Category: Divine Office

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All Souls Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prophetic voices Saints Scripture

A time for Hope.

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Every year I’m struck by the mood shift between the feast of All Saints to that of All Souls. All Saints is full of light and joy as we celebrate those who carried the bright light of Christ love into the lives of those around them.

As we move into All Souls the mood becomes more sombre. This is a day for allowing ourselves time to grieve and to mourn for all our losses and all that we lack.

Taken together these feasts speak of the intimate connection between life and death, sadness and joy, telling us that both are part of life and that we can’t have one without the other. I’m struck by how the readings for All Souls offer hope in the promise of new life and resurrection. I’m reflecting on these words from St Paul:

“Hope is not deceptive because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

Hope seems easy when life is going well. When life is challenging or we are grieving hope becomes much harder and we’re more likely to mistrust it. It’s in these times that St Paul reminds us that Christ’s hope does not deceive. Whatever griefs we carry on this All Souls Day, the love of Christ that we hope in will sustain, console and lead us into the new life Christ promises.

As we celebrate All Souls what hope is sustaining you?

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

To be a peacemaker…

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Our celebration of All Saints begins with Vespers. As part of the service we sing the Beatitudes, which we then hear again proclaimed in the gospel at the vigil and then at Mass. This helps keep them in my mind all through the feast.

Sometimes approaching the Beatitudes can be a bit bewildering, I don’t know which one to focus on and focussing on all of them together can be a bit overwhelming.

Today I haven’t had that difficulty, each time I encountered the Beatitudes the same words leapt out at me:

“How blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called the children of God.”

They have particular resonance because I’m so aware of how desperately the world needs peace at this time. So many people are having their lives torn apart in these times when war is causing so much pain and suffering in so many places.

It’s left me reflecting on this essential call to make peace. It can sometimes appear to be a soft option, but that’s not the case. It requires commitment, courage and strength. To be peacemakers we have to find ways of working round personal hurts and grievances, however justified.

We’re called to be open and vulnerable, to acknowledge the hurts we carry and to do all we can to heal the hurts of others. Peacemakers are called to reach out across barriers that can seem insurmountable in trust and hope.

Where is Christ calling you to be a peacemaker today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Scripture

Waiting

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Waiting is one of the hardest things we have to do in life. The end of the year is fast approaching. The Autumn colours, the cooler temperatures, the darker mornings and evenings are all pointing in that direction. The same is true of today’s gospel.

Its call to be alert and ready, waiting and prepared for the coming of the Lord reminds me that Advent is just around the corner. I’m struck by this in today’s gospel:

“You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Waiting is generally an uncomfortable experience, it’s often frustrating and stressful. It brings us face to face with the uncertainty we live with, with all those aspects of life that we can’t control.

It compels us to admit our lack, our limitations and our neediness. We can find a myriad of activities from constant busyiness to endless online connectivity to distract us from the discomfort it brings.

The gospel calls us away from those distractions. It invites us to embrace our times of waiting, giving our full attention to it, acknowledging its discomfort, and actively seeking the blessing it promises. As I reflect on this passage one of our Advent antiphons is running through my mind:

“Stand erect, hold your head high because your liberation is close at hand.”

It helps me to put this challenging call to wait into a wider context. This call to be ready comes with a promise. We stand ready, waiting for this promise to be fulfilled, trusting that the Lord will come to set us free from all that would distract us.

Where are you being called to be ready for the coming of the Lord today?

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

Finding Inspiration

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Our world has become a challenging place. All around us conflict is breaking out between nations with devastating consequences for the people caught up in it. Our news feeds are full of doom and gloom, and we are no longer even sure that we can believe what we see or read.

It’s so easy to give into hopelessness and despair. We can quickly tap into a narrative that tells us the destruction and loss are inevitable, and there is nothing we can do to improve things for ourselves or anyone else. The message is clear that hope is at best misguided and gullible.

That is not the message of the gospel. The gospel calls to be people of hope is not a call for when life is going well, when we feel secure and settled. It’s a call for when we feel like we are living on a knife edge.

These words from St Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians suggest a place to look for hope and inspiration:

“We always …thank God for you all, and constantly remember before God our Father how you have shown your faith in action, worked for love and persevered through hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul reminds us that, however bleak things feel, there are people quietly working to support those in need, to bring love to the loveless, to console the sorrowing.

They are keeping hope alive by faith and action in circumstances that seem impossible to us. He calls us to draw our inspiration from those people in these challenging times.

Who inspires you to keep hoping in our challenging times?

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#ConsecrateLife Christ Discernment Divine Office Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Prophetic voices Saints St Teresa of Avila

The call of love

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In these increasingly challenging and uncertain times it can be easy to despair and to lose hope. At such times it can be helpful to look for inspiration from the lives of others who’ve also faced challenges.

Today, we’re celebrating the feast of St Teresa of Avila, Carmelite nun, reformer, theologian and Doctor of the Church. She faced her many challenges with courage and perseverance. There’s much in her writings and in the example of her life to inspire and encourage us. I came across this from her writings:

“Whatever we think of Christ, let us always bear in mind that love of his which drove him to bestow upon us so many gifts and graces. Let us bear in mind to how great is the love God has shown us, since God has given us in Christ such a pledge of that love which God has for us; for love calls for a return of love.”

When life is difficult it seems surprisingly easy for us to lose sight of God’s love. The day-to-day struggles, the seemingly insurmountable challenges and anxiety leave us little energy to discover or reflect on that love. Yet, it is precisely at those times when life is hardest and most challenging that we need to be held and sustained by that love.

The love St Teresa speaks of is not the love of cinema or romantic novel that promises those happy ever after endings that are so beguiling, it is much stronger and deeper than that. Christ doesn’t promise that we won’t be hurt or disappointed, that we won’t feel pain or suffer.

Instead, he promises that whatever sufferings we face, whatever breaks our hearts and disappoints us, he will be there loving and sustaining us through it all.

Where do you need to be aware of the greatness of God’s love for you today?

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

Called to pray

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In today’s gospel the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray:

“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

When they discover him praying they recognise something of value, something they want and feel that the lack. I guess they felt something similar when they heard from John’s disciples about how he taught them to pray. I’m always touched by this scene.

It’s tempting to think that as the disciples were always with Jesus prayer came easily and naturally to them. This interaction shows us they struggled to pray, just as we do. I find that both consoling and encouraging.

Even knowing the value of a regular practice of prayer we ignore the promptings of our heart to take time for prayer. There are a myriad of reasons why prayer can be left at the bottom of our “to do” list.

It might be that we are too busy, or that we think we will pray when all our other jobs are done, or when we are less tired… But I am inclined to think there is a deeper reason for our reluctance.

Prayers’ fruits are often hidden or unrecognisable. In a society that values achievement that can make prayer feel pointless. Alongside that we live in times that expect us to be in control of every aspect of our lives.

Prayer is a call to the very opposite of this. It involves letting go of all control. It calls us to let Christ lead us in challenging and unexpected paths.

Where is Christ challenging you to make prayer a daily practice in your life?

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

Minds filled with Christ

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Writing to the Philippians in times of full of challenge and uncertainty Paul offers a message of hope, saying to them:

“There is no need to worry, but if there is anything you need, pray for it…and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”

In a world that is growing ever more fragmented and violent his words have a new rfesonance for us. In the face of the news we hear daily it’s tempting to let ourselves spiral down into despair and hopelessness.

St Paul invites us to find another way, reminding us that even when we feel powerless we can still make choices that can be life changing. Echoing Deuteronomy’s call to “choose life” Paul tell the Philippians to deliberately choose to fill their minds with what will keep them focussed on Christ and his peace:

“Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise.”

We have so much choice it can be overwhelming. This can encourage us to choose mindlessly, without reflecting on the consequences for ourselves or for others. That is not good enough for Paul. He calls us to examine our choices, to make them mindfully and prayerfully.

He reminds us that our choices have a real effect on our lives and the lives of others. He tells us that part of our Christian calling is to be discerning about our choices.

We are called to choose to hope when life feels hopeless, to give the benefit of the doubt to others, to trust and focus on the peace of Christ so that we can share it wherever we can.

Where is Christ calling you to focus on his peace today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Prophetic voices Saints Scripture St Therese of Lisieux Uncategorized

The power of love.

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Today we are celebrating the feast of St Therese of Lisieux. She entered Carmel at 15 and died at 24. Once she entered Carmel she never left, she built no career, had no wealth and little influence. Even after her death, when her saintliness is recognised, she is often presented with an overlay of sentimentality and sweetness.

Her spirituality is often called “a little way” and that can make it tempting to dismiss her. In these challenging times we might be tempted to look for a saint who is more obviously heroic than this young woman. To do that would be to greatly undervalue St Therese’s message

Saint Therese was a woman of faith, courage, wisdom and discernment. Her little way takes us to the heart of the gospel. In a time when the church placed little value on love she was courageous in putting it at the heart of Christian life. Reflecting on St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians she writes:

“Love, in fact is the vocation which includes all others; it is a universe of its own, comprising all time and space – its eternal… My vocation is love… I had discovered where it is that I belong in the Church, the niche God has appointed for me. To be nothing else than love… That’s to be everything at once.”

She was able to see the one thing that she could do that had the power to change the world, one small act at a time. In these times when we are overwhelmed by the suffering we see in every area she offers us a way of making a difference. By choosing to show love in a world that often feels hateful our actions can affect real and lasting change.

Where are you being called to put love at the heart of your life today?

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

Fairness and generosity.

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Some thoughts on fairness and generosity from our archives: Today’s gospel is all about fairness and generosity. At the beginning of the day a landowner goes out to hire workers for his vineyard, offering them a fair price for the day’s work.

He goes out again several times later in the day, right up to the 11th hour, and still finding idle workers sends them to his vineyard offering them “a fair wage”.

At the end of the day he tells his bailiff to pay all the workers the same amount, starting with the ones who came last. This causes some consternation to those who have been working all day, and they grumble that it’s not fair as they have worked longer and should receive more.

They evoke our sympathy because we all know what it feels like to be treated unfairly. Yet, the vineyard owner takes a different view, saying to them:

“My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius?… Why be envious because I am generous?

His words turn the situation on its head, challenging his workers, and us, to look at it from a different perspective. He calls us to look at our motivations and to acknowledge that there can be a thin line between our desire for fairness and envy.

His generous action points out that generosity is a hallmark of the Kingdom. It compels us to reflect on where we can be generous towards those around us with both our material goods and our time.

Where is Christ calling you to act generously today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Before the cross

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As we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross I’m reflecting the variety of meanings that the cross carries for us. As today’s feast suggests it signifies the ultimate triumph of Christ over death.

It’s a symbol of hope, reminding us that this is not the end. It speaks of the lowest point of human suffering, ensuring us that even when we reach that point we are not alone, because our God understands that suffering completely.

We have to be honest and admit that it is also sometimes used to signify less positive and less hopeful things. We can, and have used the cross as a sign of judgement, exclusion and alienation.

That brings me to another important role that the cross has in our lives. It can act as a mirror, inviting and challenging us to reflect on how our lives measure up to the call of love which is the heart of the gospel. I’m reflecting on this from today’s gospel.

“Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.”

The cross promises us that our suffering will never separate us from God’s love. The passage continues:

“For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.”

We live in times that are quick to condemn and to judge, and it’s very easy to get caught up in that or even to use the cross to justify it. Today’s feast reminds us that the call of the cross is not to condemn, to bring God’s love and healing to our broken world.

How does the cross challenge you to bring God’s love and healing to your encounters?