Category: Discernment

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prophetic voices Scripture

Shedding light

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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?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Who is this?

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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?

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Beatitudes Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Seeking Hope

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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?

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

Called to be one.

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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?

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Light of the Nations

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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?

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

Seekers of wisdom

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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?

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

Waiting and hoping

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Something from the archives for the 6 day of Christmas. So many of the characters in the nativity are outsiders. This is a story that unfolds first in the lives of the marginalised, they are the ones who first recognise and proclaim the Messiah.

Today’s gospel focuses on one of those characters, the prophetess Anna. An older woman, long widowed she choses to live out her days in the Temple, praying and fasting. I can imagine that she’d have appeared at best a little unusual, as older women who defy norms so often do.

Yet, regardless of the opinions of others, she had a clear idea of what she was called to do. She was called to a life of waiting and watching for the coming of the Messiah. In doing that she was living out the call of her people who had been waiting and hoping for this through centuries when hope seemed impossible.

No one knew what the Messiah would look like, but no one, including Anna, would have expected him to appear as a vulnerable baby reliant on others for every need. Her life of faithful prayer and her life on the margins prepared her to recognise the Messiah, opening her heart to see beyond surface appearance.

Having recognised the Messiah her next step becomes clear:

“She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.”

This is not news she is to keep to herself, instead she is called to proclaim his presence to all those who had been waiting and hoping for the coming of the Messiah.

Where are you being called to proclaim Christ’s presence this Christmastide?

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Advent Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy O Clavis David Rule of St Benedict

O Clavis David. Choosing freedom.

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Today at Vespers we’ll sing the 4th O antiphon, O Clavis David, O key of David”:

“O key of David, and ruler of the house of Israel: who open and none can close: close and none may open: come bring out of prison the captive who sits in darkness and the shadow of death.”

It speaks of a deep and powerful yearning for freedom that lives within all of us. We each long for freedom from all that would restrict our growth and development. We desire the freedom to become the people we are called to be, to nurture the talents we’ve each been given.

This yearning for freedom is deeply personal and individual, yet there is more to it that that. The past few years have taught us some hard lessons about freedom. The pandemic, the suffering of war, the economic crisis, the worsening ecological situation all point to the fact that this freedom we desire can’t only be a personal, individual freedom.

It has also to be a communal freedom, a freedom that is willing to sacrifice individual freedoms for the common good. It has to be a freedom that is willing to put the needs of others before our own.

In chapter 72 of the Rule St Benedict tells us that Christ brings us “all together” to everlasting life. It seems to me the same is true of the freedom Christ offers us, we accept it for each other as much as for ourselves.

What would enable you to accept the freedom Christ offers this Advent?

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Advent Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Being Ready

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Today I’m reflecting on the responsorial psalm, (psalm 121, 122). It’s a part of the liturgy that I can be inclined to overlook. It’s the song of praise of a pilgrim who has reached their destination and found their home in the house of the Lord.

The struggles and hardships of the journey are behind them and they can rest in the Lord’s presence, full of thankfulness, joy and hope In dark and challenging times it’s good to remember that Advent calls us to prepare in hope for a joyous homecoming:

“I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’ And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.”

It may seem strange to start Advent with a Psalm that focuses on the journey’s end rather than its beginning. Yet, in practice we rarely set out on any sort of journey without some idea of our destination in mind. In today’s gospel Jesus calls us to:

“Stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

As we stand ready to seek his presence in Advent, psalm 122 (121) reminds us that goal of this journey is bring us home to God’s presence in our lives and in our hearts. Whatever challenges and uncertainties we face along the way we carry a promise that offers joy and hope that can never be taken away.

As we start out on our Advent journey how are you preparing your heart to receive the promise of joy and hope Christ offers?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

In the hands of God.

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Today’s gospel is very direct about where following Christ might lead us, and it’s not a comforting picture. Jesus tells his disciples that they will be persecuted, exiled and imprisoned. This is something that none of us want to face any more than the disciples did.

Common sense tells us that if we do have to face it, we want to have our arguments and strategies honed and ready. We want to be able to answer for ourselves, convince others and so when the day. I am a planner, I like to feel prepared for every situation. So I am immediately challenged when Jesus says to his disciples:

“You are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.”

His words go against all my natural inclinations to the extent that they almost seem like madness. Yet, they also call to a new way of being. They are call to let go of my need to be in control. The required that I admit that maybe I don’t have all the answers and I can’t fix everything.

They are a call to trust that Jesus will always be at my side, leading me and protecting me, whatever I face. They are a call to allow myself to be vulnerable in the presence of Christ, fully aware of my limitations and failings. His words compel me to accept that I can’t bring about my salvation by myself, it is purely the result of his grace and gift.

Where are you being called to trust in God’s grace in your life today?