Category: Discernment

Categories
Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture Uncategorized

Loving service

Photo by Hc Digital unsplash.com

Today’s gospel is a very direct reminder that our faith is to bear fruit in our lives. Jesus illustrates this by telling his disciples a story of how his kingdom will be. It’s an uncomfortable read, full of challenge.

It reminds us that having decided to follow Christ, and committed ourselves to his kingdom every aspect of our lives has to change. We have to change the way we see the world.

We are to discover Christ in everything, in creation, in our work and home lives, in the people we love, and perhaps most especially in the people we find challenging or difficult.

Jesus is very clear, when we encounter people in any sort of need, we encounter him. We are to treat them as we would treat Christ. This clearly surprised his first listeners, so much that he had to make it very explicit:

“I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these sisters and brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

We are so used to hearing this that it doesn’t have much of an impact on us. We know it from the Gospels, we hear it echoed in the Rule of St Benedict. We often acknowledge the sentiment without pausing to examine how our behaviour matches it.

Lent is a good time to revisit our behaviour. There is the possibility of a new beginning here. We can choose to look for ways to help and support those in need, to ensure that they are treated with dignity and respect.

Where is Christ inviting you to begin to look for ways to support those around you this Lent?

Categories
Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Rule of St Benedict Scripture

A hard beginning.

Photo by Juli Kosolapova on unsplash.com

Inspired by Sister Laurentia John’s book: “The Way of Benedict: Eight Blessings for Lent.” I’ll be reflecting on a different blessing each week in Lent through the lens of the Scripture readings and of the Rule of St Benedict.

The first blessing is BEGINNING. Chaim Potok’s book “In the beginning”, opens with this phrase, “all beginnings are hard…” This is something I often choose to forget. I prefer to focus on the promise, hope and possibility that a new beginning offers us.

However much our beginnings overflow with possibility, and they are also hard. Beginnings don’t come with guarantees. Each beginning requires us to step out in trust into the unknown, that is challenging and unsettling.

This is highlighted by today’s gospel. We see Jesus stepping out into a new beginning. Immediately after his baptism when he is acknowledged by God as “beloved son” we’re told:

“Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

It’s hard to imagine a harder beginning than that. Part of me wants to shy away from it, to look for a gentler start to this journey that we are called to imitate.

Yet Jesus doesn’t shy away from this hard beginning. He faces the challenge of each temptation head-on. His courage and perseverance lead him through the temptations until we hear:

“Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.”

His example offers us hope. Whatever hard beginnings our own Lent brings, we can trust that we too will find blessings to sustain us on that journey.

What blessing do you most need to begin your journey this Lent?

Categories
Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Divine Office Lent Liturgy Scripture Uncategorized

Sacred space

The encounter between God and Moses at the burning bush is one of my favourites, it sets the tone for the whole of Lent. There are certain places that we think of as “holy”. There are places we go to deliberately to seek God.

It might be a church or a prayer room, or a corner of our house that we use as a prayer space. There can also be places outside where we feel it is easier to connect with God. We sometimes call these “thin places”, they are often places of great natural beauty.

Moses is in the midst of a very ordinary activity on an ordinary day. He’s not in any place that’s officially marked as holy or religious or anywhere particularly beautiful.

It’s in the ordinary that God reaches out to Moses, using his curiosity about the “strange sight” of the burning bush to draw him into a conversation. As soon as Moses draws close God call out to him:

“Take off your shoes…for the place on which you stand is holy ground.”

Lent gives us the opportunity to reflect on what that means in today’s fragmented world. God offers Moses a promise and a challenge. The promise is that God will be with him whatever he faces.

God also challenge him to go out of his comfort zone in ways he could never have imagined. We also receive that promise and are challenged to move beyond the boundaries where we feel safe and comfortable.

Where are you being invited to discover the promise & challenge of holy ground in your life this Lent?

Categories
Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Divine Office Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Prophetic voices Scripture Uncategorized

Making a choice

Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on unsplash.com

Lent is a call to refocus our attention on the really important things in life. It acknowledges that the stresses and strains we face every day can draws away from our true purpose. We can get so caught up in these that we forget the truly important things, and turned towards things that are not good for us. In today’s first reading God calls Moses to give the people a choice that will call them back to their true purpose:

“I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live in the love of the Lord your God, obeying his voice, clinging to him; for in this your life consists…”

His words are just as relevant for us, especially in Lent. All our Lent practices aim to bring us back to what is truly life giving. They remind us that the only truly life-giving choice is to turn to God, the source of all life so that we can live in God’s presence and shape our life by God’s love. The gift of life however does not come automatically.

As Moses points out we have to actively choose what is life-giving. On the surface that seems easy, but it is not always that straightforward. Often, at the outset at least the life denying choice appears easier or more comfortable, while the life-giving choice can feel harder and more challenging.

Our Lent practices help us discern what is truly life giving. They can help us decide what we have to let go of so that the things that are truly life giving can find the space to flourish and grow.

How are your Lent practices helping you to choose life?

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

Shedding light

Photo by Jamie Street on unsplash.com

Living in challenging and frightening times it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. So much in our societies seem broken that fixing them seems beyond us. This can lead us into despair and hopelessness. We can be tempted to give, feeling that there’s nothing we can do to fix things.

Today’s gospel calls us to take a different view. Jesus reminds us that we have already received his light. This offers real consolation in these dark times. However, Jesus doesn’t only console us he challenges us saying:

“No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of all people, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”

His challenge is clear, his light is not just a consoling individual gift, it is a gift we are called to use and share. It’s not something to keep safe and hidden, but something we are to hold aloft to help push back the darkness that threatens to engulf our world.

Those are fine words, but it can be hard to know how to put them into practice. In the first reading Isaiah gives us some very clear and direct guidance about that, saying:

“If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word, if you give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed, your light will rise in the darkness, and your shadows become like noon.”

His words give make it very clear, we bring Christ’s light to the world by the way we treat others. We do it by showing kindness and compassion, by helping and supporting where we can. It’s a call to look out for those little acts and encounters that can brighten people’s days and lighten their burdens as they lived through challenging times.

Where is Christ inviting you to become the light of the world today?

Categories
Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Who is this?

Photo by Ana Municio on unsplash.com

In today’s gospel Jesus returns to his hometown after a time of travelling, preaching the gospel and healing. We might expect that they welcome him with open arms. We might hope that the people who knew him best, who watched him grow up which trust him and believe in him. Instead, they were puzzled, unsettled and confused. They said to one another:

“What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon?”

I can understand their response. It’s disconcerting at best when somebody we know starts to behave in a different way. We can feel uncomfortable and even judged if they start to question our familiar ways of being, ways that we thought they accepted as we do.

It’s an experience many of us will of us will have had in our own lives. Such situations can be painful and undermining. The gospel shows how fully human Jesus was. It seems to me that he, like us, was hurt and was thrown by their response, so much so that:

“He could work no miracle there…”

Such situations can lead us to blame one another, and that increases the hurt, and can lead to disagreement and bitterness. Jesus does none of these things. He sees the situation, acknowledges his own pain, but does not blame the townspeople.

He holds a mirror up to us, inviting and challenging us to look at our own behaviour and to put aside that temptation to blame, leaving the door open for reconciliation.

Where is Christ challenging you to put aside the temptation to blame today?

Categories
Beatitudes Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Seeking Hope

Photo by Faris Mohammed on unsplash.com

I normally think of the Beatitudes as full of promise and invitation so I was a bit surprised the two words that jumped out at me from today’s gospel were “calumny” and “persecuted”. On reflection I realised that given the times we are living in I maybe shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was. This has left me pondering a dilemma, how do we allow ourselves to trust the promises and invitation Christ gives us when life is hard, challenging and uncertain?

The Beatitudes invite us to:

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

It seems to me that this is a real possibility when life is relatively easy, or at least seems manageable. It’s a lot harder to hold onto that promise, and respond to the Christ’s invitation in hard times. We can of course spiritualise the Beatitudes, telling ourselves that the promise is for eternal life, and not for this earthly life.

If I’m honest that doesn’t seem to be quite enough to sustain us through challenging times. Christ’s invitation, his call to rejoice, and his promise of is new life as much to sustain us in this earthly life as they are for the next.

Even when it feels like we are surrounded on all sides by calumny and persecution he calls us to discover glimmers of blessings, love and hope in the most unlikely of circumstances. This is the challenge that comes with the promise and invitation of the Beatitudes.

Where is Christ challenging you to look for glimmers of hope today?

Categories
Baptism Beatitudes Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Ecumenism Lectio Divina Liturgy Prophetic voices Scripture

Called to be one.

Image by Susann Schuster on unsplash.jpg

A post from the archives for the week of prayer for Christian Unity. In his letter to the Colossians St Paul writes:

“Clothe yourselves in heartfelt compassion, in generosity and in humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must do the same. Over all these, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body.”

His words are an inspiration and a challenge. They show us the best that the Christian community can be, and they remind us of how often we fall short of that ideal within and between our denominations.

This has particular resonance as I reflect on our ecumenical journey. We all stand in need of forgiveness, having misjudged and misinterpreted the insights, gifts and intentions of other denominations. At other times we have all been able to take the risk of reaching out towards other Christians in ways that have brought healing and moved us closer to unity than we could ever have dreamt of.

Many of our denominations and churches are dealing with internal situations that take most of their energy and resources. That is understandable and necessary, but it can make ecumenism feel like its on the backburner.

My hope is that we have learned to love and respect each other enough be able to bear with one another in compassion, generosity and gentleness in a way that allows us the freedom to take the space to deal with internal issues without losing sight of the ground we have gained. Then, when the time is right we will be ready and able to take the next steps in our ecumenical journey together.

In this week of prayer for Christian Unity where are you inspired to be generous and compassionate?

Categories
Baptism Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel John the Baptist Lectio Divina Prayer Prophetic voices Saints Scripture

Light of the Nations

Photo by Daiga Ellaby on unsplash.com

Today’s readings are about call and response. Isaiah and St Paul reflect on their call to take the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth. In the gospel John recognises Jesus in the crowd and proclaims him as the Messiah. Reflecting on their accounts inevitably draws us back to reflect on our own call:

“I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah, St Paul and St John all heard and responded to some version of this call. Their responses may have looked different on the surface, and led them in apparently different directions. This shouldn’t come as a surprise because they lived in different times, faced different situations and had different personalities and skills. This meant that they each had to spend time reflecting on what it meant for them to become “the light to the nations” in their particular situations.

Through baptism we are also called by God to be “a light to the nations”. While the heart of that call is the same as the one heard by Isaiah, St Paul and St John the practicalities of what it will look like in the particular challenges we face today are different. So today’s readings are a call to discern how to I can best bring the light of Christ love to people today in ways that will lighten their burdens and offer consolation.

How are you being called to bring the light of Christ’s love to the people around you today?

Categories
Benedictine Spirituality Christ Christmastide Discernment Gospel John the Baptist Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Seekers of wisdom

Image by Myriams-Fotos from pixabay.com

A post from the archives for the 10th day of Christmas. I’m always grateful for these days between Christmas and Epiphany. After the busyiness of our celebrations they give us an opportunity to reflect more quietly on this great gift of the Incarnation. They give us the opportunity connect the Christ child in the manger to the adult Jesus who calls and challenges us.

They give us the opportunity to follow the example of the Magi, still on their journey. These wise men spent their lives seeking truth and wisdom. It led them on a long and unlikely journey.

In today’s gospel we encounter another seeker of truth, John the Baptist. He’s also a man dedicated to seeking truth and pointing out the presence of Christ when he discovered it. When he sees Jesus coming towards him he tells the crowd:

“Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

His pointing out Christ’s presence offers us hope. He makes us aware that Christ is there waiting for us with an invitation, a challenge and a promise. We’re all too aware of the sin that touches our lives and our world. We know the issues it raises can seem insurmountable and leave us feeling desperate and hopeless.

John’s words remind us that, however desperate we might feel there is hope. Jesus invites us to to seek truth and wisdom and to follow him on a journey that will challenge us and lead us into new life in his presence.

How are you being called to seek truth and wisdom in these days before Epiphany?