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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Christmastide Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Come & See

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It’s tempting to tell ourselves that Christmas is over. The world has moved on, many decorations are down. The present giving, parties and gatherings are over and life has gone back to its normal routine. We can be tempted to move on with everyone else, packing the wondrous and challenging feast of the Incarnation away with the dusty decorations.

Yet, these days of Christmastide offer us a real opportunity to spend more time reflecting in the Incarnation. The gospels for the past few days are focussed on recognising Christ’s presence in the midst of ordinary life. Yesterday John the Baptist pointed out Jesus in the street, telling his disciples:

“Look, there is the Lamb of God…”

He goes on to tell how he recognised Jesus as Messiah when he baptised him. The theme carries on in today’s gospel. John once again points Jesus out to his disciples, but there is a new development. This time two of his disciples go after Jesus, asking him where he lives and being invited to “come and see”.

When Andrew brings his brother Peter to meet Jesus the recognition deepens. As Peter recognises Jesus, Jesus recognises something new in Peter. He highlights a quality in Peter that I suspect Peter wasn’t aware of. In that moment of mutual recognition Jesus offers Peter a new name and new life.

These days offer us a quiet moment of mutual recognition with Christ, allowing us to recognise his presence with us and opening our hearts to allow him to being recognised by him.

Where is Christ inviting you to recognise his presence in your life?

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Seeking Christ

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As we head back to work after the Christmas holidays it can be easy to forget that Christmastide is not over. We are still in the midst of the Christmas season, still celebrating the miracle of the Incarnation, of God is taking human form. As so often happens with liturgy the tone changes in these days before Epiphany.

Until now we have focused on the miracle of God’s presence made manifest in our midst. Today’s gospel brings us back to John the Baptist, with his call to alertness, to actively looking for Christ’s presence. He is quick to point away from himself towards Christ:

“I am not the Christ…I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

His words remind us that we are called to be constantly seeking God. We are to seek God not just in the obvious places, as we stand on or before the crib, as we pray, as we come together to worship and celebrate the newborn King.

We are also called to seek Christ’s presence in every aspect of our lives. However unlikely it might seem to us every encounter, every activity, every engagement is an opportunity to discover the presence of Christ.

This process doesn’t happen automatically. If we are to discover Christ’s presence in every situation we have to be prepared to take a risk. We have to risk softening our hearts and opening them to the possibility of Christ being present even in situations that challenge us and make us uncomfortable.

Where is Christ challenging you to be open to his presence in unexpected situations this Christmastide?

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Advent Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel John the Baptist Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

Finding Direction.

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John the Baptist is one of the main figures of Advent. He is both an uncomfortable and challenging figure. Like so many of the other prophets, he is clearly an outsider, living on the fringes of his society.

Yet his message is clear and central. The Messiah is on his way, and we, like John’s first listeners, are called to prepare ourselves for that coming:

“A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”

We hear these words every year, read, sung, performed. They are so familiar that it’s easy for us to dismiss their impact for us today. As we rush from pillar to post, busy with Christmas preparations, they can become part of the general background noise of this time of year, words we hear but don’t really listen to.

If, however, we are able to pause and allow them to sink into our hearts they have the potential to be life changing. They carry the question of how we are to prepare for this coming. John also has the answer to that, as he goes through the district calling people to repentance.

He calls us to prepare for the coming of Messiah by looking at where our lives might have to change. Repentance calls us to pause, look at the direction of our lives taking, and to ask ourselves if we need to change direction so that we can be orientated once again towards Christ change direction so that we are re-orientated towards Christ.

What helps you to reflect on the direction your life is taking this Advent?


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Endurance and Courage

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Today’s gospel is such an uncomfortable read that my heart sank a little when I first picked it up. Jesus warns his disciples to expect persecution, imprisonment and betrayal because they have chosen to follow him. While we all know this is part of the cost discipleship we are all too willing to push it to the back of our minds. This is something none of us want to experience, and we prefer to concentrate on the positive, focusing our attention on God’s love, and on the promise of new life.

At first glance it could seem like today’s gospel negates that promise, but that is not what Jesus is saying. He is taking a very realistic and direct view of life, which we all know involves suffering, pain, betrayal and persecution. He tells us that suffering can’t be avoided or run from:

“You will be hated by all people on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.”

In hard, challenging times we need the realistic hope he offers more than ever. Not the false hope that we can avoid suffering by choosing to follow him, but the real promise that whatever we suffer he will be there with us, supporting us, giving us the courage to endure and the the wisdom and strength we need to live in difficult times.

What hope is Christ offering you in the difficulties you face today?

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The call of the King

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The feast of Christ the King can be challenging. We know that the kingdom Jesus promises is based on a different value system to our human institutions. Yet this feast can bring to mind those human institutions, secular and religious, that have both used and abused power. In our times, when institutions and authorities are often viewed with suspicion, it carries particular challenges. This makes it an uncomfortable celebration and we can be tempted to walk away from it or underplay it.

I find that the parts of our Christian heritage that are most uncomfortable are the ones that need the most attention. If I can face the discomfort, and look beyond the surface they often yield a rich and unexpected harvest. Today I’ve gone back to the Baptismal call that anoints each of us as priest, prophet and king, called to unite with Christ in making his kingdom a reality:

God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into his holy people. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.”

This puts the whole notion of kingship into a new context, pointing to me back to the example of Jesus in the gospels. It is a kingship based on service, love, compassion and kindness. There is no arrogance or judgement in it. This is a kingship that we can all share in by serving others with love and compassion wherever we can.

As we celebrate the feast of Christ the King where are you being invited to live out your baptismal call today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prophetic voices Scripture Uncategorized

The signs of the times.

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I always find the more apocalyptic scriptures unsettling and disturbing. The imagery in today’s gospel of darkening sun and falling stars seems more designed to cause anxiety than anything else. It’s more likely to distract me than to help me discover the presence of God. Yet that is not why Jesus uses it in his conversation with his disciples. He’s pointing out these signs not to frighten them, but so that they can avoid being distracted and led astray.

He can’t give them the certainty they crave by telling them the date or time of the second coming, but he can give them a new awareness. He’s seeking to help them discern the signs of the time, to see beyond the drama and the turmoil to the hope he promises. He says to them:

“Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates.”

His words are a call to pay attention and prepare for the coming of Christ they’re also a call to discernment. They have a particular resonance in our challenging and unsettling times, when we can too easily fall into anxiety and hopelessness about so many areas of life and of the world. He calls us to stay focussed on him and his promise whatever is going on. As we come to the end of the Church’s year Jesus is calling us to be alert and ready for the signs of his presence with us whatever we are living through.

As we approach the last week of the liturgical year where is Christ calling you to be attentive to his presence?

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Challenged to love.

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Today I’m reflecting on the conversation between Jesus and one of the Scribes in the gospel. It’s not clear if the scribe is trying to catch Jesus out on this occasion, or if he is genuinely seeking understanding. Either way, Jesus decides to take the question at face value, treating it a genuine request for greater understanding. Having being asked by the scribe about the first of the commandments he replied:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart…You must love your neighbour as yourself.”

It takes us back to the heart of the gospel and reminds us that love is the core of our faith. Today I’m also struck by the way Jesus demonstrates that love in his conversation with the scribe. Jesus puts aside the fact that the question comes from a group that often disagreed with even condemned him. It would have been so easy to respond with a put down or a sharp retort. Instead Jesus responds with love to the scribe’s question, answering sincerely and respectfully, and ending the conversation by saying:

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

It seems to me that this is a valuable example for us today. Our challenging times make it very easy to hear a criticism in every question and to respond with defensiveness or even aggression until the situation spirals downwards and relationships falter. Jesus shows us another way to respond. I can’t help wondering how our public and private conversations would be if we followed his example of responding with respect and love.

Where is Christ calling you to respond with love when your views are questioned?

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Recognising Christ

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If we were to look for a role model among the followers of Jesus, it’s unlikely that Bartimaeus would be the first person to spring to mind. His circumstances, disability and poverty seem to put him outside the circle of possible role models.

But, as always the ways of the Kingdom turn our human values on their heads. With reflection we can see that there’s much more to Bartimaeus than appearances suggest. When he calls out to Jesus he has a clear idea of who he believes Jesus to be and of his own need of salvation. He calls out:

“Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.”

His words show a man of faith, who knows his need of God, and is willing to take the risk of trusting that God. He is a man of courage and persistence, who refuses to allow himself to be silenced by the negative response from those around him. His persistence is rewarded when Jesus, ignoring the attempts to silence him, calls him over asking him:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Jesus makes no assumptions or judgements about Bartimaeus or his circumstances, instead allowing him to speak freely and openly. When he does so Jesus recognises and names him as a man of faith saying:

“Go; your faith has saved you.”

Bartimaeus challenges us to ask ourselves where we recognise our need of Christ and if we have the courage, like him to cry out that need until Christ turns and sees us.

What helps you to recognise your need of Christ’s life changing presence in your life today?

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The Peace of Christ

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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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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?