Category: Holy Spirit

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Marked by God

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Today we’re celebrating the birth of St John the Baptist, prophet and precursor of Christ. His role is central to the gospel. He is called to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming of the Messiah, and to point him out to others when he appears.

He is also at the heart of his Jewish faith, both his parents can trace their heritage back through the history of the people of Israel. His father, Zechariah, is a priest. These are good and faithful people, living out the covenant and waiting in hope for the coming of the Messiah.


This might make him seem like the ultimate insider, yet from the beginning it’s clear that John is to perform this role from the fringes. He is always to be an outsider, a presence that challenges people and makes them uncomfortable.

From the beginning he is marked out. He’s born to parents long past childbearing. His birth was announced to his unbelieving father by an angel. Zechariah’s doubt leaves him without speech until after John’s birth. The angel tells Zechariah:

“Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him.”

The angel’s words are full of hope and promise. Yet, they also carry a challenge. John’s call put him at odds with his times, constantly compelling him to challenge his people to make the changes necessary to prepare their hearts to welcome Christ. That challenge is just as relevant to us today as it was when John first preached.

Where are you being challenged to prepare your heart to welcome Christ today?

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United in Christ

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I’m reflecting on St Paul’s letter to the Galatians. His words are a call to unity that has a particular resonance in today’s divided and fragmented world. It seems that wherever we look today we see broken broken relationships and broken communities. There are many voices today that encourage and fuel division, encouraging us to distance ourselves from others.

In challenging times these voices can be beguiling. They call us to draw together with others “like us”, creating divisions between “insiders and outsiders”, between “them and us”. St Paul reminds the Galatians and us that there is no place for such division in the Christian community:

“You are, all of you, children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

His words are not a call to uniformity, that would be fairly straightforward. We could create a “Christian model” that everyone has to conform to. We’ve tried that in various forms over the centuries and we know it doesn’t work.

Instead St Paul reminds us that in clothing us in Christ our baptism calls us to seek true unity. It’s a unity that risks allowing diversity to flourish, that acknowledges that diversity can enrich and sustain our unity. The unity baptism calls us to requires us to accept and embrace our differences.

It calls us to maintain our unity in Christ by welcoming those we consider “other” as we would welcome Christ. It requires us to put ourselves aside so we can listen to their stories with open and humble hearts. Baptism calls us to build a unity that delights in our rich diversity as God delights in us.

How are you responding to the unifying call of your baptism today?

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Help from the Spirit.

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Eastertide ended with our celebration of Pentecost and this week we move back to Ordinary Time. Sometimes it can be tempting to pack away the insights we’ve learned during the season along with the special tapestries, decorations and liturgy papers. But Pentecost is not an ending it’s another new beginning.

So I’ve been reflecting on what I can take forward from those seasons into the rest of my life. These words from St Paul’s letter to the Romans have been running through my mind:

“Since in our weakness we do not know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit comes to help us and intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.”

They’re words I return to again and again because they describe so clearly a reality that I often experience. There are many times in life when we need to pray and want to pray, and simply don’t have the words to express our need.

I find that especially true in times of hardship and suffering. In these times when hardship and suffering seem to be multiplying in every direction there are many times when prayer is needed and we feel too overwhelmed by the circumstances to articulate our need.

In those situations, I find St Paul’s words full of consolation and hope. It is a great comfort to know that when we are unable to pray the Spirit is there to speak for us, to bring our prayers into the presence of the God who understands even the wordless sighs that come from the very depths of our hearts.

As we move back to Ordinary Time what does the Spirit carry from the depths of your heart to the presence of God?

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Come Holy Spirit.

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As we begin to celebrate Pentecost I find myself reflecting on our Pentecost tapestry and how it highlights the themes of the feast, listing our hopes for the coming of the Spirit into our lives:

“Come, cleanse, renew, heal, guide, fill, strengthen.”

I often find myself thinking that it seems a little bit crowded. The words seem to be jostling for space, almost overflowing the narrow hanging. This thought was in my mind as I read the first reading from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. He tells us:

“There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them.”

In the light of his words I it seems hardly surprising that the words on the tapestry seem to burst out of the available space. Pentecost is a feast overflowing with a generosity and energy that are impossible to contain. The variety of gifts God pours out at Pentecost cannot be contained.

They overflow, just like the words on our tapestry, insisting that we use them in all sorts of different ways to help, support and nurture the people of our times. Just as the disciples were compelled to reach out to the world by wind and fire the Spirit demands that we burst out of whatever upper room imprisons us to share her gifts generously with our needy world.

What gift of the Spirit do you need to overflow in your heart this Pentecost?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Liturgy Resurrection Scripture

Held in the heart of Christ.

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The farewell discourse in John’s gospel are full of riches as Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure. Today I’m reflecting on these words:

“I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.”

They take me back to the heart of our Christian call, to dwell in the love of Christ. It’s a call to intimacy and to openness. At heart it’s a call to allow Christ to love us, to be aware of that love in our lives and to relish it. On the surface that can seem obvious, of course we “know” we are held in the heart of Christ’s love.

In practice the knocks and bumps of daily life very quickly overshadowed that deep reality. Then we forget it, and that leaves us feeling far from Christ and his love. It can leave us feeling frustrated, isolated and unloved. It’s so tempting to give into those feelings especially when life is hard and uncertain.

This is one of the reasons I think we cannot hear these words of Jesus, reminding us of how he loves us, often enough. In these hard, frightening and challenging times we need actively put ourselves in the way of hearing that message as often as possible.

We need to find ways of allowing it to sink into our hearts. We need to let it put down roots and to grow within us so that it becomes impossible for us to forget it, whatever challenges we face in our daily lives.

Where is Christ inviting you to allow his love to shape and transform your life this Eastertide?

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The call to unity.

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As we celebrate the seventh Sunday of Eastertide Jesus calls his disciples to unity. It’s a call that’s always been necessary for the church and for the world. It has particular resonance in these times. It seems that in every area we are becoming more aware of our fragmentation and brokenness. Wherever we look we see the very real human cost of those divisions.

The reality is that we are called to live with others, and human life flourishes best when we can live together in some sort of community. When those communities break down, whatever the cause, life becomes harder, more impoverished and sometimes impossible for all of us.

So Jesus’ call to unity has an even greater urgency today that may have had at other times. As he prays for his disciples he says:

“May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me, and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.”

His words are a deeper call than human unity, important as that is. He invites us into union with himself and the Father. This deeper union in Christ is the foundation stone of the human unity that our fractured world needs so desperately. Healing fractured relationships and rebuilding communities is hard work.

It is only through our grounding in the love of Christ and the Father that we are able to commit ourselves to reaching out to those who are different from us, who disagree with us, who scare us or who have hurt us.

Where do you hear Christ’s call to unity in your life today?

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Discovering joy

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The Eastertide gospels are very dynamic and active as the disciples struggle to come to terms with all that has happened. The gospels are full of movement, running, traveling, fishing, hiding. With Ascension the mood changes, it’s a quieter, more reflective time.

Jesus, who has been with the disciples in a new and very concrete way since the resurrection, has returned to the Father. This means the disciples have to adjust to another leaving, another loss and another new reality. They have to take time to reflect on all they have experienced, and they have to wait for whatever the Spirit will bring.

In this time we revisit the farewell discourses, reminding ourselves of the things Jesus has promised us. Today’s gospel acknowledges the suffering of life, the sorrow and the pain we all face. But it doesn’t stop there, having acknowledged the pain Jesus reveals another level of reality. He says to them:

“I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you.”

He reminds them that no amount of suffering can destroy the joy he offers or take it away. As I look around our world today, at the wars and conflicts, the poverty, inequality and exclusion that cause so much suffering it’s hard to find sources of joy.

Yet it’s in these challenging time that Jesus promises us his joy. This time allows us the opportunity to reflect, and to acknowledge our suffering, and to open our hearts to the joy he promises.

Where are you being called to take time discover joy this Eastertide?

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Living in hope.

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Hope is surely one of the most precious gifts we can have. Like so many other gifts it’s easily taken for granted when times are easy. When life is going smoothly hope comes naturally to us. It’s easy to be hopeful when we feel secure and are sure of the direction our lives are taking. It becomes a much more challenging prospect when we live with the anxiety of caused by uncertain times. Yet it is precisely in the most challenging times in life that we most need hope.

As I listened Jesus preparing his disciples for his departure in today’s Gospel I’m struck by he recognises their need for hope, promising that he will not leave them to face the trials of life alone. He tells them:

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”

He knows that they will face trials, uncertainty and persecution. They will face situations that they will not be able to cope with alone, ones that take them beyond the limits of their human resources. It’s in those circumstances that the Spirit comes to sustain them. The Spirit can offer a solid basis for their hope, even when all around them seems hopeless.

As we face a myriad of challenges, uncertainties and struggles the Spirit dwells in us, promising us that our hopes will not be disappointed, offering us a certainty we can rely on whatever storms life throws in our direction.

Where do you need to discover the hope the Spirit promises this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Eastertide Gospel Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Liturgy Resurrection Scripture Uncategorized

A promise & a hope.

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Eastertide a dynamic season. From Easter Sunday onwards there’s lots of movement, disciples running to and from the tomb, setting out on journeys as soon as they reach home to share the news of the resurrection, moving around the area sharing this Good News with anyone who will listen.

All this activity is grounded in their intimate, personal and life changing encounters with the risen Christ. For several weeks the risen Christ has revealed the resurrection and deepening our understanding of who the he is. Now, approaching Ascension there is a new movement. Jesus says to his disciples:

“I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”

Jesus is beginning to prepare his disciples, and us, for another departure. Once again he is leaving them, this time to return to his Father. As we move towards the Ascension he makes it clear that he’s not leaving them emptied handed.

As well as their own personal experiences of him he has broadened and deepened their understanding of who he is. Now he promises them the Holy Spirit, the Advocate.

The Spirit will be with them to teach and support them, to give them the courage to face the challenges that will come. The Spirit will remind them of all Jesus said, all those things that might be forgotten in the emotion of the moment.

This is equally true for us today. In all the challenges we face Jesus promises us that the Spirit will be there with us.

What is your hope for the action of the Spirit in your life this Eastertide?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Resurrection Scripture

Transformation

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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?