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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

Knowing Christ

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Today we’re celebrating the feast of St Gregory the Great. The gospel poses the question at the heart of Christian life. Jesus asks his disciples what people are saying about him. It highlights Jesus’ humanity, like all of us he wonders what people think of him, and how much impact his message is having them.

He gets a varied response from the disciples. Some people say he’s John the Baptist, or Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Brushing this mixed bag aside he asks the disciples:

“But you…who do you say I am?”

This question moves the discussion to a deeper level. Directed, not to the crowds who hear him in the market place or synagogue, but to the people who left everything to follow him. It requires a deeper response than the comments the disciples have passed on.

I can imagine the silence that fell as the disciples realised this and pondered their response. As usual it is Simon Peter who has the courage to break that silence as he says:

“You are the Christ…, the Son of the living God.”

As the rest of the passage unfolds we see how life changing this response is for Peter, and for St Gregory the Great. It’s left me pondering my own response to the question. Each time it arises it has the potential to be life changing for us too. Whenever it comes up we’re called to give it our whole attention so that we, like Peter and St Gregory, can answer it from the depths of our hearts.

Who do you say Christ is today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Rule of St Benedict Scripture

A whole hearted welcome

 
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It’s a very natural human tendency to judge both ourselves and others. In today’s gospel we see the guests making swift and sure judgements about who is most deserving of places of honour at the table. Jesus is quick to point out the dangers of this:

“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you may come and say ‘give up your place to this person.’”

Even with the best of intentions it’s very easy to cause more pain and discord by making wrong judgements. Reflecting on this has brought me back to two very basic Benedictine values, humility and hospitality. I think these can help us step back from the tendency to be judgemental.

Humility calls us to acknowledge that we are in no position to make judgements about how things should be arranged, or what others need or deserve. A humble attitude helps us to admit that we don’t know what is best for others and to be open to learning from them. However well intentioned our judgements can often cause hurt and distress.

Hospitality, the call to welcome everyone as we would Christ, offers us a way to avoid this. The first step in hospitality is to give another our whole attention, to allow them to tell us what they need, rather than assuming that we know. If we do that with open hearts, putting aside our own judgements, we will be able to discover what will make them feel truly welcome and accepted.

Where are you being called to put aside judgement today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Truth

The call of authenticity.

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In today’s gospel Jesus is challenging the scribes and Pharisees. He is clearly outraged by their behaviour, and is willing to call them out on it. His language is strong, forceful, and even off-putting. He calls them out for being hypocrites, for presenting a false image of themselves.

It’s so tempting to put it all on the “Scribes and Pharisees” of the past. That way we can avoid looking at our own lives to see if we are falling into the same traps. To do that robs the gospel of its power to shape us and to be a living, life-giving word for today.

Instead, this challenging passage offers us an opportunity to look at our own lives. We live in times that are very concerned with image. Our social media feeds mean it’s never been easier to create and present a persona that highlights only the good and positive in our lives, making us appear better than we are. Jesus is clear, this is hypocrisy:

“You appear to people from the outside as if you were good and honest, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

As we look around our post truth world we can’t fail to acknowledge that we know both this temptation and its dangers. In in the first reading St Paul offers us a way of avoiding this temptation:

“Live a life worthy of God, who is calling you to share the glory of his kingdom.”

St Paul’s words call us to look honestly at where we might veer towards hypocrisy in our actions and in our thoughts. He challenges us to ensure that our ideals shape our actions and interactions so that we can live with integrity.

Where are you being called to live with integrity today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Through a narrow door.

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Today’s gospel is full of challenge. It begins with a question, one we would all like answered, though we might not all have the courage to ask it:

“Sir, will there be only a few saved?”

The challenge becomes apparent in Jesus’ response

“Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because I tell you many will try to enter and will not succeed.”

We live in a world that claims to offer limitless individual freedom and choice. This is a compelling myth. So it’s hardly surprising then that we find the idea of any sort of limitation or restriction at best challenging and at worst an outrageous infringement of rights.

The Kingdom Jesus promises is not about individual rights. It’s about love, kindness, compassion and inclusion. If this kingdom is to become a reality in our daily lives we have to walk away from that beguiling myth. We have to acknowledge that we can’t have everything we want, do everything we want, be everything we want.

To choose the way of the kingdom we have to, like the first disciples, leave something behind. We have to discern what is life-giving and what isn’t. Then, we have to put down those things that aren’t life-giving. That’s relatively easy when we are faced with things that we know are bad for us.

It’s much harder when are called to put aside something that is good and life-giving for the common good or for the good of another. But, if we want to get through that narrow door Jesus talks of that is what we are called to do.

What is Christ calling you to put aside for the sake of the kingdom today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

The call to generosity

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As I’m away from my computer this week here are some thoughts on fairness and generosity from our archives: Today’s gospel is all about fairness and generosity. At the beginning of the day a landowner goes out to hire workers for his vineyard, offering them a fair price for the day’s work.

He goes out again several times later in the day, right up to the 11th hour, and still finding idle workers sends them to his vineyard offering them “a fair wage”.

At the end of the day he tells his bailiff to pay all the workers the same amount, starting with the ones who came last. This causes some consternation to those who have been working all day, and they grumble that it’s not fair as they have worked longer and should receive more.

They evoke our sympathy because we all know what it feels like to be treated unfairly. Yet, the vineyard owner takes a different view, saying to them:

“My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius?… Why be envious because I am generous?

His words turn the situation on its head, challenging his workers, and us, to look at it from a different perspective. He calls us to look at our motivations and to acknowledge that there can be a thin line between our desire for fairness and envy.

His generous action points out that generosity is a hallmark of the Kingdom. It compels us to reflect on where we can be generous towards those around us with both our material goods and our time.

Where is Christ calling you to act generously today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Liturgy Rule of St Benedict Saints Scripture

With hearts made new.

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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.

This morning at Lauds we sang this from the prophet Ezekiel:

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

It seems to me to sum up both the essence of St Bernard’s life and of the call to contemplation that we all experience. Bernard was led to seek a life of contemplation and prayer. In turn his life of prayer softened the stoniness of his heart enabling him to leave his solitude to care for those in need.

His life suggests that there is no division between a contemplative life and one of active service, 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 softens our stony hearts and enables us to love our sisters and brothers.

Where is God softening your heart today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Keeping sight of Christ

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Today’s gospel is full of challenge. At the best of times, we resist messages of doom. That’s especially true in today’s world, ravaged as it is by war and conflict. It’s hard to find anything hopeful in Jesus’ words. He is promising us, not the peace and reconciliation we need, but conflict and dissension:

“Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three…”

Throughout the gospel Jesus is direct about the struggles that come from following him. Painful as his words are we all recognise the truth of them. We all know that following the gospel will bring us into conflict with others, even with other Christians who interpret it differently. We can’t deny that they do mirror the reality of our conflict riven world.

This could make it all too easy to be drawn into hopelessness, losing sight of the kingdom we seek. But, much as Jesus challenges his followers, he never leaves us without hope.

In the second reading St Paul draws our attention to that hope. In his letter to the Hebrews he calls us not to lose our focus. He tells us that whatever we face in life we should keep our attention focused on Christ:

“Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection…”

He reminds us not to let ourselves be distracted or turned away from Christ by the challenges and conflicts we face. It is by returning our attention to Christ that we will find hope and joy in circumstances that might feel hopeless.

What helps you to keep focused on Christ presence in challenging times?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Celebrating the Assumption

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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?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

The call of reconciliation.

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In a world that is growing ever more fractious and fragmented today’s gospel offers an important and valuable insight. We know all too well the experience of being hurt by those we love. We’ve all experienced the breakdown of relationships that can result from that.

It can often feel impossible to get past the hurt and the damage we cause one another. Jesus offers his disciples a way of dealing with such situations. He offers a process that helps us to examine the hurt together and move towards reconciliation. He says to his disciples:

“If your sister or brother does something wrong, go and have it out with them alone, between your two selves. If they listen to you, you have won them back. If they do not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if they refuse to listen to the community, treat them like pagans or tax collectors.”

His suggestion offers hope, but allows for the possibility that the situation will not be easily resolved however well-intentioned we are. In these uncertain times we want the certainty of knowing that others agree with us and we have little patience or time to truly listen to those who don’t.

In a world of instant communication, it’s so much easier to react without taking the time to listen or understand another’s viewpoint. Such attitudes do nothing to build the trust and understanding. They don’t create the necessary conditions for our communities to become places where people can flourish.

Jesus isn’t suggesting an easy option. His process requires openness, humility and a willingness to listen attentively to views we disagree with. All of this makes us vulnerable. Yet, it is this risky process that will enable us to build the communities of love and hope that we so desperately need.

Where is Christ challenging you to seek reconciliation today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture Uncategorized

Discerning treasure.

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We live in a world that presents us with a dizzying array of choices in almost every situation. There are times when this give us a sense of control but it can also be a burden. When presented with such variety it can be hard to know which to choose.

In many situations this may be fine, but if we are seeking to live a meaningful, prayer for life it is not enough. In today’s gospel Jesus reminds us that the choices we make matter. He says to his disciples:

“Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

He has already told us that we have no need to fear, even in our fearful times, because the Father has already given us the kingdom. But that gift requires a response from us. If we want to be able to accept and embrace that kingdom we have to practice discernment. We can no longer make surface choices based on our passing moods or whims.

Instead, our choices have to be based on the self-knowledge that comes from true discernment. Jesus asks us to learn to know our own hearts, to be open and honest about our true desires, and to base our choices on those.

Then, however whatever we face we will have a solid basis for the choices we make. Then, we are able to make them freely, knowing that the desire of our hearts and our actions will align with the values of the kingdom.

Where is Christ calling you to discernment today?