Category: Lectio Divina

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Resurrection Saints Scripture

Seeing the Lord

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Today we are celebrating the feast of St Mary Magdalene, one of the first witnesses to the resurrection, who was sent to tell the disciples that Christ had risen. It’s sometimes easier to say who she wasn’t than who she actually was.

Despite being portrayed through the centuries as the archetypal penitent woman, she’s not the woman taken in adultery. Nor is she the woman who poured oil on the feet of Jesus, anointing him for his burial.

Jesus cast out seven devils from her. So she is a woman marked by the pain of severe mental anguish. It may have been crushing anxiety, debilitating fear, depression or a myriad of other conditions that sap the joy and hope out of life.

Freed of her demons she follows Jesus, supporting him and the other disciples from her own resources. She stayed with him until the very end, standing at the cross with the other women when the rest of the disciples fled. She follows him, even after death, to see where his body has been laid.

Even when he is laid in the tomb her desire to be close to him draws her back to his tomb in the dark of the early morning. It is there, as she stands weeping, that the risen Christ appears to her, and commissions her to proclaim the good news of his resurrection to the other disciples, telling them:

“I have seen the Lord…”

Where is Christ inviting you to seek and proclaim his presence in your life?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Taking space.

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Today’s gospel is moving, challenging and hopeful. Martha, known as a friend of Jesus’s, welcomes him into her house. She offers him and his companions hospitality, welcoming them with genuine love and affection. While we all recognise hospitality as an important Christian value Martha’s story reminds us that there is another side to it. The reality is that, valuable as it is, it is also demanding and hard work.

Martha soon finds herself overwhelmed by the practicalities of it all. Like so many of us, she snaps under the strain of this reality and complains to Jesus that her sister is doing nothing to help.

Jesus turns her complaint back to her own situation, saying to her:

“‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one.’”

There are many ways of interpreting his response. Often it is interpreted as a comparison between Martha and her sister Mary, who has made a different choice. Living, as we do in, times that can feel increasingly busy and overwhelming I’m finding a different message in his words to Martha.

They are a reminder that, valuable as work and service are, they are not the centre of our lives or our world. Jesus invites Martha not to over identify with her work and her “usefulness”. He calls her to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. It seems to me that he also invites us to step back from the busyness of our lives and to take time to be still and to reflect.

Where is Christ inviting you to take time to reflect today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prophetic voices Scripture

Attentive to the Kingdom.

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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 learners 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 that 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 us 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 Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

Discovering our neighbours.

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This week’s gospel challenges us to look at the prejudices we take for granted. As part of a conversation intended to disconcert Jesus a lawyer asks:

“And who is my neighbour?”

Jesus answers with the parable of the good Samaritan. It’s a disconcerting and challenging story. The Samaritan would very much have been viewed as the outsider by Jesus’ listeners. They would not have expected him to be the hero of the story. Yet, he is the one who, moved by compassion, reaches out in love to a man in desperate need.

I often feel the full impact of the parable is lost on us today. Having no particular issues with any of the groups Jesus identifies we can gloss over the challenge, ignoring our prejudice. Then it’s easy to identify with the Samaritan who acted with such care and compassion. A few moments reflection reminds us that the challenge is just as real today.

Like the lawyer in the gospel we can easily look for ways to limit God’s call to love, to restrict it to those who “deserve” it. That is not the way of the kingdom. The values of the kingdom compel us to love as God does, unconditionally and without boundaries.

If we are to shape our lives by those values, we need to respond to this question with open and generous hearts, so that everyone is welcomed with warmth and love.

Where are you being called to discover your neighbour today?

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

Celebrating St Benedict.

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Celebrating the feast of St Benedict, I’m reflecting on Jesus’ call to service. He interrupts the disciples’ arguments about greatness by turning their perceptions upside down, telling them:

“The greatest among you must be as the youngest, the leader as the one who serves. For who is greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table surely? Yet, I am among you as one who serves!”

His words remind his disciples that they are called to put the needs of others first. That was a startling call to his disciples. It can seem an even more challenging call to us living in a time when individual fulfilment and satisfaction are so much to the fore.

St Benedict puts the call to service at the very heart of his Rule, telling us that we should pursue what is better for others instead of for ourselves. He knows that this is not an easy call, and reminds us that we should bear patiently with one another as we strive to fulfil it.

Community life offers us many opportunities to practice both service and patience throughout the day, whether in big things or small. I often find it’s easier to do in the big things of life. When we know someone is facing something really difficult or challenging it’s easy to be loving and supportive.

It can be much harder in the myriad of little mistakes and annoyances that make up the bulk of most days. However hard it might feel St Benedict is clear that if we “long for life and to see good days” the only way is a life of loving service.

How are you being called to serve today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

The closeness of the kingdom

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In today’s gospel Jesus sends out his disciples to proclaim the Good News around the towns and villages. Having given them power to cast out demons and cured the sick he goes on to tell them:

“As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.”

His words are a call to attentiveness, they remind us that the kingdom is not an abstract concept for us to reflect on and theologise over. While the promise of the kingdom definitely has a futuristic element, in that we can’t yet see it in its fullness, it can also be a reality in the daily lives we live.

As we face the stresses and strains of our own lives, and the many challenges of our world it can be hard to believe that. Yet, Jesus promises us that if pay attention and we live by the values of the gospel we will see the kingdom grow in our midst. By imitating his actions we can make the kingdom he promises a reality today.

His words call us to pay attention to what we see going on around us, to where we see the values of the gospel being lived by the people we encounter. He also calls us to pay attention to our own actions.

He invites us to reflect on how we treat others, especially the most needy and vulnerable. He asks us to think about where we are called to be kind and compassionate, where we are called to offer hospitality, and to welcome those who are different.

Where is Christ inviting you to recognise the kingdom today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture Uncategorized

Bearers of the peace of Christ

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Today’s gospel focuses on the sending of the seventy-two to preach the Good News. It’s a passage full of promise and uncertainty. I imagine the disciples listened to their commission with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation.

Jesus gives them very specific instructions, telling them what to take and how to behave as they travel around the country. On their journey they are called to trust themselves completely to the providence of God and the kindness of strangers.

But he doesn’t send them out completely empty handed. He gives them a gift to pass on to the people they encounter:

“Whatever house you going to, let your first words be, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if people of peace live there, your peace will go and rest on them; if not it will come back to you.”

As we see more and more communities torn apart by war and conflict across the world it’s hard to imagine a time when that peace has been more needed. This peace is no quick papering over of cracks. It’s not the false calm that comes from denying differences or pushing aside injustices, It requires that we do a certain amount of inner work to be able to receive it and share it.

If we are to be people of peace, we have to allow our hearts to be changed. We need to risk letting the stories of the other change us. We have to be willing to let go let go of much that we cherish. We have to accept that we are not right about everything and to be willing to compromise.

Where is Christ calling you to change so that you can accept and share his peace today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Saints Scripture Truth

Finding faith

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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?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture Uncategorized

On the margins

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Today’s first reading is one of the most challenging pieces of Scripture we hear. The story of Hagar, Abrahams’ slave girl and mother of his first child is raw and full of pain. Hagar was given to Abraham as his mistress by his wife Sarah in order to provide a son.

Later, becoming jealous Sarah insists that Abraham sends Hagar and her son away to protect Isaacs’ inheritance, so Hagar is sent out into the wilderness with a small amount of food and water.

When this runs out Hagar leaves her baby to die. The angel of the Lord appears to her, telling her not to be afraid, that God has heard the child’s cries and promises to make him into a great nation:

“Then God opened Hagar’s eyes and she saw a well so she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.”

There is no way to avoid the many challenges it presents us with. Hagar lives on the margins of her society, as a slave she has no value and no rights. It would be comforting to brush the story aside as something that happened in the distant past, but is no longer relevant to us.

A quick glance at any news outlet shows us how false that perception is. Hagar’s story compels us to look again at the times we live in. It challenges us to look out for the people pushed to the margins of our society, offered no support and protection. It asks us what steps we can take to improve their lives and their situation.

Where is God calling you to reach out to those on the margins today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

Saints Peter and Paul.

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Today were celebrating the feast of St Peter and Paul. At first glance it’s hard to imagine two more different men. Peter, one of the first disciples called by Jesus, who followed him on his journeys through the region.

He was a fisherman and is unlikely to have had much formal education. One of the first disciples Jesus called, he left his family and livelihood to follow him and was with him throughout his ministry. He he could be impetuous, sometimes to the point of foolishness, direct and passionate.

Paul, on the other hand was well educated, articulate and sure of himself. Never having met Jesus, he spent his life zealously persecuting Christians. Then an encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus turned him into a passionate Christian. He gave his life over to spreading the gospel and his work still shapes the church today.

Despite their apparent differences of personality and background there is an underlying bond between them. These words from Jesus’ conversation in today’s gospel sums up the source of that bond. When he asked the disciples, “But you,… Who do you say I am?” It is Peter who is able to answer:

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

Their conviction that Jesus is the Christ and their willingness to leave everything to follow him is the source of their connection. Their feast calls us to reflect on how our belief that Jesus is the Christ shapes the way we live our lives.

How is Christ calling you to follow him today?