Category: Benedictine Spirituality

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Scripture Uncategorized

Perseverance in prayer

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Today’s gospel, the parable of the unjust judge, speaks so powerfully to our current situation that it could have been just written. Jesus tells his disciples the story of a judge who is refusing to give justice to a widow. However often the persistent widow is ignored or turned away she comes back, insisting on the justice that is her right. Eventually, the judge surrenders saying:

“Maybe I have neither fear of God nor respect for man, but since she keeps pestering me I must give this widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to death.”

Looking around our world, there are so many awful situations that we can do little to change, that we might be tempted to give up. We can be tempted to surrender and hopelessness, so even praying begins to feel pointless and useless.

Jesus uses this parable to see the exact opposite. He reminds his disciples, and does, that rather than surrendering to hopelessness, these are precisely the situations where we need to persevere in prayer and hope:

“Jesus told his disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.”

There are so many painful situations in our world that seem unresolvable. There are so many places where cruelty and exclusion seem to be overwhelming our impulses to goodness and kindness. In all the pain and suffering of these circumstances Jesus challenges us to persevere. He calls us keep on speaking up for justice, fairness, kindness and compassion.

He challenges us to continually remind ourselves and others that all human beings of equal value in the sight of God. Most of all he reminds us to underpin all of our actions in these areas with constant and persistent prayer.

Where are you being called to continual prayer today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Saints Scripture Uncategorized

Christ’s Peace

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Today were celebrating the feast of St Luke, author of some of the best-known and most loved gospel stories. It’s not surprising then that today’s gospel focuses on the sending of the seventy-two to preach the Good News through the towns and villages.

Jesus gives them very specific instructions, telling them what to take and how to behave as they travel around the country. On their journey they are called to trust themselves completely to the providence of God and the kindness of strangers.

But he doesn’t send them out completely empty handed. He gives them a gift to pass on to the people they encounter:

“Whatever house you going to, let your first words be, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if people of peace live there, your peace will go and rest on them; if not it will come back to you.”

As we see communities torn apart by war and conflict across the world it’s hard to imagine a time when that peace has been more needed. This peace is no quick papering over of cracks. It requires that we do a certain amount of inner work to be able to receive it.

If we are to be people of peace, we have to allow our hearts to be changed. We need to risk letting the stories of the other change us. We have to be willing to let go let go of much that we cherish. We have to accept that we are not right about everything and to be willing to compromise.

Where is Christ calling you to change so that you can accept his peace today?

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#ConsecrateLife #SimplyJubilee Benedictine Spirituality Gospel Jubilee Lectio Divina Liturgy Monastic Life Rule of St Benedict Scripture

Forgiven and Forgiving.

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Today I’m reflecting on forgiveness. It’s central to our human experience. Both our need to be forgiven and our need to forgive are deeply rooted in the reality of our daily lives, in both big and small things. It’s impossible to live connected to other people without at some point needing to both forgive and be forgiven.

This reality is reflected all the way through Scripture. As we continue to celebrate the jubilee of consecrated life, I’m reflecting on these words from the Our Father:

“Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.”

These words are so familiar that we sometimes overlook their significance. Yet, they have the power bring the healing that can reset our broken relationships.

St Benedict recognises this when he says that the Our Father should be said by the superior at Lauds and Vespers “because thorns of contention are likely to spring up”. It allows us to acknowledge before God that, whatever our intentions, we will have been hurt by others in the course of the day, and we will have hurt them.

St Benedict wanted the community to be reminded regularly both of their need for forgiveness and their need to forgive others in the course of their daily life.

These two are intimately linked. We begin by acknowledging our own need for forgiveness. When we know ourselves held in the loving forgiveness of God then we are able to reach out and offer forgiveness to the people who have wounded us.

Where are you being called to offer and accept forgiveness today?

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#ConsecrateLife #SimplyJubilee Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Jubilee Lectio Divina Scripture

A justice rooted in love.

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Today I’m reflecting on justice. As an ex-primary school teacher every time this word comes into my mind I hear a myriad of children’s voices calling “Miss, that’s not fair!” I remember making the same complaint myself.

Like most of us I also remember the pain of discovering the reality that life often isn’t fair. Rather than just being a childish dream, this early concern with fairness suggests that we carry in our hearts a deep sense of fairness from when we are very small.

It might get thwarted and bent out of shape, but I believe that somewhere deep within our hearts we recognise and value true justice. However self-centred or self-serving we become we carry the knowledge within us that humans flourish best when everyone is treated with justice.

Justice is not straightforward. We don’t have to look very far before we see our human justice being abused and misused, despite our best efforts. Reflecting on justice reminds us that God is not like us, as Isaiah tells us:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways, declares the Lord. For the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.”

Part of the call of a Jubilee is to bring our understanding of justice closer to God’s. God’s justice is always firstly based on love. It’s the love that invites us into a covenantal relationship, and then offers us countless opportunities to find our way back to that relationship when we have wandered away from it. Our jubilee calls us to reflect on our understanding of justice and to ensure that, like God’s it’s based firstly on love.

How does the faithful love of God affect your understanding of what justice is?

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#ConsecrateLife #SimplyJubilee Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Jubilee Lectio Divina Prophetic voices Rule of St Benedict Scripture

Accepting freedom

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Today I’m reflecting on freedom. The biblical concept of freedom goes beyond that our human understanding of freedom. It is rooted first of all in our position as children of God. It’s an invitation to become the person God’s calls us to be. It also carries a challenge.

In the course of life’s ups and downs we encounter much that draws us away from that freedom. Much as we desire it, we find ourselves making choices that limit and curtail it. The prophet Isaiah promises:

“He has sent me… to proclaim liberty to captives, release to those in prison…”

Biblical freedom is communal as well as personal. One of the things I’ve learned in my time in the Monastery is that there is always a balancing act between individual freedoms and communal freedoms. No one is free to do exactly as they wish or need of the Rule at the expense of others. In chapter 72 Benedict says:

“No one is to pursue what the judge better for themselves, but instead what they judge better for someone else.”

Part of being free means that we have to choose to put aside some of our freedom for the good of others. In our individualistic times, with the concerns for personal freedoms and rights this can be a real challenge.

A jubilee calls us to revisit what it means to be free, to ask ourselves where we have set up barriers and limitations to this gift of freedom. It’s a time for asking what we have to let go of to allow ourselves to embrace in ways that are life-giving for us and for our communities.

What freedom is God inviting you to embrace today?

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#ConsecrateLife #SimplyJubilee Benedictine Spirituality Jubilee Lectio Divina Psalms Scripture

A jubilee of thanksgiving.

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As part of the Jubilee Year, a Jubilee of Consecrated Life will be held in Rome on 8-9th Oct. From 8th-12th Oct. I’ll be reflecting on some of the biblical concepts of Jubilee. A Jubilee is first of all a call to reset our relationship with God and with one another. There are many elements to this reset.

Today I’m reflecting on thanksgiving. In many ways this is the most obvious part of the biblical call to Jubilee. When we think about jubilees we think about celebrations, we think of times of rejoicing and happiness.

Our jubilees are times when we gather to enjoy each other’s company and to give thanks for each other, and for all we have shared. Our jubilees are first and foremost celebrations of our capacity to give and receive love. These words from Psalm 106 come to mind:

“O give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his love endures forever.”

The psalmist takes us back to the source of that love, we are creatures of love because we are called into being and held in being by the love of God.

While this is a truth we all know and believe in our hearts, it’s one that easily gets brushed aside by the struggles and hardships of daily life. While that’s always true, it’s especially true in these challenging times we are living through. As we struggle with the demands of daily life it surprisingly easy to forget that we are loved.

When that happens it becomes very hard to treat others with love. The psalmist reminds us that a jubilee gives us an opportunity to remember and be thankful for the that love of God which never changes, and which is with us whatever we face.

What moves you to thankfulness in your life today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Scripture

In a spirit of love.

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We are living in challenging and disturbing times. All around us the structures and customs we relied on to hold our world steady seem to be under threat. Many of our values are being called into question and we are compelled to live with a great degree of uncertainty.

In such times it is so tempting to become hopeless, to lose faith in God and in the goodness of others. This leaves us feeling that there is nothing we can do that will make a difference. The voice that calls us in that direction can be powerful and compelling, but it’s not the voice of Christ.

St Paul and his companions knew equally hard and challenging times. They too lived in a violent and unequal world, and often suffered because of it. In his second letter to Timothy he writes:

“Beloved: I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.”

It’s easy to have faith when life is going well. It is much harder to have faith when the world seems dark and uncertain. Yet it is precisely when life is most challenging that we need to trust in that the spirit of power, love and self-control St Paul speaks.

It’s when life is hardest that we need to nurture that tiny flame. It’s when faith and trust seem the least likely response that we need to allow it to become the basis of all our interactions with others.

In these challenging times what helps you to sustain a spirit of love in your interactions?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Truth

Waking to the truth.

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Today’s gospel is an uncomfortable read for those of us who live with more than we need. In his lifetime the rich man has more than he needs, he can indulge every whim and every desire without a thought for the cost. His wealth does nothing to increase his generosity or understanding of those who struggle to meet their basic needs. He seems perfectly comfortable ignoring the Lazarus begging for a few scraps at his gate.

When both men died the tables are turned, and Lazarus is held and cherished “in the bosom of Abraham” while the rich man is tormented in Hades. His agony awakens him to the truth and he begs that Lazarus returned to earth to warn his family to change their ways, but Abraham tells him that even if someone were to return from the dead, they would not believe him:

“If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”

We can sanitise this and dismiss it as a morality tale, but it is much more than that. It’s a call to all of us who live with plenty to examine our attitudes to what we have. Unlike the rich man, we have someone who rose from the dead to show us the way of life. The call of Christ, the call of the gospel is not to gather riches, not to look after ourselves, but to share whatever we have, however little, with others.

Where is Christ calling you to share your gifts generously today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

A risky discipleship.

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It can be hard to feel hopeful when life is tough. In challenging and uncertain times we tend to tense up and close in on ourselves. We find it hard to be hopeful, trustful or aware of our blessings. We look for ways of maintaining the status quo, and keeping ourselves safe Understandable as that is Scripture calls us to a different way of being.

In his own challenging and uncertain times Jesus sends the Twelve out to preach the Good News with nothing except his authority. Instead of allowing them to look for ways to protect themselves he challenges them to risk embracing the uncertainty:

“He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to take sandals, but he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.’”

We are so familiar with this passage that it’s easy to sanitise it. We can assume it’s for the disciples, but not for us today. We can allow the challenges of our lives today to overshadow that call, using those legitimate demands to avoid it. We are also called to the radical trust and hope of discipleship. That can be easier when life is good, when our nations and societies seem stable and secure.

It becomes much more difficult when we live with fear and uncertainty across the globe. Yet, while the details might look different to the instructions to the Twelve, the underlying call is the same. We too are called to live with radical trust and hope in the midst of much that would undermine that.

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

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Truth

With undivided heart.

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Today’s gospel is an uncomfortable read. It describes a dishonest steward, willing to cheat his master to ensure a comfortable & financially secure life for himself. He knows himself well enough to know he’s incapable of either manual work or begging. So, he sets about cutting the bills of his master’s debtor.

This is not to relieve them of their debt, but to ensure that they owe him a favour that he can call in at another time. All his self-knowledge only leads him to greater selfishness. Instead of criticising him his master expresses grudging admiration for his understanding of the ways of the world.

We all recognize the truth of this. We too live in a world, where looking after our own interests takes precedence over anything else. We live with the consequences of a worldview that values success over either truth or compassion.

While Jesus recognises this reality, he is determined to ensure that his disciples understand that this is not the way of his Kingdom. His disciples have to be alert to the ways of the world, but not to live by them. He says to them:

“No servant can be the slave of two masters: they will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.”

He makes it clear that his Kingdom has no space for divided loyalties or double dealing. We have to follow him with whole and undivided hearts. Such a wholehearted commitment to the Kingdom rules out the duplicity the steward exhibits.

Where is Christ calling you to a wholehearted commitment to him today?