Contemplation is

"a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus.

"'I look at him and he looks at me': this is what a certain peasant of Ars in the time of his holy curé used to say while praying before the tabernacle.

"This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self.
His gaze purifies our heart;
the light of the countenance of Jesus
illumines the eyes of our heart
and teaches us to see everything in the light of
his truth
and his compassion for all men.

"Contemplation also turns its gaze
on the mysteries of the life of Christ.

"Thus it learns the 'interior knowledge of our Lord,'
the more to love him and follow him."
Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2715