Biblical Basis
This doctrine in Catholic theology is usually based on the Jesus's commendation of Mary of Bethany's contemplation over the anxious external worries of her sister Martha. Jesus told Martha that "one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part" (Luke 10:42).
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and considered as the greatest of all saints in the Catholic Church, is mentioned in the Bible that she "pondered these things in her heart," an expression of intense prayer and contemplation of the events that happened to her.
The idea of "life" is present in the biblical distinction between two Greek terms for life: bios (biological life) and zoe (divine, supernatural life). Zoe is used in the bible in passages such as "That you may have life, and have it more abundantly". In Catholic theology, this life has been understood as a participation in divine, intratrinitarian life introduced in the life of a Christian at baptism (Cf. "partakers of the divine nature" in 2 Pt 1:4), and which grows through further reception of the sacraments, channels of grace which in its essence is "divine life." This divine life also grows through constant communication with God.
Read more about this topic: Interior Life (Catholic Theology)
Famous quotes containing the word basis:
“The self ... might be regarded as a sort of citadel of the mind, fortified without and containing selected treasures within, while love is an undivided share in the rest of the universe. In a healthy mind each contributes to the growth of the other: what we love intensely or for a long time we are likely to bring within the citadel, and to assert as part of ourself. On the other hand, it is only on the basis of a substantial self that a person is capable of progressive sympathy or love.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)