Blog – Page 34 – Pilgrimage

Love in action.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 19/08/2024

Photo by Victória Kubiaki on Unsplash

Today we’re celebrating feast of St Bernard Tolomei, the founder of the Olivetan congregation. He was a 13th century lawyer who, with a few friends, left the city to live as hermits in the hills outside of Siena.

However, things did not turn out quite as they planned. Having being led out into one of those “desert places” where God speaks to the heart, they were called back into the city to nurse the victims of the plague in 1349. It was there that St Bernard fell ill and died.

Reflecting on Bernard’s life in the light of that gospel I was touched by this:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

It sums up both the essence of St Bernard’s life and of the call to contemplation that we all experience. The result Bernard’s contemplation was not to cut him off from the world and its sufferings, but to make him more aware of them. This led him back to the city to give his life in serving others.

It’s tempting to make a division between a life of contemplation and one of service. Bernard’s life suggests that there is no such division, they are two parts of a whole. It is our time spent with God that enables and sustains our service to others. It is the love we discover in the heart of God that enables us to love our sisters and brothers.

How is Christ calling you to serve today?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christlike, #Contemplation, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #prayer, #Sanits, #Servant, #ServantKing, #StBernardTolomei, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eucharist Gospel Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Scripture Uncategorized

Invitation & challenge.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 18/08/2024

Image by xmmr89 from pixabay.com

Today’s readings speak of invitation, call and challenge. In the first reading Wisdom sends her maidservants out into the city to invite everyone to:

“Come eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared! Leave your folly and you will live, walk in the ways of perception.”

In the gospel Jesus also has an invitation, as he offers us his very self:

“I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread which I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.”

He invites us to choose the life-giving over the often beguiling death dealing:

“I tell you most solemnly… Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in them… Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.”

The challenge in both these invitations is to change. Wisdom’s call to walk in the “ways of perception” requires that we examine how we live in the light of God’s teaching and to make changes where necessary.

The gospel carries a similar message. However devoted to and sustained we are by the Eucharist, by itself it is not enough. The invitation to partake in the Eucharist is a call to imitate Jesus’ life of loving service in all areas of our lives.

In the letter to the Ephesians St Paul grounds this theme even more explicitly in the reality of our daily interactions. He writes:

“Be careful about the sort of life you lead… Do not be thoughtless but recognise what is the will of the Lord… Be filled with the Spirit.”

While each of the readings draws us into a meaningful and sustaining spiritual practice, they also point as beyond it. They invite us to is to allow the spiritual practices affect our behaviour in every part of life. The challenge is to let the love of God we have received shine through in every encounter, every interaction and every relationship of our lives.

Where is Christ calling you to model your life on his today?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Ephesians, #Eucharist, #gospel, #HolySpirit, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #StPaul, #trust, #wisdom

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Uncategorized

The greatness of God.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 15/08/2024

Image by Pexels from pixabay.com

Today as we’re celebrating the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary I’m revisiting Luke’s account of the Visitation. It’s a beautiful encounter of two women connected by family ties and by the unusual, miraculous circumstances they find themselves overtaken by. It shows us Mary at the beginning of a life’s journey that culminates in the Assumption. The young Mary can have had no idea of where this journey would lead her. Yet, despite her trepidation she is already full of the Spirit. She has the courage to use the words that have been passed down through her faith sing of the greatness of the God who has transformed her life:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit exults in God my saviour…”

It is easy to imagine that Mary knew how her life would unfold. We easily forget that she didn’t have our gift of hindsight. She had no idea of how her “yes” would shape her life and all our lives. She was a young girl stepping out into the unknown, hanging on to a promise from God that she didn’t fully understand.

It must have taken huge amount of courage and trust to take that step, singing God’s praises and trusting that the promise would be fulfilled.

In our own uncertain and challenging lives and times we are called to follow her example, trusting in dark times that God’s promise will also be fulfilled in our lives in ways beyond our dreams.

Where is Christ inviting you to step out in trust today?

Tags #Assumption, #BlessedVirginMary, #challenge, #courage, #Gift, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #Magnificat, #Mary, #newlife, #Spirit, #trust, #visitation

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Lectio Divina Scripture Uncategorized

Building Community.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 11/08/2024

Photo by Hiki App on Unsplash

Today I’m focusing on the second reading from St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. At the end of a week that has been distressing in many ways it offers the hope that together we can move forward, rebuilding relationships and communities. He writes:

“Never have grudges against others, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness.”

I can’t help wondering how different social media would be if we took those words to heart. Over the past week we have seen very clearly the damage we can do to one another when we let grudges, anger and spitefulness shape our civic dialogue. We’ve seen the power that words have to lead to physical violence and damage. St Paul doesn’t stop there; he goes on to tell us what we have to do to avoid this:

“Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.”

We’ve also seen the power of kindness and forgiveness. kind words and actions can build bridges, heal wounds and draw us together in all our diversity. If we take the time to reach out across our divisions, we can find the courage to forgive and learn from each other. As the week progressed new friendships formed as people found the courage to listen, share food, learn about others and discover shared concerns.

St Paul reminds us that we are called to imitate God, and to imitate Christ in loving as he loves us. In our challenging times it seems to me that this call compels us to come together, to learn from one another, to share and to build the friendships that will help restore peace and trust in our communities.

Where is Christ calling you to help build up trust and friendship in your community?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Ephesians, #Epistle, #forgiveness, #Hope, #kindness, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #listen, #love, #newlife, #peace, #Peacemakers, #SaintPaul, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Saints Scripture Uncategorized

Sowing and reaping.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 10/08/2024

Photo by Walter Sturn on Unsplash.com

Today as we celebrate the feast of St Laurence I’m reflecting on this from today’s gospel:

“Unless a wheat grain falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Those who love their life lose it; those who hate their life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.”

Like so much of the gospel they are a mixture of promise and hope, challenge and uncertainty. I’m consoled by the comment Jesus makes as he explains something of the “hour” that he’ll face to his followers, “my soul is troubled” he tells them. We’ve seen so much pain and suffering in the past week that we can easily echo Jesus’ words in our lives.

Our hearts are troubled by all that we’ve seen unfold in this hardest of weeks. In the face of all that Jesus invites us to let go, to acknowledge the suffering and fragility we all experience. Doing that opens us up to our common humanity, and that brought to mind another text. In his letter to the Galatians St Paul tells us:

“Make no mistake… Whatever a person sows, that is what will be reaped.”

He reminds us that we are not without agency. Even if we seem powerless in the face of overwhelming circumstances. we can choose which type of seed we want to sow. In response to these disturbing circumstances we can choose speak and act in ways that acknowledge our common humanity in all its diversity.

We can choose to risk reaching out to others. We can be prepared to listen to perspectives that are different to ours. We can change our society by sowing seeds of friendship and trust, not those of hatred and division.

Where is Christ inviting you to sow seeds that will yield a rich harvest in friendship and trust?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Fragility, #friendship, #gospel, #harvest, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #StLaurence, #Troubled, #trust

Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture Uncategorized

Changing hearts & Minds.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 07/08/2024

Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash

Today’s gospel is an uncomfortable read. Jesus encounter with the Canaanite woman highlights racial tensions between two groups of people who have been at enmity for some time. When the Canaanite woman, stepping out of her comfort zone, asks for help Jesus initially ignores her. Then, when his disciples compel him to respond he brushes her aside saying:

‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’

This is not the sort of response we might expect the Jesus we know as open, loving and accepting of all people. As he is pressed by the women who continues to plead for her daughter his response becomes more negative:

‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’

It almost seems that he is confirming the prejudices of his own people rather than challenging them. The Canaanite woman is courageous or desperate enough to challenge his response saying:

“Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.”

Her persistence & courage touch Jesus’ heart changing his mind and his view of his mission. He moves from seeing this woman as a stranger, and outsider to valuing her as he does his own people:

“Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.”

In these times of racial tension this gospel challenges us and offers us hope. It challenges us to look again at those we perceive as “other”, actively seek ways of reaching out to welcome them and learn about them. The change we observe in Jesus offers us the hope that encounters across cultures and races can change our minds and expand our hearts with love.

Where is Christ challenging you to reach out to others today?

Tags #belonging, #Benedictine, #CanaaniteWoman, #challenge, #Christ, #Encounter, #faith, #friendship, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #Transformation, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture Transfiguration Uncategorized

The call to transformation.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 06/08/2024

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

The Transfiguration is a beautiful feast. It gives us an insight into the mystery of God. It shows us how God’s glory can break through into our ordinary lives, transforming them and enabling us to see them in a new light. Yet it’s also full of 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 storms and hardships of our lives. Tempting as that is, it misses the point of the Transfiguration. Those moments of intense encounter with God are not places to hide away but ones to draw courage from so that we can face the turmoil of the challenging lives and times we live in.

It seems to me that the key to the Transfiguration is in these words spoken from the cloud:

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

It’s a call to listen to Jesus that requires we are open to those intense moments of transformation, but are also 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 whatever challenges life presents, and to learn to respond to those challenges with love, kindness and compassion.

Where are you being called to listen to Christ in your life today?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Elijah, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #listen, #listening, #love, #Moses, #newlife, #Transfiguration, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Communion Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture Uncategorized

The Bread of Life.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 04/08/2024

Image by Gini George from pixabay.com

This week’s readings both focus on the reality of our physical needs and point us beyond them. It seems to me that this speaks to the heart of our reality. As humans we have real, physical needs that can’t be pushed aside if we are to flourish. This is played out in the first reading when the Israelites complain to Moses and Aaron that they have no food. When the Moses takes their complaint to the Lord it’s met, with no quibbling or blaming:

“I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, “Between the two evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have bread to your heart’s content .”

But God also knows that meeting physical needs alone is not enough for true human flourishing, for that both our spiritual and physical needs need to be addressed. So, having provided manna to satisfy their hunger God seeks to draw the people into a deeper relationship saying:

“Then you will learn that I, the Lord, am your God.”

The gospel, following on from the feeding of the five thousand, has a similar pattern. Having met the physical needs of the hungry and tired crowd Jesus invited them to embrace a bigger picture:

‘I am the bread of life. Those who comes to me will never be hungry; those who believes in me will never thirst.’

In offering them himself, the Bread of Life, offers them the opportunity to accept a reality that acknowledges both their physical and spiritual needs.

Where is Christ offering you nourishment today?

Tags #Benedictine, #BreadOfLife, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Eucharist, #God, #gospel, #Hope, #Israelites, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #Moses, #newlife, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Uncategorized

Discovering treasure.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 31/07/2024

Image by Günter from pixabay.com

Today we’re celebrating the feast of St Ignatius Loyola whose spiritual exercises have done much to shape Christian spirituality through the centuries. Today’s gospel, the pearl of great price, struck me as having an enlightening resonance with the life of St Ignatius. In describing the kingdom Jesus tells his disciples the story of a someone finding treasure hidden in a field, and happily selling all their possessions to buy the field:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found… He goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.”

His desire for the pearl and his decision to act on it is completely life changing for him. St Ignatius went through a similar life changing experience. Having been seriously wounded in battle he found himself bedbound, bored and frustrated in a strange house. He had limited resources to entertain himself. He was left with nothing to read except a life of Christ and the life of the saints, which would not have been his choice.

However, as he read them and daydreamed about their stories he began to find unexpected riches buried there. The discovery led him to question how he was living and what made him truly happy. To his surprise he discovered that it wasn’t imagining himself as a great knight, performing deeds of strength and courage.

Instead he found that he was happiest when he imagined himself imitating the actions of Jesus or of the saints. This was the treasure he discovered and, he willingly gave everything he had to be able to carry on seeking that treasure.

Where are you being called to seek the hidden treasure of Christ’s presence in your life?

Tags #challenge, #courage, #discernment, #Discipleship, #gospel, #Hope, #Ignatian, #kingdom, #KingdomOfHeaven, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #PearlOfGreatPrice, #SaintIgnatiusOfLoyola, #Saints, #treasure, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Resurrection Saints Scripture Truth Uncategorized

Welcoming Christ

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 29/07/2024

Image by Pexels from pixabay.com

A post from the archives for the feast of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, friends of the Lord, an important feast for Benedictines because of of its link to hospitality. Luke tells us that Martha:

“Welcomed Jesus into her home.”

She offered him hospitality, a safe place to relax and have a meal with his friends in dangerous and uncertain times. However, John takes the hospitality she offers to a different level. He shows us a woman of faith, used to the theological reflection and conversation, and already a follower of Jesus.

Even as she grieves for her brother she is capable of questioning Jesus and of allowing his response to transform her whole life It is through their hard, challenging conversation that Jesus is both revealed and recognised as Christ:

“I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

Central as this revelation is it is not enough by itself, and he requires a response from Martha, asking her:

“Do you believe this?”

The recognition of her response completes the revelation as she proclaims:

“Yes Lord… I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, the one who was to come into this world.”

I don’t think it would have been possible for Martha reach this recognition if she had only welcomed Jesus into her home. To recognise him as the Christ she must also have opened her heart to him.

By welcoming him into the very centre of her being she was able to allow him to transform her whole life. We too are called to offer the risen Christ hospitality in the depths of our heart, allowing him to enter and transform our lives with light, love and hope

What would help you to invite Christ into your heart today?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #faith, #friendship, #gospel, #Hope, #hospitality, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #Martha, #MarthaMaryLazarus, #newlife, #resurrection, #trust