionReligious aspectsCatholic Church. | AwarenessReligious aspectsChristianity. Classification: LCC BX2350.3 .B674 2018 | DDC 248.4/82dc23

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First printing, January 2018

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For Fr. Benedict Groeschel, who taught me how to live in the moment.

For my wife, who is teaching me how to love in the moment.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the days own trouble be sufficient for the day.

Matthew 6:2534

One way of easily recalling the mind during prayer and keeping it at rest is not to let it wander during the day. You should keep it strictly in the presence of God; and being accustomed to thinking of Him often, it will be easy to keep your mind under control during your prayers at least to keep it from wandering.

Br. Lawrence of the Resurrection

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Peter Kreeft

Greg Bottaro was a student of mine at Boston College. He was a very good student, but even very good students seldom write very good books. He did.

It is a good book not just because it reads well but because it works well. This book is like a cookbook, or an instruction manual. To say that it makes a pretty good read is like saying that How to Build a Boat makes a pretty good read for a castaway. It does indeed make a pretty good read, but it makes a much better boat. It floats. It works.

And youre gonna need a bigger boat is true of all of us in terms of mindfulness. St. Augustine prayed, Narrow is the mansion of my soul. Enlarge it. The mind is one of the two most essential powers of the soul (the other being the will). What this book does to your mind is not to fill it with stuff but to enlarge it, to strengthen it. It does to the mind what new batteries do to a searchlight.