Category: Lectio Divina

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Made for Joy.

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The 26 word in my Lent lexicon is:

JOY.

It’s Laetare Sunday, the halfway point in Lent when we pause our Lent practices for a day. We add flowers and music to our liturgies again, we may change the liturgical colours for a day. All of this is not because we’ve had enough of Lent and need a break. The reason we pause is to remember that our salvation is already assured. It’s a day to remember that Christ has already risen, and that is the source of our joy.

It’s hard to be joyful these days when life is so hard and so uncertain. It’s a lot easier to be pessimistic about our prospects than to be joyful. In these circumstances being joyful becomes a discipline, it becomes a practice that we have to choose.

We have to actively look for joy in our lives. Joy can’t only be connected good things happening in our lives. Even when life is hard and we are suffering joy can sustain us. The source of joy is deeper than the events of life. St Paul sums it up in his second letter to the Corinthians when he writes:

“For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work.”

His words remind us that the source of our joy is in our relationship with God. It is the new creation that God works in each of us that enables us to be joyful, even when our lives are hard. It is the love of God that hold us in being and creates us anew that enables us to be joyful even in hard times.

Where are you discovering glimmers of joy this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Rule of St Benedict Scripture

The call of humility.

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The 25th word in my Lent lexicon is

HUMILITY.

It’s another word with deep Benedictine roots. St Benedict dedicates a whole chapter of the Rule to it. He describes humility the steps on a ladder. The sides of the ladder he describes as our body and soul. This is a hopeful and holistic view. St Benedict is aware that humility requires self-awareness and acceptance of our whole reality, physical, spiritual, emotional.

Already his approach goes some way to untangling the mixed messages we receive about humility that can make it more challenging than it really is. We often think of humility as admitting our failings, and this is definitely part of it. We never think about the other side of humility, acknowledging our gifts and talents.

Humility is not a call to put ourselves down, although it requires that we accept those openly. It’s a call to self-knowledge, which means admitting both our failings and our gifts.

The difference between the two men in today’s gospel is that one has an honest view of himself, while the other has chosen to believe the wholly positive image that he presents to the world. Both had a choice to make, as do we. Jesus points us in the direction of the best path to choose:

“Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Humility is a challenge both because we have to walk away from our false self and because we have to openly accept that our true self is a mixed bag of faults and talents.

Where are you learning humility this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Rule of St Benedict Scripture

Conversion of life.

The 24th word in my Lent lexicon is

CONVERSION.

This is a particularly good word for a Benedictine to reflect on during Lent as conversion of life is one of our vows, and it’s always worth revisiting those from time to time. It’s a call always to be turning back to God, always to be open to the working of God in our lives.

It’s a call always to be open to the new life God offers us, even if choosing life sometimes doesn’t feel very life-giving. Conversion of life calls us to be prepared to change our ways, to try again.

In the first reading Isaiah presents conversion as a returning to God’s presence:

“Come back to the Lord your God…”

He invites us to acknowledge how far we have wandered from God and how we need to come back into God’s presence to be healed and restored. He promises us that if we find the courage and humility to do this we will be met with love as God says:

“I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them with all my heart…”

This brings us to the heart of the call to conversion. As Jesus points out in the gospel it is all about love:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

The call to conversion is a call to allow ourselves to be healed and loved by God, and to bring that healing love into our relationships with one another. Then, knowing ourselves to be loved we are able to reach out and love others.

Where is God calling you to conversion of heart this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Pay attention.

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The 23 word in my Lent lexicon is:

ATTENTIVE.

Today’s gospel shows some of the controversy that surrounded Jesus’ ministry. Having cast out a devil he is accused of doing so through the power of Satan. He takes his accusers to task, challenging them to reflect on their attitudes and to pay attention to what is going on around them.

It’s a wake-up call, a call to pay attention. He says to them:

“If it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you.”

They don’t expect to find the kingdom of God in this wandering rabbi. His words call them to look beyond their prejudices, to allow for the possibility that the kingdom might appear in surprising and unexpected ways.

His words speak powerfully to us too. We also have our prejudices and expectations. Like the people in the gospel we think we know where it’s possible to encounter God. Jesus reminds us that the kingdom will always be a surprise.

It will always become apparent in unexpected places and unexpected ways. So, we need to be constantly alert. We need to be attentive, with eyes and hearts open to the possibility of encountering God in every situation and in every encounter.

When life is hard we are tempted to do the exact opposite of this. We are inclined to narrow our views and to close down rather than to risk opening up to new possibilities.

Jesus’ call is to work against this tendency. His call is to keep being open, alert and attentive so that, even in these most challenging times we will be able to recognise the kingdom unfolding in our midst.

Where are you being called to be attentive to the presence of the kingdom in your life this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Remembering

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The 22 word in my Lent lexicon is:

REMEMBER.

As well as being a practical tool to help us organise our days and our thoughts our memories help shape and define who we are. Moses reminds the people of this in today’s first reading from the book of Deuteronomy:

“Take care what you do and be on your guard. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart all the days of your life; rather, tell them to your children and to your children’s children.”

His words are much more than a reminder to keep the laws and customs that God has laid down for them on their journey through the desert. They are a call on a much deeper level to remember that they are a people chosen by God, loved by God and held in being by God. His words call them to remember they are formed and shaped by a sacred relationship.

These words have a particular resonance for us in Lent. It’s a time for going back to our roots. It has its own rules and regulations, customs and practices that shape the time for us. However, important as those are they are not the essence of Lent. Lent is a time when, like the Israelites in the desert, we are called to remember who we truly are.

It’s a time to remember that we are called into relationship with the God of love. We are called to allow that love to form our lives and our relationships. It’s a time to remember and rediscover our true selves. Lent calls us to remember once again the person God calls us to be.

What is the essential thing God is calling you to remember this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Gospel Lectio Divina Lent

Encounter with the living God.

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The 21 word in my Lent lexicon is

ENCOUNTER.

The Lent scriptures are full of significant encounters with God. Moses, the blind beggar, the Samaritan woman and the disciples all have life changing encounters with God that we hear about in Lent.

None of those are as significant as the encounter at the heart of today’s feast, the Annunciation. Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel is life changing, not just for her, but for all of creation. St Benedict of Clairvaux captures its significance in one of his sermons, writing of all of creation waiting with bated breath for Mary’s answer:

“The angel is waiting for your answer, it is time for him to return to the God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady…If you consent straightaway shall we be saved…by one little word of yours in answer shall we all be made alive.“

Her response propels her, us and all of creation into a new reality:

“I am the handmaid of the Lord…let what you have said be done to me.”

It’s often portrayed as a moment of calm and serenity, sometimes the depictions also hint at confusion and disruption. I suspect that the reality encapsulated all of those. It’s important to be aware of this when we come to reflect on our own life changing encounters with God. We hope and expect these to be moments of communion that are calm and serene.

We recognise times when we’re as certain of God’s presence as the disciples at the transfiguration. Yet our encounters with God can also be confusing, disruptive and disconcerting. It seems to me that if our own encounters with God are to be truly life changing they have to have disturb our lives as well as offering consolation.

How is God challenging you to allow God’s presence to disrupt your life this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Psalms Scripture

Yearning for God.

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The 20 word in my Lent lexicon is:

YEARNING.

It’s inspired by psalm 41, today’s responsorial psalm. Generally, I tend to overlook the responsorial psalm, looking first for insights in the other scripture readings. I often miss out on real wisdom and insight by doing that. So today I’m reflecting on these words:

“Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.”

It speaks to that longing that we all feel deep within us most of the time. Sometimes it feels like we’re always looking for something that we never quite find or that we’re always slightly dissatisfied with what we have. It can be unsettling and frustrating at best.

We can try to fill that gap with money, possessions, career or success. In my experience that works to some extent. For a while we can feel fulfilled and satisfied by those things, but after a while we begin to realise that those are not enough. Underneath the apparent satisfaction we become aware of a niggling feeling we want something more regardless of how well we are meeting the goals we set for ourselves.

That underlying discontent can be uncomfortable. We can be tempted to push it aside, trying to fill the gap with more of the same, but that doesn’t often work. Instead we can sit with the discontent & discover its true source is our desire for God. Once we can acknowledge that it can lead us to seek God’s presence in our lives in new & enriching ways.

Where is your yearning for God leading you this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Second chances.

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The 19 word in my Lent lexicon is:

SECOND CHANCE.

We live in a world that is quick to judge and to dismiss those are viewed as not living up to our expectations. We live in a “cancel” culture that dismisses anyone who criticises or even disagrees with us. This makes life feel very pressured for all of us. We feel the pressure of always being right and are stressed by the constant effort of avoiding anything that looks remotely like failure.

In today’s gospel Jesus takes the opposite approach. In telling the crowd the parable of the fig tree he reminds us that God is a God of second chances. When the vineyard owner sees his fig tree isn’t bearing fruit his inclination is to cut it down and use the space for something else. His gardener stays his had saying:

“Leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”

The gardener recognises a potential in the fig tree that the master misses. He sees that with extra care, attention and nourishment the tree might flourish and bear fruit, however unlikely it seems.

When we feel like we’re failing or that our lives are not bearing fruit Jesus looks at us in the same way as the gardener looks at the fig tree. He sees beyond the disappointment and hopelessness. He offers us a second chance, knowing that with care, attention and nourishment we too can bear fruit, even if we can’t quite believe it ourselves.

Where is Christ offering you a second chance this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Scripture

Mercy

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The 18 word in my Lent Lexicon is:

MERCY.

It’s a word that’s full of hope and challenge. Its challenge is in it’s call to admit our faults & failing, to confess that we all need mercy in our lives. We both stand in need of God’s mercy and are called top be merciful towards others. To admit this is uncomfortable, especially in a world that seems to expect us to be effortlessly successful in every endeavour.

Another challenge of mercy is that it can only come as a gift, we can’t demand it, earn it or get it for ourselves. The most we can do is ask for it when we recognise our need strive to be open to receive it.

It’s not all challenge, mercy also offers us hope. In today’s first reading the prophet Micah writes:

“What god can compare with you: taking fault away, pardoning crime, not cherishing anger for ever but delighting in showing mercy?”

His words remind us, not only that God knows our faults and is willing to be merciful, but that the mercy is offered freely and generously with delight. The source of God’s mercy towards us is the love, the love that holds us in being. It’s the love that the gospel describes in the story of the prodigal son.

Knowing the son’s faults, and even that his predicament is of his own making, his father reaches out to draw him back into his love. However we disguise them God knows our faults, and knowing them delights in offering us mercy and welcoming us back into God’s loving embrace.

Where are you being offered God’s mercy this Lent?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Lent Liturgy Monastic Life Rule of St Benedict Saints

Listen with the ear of your heart.

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Today we’re celebrating the feast of the Passing of St Benedict, so for my Lent word I’ve gone back to the wisdom of his Rule. The 17 word in my Lent lexicon is:

LISTEN

Listen is the first word in the Rule of St Benedict. It takes me back to the basics of the Christian call. We’re getting close to the halfway mark in Lent. I always think of this as a bit of a “dead” time in Lent. The novelty of our Lent practices has worn off, and we’re still a long way from the impetus of Holy Week.

This means that it’s the time when it’s easiest to let our Lent practices slip. In such times I find it helpful to go back to the basics. St Benedict opens the Rule with these words:

“Listen carefully to the master’s instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”

The call to listen is at the heart of the Rule and of the gospel. We can’t follow the call of the gospel unless we allow ourselves to hear it. For that to happen we need to create space. We live surrounded by 24 hour sound. This can be very distracting.

If we are to allow God the chance to speak to our hearts, we have to switch off some of the other sounds that surround us, even the good & helpful ones. We have to create a quiet space where we can hear the gentle, loving voice of God calling us to follow.

What is helping you to listen to God’s voice this Lent?