Category: Discernment

Transformation

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 28/04/2025

Photo by Nkululeko Mabena on unsplash.com

I’m struck by what the contrast there is between the Acts of the Apostles and the Easter gospels. In the Easter Gospels, even as the resurrection is proclaimed to them the disciples are afraid and traumatised. They hide away, fearing for their lives and struggling to belief the accounts of the resurrection appearances that they’re hearing.

What feels like a short time later they present a very different reality. After Peter and John are released from prison they join the rest of the community and we hear that:

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

It’s a startling change that speaks to the power of the risen Christ to shape and change lives. After all their struggles and uncertainties their encounter with the Risen Christ and his Holy Spirit has brought them to a new place. I’m guessing that’s something they could never have imagined or hoped for. Certainly in the days after the crucifixion it must have seemed an impossibility.

They have been created anew. Having encountered the risen Christ, they are able to find the courage and passion to share their stories. They are able to speak out boldly in their challenging times, sharing the word of God and proclaiming the resurrection.

We too live in challenging and uncertain times. The risen Christ invites us to allow him to transform our lives so that we, like the disciples can find ways of sharing the good news of resurrection in ways that touch hearts and minds today.

Where is the risen Christ calling you to proclaim his word this Eastertide?

Tags #ActsOfTheApostles, #Benedictine, #challenge, #eastertide, #GoodNews, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #proclaim, #resurrection, #Scripture, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture Truth

Freed by Truth.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 09/04/2025

Image by lechenie-narkomanii pixabay.com

The 36th word in my Lent lexicon is:

TRUTH.

Truth matters. Our relationships and societies rely on basic underlying truths that are generally accepted and agreed upon. If we are to live well and flourish we need to be able to discern what is true and what isn’t. This applies to personal, institutional and societal relationships. If we don’t know who or what to believe it becomes impossible to trust, and to live with hope.

It seems to me that this was once a fairly straightforward concept. We could mostly recognise truth. Even with disagreements and differences we could mostly agree on what was true. In recent times that seems to have become less and less the case.

We live in a “post-truth society” without ever stopping to ask ourselves if that leads to human flourishing or what essential human qualities it undermines. It does protect individualism, so that “my truth” can be different to “your truth” and neither of us has to give way of compromise.

Jesus addresses truth in today’s gospel, Jesus takes a different view:

“If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples, you will learn the truth and the truth will make you free.”

The truth he speaks of is not optional. Can lead us to true freedom, a freedom that is not about self-interest or individualism, but about the common good. He’s not talking “post-truth”, that cuts out the need for engagement or compromise.

The truth he offers us will challenge us and call us to let go of many things we hold dear, and it will lead us to true freedom.

How is Christ’s truth leading you to freedom this Lent?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #CommonGood, #compromise, #discernment, #freedom, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #trust, #Truth

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Letting go of prejudice.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 05/04/2025

Photo by Anita Jankovic on /unsplash.com

The 32 word in my Lent lexicon is:

PREJUDICE.

At first glance prejudice is not a word we’d necessarily connect with Lent. Yet in today’s gospel the conversation between Nicodemus and the Pharisees give an almost perfect example of prejudice.

Joining in a conversation about who Jesus is Nicodemus points out that the Law requires that no one is judged without a fair hearing:

“But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgement on anyone without giving them a hearing and discovering what they are about?”

The response is not positive. Those who have already condemned Jesus in their mind do not want to be reminded of the requirements of the Law which they are flouting. Knowing they cannot win their case by engaging with Nicodemus at that level they immediately brush his query aside, saying:

“Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.”

They have an old prejudice against Galileans, and they use this to move the conversation on, enabling them to cast Jesus as an outsider, someone less deserving of consideration than they are.

It’s always easy to dismiss the Pharisees as an ancient group that have nothing to do with us. But often I think their role is to hold an uncomfortable mirror up to us. We know the chilling outcome of their prejudice.

This calls us, not to criticise them, but to look at our own lives. It calls us to ask what prejudices we carry? What people we belittle or see as outsiders? What people do we see as less valuable than ourselves? In our very challenging times these are questions we cannot afford to ignore.

What prejudice is Christ challenging you to let go of this Lent?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #Law, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #Lent2025, #LentPractices, #love, #newlife, #Nicodemas, #Prejudice, #prophet, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Learning to wait.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 04/04/2025

Photo by Immo Wegmann on unsplash.com

The 31st word in my Lent lexicon is:

WAIT.

At the very end of today’s gospel St John writes:

“They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.”

His words touch on the sense of control and calm that Jesus seems to develop as we get closer to Holy Week and the passion. It’s something that is especially striking in John’s Gospel.

Although the crowd are angry and want to arrest him there is something in Jesus’ demeanour that stops them. It’s not the first time in Scripture that we’ve been told that Jesus slipped away because it wasn’t his time.

It marks a significant difference between his attitude and that of the crowd around him. All of them can feel the tension rising as Jesus travels round the country preaching and teaching. The crowd, acting in a perfectly understandable way, want to push things to a head, to take action, to force the situation.

Jesus, while he is equally aware of the tension, and possibly more aware of where it will lead, also knows that there is a right time for things to develop and move forward. So he is able to wait in the tension, knowing that his time will come.

Waiting is one of the hardest things to do even when life is straightforward and easy. It quickly becomes almost impossible as soon as life gets tough, painful, tense or stressful. In those situations any action seems preferable, because it’s less uncomfortable than waiting. Lent calls us to the uncomfortable practice of waiting.

Where is Christ asking you to learn to wait this Lent?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #LentPractices, #love, #newlife, #Patience, #trust, #wait, #Waiting

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Choosing to trust.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 20/03/2025

Photo by Raisa Milova on unsplash.com

The sixteenth word in my Lent lexicon is

TRUST.

Today’s readings focus on trust. They make it clear both that we are free to choose where we put our trust and that we are called to trust God.

Jeremiah lays out the consequences of both of both choices in the starkest terms possible. He is very clear if we want to live in peace to have to choose to trust God, any other choice will lead us to disaster.

The responsorial psalm assures us that the way to true peace and happiness is to trust God. The gospel contrasts the fate of the rich man who trusted his own resources with Lazarus who had no choice but to trust in the loving mercy of God.

All of them speak to a truth we know in the depths of our hearts, being relational beings it’s impossible to live without trust. This is an uncomfortable truth in a society that places a high value on independence, telling us that we can meet all our own needs without assistance or support. In such circumstances it can be challenging to accept Jeremiah’s words:

“A blessing on those who put their trust in the Lord…”

To trust we have to admit that we are needy, that we can’t meet all our needs ourselves. It can be an uncomfortable position to be in, especially in precarious times. Lent is a good time to reassess where we put our trust, to turn again to trusting God’s ways and God’s plans rather than our own.

Where is God calling you to trust this Lent?

Tags #Benedictine, #Blessing, #challenge, #Choice, #discernment, #gospel, #Hope, #Jeremiah, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #Lent2025, #LentPractices, #love, #newlife, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Be reconciled

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 14/03/2025

Photo by Melanie Stander on unsplash.com

The tenth word in my Lent lexicon is:

RECONCILIATION.

The call to reconciliation is essential. We can’t go through life without causing each other distress and pain. That means we have to find ways of forgiving one another, of becoming reconciled and rebuilding damaged relationships. This is true on every level of human life from personal relationships to international relations.

Reconciliation is not easy. When we have been hurt or wronged it’s really hard to see beyond that to be able to forgive and to rebuild damaged relationships. The temptation is to stay with our hurt and our pain rather than taking the risk of moving beyond it into a situation where we have to be open, trusting and vulnerable.

In today’s gospel Jesus makes it clear that, however hard it might be, the call to reconciliation is not an optional extra, it’s central to the call of the gospel and to building the kingdom. He says to his followers:

“If you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that someone has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with them first, and then come back and present your offering.”

He makes it clear that, however hard it might be we need to find ways of being reconciled with one another if we are to live well and flourish. This echoes our own experience; we know how destructive an unforgiving attitude can be both to relationships and to our inner life.

Reconciliation requires that we move beyond our own perspectives, allowing that there might be a bigger picture than we can see. It calls us to allow that someone else’s perspective might be as valid as our own. It asks asks to admit that being right might not be the most important thing.

Where is Christ calling you to seek reconciliation this Lent?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #forgiveness, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #LentPractices, #love, #reconciliation, #Temptation, #trust, #Vulnerability

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

In the wilderness.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 09/03/2025

Photo by Kevin Charit on unsplash.com

The fifth word in my Lent lexicon is:

TEMPTATION.

We all know temptation. We experience it in ways that can be life changing. We also experience it in ways that seem so small as to be insignificant. The source of their power is that they begin by seeming attractive and appealing. This attraction can distract us from or true purpose and even our true desire.

In today’s gospel we see Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness:

“Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days.”

Jesus is tempted by the devil in ways that touch the most basic of human desires. As he struggles with hunger, the devil tempts him to turn stones into bread. As Jesus becomes aware of his weakness in the wilderness the devil offers him power.

At the end of a long period of solitude the devil tempts him to force God to rescue him. Jesus turns away from them all, seeing beyond the surface attraction of each. Eventually it’s the devil who gives up and leaves Jesus alone.

It can be hard to turn away from the attraction of our temptations, often we give into them before we even notice we’ve done it. It seems to me that what enables Jesus to dismiss his temptation is his focus.

He manages to keep sight of the bigger picture and so he can see that the temptations will distract him from that. He invites and challenges us to do the same when we face temptations.

What is helping you to turn away from your temptations this Lent?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #gospel, #HolySpirit, #Hope, #invitation, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #perseverance, #Spirit, #temptations, #trust, #Wilderness

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Scripture

Holy Ground.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 08/03/2025

The 4th word in my Lent Lexicon is

HOLY GROUND

I’m reflecting on the encounter between God and Moses at the burning bush. 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.”

We too stand on holy ground. Whatever we are involved in we’re in the presence of God. 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?

Tags #Benedictine, #burningbush, #challenge, #curiousity, #Encounter, #HolyGround, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #Lent2025, #LentPractices, #love, #Moses, #promise, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Rule of St Benedict Scripture Uncategorized

Fasting, a Lent challenge.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 07/03/2025

victoria-kubiaki-emPsZ6MBCUs-unsplash.jpg

The third word in my Lent lexicon is:

“FAST”

Often the first question anyone asks us about Lent is “what are you giving up? Fasting carries a heavy weight of history and of personal experience. This can make it a particularly sensitive issue. It can be an area that’s open to judgement and misinterpretation. It’s a word I find challenging and I’m coming to it with some trepidation.

I find St Benedict’s chapter on Lent helpful in facing the challenge. Instead of prescribing a particular fast for everyone he gives a list of things that we might fast from, food, drink, sleep, talking, idle jesting. He openly acknowledges that people have varying needs and capabilities. He knows that what might be manageable for one isn’t possible for another. His words carry a call not to judge ourselves or others harshly, allow people the freedom to choose the “fast” that will most help them on their spiritual journey.

In today’s first reading the prophet Isaiah gives another perspective on fasting:

“Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks –to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke, to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the person you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin? Then will your light shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over.”

While this is deeply challenging it is also helpful. It reminds me that our spiritual practices have to have a knock-on effect in the way we live our lives. They are not just for our personal benefit.

They are to draw us out of ourselves towards our neighbour, to help us become kinder and more compassionate. It seems to me that as Isaiah calls us to fast from the thoughts and behaviours that would harden our hearts to those around us.

How are your Lent practices helping you to become kinder and more compassionate?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Fast, #Fasting, #freedom, #gospel, #Hope, #Isaiah, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #LentPractices, #love, #newlife, #RuleOfStBenedict, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Scripture Uncategorized

Choosing Life.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 06/03/2025

Photo by Austris Augusts on unsplash.com

The second word in my Lent lexicon is:

LIFE

I have to confess that “life” has never been the first word that comes to mind when I think about Lent. Yet, the the Anglo-Saxon root of the English word “Lent” can be translated as “spring” and that brings to mind all the new life connected with that time of year. Already when we start our Lent journey new life is pushing its way up through the earth.

We are surrounded by spring flowers and the beginnings of new growth wherever we look. On another level the whole purpose of Lent is to prepare our hearts to celebrate the joy of the resurrection, and there is no more a life-giving gift than that.

Today’s first reading echoes the theme of “life” as Moses offers the people a choice. He says to them:

“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…”

In many ways his words sum up the purpose of Lent. All our Lent practices aim to bring us back 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 this Lent?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #choose, #ChooseLife, #Deuteronomy, #Gift, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #LentPractices, #love, #Moses, #newlife, #trust