Category: Christ

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Be reconciled

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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 Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture Uncategorized

Being Courageous

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There’s a resonance between the story of Elijah in the first reading and of disciples on the stormy lake in the gospel. They are a call to focus our whole attention on God without allowing ourselves to be distracted by the inevitable storms of life.

Elijah waits attentively in his cave through mighty winds, earthquakes and fire, until he discovers the presence of God in the quiet of a gentle breeze. On the storm tossed lake Jesus invites Peter to walk across the water towards him.

While Peter focuses his whole attention on Jesus everything is fine, but as soon as he is distracted by the force of the wind he begins to sink. As Jesus walked across the water to his disciples he calls out:

“Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”

Both the story of Elijah and of the storm tossed disciples require courage and trust. It takes courage to sit out the storms of life, not letting them blow us off course. It takes trust and faith to keep ourselves focused on Christ when life is challenging, uncertain and frightening.

We live in stormy & uncertain times. In the midst of those Christ calls to us not to be fearful, but to focus on his presence with us. As Julian of Norwich tells us that presence will not remove us from those storms, but it will prevent them from overcoming us.

Where do you need the courage to stay focused on Christ’s presence in your life today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prophetic voices Scripture Transfiguration

A life transfigured

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The Transfiguration is a beautiful feast that both draws us into the glory of God and grounds us in the reality of our daily lives on earth. Peter, James and John are drawn into the mystery and wonder of God’s presence.

In the midst of what started out as an ordinary walk up a mountain they see Jesus transfigured, conversing with Moses and Elijah, and they hear the voice of God speaking from within a cloud:

“This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.”

It must have been a life changing, and life shattering encounter. I can understand their fear, and Peter’s desire to control the situation by building tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

So often when we encounter the reality of God’s mystery we look for ways of taming it, of making manageable and understandable to our human minds. Or, we seek to hang on to the experience, not wanting to leave the place where we have encountered God’s presence.

The Transfiguration moves us beyond both of those natural human responses. It calls us to listen with our whole hearts to the voice of God. It invites us to be open to those moments in our own life when God’s presence breaks through and transfigures our reality.

Yet, even as it allows us to draw strength from such times, it moves us beyond them. It challenges us to listen to Jesus and to allow his presence to transform the ordinariness of our daily lives.

Where is Christ inviting you to allow his presence to transfigure your life today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture

Change and Growth

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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 divisive times 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 allow your mind to be changed today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prophetic voices Scripture

Come to the water

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Today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah is one of my favourites. It’s depiction of the loving and compassionate care that God lavishes on us both soothes me and fills me with hope. Isaiah writes:

“Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk.”

It reminds me that we are the children of a generous and loving God who knows all our needs. Yet, I have to confess it has a new and disconcerting resonance for me this year as I look at an England ravaged by drought and heat wave. Having been brought up in the damp West Coast of Scotland I never really expected to be concerned about water supplies.

I carry this new resonance forward into the other readings for today. In his letter to the Roman St Paul reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. The gospel brings us back to the generosity of God in meeting our needs as Jesus performs the miracle of the loaves and fishes, ensuring that the crowds following him had everything they needed

In challenging and unsettling times these readings carry a promise and a challenge. The challenge calls us to imitate the generosity Isaiah describes and that Jesus demonstrates. It calls us to be generous towards others, however little we have, even as uncertainty urges us in the opposite direction. The promise is in Isaiah’s vision, reinforced by St Paul:

“For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What are the challenges that Christ calls due to face with courage and generosity today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Resurrection Saints Scripture Uncategorized

A warm hearted welcome

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A post from the archives for the feast of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, friends of the Lord, an important feast for Benedictines because 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?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

The treasures of the Kingdom.

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Today’s gospel, the pearl of great price, has always deeply resonated with me. Every time we hear it, I find something new to reflect on. It describes a very regular occurrence in daily life in a way that gives it a whole new perspective.

We so often miss what we seek because it doesn’t match our expectations. I find this happens if I go to get something from a cupboard and it’s not on the shelf or in the container where I expect to find it. It’s almost like my expectation overrides the reality before me.

The description today’s gospel offers of the kingdom of heaven suggests that the same pattern applies when we are seeking the kingdom. Jesus tells the crowds to look out for the kingdom in unexpected places, in the midst of ordinary, unremarkable or even dull things. In the midst of a field or in a pile of oyster shells that might well end up in a dustbin. He says to the crowds:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.”

His words are a call to openness and attentiveness. He calls us to look beyond our expectations and prejudices, to allow ourselves to be surprised by the presence of the kingdom. He calls us to look for the signs of the kingdom not only in great and momentous events and occasions, but in the ordinary, apparently unimportant interactions and encounters of daily life.

Where are you discovering the treasures of the Kingdom in your life today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Prayer Resurrection Saints Scripture

St Mary Magdalene

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Today we are celebrating the feast of St Mary Magdalene, one of the first witnesses to the resurrection, who was sent to tell the disciples that Christ had risen. It’s sometimes easier to say who she wasn’t than who she actually was.

Despite being portrayed through the centuries as the archetypal penitent woman, she’s not the woman taken in adultery. Nor is she the woman who poured oil on the feet of Jesus, anointing him for his burial.

Jesus cast out seven devils from her. So she is a woman marked by the pain of severe mental anguish. It may have been crushing anxiety, debilitating fear, depression or a myriad of other conditions that sap the joy and hope out of life.

Freed of her demons she follows Jesus, supporting him and the other disciples from her own resources. She stayed with him until the very end, standing at the cross with the other women when the rest of the disciples fled. She follows him, even after death, to see where his body has been laid.

Even when he is laid in the tomb her desire to be close to him draws her back to his tomb in the dark of the early morning. It is there, as she stands weeping, that the risen Christ appears to her, and commissions her to proclaim the good news of his resurrection to the other disciples, telling them:

“I have seen the Lord…”

Where is Christ inviting you to seek and proclaim his presence in your life?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Learning Patience

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I have some sympathy with the servants in today’s gospel. Knowing that they have sown good seed in their Masters field they are puzzled and perplexed to find darnel growing amongst the wheat when it begins to sprout and ripen. Their immediate response is to sort the situation out, to under the damage as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

It’s a temptation we all recognise. As soon as something goes wrong in life we want to fix it. Our desire is to stabilise the situation and restore normality, sometimes it even feels like we want to turn the clock back to how things were before they went wrong.

However, when they suggest their quick fix to their master he takes a different view, saying to them:

“No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest time; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: first collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”

His response reminds me of the saying “fools rush in where angels fear to tread”. He suggests a kinder more compassionate approach, allowing things to develop and unfold before taking action. It’s a reminder that, however well-intentioned, a hasty response can sometimes cause more damage than good.

In today’s world when we expect instant responses and instant gratification is it’s especially important to be aware of this. To live by the values of the kingdom we have to accept that it’s rarely possible to easily distinguish good from evil.

It takes discernment to make that call. We have to have the courage and patience to live with uncertainty as we wait for things to unfold or for the full picture to develop.

Where is Christ calling you to pause before acting today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

With Attentive Hearts

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In today’s gospel Jesus once again turns our ideas on their heads. He calls his listeners to step back from their challenging, complex and uncertain lives and discover a new way of being. His alternative is a surprise, even a shock for his listeners.

He doesn’t tell them to pay attention to the learned and the clever, the experts and politicians. Instead he tells them that the mysteries of the kingdom are revealed to children:

“I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.”

As so often happens with the gospel we have become so familiar with this text that we no longer hear the initial surprise at must have caused. Very few people, then or now, really look at children as bearers of wisdom.

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 learned and clever adults, and to look at what we can learn from them.

Children have the capacity for openness and attentiveness that we seem to lose as we grow. When they are involved in some activity they give it their whole attention, it absorbs them completely. To watch that is a delight and a challenge.

We can only ever do one thing at a time, yet we prize multitasking, convincing ourselves that this is a good way to deal with the many things that we have to cope with in any day.

The challenge of today’s gospel is to allow seeking the kingdom to absorb as completely, to give it our whole and complete attention.

Where is Christ calling you to give him your whole attention today?