Category: Gospel

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

Come to the water

Image © Turvey Abbey

Today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah is one of my favourites. It’s depiction of the loving and compassionate care that God lavishes on us both soothes me and fills me with hope. Isaiah writes:

“Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk.”

It reminds me that we are the children of a generous and loving God who knows all our needs. Yet, I have to confess it has a new and disconcerting resonance for me this year as I look at an England ravaged by drought and heat wave. Having been brought up in the damp West Coast of Scotland I never really expected to be concerned about water supplies.

I carry this new resonance forward into the other readings for today. In his letter to the Roman St Paul reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. The gospel brings us back to the generosity of God in meeting our needs as Jesus performs the miracle of the loaves and fishes, ensuring that the crowds following him had everything they needed

In challenging and unsettling times these readings carry a promise and a challenge. The challenge calls us to imitate the generosity Isaiah describes and that Jesus demonstrates. It calls us to be generous towards others, however little we have, even as uncertainty urges us in the opposite direction. The promise is in Isaiah’s vision, reinforced by St Paul:

“For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What are the challenges that Christ calls due to face with courage and generosity today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Resurrection Saints Scripture Uncategorized

A warm hearted welcome

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A post from the archives for the feast of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, friends of the Lord, an important feast for Benedictines because of its link to hospitality. Luke tells us that Martha:

“Welcomed Jesus into her home.”

She offered him hospitality, a safe place to relax and have a meal with his friends in dangerous and uncertain times. However, John takes the hospitality she offers to a different level. He shows us a woman of faith, used to the theological reflection and conversation, and already a follower of Jesus.

Even as she grieves for her brother she is capable of questioning Jesus and of allowing his response to transform her whole life It is through their hard, challenging conversation that Jesus is both revealed and recognised as Christ:

“I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

Central as this revelation is it is not enough by itself, and he requires a response from Martha, asking her:

“Do you believe this?”

The recognition of her response completes the revelation as she proclaims:

“Yes Lord… I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, the one who was to come into this world.”


I don’t think it would have been possible for Martha reach this recognition if she had only welcomed Jesus into her home. To recognise him as the Christ she must also have opened her heart to him.

By welcoming him into the very centre of her being she was able to allow him to transform her whole life. We too are called to offer the risen Christ hospitality in the depths of our heart, allowing him to enter and transform our lives with light, love and hope

What would help you to invite Christ into your heart today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

The treasures of the Kingdom.

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Today’s gospel, the pearl of great price, has always deeply resonated with me. Every time we hear it, I find something new to reflect on. It describes a very regular occurrence in daily life in a way that gives it a whole new perspective.

We so often miss what we seek because it doesn’t match our expectations. I find this happens if I go to get something from a cupboard and it’s not on the shelf or in the container where I expect to find it. It’s almost like my expectation overrides the reality before me.

The description today’s gospel offers of the kingdom of heaven suggests that the same pattern applies when we are seeking the kingdom. Jesus tells the crowds to look out for the kingdom in unexpected places, in the midst of ordinary, unremarkable or even dull things. In the midst of a field or in a pile of oyster shells that might well end up in a dustbin. He says to the crowds:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.”

His words are a call to openness and attentiveness. He calls us to look beyond our expectations and prejudices, to allow ourselves to be surprised by the presence of the kingdom. He calls us to look for the signs of the kingdom not only in great and momentous events and occasions, but in the ordinary, apparently unimportant interactions and encounters of daily life.

Where are you discovering the treasures of the Kingdom in your life today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Learning Patience

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I have some sympathy with the servants in today’s gospel. Knowing that they have sown good seed in their Masters field they are puzzled and perplexed to find darnel growing amongst the wheat when it begins to sprout and ripen. Their immediate response is to sort the situation out, to under the damage as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

It’s a temptation we all recognise. As soon as something goes wrong in life we want to fix it. Our desire is to stabilise the situation and restore normality, sometimes it even feels like we want to turn the clock back to how things were before they went wrong.

However, when they suggest their quick fix to their master he takes a different view, saying to them:

“No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest time; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: first collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”

His response reminds me of the saying “fools rush in where angels fear to tread”. He suggests a kinder more compassionate approach, allowing things to develop and unfold before taking action. It’s a reminder that, however well-intentioned, a hasty response can sometimes cause more damage than good.

In today’s world when we expect instant responses and instant gratification is it’s especially important to be aware of this. To live by the values of the kingdom we have to accept that it’s rarely possible to easily distinguish good from evil.

It takes discernment to make that call. We have to have the courage and patience to live with uncertainty as we wait for things to unfold or for the full picture to develop.

Where is Christ calling you to pause before acting today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

With Attentive Hearts

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In today’s gospel Jesus once again turns our ideas on their heads. He calls his listeners to step back from their challenging, complex and uncertain lives and discover a new way of being. His alternative is a surprise, even a shock for his listeners.

He doesn’t tell them to pay attention to the learned and the clever, the experts and politicians. Instead he tells them that the mysteries of the kingdom are revealed to children:

“I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.”

As so often happens with the gospel we have become so familiar with this text that we no longer hear the initial surprise at must have caused. Very few people, then or now, really look at children as bearers of wisdom.

The gospel calls us to examine that view. It invites us ask what Jesus saw in the children that he didn’t find in those learned and clever adults, and to look at what we can learn from them.

Children have the capacity for openness and attentiveness that we seem to lose as we grow. When they are involved in some activity they give it their whole attention, it absorbs them completely. To watch that is a delight and a challenge.

We can only ever do one thing at a time, yet we prize multitasking, convincing ourselves that this is a good way to deal with the many things that we have to cope with in any day.

The challenge of today’s gospel is to allow seeking the kingdom to absorb as completely, to give it our whole and complete attention.

Where is Christ calling you to give him your whole attention today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

Seeds of life.

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Today’s gospel sees Jesus teaching through parables once again. The parable of the sower is full of rich resources for us to ponder. Each time we visit it there seems to be something new to discover and reflect on.

The image that has stayed with me today is that of the seed. Seeds are small, and apparently insignificant. Their potential is so well hidden that it can be easily overlooked or brushed aside. Yet, as Sister Verna Holyhead says in her reflection on the passage:

“The seed is a wonderful symbol of the kingdom. Small, hard, unattractive to the senses, yet within it lies the future promise and hope of green and growing things, of harvest and bread.”

Jesus tells his disciples that the meaning of the parable lies in how we receive the seed of the kingdom into our hearts. We can receive it in ways that stifle or prevent its growth, and so receive either only a fleeting benefit or no benefit at all. Or, we can prepare the soil of our hearts opening them to the life changing presence of Christ:

“Those who receive the seed in rich soil are the ones who hear the word and understand it; they are the ones who yields a harvest and produce now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.”

To open our hearts in this way is risky. There is so much in our lives and our societies would harden our hearts. The challenge of living in difficult times can make us us wary and untrusting.

Jesus offers us a different way. He promises that if we give our whole attention to listening to the Word, allowing it to shape every aspect of our lives we will yield a rich harvest for ourselves and for all those we encounter.

How is Christ helping you to prepare your heart to allow his words to take root in your heart today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Rule of St Benedict Saints Scripture

Treasures new and old.

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As we celebrate the feast of St Benedict in increasingly uncertain times I’m reminded of his instructions to the Superior of the community. He says that the Superior should have a treasury of knowledge both old and new to draw on in leading the community.

His words left me reflecting on what the Rule could offer these times when we are so keen to embrace novelty. It drew me back to the heart of the Rule, chapter 72.

It captures the essence of the Rule with the combination of practicality and idealism that has kept the Rule relevant and grounded through the centuries. St Benedict begins by setting a high ideal for his community telling them to:

“Foster the good zeal which separates from evil and leads to God and eternal life.”

He then draws that ideal into the reality of daily life showing his disciples how to put it into practice:

“Try to be the first to show respect to one another, supporting with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or behaviour… No one is to pursue what they judge better for themselves, but instead what they judge better for someone else.”

He brings his ideal down to simple, straightforward actions that we can all put into practice. This good zeal that leads us to God is not beyond our reach, which is not the same as saying it is easy. It requires daily commitment and self sacrifice; we can find a myriad of ways to practice it every day.

It’s a call to be patient, considerate and kind in our daily interactions with one another. As we rush to develop new ways of engaging with one another and the word I hope we allow these ancient values to help shape our lives.

Where are you being called to practice good zeal in your relationships today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Uncategorized

Good News

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In today’s gospel Jesus commissions the 12 Apostles, giving them authority and sending them out to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of heaven. He says to them:

“Go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand.”

His words bring to mind the image of the good Shepherd, calling his sheep by name, seeking out those who are lost to bring them back into the fold of his loving care. I imagine that as the apostles listened to his words they were very aware of the people around them who felt overwhelmed and lost in the face of their challenging times.

His words resonate with me particularly because of the many people in our times who are also lost, seeking meaning, security, love and compassion in our own challenging times.

Jesus knew he was sending the Apostles on a mission that would be dangerous, uncertain and challenging. It’s a call that’s as essential for us today as it was then. Listening to the gospel this morning I thought of the many women and men who have taken up that call through the ages, seeking to support the lost and marginalised of their own times.

We are called to carry on their work, the Good News to those who feel lost today, seeking them out, helping them find their way through the challenges of life, offering them the love and compassion of Christ.

How is Christ calling you to share the Good News with those you encounter today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prophetic voices Scripture

A promise fulfilled

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Today’s readings are full of joy, gratitude and promise. In the first reading Zechariah tells the people of Zion to rejoice because the King who promises peace is coming. The gospel begins with Jesus blessing his Father for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom in ways that are open to everyone. He also carries on with the promise saying,

“Come to me, all you who labour, and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn for me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

When life is challenging, difficult and painful it can be very hard for us to find anything to be grateful for. With good reason our burdens overwhelm us to the point where it takes all our strength to get from one day then to the next.

The struggles of daily life can sap our energy so that we lose sight of anything that offers us hope, or anything that we can be grateful for. In those situations we tend to struggle on, relying on our own strength and judging ourselves harshly when it isn’t enough.

These are the times Jesus is speaking about when he tells to bring our burdens to him. He promises that there will be no words of criticism or blame because of all that weighs us down.

Instead his promise is that there will warm, gentle and loving welcome into a place where we can find peace and rest. When life is challenging it can take more courage to trust and accept that promise than it does to struggle on alone.

What gives you courage to trust the promise Christ offers you today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

Uncertainty and Belief

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Today were celebrating the feast of St Thomas. He is one of my favourite disciples because he is so direct and has the courage to ask awkward questions. I often think that he asked the questions that other people don’t quite have the nerve for.

I always feel sorry for him at the beginning of today’s gospel. There is nothing more isolating than having missed a life changing experience that everyone else in your group is talking about.

I imagine that the eight days between the two resurrection appearances must have been extremely uncomfortable for Thomas. As he heard the other disciples discussing their experience he must have wondered why he was left out. I can sense both sadness and disappointment in his response to their enthusiasm.

Yet, all that changes when Jesus appeared to them again. He doesn’t criticise or blame Thomas for his response, instead he offers him exactly what he needs to be able to believe in the resurrection:

“He spoke to Thomas ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’”

His words break down any barriers of doubt that Thomas still harboured. His acceptance of Thomas’ position enables Thomas to open his heart to believe in the reality of the risen Christ.

Jesus accepts our questions and uncertainties in exactly the same way, coming to each of us in the way that is most likely to open our heart to to accept his peace and love in our lives.

Where is the risen Christ offering you peace and love today?