Category: Divine Office

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Christ The King Cross Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Jesus remember me…

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The feast of Christ the King is one of the most challenging feasts in the year. In times that are, often justifiably, suspicious of authority figures we have to really think about what Christ the King can mean to us today.

We can no longer align that title to any earthly understanding of leadership. Maybe that was always a mistake because throughout the gospel the leadership Jesus shows us is different to any other leadership we have known.

This is highlighted in today’s gospel. It doesn’t show us a king enjoying power and ruling in majesty. Instead, it shows us a man, undeservedly dying a painful and humiliating death mocked by his enemies and abandoned by his friends.

Throughout the gospel Jesus has been telling his disciples that his kingdom is like no earthly kingdom. He makes it clear to them that kingship in the kingdom is to be based on loving service of others, especially of the poor, the needy and the outcast.

Even as he is dying on the cross the question that has followed him throughout his ministry is still ringing in the air with its notes of uncertainty, disbelief, surprise and now mockery: “Are you the Christ?”

Yet even here Jesus lives up to his own model of leadership. When the thief, dying alongside him glimpses something of who he really is, saying:

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom…”

Jesus welcomes him with his whole heart, promising that:

“Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

As we move towards the end of this liturgical year where do you need to know that Christ the King remembers you in his heart?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Uncategorized

Small acts of faithfulness.

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Seen through the lens of modern sensibilities today’s gospel is at best uncomfortable. In a world all too aware of the damage caused by unethical business practices it raises challenging questions.

That can make it tempting to turn away from it or dismiss it as irrelevant. We are called to dig deeper than that. We are called to go beyond our initial discomfort, or even to use that discomfort, to help us find something of value in the text.

Today I am focusing on these words:

“You have proved yourself faithful in a very small thing…”

It seems a very small glimmer of light in a very challenging gospel. Yet, it reminds me of the importance of small things that we might undervalue or overlook. As we look around the world today there are so many big problems, big issues, big situations that need resolving, renewing or remaking.

We hear a narrative that tells us everything is broken, and that it’s all too big for us to fix. we stop to even look for things that we might do to help the situation. We get it into our heads that big problems need big solutions, and that small actions that we might take will have no effect.

It seems to me that’s today’s gospel suggests a different way. It suggests small acts of faithfulness can make more of a difference than we might think. Far from being pointless or useless our small acts of faithfulness can bring hope and help make these hard times more bearable for us all.

What small act of faithfulness are you being called to today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

The Temple of the Living God.

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The feast of the Lateran Basilica is a good time to reflect on what it means to be church. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul reminds us that the church is more than a building, it is a community of people, with all the challenges and blessings that brings. Writing to the Corinthians he says:

“You are God’s building…Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you?… the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple.”

His words are hopeful and empowering. They remind us however challenging we find life the spirit of God is dwelling in it with us. Yet it is not enough to believe these words in our hearts, they have to shape how we live and that brings a whole new challenge with it.

It’s easy to believe that we are the living stones that make up the community of the church when we are with people who agree with us, who are like us, who we feel comfortable with. That is not our call.

The temple Paul calls us to be part of is a community of love that includes everyone. It includes those we feel comfortable with, those who challenge or offend us and even those who we find simply annoying. George Eliot’s sums up the call to be church up in her book, Adam Bede:

“Everyone, must be accepted as they are – you can neither straighten their noses, nor brighten their wit, nor rectify their dispositions; and it is these people – amongst whom your life is past – that it is needful that you should tolerate, pity, and love…”

The church is not a church of people who know the answers, who are right, who have their lives under control. Instead, it’s a church of the ordinary people with life’s that are sometimes messy, broken and damaged. That is the source of our hope and rejoicing because it means that we can find a home here with whatever messiness and brokenness we carry

Where are you aware of God’s indwelling spirit in your life today?

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#ConsecrateLife Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Psalms Rule of St Benedict Saints Scripture

Taste and See…

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Today we’re celebrating the dedication of our Oratory. I had intended to write a new post, but events overtook me. So I’m reposting this from the archives. The scripture reading at the vigil was from the first letter of St Peter:

“Be sure you are never spiteful, or deceitful, or hypocritical, or envious and critical of each other. You are new born, and, like babies, you should be hungry for nothing but milk – the spiritual honesty which will help you grow up to salvation – now that you have tasted the goodness of the Lord.”

Several things resonate with me in in. It’s reminder of how we are called to behave and to treat one another seems especially important just now. Living through stressful and challenging times can give us all a short fuse and doesn’t always bring out the best in us. St Peter reminds us that, whatever challenges and uncertainties we face we are called not to give into the temptation to spitefulness and criticism. The call is still to become more Christlike whatever we face.

He goes on to tell us that as we have tasted the goodness of the Lord already our desire and long should be for those things that will help us grow into our salvation. This brings to mind a favourite psalm, psalm 34, “taste and see that the Lord is good”, and I’m reminded to keep seeking the goodness of the Lord in whatever challenges and uncertainties life is currently throwing at us.

Where are you tasting the Lord’s goodness in the challenging times you have to face?

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All Souls Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Divine Office Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Consoled and Comforted.

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A reflection from our archives for All Souls Day. Despite the change in tone from one feast to another, All Souls Day is intimately connected to All Saints Day. At heart both feasts speak to the basic equality of Christian faith. We are all one in Christ, and through our baptism, we are all equal before him.

Today’s feast is a time for acknowledging our mortality. It gives us the opportunity to acknowledge that death is a completely natural part of life. It is something we all share in and will all experience. This is one of the areas where we are called to stand out against the world’s way.

Today’s world denies death, pushing it aside or trying to micromanage it because of the pain, suffering and uncertainty it brings. Our faith calls us to look at death differently. It doesn’t call us to deny the pain, suffering and loss that death brings, but to accept it and embrace it. We are also called to look beyond it, to the hope that Christ offers us, even as we grieve.

The invitation & challenge are summed up for me in the prophet Isaiah’s words:

“The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek… That day, it will be said: see, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation… We exalt and we rejoice that he has saved us.”

All Souls allows us to remember & grieve our loved ones. Yet, even as we grieve, it reminds us that the God of love will comfort and console us, offering us promise of new life in God’s presence.

Where do you need God’s comfort and consolation in your life today?

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All Saints Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

In the Company of Saints

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A reflection from the archives for the feast of All Saints. The feasts of all Saints and All Souls are intrinsically linked. I can never think of one without being aware of the other. They speak of a deep seated equality that is at the heart of the gospel. All Saints reminds us that through our baptism we are all one in Christ, equally called to live lives shaped by the gospel. Tomorrow’s celebration of All Souls allows us to reflect that other great equaliser, the impermanence of human life.

Today I’m reflecting on this from the first letter of St John:

“My dear people, we are already the children of God, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”

This is not a feast of the canonised and recognised saints of the church. They have their own feasts when we rightly celebrate their lives and example. Yet, while we greatly value this, it can distract us from those other unnamed and unrecognised saints who have built up the church through quiet, unrecognised faithfulness to the gospel and to their baptismal promises.

This is a celebration of the ordinary Christians who have striven to be faithful in all ups and downs of ordinary life. The people who have allowed their lives to be shaped by their faith so that in thousands of small, seemingly insignificant, ways they ease the burdens of those around them.

This is a day for celebrating all the children of God who will never be recognised officially as saints, but who have through their actions and example shared the love of God with their families, neighbours and workmates.

Where is Christ inviting you to share his love today?

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Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Prophetic voices Saints St Teresa of Avila

The gift 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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Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Monastic Life Prayer Prophetic voices Saints Scripture St Therese of Lisieux

Love at the heart of the Church

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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 Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

In the loving presence of God.

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Today were celebrating the Birthday of Our Lady, a solemnity for our congregation. It’s the anniversary of the day I entered the monastery, so it carries a certain resonance for me, and I often find myself looking back to that day.

So I was especially struck by these words from our first reading at Mass:

“We know that for those who love God, everything works together for good…”

These are not the words of Scripture that would have come to mind on the day I entered. I can see the truth in them with hindsight but, I’m not sure I could have seen it on that day of mixed and sometimes conflicting emotions. The reality of the hope that they express is central to our faith, yet it is very easily pushed to one side as soon as we struggle with the challenging realities of life.

When I think of Mary I imagine that she too experienced mixed and conflicting emotions as she faced the consequences of the “yes” that changed the world for all of us. Yet, she is still able to trust and rejoice in God’s great goodness:

“I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God!”

Her words offer me hope and encouragement that seem particularly important in our unsettled times. She reminds me that, unlikely as it may seem, we are loved and held by God. Whatever we face, whatever we suffer, the God of love will be there, not necessarily to remove the suffering, but to hold and support us as we face it.

Where are you being reminded of the presence of the God of love in your life today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

Knowing Christ

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Today we’re celebrating the feast of St Gregory the Great. The gospel poses the question at the heart of Christian life. Jesus asks his disciples what people are saying about him. It highlights Jesus’ humanity, like all of us he wonders what people think of him, and how much impact his message is having them.

He gets a varied response from the disciples. Some people say he’s John the Baptist, or Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Brushing this mixed bag aside he asks the disciples:

“But you…who do you say I am?”

This question moves the discussion to a deeper level. Directed, not to the crowds who hear him in the market place or synagogue, but to the people who left everything to follow him. It requires a deeper response than the comments the disciples have passed on.

I can imagine the silence that fell as the disciples realised this and pondered their response. As usual it is Simon Peter who has the courage to break that silence as he says:

“You are the Christ…, the Son of the living God.”

As the rest of the passage unfolds we see how life changing this response is for Peter, and for St Gregory the Great. It’s left me pondering my own response to the question. Each time it arises it has the potential to be life changing for us too. Whenever it comes up we’re called to give it our whole attention so that we, like Peter and St Gregory, can answer it from the depths of our hearts.

Who do you say Christ is today?