Category: Benedictine Spirituality

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Letting Go

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In today’s second reading St Paul tells us:

“The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts more keenly than any double edged sword…”

The truth of his words is borne out by the gospel

In conversation with a young man who asks how to inherit eternal life Jesus begins by taking him back to the basics of faith, telling him to keep the commandments. That’s not enough for the young man, he wants more. When he presses Jesus to say more he gets it. Jesus responds:

“There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

His words are so challenging that the young man, who was very wealthy, walked away sad, unable to take that extra step. Jesus’ words also challenge us. As St Paul says they cut through the excesses and riches of our society to the heart of what is means to follow Jesus. Having more than we need, especially when others lack the necessities of life is not the way of the gospel. It’s not Good News for us or for anyone else.

Jesus’ words are as challenging for us as they are for the young man. Like him there’s much that we have to let go of, both materially and spiritually if we want to give ourselves completely to following Christ. It’s a call to put ourselves aside with all the sacrifice and denial that implies in order to be free to give ourselves completely to following Christ.


What do you need to let go of to be free to follow Christ wholeheartedly?

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Practicing Prayer

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In today’s gospel the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray:

“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

When they discover him praying they recognise something of value, something they want and feel that the lack. I guess they felt something similar when they heard from John’s disciples about how he taught them to pray.

I’m always touched by this scene. It’s tempting to think that as the disciples were always with Jesus prayer came easily and naturally to them. This interaction shows us they struggled to pray, just as we do. I find that both consoling and encouraging.

Even knowing the value of a regular practice of prayer we ignore the promptings of our heart to take time for prayer. There are a myriad of reasons why prayer can be left at the bottom of our “to do” list. It might be that we are too busy, or that we think we will pray when all our other jobs are done, or when we are less tired… But I am inclined to think there is a deeper reason for our reluctance.

Prayers’ fruits are often hidden or unrecognisable. In a society that values achievement that can make prayer feel pointless. Alongside that we live in times that expect us to be in control of every aspect of our lives. Prayer is a call to the very opposite of this. It involves letting go of all control. It calls us to let Christ lead us in challenging and unexpected paths.

Where is Christ challenging you to make prayer a daily practice in your life?

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With wholehearted attention.

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In today’s gospel Jesus stops the disciples turning away the children people are bring to him. He says:

“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”

The theme of becoming childlike has come up several times in recent gospels. I always think it’s worth revisiting something when that happens. My experience as a primary school teacher tells me that there are many things adults can learn from children.

Reflecting on this I was reminded of a thread on Twitter that I followed some time ago about vocation and contemplation. Part of the discussion centred on the question “what is contemplation?”, A question that can’t easily be answered and several interesting suggestions were put forward.

For me image of small children at play has always spoken of the essence of contemplation. Whenever children play their activity captures their whole attention and takes all their energy. They engage in play with their whole being, totally engrossed and caught up in the moment.

The call to discipleship is a call to give our whole attention to seeking and following Christ as St Paul reminds us in the letters to Hebrews saying:

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

If we are to do as he suggests and keep our sights firmly on Jesus we need to give ourselves completely to whatever we are involved in with the same wholehearted attention that children bring to their play. If we are able to learn that skill, we will discover the presence of the kingdom in the midst of all our activities and all our interactions.

Where do you feel called to give your whole attention today?

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Becoming childlike.

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In today’s gospel Jesus once again turns our ideas on their heads. In response to his disciples question about who is the greatest he challenges them to look at greatness in a new way. He doesn’t tell them to pay attention to the learned and the clever, the experts and politicians. Instead he tells them to look at little children and to model themselves on them:

“He said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, those who make themselves as little as this little child are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

This must have surprised the disciples, they, like us would not have expected to model their behaviour on the children around them. The opposite would have been true, then as now. The gospel calls us to examine that view. It invites us ask what Jesus saw in the children that he didn’t find in those adults concerned with position and status, and to look at what we can learn from them.

Children are open and trusting. They are curious about others and willing to learn. When they are involved in some activity they give it their whole attention, it absorbs them completely. They have an innate sense of fairness and justice. These are qualities that we seem to lose as we grow older. To watch that is a delight and a challenge. Reflecting on today’s gospel it seems to me that Jesus is asking us to look at where we can rediscover these attributes in our lives.


Where is Christ calling you to be open and trusting today?

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Expanding the boundaries.

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We are communal beings, despite the individualistic tone of our society we flourish in relationship and in community. Although it has an intensely intimate aspect our faith is a communal one. As St Benedict reminds us we travel to Christ and eternal life “altogether”, not alone.

All this is profoundly life giving, but today’s gospel points out that it also has a downside that we need to be aware of. When it stops being all inclusive community can descend into tribalism. If shifts from being a space where all are welcome, and there is only “us” to being a separatist space divided into “us and them”.

In today’s gospel, the disciples fall into this tribal trap. Shocked by seeing an outsider casting out demons in Jesus’ name they try to stop him, and then complain to Jesus. His response is unexpected. Instead of anger he replies:

“You must not stop him: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”

Unlike his disciples Jesus is able to be open and inclusive, trusting the good intentions of the man’s intentions. He is able to see a bigger picture than the disciples, and reaches out, not to criticise the man, but to enlarge the disciples understanding of community and belonging.

In our challenging times when tribalism is on the increase we too are challenged by Jesus to expand our ideal of community until there is no “them and us”, but just an all inclusive us, journeying together towards the God of love.

What boundaries is Christ challenging you to expand today?

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First and last

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We live times where status matters. Whether our status is related to work, wealth, or online presence we see it self defining in some way. It can make us feel important, valued, seen or powerful. The temptation to seek status can be beguiling and misleading.

In today’s gospel the disciples fall into this trap. Discovering them arguing about who is the greatest among them Jesus takes them aside, offering a teaching that turns all their ideas about status and power upside down.

He tells them that the greatness they seek is not part of the kingdom. The way of the kingdom is not to seek to be first, but to choose to put others first:

“If anyone wants to be first, they must make themselves last of all and servant of all.”

It’s not what the disciples had left everything to follow him were expecting to hear. If we are honest about our own reactions his words they are just as startling to us today.

He calls us to a way of living that puts the needs of others before our own, to treat them as we would like to be treated. I wonder how life might change if that became the guiding principle of all our daily interactions and encounters? There is no doubt that such a change would be costly for us, and would require a daily effort. Alongside this challenge the gospel offers us the hope that it would also be an enriching and life enhancing experience.

How is Christ calling you to serve today?

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Space for love to flourish

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Today I’m reflecting on the first reading. From the 1st letter of St Paul to the Corinthians it’s a call to allow every aspect of our lives to be shaped by love:

“Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins, but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.”

St Paul captures the essence of love and why it is so essential to our lives. He expresses both the ideal we strive towards and the practicalities of how we make that ideal a reality in our daily lives. He reminds me that the call of love is always to seek the good of the other, to act with kindness and to to give the benefit of the doubt wherever we can.

We live in times that are quick to judge and condemn. Fuelled by the speed and anonymity of the internet it’s rare that we take the time to listen & understand views that are different from ours. Sometimes we rush into reacting before love has a chance to make its voice heard.

St Paul’s call to love is a call to re-evaluate all of that, to consider our response to disagreement in the light of the love we’re called to by the gospel. How that could reinvent the digital arena, and all our public engagement?

Often I think we find it easier to act with love in challenging, difficult situations than in the ordinary, mundane interactions of daily life. Yet it’s the daily small kindnesses and patience in bearing with one another that changes lives, easing burdens and allowing love to flourish.

Where are you being called to allow love to flourish in your life today?

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Accepting the Cross.

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In today’s gospel Jesus is brutally honest with his disciples. Having received Peter’s assertion of faith he takes he begins to talk about his own suffering and death. It’s not surprising that Peter remonstrates with him, it’s hardly what the disciples expected to hear. Having left everything to follow him they want to hear a message full of hope & reassurance. Instead Jesus brushes Peter aside, insisting that following him will include suffering, loss, challenge and conflict. Jesus is making it clear to his disciples that following him will not help them to avoid the suffering of life. On the contrary, he calls them to accept that suffering willingly, refusing to give into the temptations of avoidance and grumbling which can be so soul destroying. He says to them:

“‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let them renounce themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Those who want to save their will lose it; but those who loses their lives life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’”

His words turn all our expectations upside down, calling us to examine our actions. He challenges us to look honestly at the tactics we use to numb our pain instead of accepting it as part of life and as something we can, by the grace of God, grow through towards new life. Knowing human suffering from personal experience he offers us the hope of completely understanding our suffering, however unlikely that might sometimes appear.

He promises us that whatever sufferings we face in life he will be there with us, a compassionate, loving presence in even the darkest of times. While neither the hope nor the promise will remove the sufferings they offer a framework to encourage us to face them.

What cross is Christ calling you to take up today?

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Discovering the good.

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Today were celebrating the Birthday of Our Lady, a solemnity for our congregation. It’s the anniversary of the day I entered the monastery, so it carries a certain resonance for me, and I often find myself looking back to that day.

So I was especially struck by these words from our first reading at Mass:

“We know that for those who love God, everything works together for good…” (Romans 8:28)

These are not the words of Scripture that would have come to mind on the day I entered. I can see the truth in them with hindsight but, I’m not sure I could have seen it on that day of mixed and sometimes conflicting emotions. The reality of the hope that they express is central to our faith, yet it is very easily pushed to one side as soon as we struggle with the challenging realities of life.

When I think of Mary I imagine that she too experienced mixed and conflicting emotions as she faced the consequences of the “yes” that changed the world for all of us. Yet, she is still able to trust and rejoice in God’s great goodness:

“I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God!”

Her words offer me hope and encouragement that seem particularly important in our unsettled times. She reminds me that, unlikely as it may seem, we are loved and held by God. Whatever we face, whatever we suffer, the God of love will be there, not necessarily to remove the suffering, but to hold and support us as we face it.

Where are you being reminded of the presence of the God of love in your life today?

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Finding Space.

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Today’s gospel is all about service. Leaving the synagogue Jesus goes immediately to Simon’s house where he cures Simon’s mother-in-law. Immediately she gets up and begins to serve them. The evening sees Jesus serving again, as crowds of people come to him seeking healing. It must have been a long and tiring day, and all of us know that feeling. The next morning Luke tells us:

“When daylight came, he got up and left the house and made his way to a lonely place.”

We read this as a break in the pattern of service, Jesus taking time out to pray in order to return to serving refreshed and renewed. On one level that is is true, but the Gospels often have many layers of truth. On another level Jesus’ act of taking time to be alone in God’s presence is also an act of service.

It is an act of self-care which allows him to draw all that he needs to carry on from God. It’s also an act of service to others, a reminder that part of what it is to be human is to need time to rest and recharge.

When the needs of the people we serve seem to be overwhelming we can feel pressured to keep going regardless of our own needs. Jesus doesn’t wait until every need is met, every person healed, every situation resolved before he takes the time he needs. He doesn’t expect us to do that either there is both an invitation and a challenge in that.

Where is Jesus inviting you to take time to pray in the midst of serving others?