Category: Christ

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Mercy

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The 18 word in my Lent Lexicon is:

MERCY.

It’s a word that’s full of hope and challenge. Its challenge is in it’s call to admit our faults & failing, to confess that we all need mercy in our lives. We both stand in need of God’s mercy and are called top be merciful towards others. To admit this is uncomfortable, especially in a world that seems to expect us to be effortlessly successful in every endeavour.

Another challenge of mercy is that it can only come as a gift, we can’t demand it, earn it or get it for ourselves. The most we can do is ask for it when we recognise our need strive to be open to receive it.

It’s not all challenge, mercy also offers us hope. In today’s first reading the prophet Micah writes:

“What god can compare with you: taking fault away, pardoning crime, not cherishing anger for ever but delighting in showing mercy?”

His words remind us, not only that God knows our faults and is willing to be merciful, but that the mercy is offered freely and generously with delight. The source of God’s mercy towards us is the love, the love that holds us in being. It’s the love that the gospel describes in the story of the prodigal son.

Knowing the son’s faults, and even that his predicament is of his own making, his father reaches out to draw him back into his love. However we disguise them God knows our faults, and knowing them delights in offering us mercy and welcoming us back into God’s loving embrace.

Where are you being offered God’s mercy this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Monastic Life Rule of St Benedict Saints

Listen with the ear of your heart.

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Today we’re celebrating the feast of the Passing of St Benedict, so for my Lent word I’ve gone back to the wisdom of his Rule. The 17 word in my Lent lexicon is:

LISTEN

Listen is the first word in the Rule of St Benedict. It takes me back to the basics of the Christian call. We’re getting close to the halfway mark in Lent. I always think of this as a bit of a “dead” time in Lent. The novelty of our Lent practices has worn off, and we’re still a long way from the impetus of Holy Week.

This means that it’s the time when it’s easiest to let our Lent practices slip. In such times I find it helpful to go back to the basics. St Benedict opens the Rule with these words:

“Listen carefully to the master’s instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”

The call to listen is at the heart of the Rule and of the gospel. We can’t follow the call of the gospel unless we allow ourselves to hear it. For that to happen we need to create space. We live surrounded by 24 hour sound. This can be very distracting.

If we are to allow God the chance to speak to our hearts, we have to switch off some of the other sounds that surround us, even the good & helpful ones. We have to create a quiet space where we can hear the gentle, loving voice of God calling us to follow.

What is helping you to listen to God’s voice this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Choosing to trust.

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The sixteenth word in my Lent lexicon is

TRUST.

Today’s readings focus on trust. They make it clear both that we are free to choose where we put our trust and that we are called to trust God.

Jeremiah lays out the consequences of both of both choices in the starkest terms possible. He is very clear if we want to live in peace to have to choose to trust God, any other choice will lead us to disaster.

The responsorial psalm assures us that the way to true peace and happiness is to trust God. The gospel contrasts the fate of the rich man who trusted his own resources with Lazarus who had no choice but to trust in the loving mercy of God.

All of them speak to a truth we know in the depths of our hearts, being relational beings it’s impossible to live without trust. This is an uncomfortable truth in a society that places a high value on independence, telling us that we can meet all our own needs without assistance or support. In such circumstances it can be challenging to accept Jeremiah’s words:

“A blessing on those who put their trust in the Lord…”

To trust we have to admit that we are needy, that we can’t meet all our needs ourselves. It can be an uncomfortable position to be in, especially in precarious times. Lent is a good time to reassess where we put our trust, to turn again to trusting God’s ways and God’s plans rather than our own.

Where is God calling you to trust this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Prophetic voices Saints Scripture

Faithfulness and trust.

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The fifteenth word in my Lent lexicon is:

FAITHFULNESS.

It has particular resonance today as we celebrate the feast of St Joseph. It seems to perfectly sums up this man who is sometimes dismissed as a shadowy figure. In the gospel he appears as a background figure who supports Mary and the child Jesus bringing stability and respectability to an otherwise difficult situation.

Yet, so often the apparently background figure has a more important role than we realise at first glance. Joseph is man of faith, from a long line of people who waited through the centuries for God’s promise to be fulfilled, keeping hope alive even when facing disappointment.

When his life and expectations are completely turned upside down St Joseph finds the courage to draw on their faith. So that in the face of what must have seemed like a shattering blow he’s able to remain faithful and follow God’s call into the unknown as his ancestors did.

“When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do.”

It can’t have been an easy choice, it will have required both humility and courage as well as faithfulness and trust. It’s impossible to think of this without reflecting on the seemingly insurmountable challenges our world faces today, both at home and abroad.

As we see lives disrupted and communities destroyed by war and uncertainty St Joseph becomes a valuable role model. He reminds us that however dark and uncertain our lives, we are called to remain faithful and willing to follow God into the unknown.

What helps you to be faithful to God’s call this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Becoming servants

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The fourteenth word in my Lent lexicon is:

SERVANT.

In today’s gospel Jesus calls his disciples once again to a life of service. He warned them against the hypocrisy of thinking themselves above others and therefore expecting special treatment and concessions.

However uncomfortable the thought we have to admit that we all recognise the temptation in our lives. It’s the way of the world, especially maybe of our own time with it’s concern with appearance and influence.

Beguiling as that can be we are all too aware that it is not the way of the Kingdom that Jesus has come to establish. Instead he comes as a servant, showing us a new way of being, a way of service that asks us to put the needs of others before our own.

During his ministry Jesus gives us plenty examples of what it means to serve as he travels the country, healing, listening & calling people to follow him. Lent give his call to service a greater resonance as we follow him to Jerusalem and the service that won us new life.

In today’s gospel Jesus invites his disciples turn away from the ways of the world and follow his example. He tells them:

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

His words are also an invitation to us. He calls us to turn away from the ways of our times and to follow his example of service. He challenges us to avoid the false dazzle of the limelight and instead to look for ways we can serve others.

Where is Christ inviting you to find ways of serving others this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture Uncategorized

Called to be compassionate.

The thirteenth word in my Lent lexicon is:

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COMPASSION.

We’re called to be compassionate as God our Father is compassionate. It’s always an important part of our call. In these challenging times when our structures seem so precarious it is even more essential to learn how to be compassionate.

There are so many ways we can misunderstand, misconstrue and judge others harshly that it can come to seem the norm. It can be difficult to take a stand against it, yet in today’s gospel Jesus makes it clear that being judgemental can never be the way of the gospel. His Kingdom is to be built on love and compassion:

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.”

His words are a call to a new way of being. It’s a way that has the potential to change and renew our relationships and our communities. But it has to begin with an inner transformation. The call to be compassionate requires us to weed out the attitudes that would incline us to harsh judgements of others.

It calls us to put aside our hurt and our anger enough to give others the benefit of the doubt. It invites us to believe the best of others even if that’s not on display. It seems to me that the best way to move towards this is to acknowledge our own need for compassion. Once we admit to ourselves that we can cause hurt it becomes much easier to be compassionate when we see others do the same.

Where is Christ inviting you to learn to be compassionate this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Transfiguration

Transfiguration

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The twelfth word in my Lent lexicon is:

TRANSFIGURATION.

It describes that mountain top moment when God’s glory breaks through into the ordinary lives of Peter, James & John allowing them an insight into the mystery and wonder of God. Peter’s response tells us how moved they are by it:

“Master, it is wonderful for us to be here…”

God’s glory can break through into our ordinary lives, as it did for the disciples. It can transform the ordinariness and enable us to see them in a new way. This has the potential to delight and strengthen us, it is also a challenge.

Like Peter, when we glimpse that glory we want to stay with it. We long to be held in the shelter of God’s presence, protected from the hardships of our lives. Tempting as that is, it misses the point of the Transfiguration. Those moments are not places to hide away from the challenges of the world. They are moments to draw courage from so that we can face the turmoil of the challenging times we live in.

The key to the Transfiguration is in these words spoken from the cloud:

“This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.”

It’s a call to listen to Jesus that requires we are both open to those intense moments of transformation and willing to move on from them. It’s a call not only to listen, but to respond to his words, allowing them to shape our actions and encounters. It’s a call to leave the places where we feel safe and comfortable and follow him, learning to respond to life’s challenges with love, kindness and compassion.

Where is Christ transfiguring your life this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Challenged to love.

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The eleventh word in my Lent lexicon is

LOVE

At first glance it’s hard to see how this might be a challenging Lent word. Surely to love and be loved is good? It is, and yet, as I reflect more deeply I become aware of the challenges that love presents.

We are all too aware of how much we need love and how vulnerable that needy can leave us. We have experiences of receiving love that are life giving. We also have experiences of not receiving the love we needed and how damaging that can be for us.

Love requires us to put ourselves aside, to think first of what would be best for others. To do that with those most intimately connected to us is hard and challenging enough. Yet Jesus tells us that this not enough:

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be children of your Father in heaven, for God causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as good, and the rain to fall on the honest and dishonest alike.”

This call to love goes beyond our limited human ways. It calls us to love as God loves. It can seem almost impossible. If we struggle to love those who love us how can we love those who would harm or hurt us?

It’s a hard call especially when hate and mistrust seem to be gaining the upper hand in our communities and societies. In such times this call is even more important. Jesus calls us to risk an openness and vulnerability that goes beyond our limited human understanding of what love is.

Where are you being called to love your enemy this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Be reconciled

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The tenth word in my Lent lexicon is:

RECONCILIATION.

The call to reconciliation is essential. We can’t go through life without causing each other distress and pain. That means we have to find ways of forgiving one another, of becoming reconciled and rebuilding damaged relationships. This is true on every level of human life from personal relationships to international relations.

Reconciliation is not easy. When we have been hurt or wronged it’s really hard to see beyond that to be able to forgive and to rebuild damaged relationships. The temptation is to stay with our hurt and our pain rather than taking the risk of moving beyond it into a situation where we have to be open, trusting and vulnerable.

In today’s gospel Jesus makes it clear that, however hard it might be, the call to reconciliation is not an optional extra, it’s central to the call of the gospel and to building the kingdom. He says to his followers:

“If you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that someone has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with them first, and then come back and present your offering.”

He makes it clear that, however hard it might be we need to find ways of being reconciled with one another if we are to live well and flourish. This echoes our own experience; we know how destructive an unforgiving attitude can be both to relationships and to our inner life.

Reconciliation requires that we move beyond our own perspectives, allowing that there might be a bigger picture than we can see. It calls us to allow that someone else’s perspective might be as valid as our own. It asks asks to admit that being right might not be the most important thing.

Where is Christ calling you to seek reconciliation this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Courage to ask

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The ninth word in my Lent lexicon is:

ASK.

For such a small word it carries a huge weight. We live in a society that values independence. We are expected to succeed and that often translates into being able to meet all our own needs, physical, emotional & spiritual. Even as we know that can’t be true or even possible the expectation shapes us. We carry the weight of it with us every day. The result can be that asking at all can feel like a failure.

Today’s readings offer us a different reality. In the first reading Queen Esther, faced with a difficult and challenging situation finds the courage ask God for what she needs to be able to save her people.

In the gospel Jesus puts it very simply and directly:

“‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; those who knock will always have the door opened to them.”

He doesn’t expect us to meet all our needs by ourselves, he knows we’re not made to do that. Instead he encourages us to ask for what we need. His words offer us hope. In our culture, with it’s high value on independence, they are also a challenge.

He promises us that if we risk vulnerability in admitting our need we will be met with a loving and compassionate response. Lent is an invitation to trust that promise and to find the courage and humility to ask for what we need.

What do you need to ask God for this Lent?