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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Pay attention.

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The 23 word in my Lent lexicon is:

ATTENTIVE.

Today’s gospel shows some of the controversy that surrounded Jesus’ ministry. Having cast out a devil he is accused of doing so through the power of Satan. He takes his accusers to task, challenging them to reflect on their attitudes and to pay attention to what is going on around them.

It’s a wake-up call, a call to pay attention. He says to them:

“If it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you.”

They don’t expect to find the kingdom of God in this wandering rabbi. His words call them to look beyond their prejudices, to allow for the possibility that the kingdom might appear in surprising and unexpected ways.

His words speak powerfully to us too. We also have our prejudices and expectations. Like the people in the gospel we think we know where it’s possible to encounter God. Jesus reminds us that the kingdom will always be a surprise.

It will always become apparent in unexpected places and unexpected ways. So, we need to be constantly alert. We need to be attentive, with eyes and hearts open to the possibility of encountering God in every situation and in every encounter.

When life is hard we are tempted to do the exact opposite of this. We are inclined to narrow our views and to close down rather than to risk opening up to new possibilities.

Jesus’ call is to work against this tendency. His call is to keep being open, alert and attentive so that, even in these most challenging times we will be able to recognise the kingdom unfolding in our midst.

Where are you being called to be attentive to the presence of the kingdom in your life this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Remembering

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The 22 word in my Lent lexicon is:

REMEMBER.

As well as being a practical tool to help us organise our days and our thoughts our memories help shape and define who we are. Moses reminds the people of this in today’s first reading from the book of Deuteronomy:

“Take care what you do and be on your guard. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart all the days of your life; rather, tell them to your children and to your children’s children.”

His words are much more than a reminder to keep the laws and customs that God has laid down for them on their journey through the desert. They are a call on a much deeper level to remember that they are a people chosen by God, loved by God and held in being by God. His words call them to remember they are formed and shaped by a sacred relationship.

These words have a particular resonance for us in Lent. It’s a time for going back to our roots. It has its own rules and regulations, customs and practices that shape the time for us. However, important as those are they are not the essence of Lent. Lent is a time when, like the Israelites in the desert, we are called to remember who we truly are.

It’s a time to remember that we are called into relationship with the God of love. We are called to allow that love to form our lives and our relationships. It’s a time to remember and rediscover our true selves. Lent calls us to remember once again the person God calls us to be.

What is the essential thing God is calling you to remember this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Gospel Lectio Divina Lent

Encounter with the living God.

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The 21 word in my Lent lexicon is

ENCOUNTER.

The Lent scriptures are full of significant encounters with God. Moses, the blind beggar, the Samaritan woman and the disciples all have life changing encounters with God that we hear about in Lent.

None of those are as significant as the encounter at the heart of today’s feast, the Annunciation. Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel is life changing, not just for her, but for all of creation. St Benedict of Clairvaux captures its significance in one of his sermons, writing of all of creation waiting with bated breath for Mary’s answer:

“The angel is waiting for your answer, it is time for him to return to the God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady…If you consent straightaway shall we be saved…by one little word of yours in answer shall we all be made alive.“

Her response propels her, us and all of creation into a new reality:

“I am the handmaid of the Lord…let what you have said be done to me.”

It’s often portrayed as a moment of calm and serenity, sometimes the depictions also hint at confusion and disruption. I suspect that the reality encapsulated all of those. It’s important to be aware of this when we come to reflect on our own life changing encounters with God. We hope and expect these to be moments of communion that are calm and serene.

We recognise times when we’re as certain of God’s presence as the disciples at the transfiguration. Yet our encounters with God can also be confusing, disruptive and disconcerting. It seems to me that if our own encounters with God are to be truly life changing they have to have disturb our lives as well as offering consolation.

How is God challenging you to allow God’s presence to disrupt your life this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Psalms Scripture

Yearning for God.

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The 20 word in my Lent lexicon is:

YEARNING.

It’s inspired by psalm 41, today’s responsorial psalm. Generally, I tend to overlook the responsorial psalm, looking first for insights in the other scripture readings. I often miss out on real wisdom and insight by doing that. So today I’m reflecting on these words:

“Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.”

It speaks to that longing that we all feel deep within us most of the time. Sometimes it feels like we’re always looking for something that we never quite find or that we’re always slightly dissatisfied with what we have. It can be unsettling and frustrating at best.

We can try to fill that gap with money, possessions, career or success. In my experience that works to some extent. For a while we can feel fulfilled and satisfied by those things, but after a while we begin to realise that those are not enough. Underneath the apparent satisfaction we become aware of a niggling feeling we want something more regardless of how well we are meeting the goals we set for ourselves.

That underlying discontent can be uncomfortable. We can be tempted to push it aside, trying to fill the gap with more of the same, but that doesn’t often work. Instead we can sit with the discontent & discover its true source is our desire for God. Once we can acknowledge that it can lead us to seek God’s presence in our lives in new & enriching ways.

Where is your yearning for God leading you this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Second chances.

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The 19 word in my Lent lexicon is:

SECOND CHANCE.

We live in a world that is quick to judge and to dismiss those are viewed as not living up to our expectations. We live in a “cancel” culture that dismisses anyone who criticises or even disagrees with us. This makes life feel very pressured for all of us. We feel the pressure of always being right and are stressed by the constant effort of avoiding anything that looks remotely like failure.

In today’s gospel Jesus takes the opposite approach. In telling the crowd the parable of the fig tree he reminds us that God is a God of second chances. When the vineyard owner sees his fig tree isn’t bearing fruit his inclination is to cut it down and use the space for something else. His gardener stays his had saying:

“Leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”

The gardener recognises a potential in the fig tree that the master misses. He sees that with extra care, attention and nourishment the tree might flourish and bear fruit, however unlikely it seems.

When we feel like we’re failing or that our lives are not bearing fruit Jesus looks at us in the same way as the gardener looks at the fig tree. He sees beyond the disappointment and hopelessness. He offers us a second chance, knowing that with care, attention and nourishment we too can bear fruit, even if we can’t quite believe it ourselves.

Where is Christ offering you a second chance this Lent?

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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?