Category: Discernment

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Resurrection Scripture

Christ’s Chosen

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CHOSEN

Today’s Eastertide word is CHOSEN. We live surrounded by choices that often require a lot of time, thought and effort. This can give us a sense of control, but if I’m honest it also manages to feel both overwhelming and limiting.

We can cause ourselves a lot of anxiety in our efforts to make the “right” choice in every situation. On the surface it looks like this myriad of choices is a good thing, that’s not always the case

Jesus brings a whole new perspective to the idea of choice, reminding us that, in his love, he chose us first. His words draw me to a deeper reality that is both truer and more liberating. He says to his disciples:

“You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last…”

His words go to the heart of our Christian vocation, recalling the words of psalmist quoted by St Benedict:

“Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days?”

In our yearning for life all we have to do is to respond to the choice Christ has made. So I find these gospel words both hopeful and humbling. They remind me that my role is to listen and respond.

They call me back to humility, telling me that control is not in my hands, but in the hands of Christ. They fill me with hope as they tell me I am already chosen. Christ has already chosen me, and each one of us, and is waiting with love for us to respond to his call to new life.

How are you responding to being chosen by Christ this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

A moment of stillness

REMAIN

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Today’s Eastertide word is REMAIN. It’s a call to stillness in the midst of a busy, action packed season. Eastertide is so full of movement and momentum as the disciples discover the resurrection and rush to share its joy and hope.

We see it in Mary Magdalene setting out before dawn, in Peter and John racing each other to the tomb, in the disciples on the road to Emmaus turning round and rushing back to Jerusalem. This carries on in the Acts of the Apostles as the disciples begin to teach, preach and establish their new community.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells the disciples to:

“Remain in my love.”

His words are a call to pause and ground ourselves in the love of the risen Christ. It’s not a call to walk away from preaching, teaching and sharing the good news. Rather, it’s a call to ensure that all of those actions grow out from a time of stillness in the presence of the risen Christ.

That’s not always an easy call to hear especially in a world that values busyness and productivity. We are generally more comfortable being active than we are being still.

Yet, if we desire to embrace the new life the risen Christ promises, we have to learn to be still in his presence. We have to risk letting go of all our activity and busyness, and let his call to new life echo through our hearts.

Where is Christ calling you to be still in his presence this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Resurrection Scripture

Taught by the Spirit

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TEACH

Today’s Eastertide word is TEACH. In today’s gospel Jesus is teaching his disciple about the centrality of love in all relationships. He tells them that it is central to his relationship with the Father, to his relationship with the disciples and to the disciples’ relationships with one another.

He knows they will not understand everything. So, he has a backup. He promises them that when he goes to the Father, he will send the Holy Spirit to remind them of everything taught them and to show them how to put it into practice:

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”

This his words, and his example, reminds me that teaching is a relational activity. It is only really effective when it’s based on a relationship of trust, openness and mutual respect. Jesus invites and challenges us to allow him to teach us everything he knows about love and relationship.

To truly learn from his teaching we have to come to him with open hearts. If his teaching is to do more than skim the surface of our lives we have to be vulnerable in his presence and to be open to change.

To allow him to teach us to love we need the humility to admit what we don’t know. Like the disciples we have to take the risk of bringing him our questions and uncertainties. Then, we have to be prepared to allow his responses to puzzle us and to change us.

What do you most need the risen Christ to teach you this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Resurrection Scripture

Mystery and revelation

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MYSTERY

Throughout Eastertide we’ve seen the risen Christ appear to his disciple in moments of revelation and MYSTERY. We’ve also been listening to those parts of John’s Gospel where Jesus explains to the disciples who he really is.

He shares with them the nature of his relationship with his Father which is the foundation of who he truly is and of his ministry.

His explanations are moments of both revelation and of deepening MYSTERY. He repeatedly tells the disciples “I AM…” A phrase that both explains who he is, and recalls the God of the burning bush.

He explains to them the mysterious reality of his union with the Father, describing a deep union that we can only dimly grasp:

“I am in the Father and the Father is in me…”

Eastertide both reveals the risen Christ in the midst of our daily lives and shrouds him in mystery. It shows us his absolute humanness as he walks alongside his disciples, explaining the Scriptures, sharing food with them and even cooking and breakfast.

It also, as true revelation must, shows us the utter difference between our human experience and his divinity. In times like ours that want simple facts and easy truths it can be especially hard to hold those two truths in balance.

It’s tempting to tip over one way or the other, either focusing entirely on humanity of Jesus or on his divinity. Eastertide calls us to continually strive to acknowledge the tension and hold them in balance.

How is the mystery of the risen Christ touching your life this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Resurrection Scripture

Led by the Truth

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TRUTH

TRUTH is essential for human flourishing and engagement. We need it in our personal relationships and in our societies. It helps us discern what is authentic and real. It enables us to decide who and what to trust. It alerts us to times when we need to be cautious and wary.

For centuries this has been fairly straightforward. Although there have been some differences it has been relatively easy to discover where TRUTH lies in most situations and circumstances. A broadly acceptable consensus has been maintained. This balance has required discernment, nuance and compromise.

In recent times that has changed. We have moved towards a completely individual interpretation of TRUTH which enables each of us to develop and identify with our own version of the truth, regardless of how others might perceive it.

This seems to give us a great deal of personal freedom and integrity. It also leaves us facing a multitude of TRUTHS, claiming equal validity. This is confusing covering up falsehood, increasing division and mistrust.

In today’s gospel Jesus gives us an answer:

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…”

His words remind me that if we give our attention to following him, he will lead us to the TRUTH. If we give this our full attention, he will guide us through the myriad uncertainties we face. He will show us the way to rediscover the TRUTH of his everlasting love that draws us into new life.

Where is the risen Christ offering to lead you into the truth this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Saints Scripture

Disrupted by resurrection

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DISRUPTION

There’s nothing comfortable about DISRUPTION, yet, it’s a word that we can’t avoid in Eastertide. The very fact of the resurrection is a disruption of everything we know about the nature of life.

All of the resurrection appearances carry an element of disruption for the disciples. In different ways everyone who meets the risen Christ has their lives disrupted in lifechanging and unimaginable ways.

Today I’m reflecting on the conversion of St Paul. It’s hard to imagine a more disruptive encounter with the Risen Christ than Saul’s. As he dashes around the country persecuting Christians, his world is literally upended as he is thrown off his horse. The disruption continues after his fall when, Jesus tells him:

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

He is led into Damascus, blinded and shaken to wait until Ananias arrives to restore his sight and baptise him. Luke tells us he then begins to proclaim that Jesus is the son of God:

“Immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.“

Saul moves from persecuting Christians to proclaiming the gospel. It may be that such a transformation is only possible after such a great disruption. It’s not surprising that the new creation we become in the risen Christ requires a certain amount of disruption.

To welcome him into our hearts our whole understanding and experience have to shift. We have to surrender control and allow our lives to be thoroughly disrupted.

Where is the risen Christ challenging you to allow him to disrupt your life this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Called to believe.

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BELIEVE

Throughout the Resurrection appearances Jesus is encouraging his disciples to BELIEVE. With each appearance he encourages and challenges them to believe that what he told them has come to pass.

He challenges them to believe the witness of their own eyes when what they see before them seems truly unbelievable. In last Sunday’s gospel he tells Thomas to move on from his doubting, saying to him:

“Doubt no longer, but believe.”

It’s a call to believe that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God that’s echoed in today’s gospel. His popularity has increased as a result of the feeding of the five thousand.

Jesus knows that the crowds have been attracted by the food producing miracle rather than by faith in his message. Vital as that is he calls them to go deeper, seeking beyond the surface for the real meaning of his action, that brings life and hope. He says to them:

“Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.”

His words carry a particular challenge for us. In our world that endlessly promotes image with little concern for truth it can be hard to discern what to believe. There is an answer to that dilemma in Jesus’ response to the crowd:

“You must believe in the one God has sent.”

The risen Christ invites us to BELIEVE in him even though, in our broken and damaged world, that is not always easy. He calls us to BELIEVE that he is with us, offering us new life in the midst of our brokenness.

How is the risen Christ inviting you to deepen your belief in him this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Resurrection Scripture

With Fears Calmed

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FEAR

FEAR is another word we don’t often connect with Eastertide. Yet there is a plenty of fear in the resurrection gospels as the disciples try to process all that has gone on. Today’s gospel reflects the disruption of that time. Our own stormy times make it easier to identify with the disciples response to the unexpected storm that threatens them.

I imagine them longing for rest and the opportunity to process some of the strange events they’ve witnessed over the previous days. As darkness falls and they climb into the boat they must have been hoping for a quiet, peaceful crossing to Capernaum.

It wasn’t to be, as they get further from the shore the wind and the waves get stronger and a storm blows up. They find themselves buffeted on all sides as wave after wave threatens to overwhelm their small boat.

Struggling to control the boat they see Jesus walking towards them across the water. Initially his appearance seems to do little to help their situation. The strange sight of him walking towards them over the stormy lake only increases their already mounting fear. Then Jesus speaks to them, and everything changes:

“It is I, do not be afraid.”

His words offer them consolation and calms their fears and they reach the shore safely. As we face our own stormy times we too need to hear Christ’s voice calming our fears and assuring us that, with his grace we will come through our storms.

Where do you need to hear the risen Christ calming your fears this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Resurrection Scripture

Into the light

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LIGHT

Today’s word is LIGHT. Our times seem to be growing increasingly dark. In every direction it seems that life is getting harder. The cost of living crisis leaves people struggling to feed their families.

The disruption and suffering of war affects more and more people. The world order that we thought was stable & secure appears to be crumbling before our eyes, leaving life feeling unsettled and vulnerable.

In such times it’s hard to see how any light could penetrate the gloom. As the struggles of daily life get harder we can easily forget the light Christ brings us.

We can even be scared of what it might expose in our lives and relationships. Today’s gospel, part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, speaks to this dilemma.

Like us, Nicodemus lived in precarious times. A wealthy man, walked a thin line between the Roman occupying forces and commitment to his own people and faith. Jesus challenges him to step away from the darkness into the light of God’s love:

“Those who live by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what they do is done in God.”

We too need and desire this love. We know that this is the light that will lead us through the darkness of our times to the new life offered by the risen Christ. It’s a light that will expose our darknesses. It’s also the light that will heal our wounds and allow us to grow and flourish in the presence of the light of the risen Christ.

Where is Christ calling you to come out into the light of his love this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Called to Action

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ACTION

ACTION is at the heart of Eastertide. It starts with the women stepping out in the dark to anoint the body of Jesus and carries on to the proclamation of the Good News at Pentecost.

The message is clear Eastertide is a dynamic time, full new discoveries and developments. That can give it a real buzz. It can seem attractive and exciting, with the potential to change the world.

Yet, living in busy, frenetic times likes ours, I’m aware that “action” can be double edged. We know all to well that it can lead to a restless busyiness than can leave us feeling rootless and unfocussed. That is not the “action” that the resurrection calls us to embrace.

The “action” that Eastertide calls us to embrace is grounded in the recognition of the risen Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This action has an inner and outer aspect. The disciples’ actions grew from a whole range of experiences.

They’ve faced the failure of having run away, having cowered in locked rooms, doubted one another and even their own experience. Having faced this mixed bag of experiences Peter and John are able to return to the community from prison. Then having prayed together they are able to see how to act:

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.”

Our world desperately needs us to take action that will bring the light of the risen Christ to the people and situations we encounter. It’s action that needs to be grounded in, but not stop with, prayer.

What action is the risen Christ calling you to this Eastertide?