Category: Liturgy

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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 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?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Psalms Saints Scripture

Courage to be free

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As we celebrate the feast of Sts Peter and Paul I’m reflecting on courage. There’s no denying that we live in frightening and challenging times. Whatever direction we look in we risk being overwhelmed by the uncertainty and suffering people are forced to live with.

Peter and Paul do not seem to be very alike. They have different backgrounds, attitudes and experiences of Jesus. Yet, among their many differences one thing Peter and Paul have in common is courage. Among a variety of definitions of courage discussed the one that has stayed with me is the courage to change.

St Paul, the great persecutor of Christians, had the courage to allow his encounter on the Road to Damascus to change everything about how he lived. He must have risked losing friends, family, reputation and livelihood in the process.

Peter’s courage enables him to leave his nets and follow Jesus, even though he feels unequal to the task. His courage allows him to stay with Jesus as his ideas are challenged, disturbed and ultimately seems to be destroyed. Even in the face of his denial of Jesus he finds the courage to come back seeking forgiveness.

They bring to mind these words from today’s responsorial psalm:

“From all my terrors the Lord sets me free.”

In discovering the courage to to change Sts Peter and Paul were able to accept the risks, challenges and delights of allowing Christ to set them free.


Where do you find the courage to allow Christ to set you free from all that would terrorise you?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel John the Baptist Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

From the margins

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Today we’re celebrating the birthday of St John the Baptist. From his very beginnings John is marginal, he marks the boundaries between the Old Testament and the New Testament. He calls us to look back to the rich tradition of the Old Testament with its covenant and promise, and forward to the new hope offered by the coming of Christ.

While being on the margins brings insight, wisdom and the clarity of view that those in more central positions can miss, it is an uncomfortable and often dangerous position.

Those on the margins are often ignored, misunderstood or even despised. They make us feel uncomfortable or even threatened. John the Baptist knew that all too well. Reflecting on this I was struck by these words from the hymn we sang at last night’s vigil:

“How shall we hear the Word if we despise the voice…”

They carry something of the urgency of John’s original message. They remind me that the voices that call us to be open to the transforming power of the Word are not necessarily ones we are comfortable with. If we want to hear the Word in our times we have to turn towards the voices of those on the margins today.

We have to ask ourselves whose voices are despised, silenced, ignored. Then, responding to John’s instruction, we have to listen to them and allow them to point us towards Christ.

Where are you being called to hear the Word from challenging directions today?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Saints Scripture

Trusting joyfully in Christ

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Today we’re celebrating the feast of Sts Thomas More and John Fisher. They lived in times that were brutal and frightening, full of betrayal and mistrust. As they faced their martyrdom the words of today’s gospel must have had a particular resonance for them:

“They will hand you over to be tortured and put to death; and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name.”

Neither these disturbing words nor their arrest, imprisonment nor martyrdoms distracted them from trusting in God’s love. They may have felt overwhelmed and frightened by their situation. They certainly wished it could have been different. Yet through it all they were able to keep hold of St Paul’s words to the Romans:

“We are filled with joyful trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have already gained our reconciliation.”

The joyful trust Paul describes is easy when life is good. In those times it’s easy to believe that God’s love is poured out into our hearts. It’s not so easy in the reality of the world today, with all its terrors and uncertainties. The harshness of daily life can smother the love, joy and trust that are the heart of the gospel.

It’s when life is at its hardest and most challenging that we need that joyful trust. The harsher our world becomes the more we need the transforming love of God to be poured into our hearts to nurture and sustain us both in our personal struggles and in our interactions with others.

I’m grateful for Paul’s reminder that whatever challenge and uncertainty we face we can trust that God’s love will be with us, sustaining, comforting, healing.

What helps you to keep trusting Christ’s promise in difficult times?

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Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Rule of St Benedict Scripture Uncategorized

In the secret of our hearts

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In today’s gospel Jesus warns us against seeking attention and admiration for our faith and our good deeds. It’s a message that very much goes against the wisdom of age, which encourages us to seek notice and attention in every situation. It’s a call to live humbly. Humility is essential in Benedictine spirituality.

It’s not easy, it requires self-knowledge, self-awareness, self acceptance and self-love. It calls us both to accept our limitations and our giftedness, to acknowledge that we are both made of dust and the beloved children of God. As I reflected on this I was touched by these words from the gospel:

“When you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.”

It seems to me that Jesus shows us the best way to learn to live humbly. He calls us to come alone into God’s presence, to spend time in a quiet, private, intimate space with God. It’s not an easy or comfortable place to be. Like the desert, it can be a place where we both wrestle demons and discover angels.

Entering that private place where God is we can come to acknowledge our weakness and our failings, learning to accept them lovingly as God does. We can discover the precious gifts that God has given us and discern how best to use them in the service of others. The secret place where we encounter God is a place of challenge, it is also a place of consolation, healing and encouragement.

How do you draw strength from your times alone in God’s presence?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Sacred Heart Scripture

Centred on love

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Today we are celebrating the feast of the Sacred Heart. It’s a feast that celebrates the love that is the core and foundation of the Christian life. It reminds us that we are called into being by love, for love’s sake, to live in love and to share that love with others.

In the first reading, from the book of Deuteronomy, Moses the people of this, saying to them:

“The Lord set his heart on you and chose you…”

This choice is not made because of any power, wealth, talent or skill that the people had. It’s a choice made purely out of love. In his first letter St John takes this a step further. He reminds us that we too called by and held in love. He adds on that this love should change as so that we learn to love one another as much as God loves us:

“Since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another.”

His are call to action. While it is good to be aware being held in God’s love, it is not enough. That knowledge should lead us to reach out to others in love. In the gospel Jesus shows us a practical way of making that a reality. He says to his disciples:

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

In our harsh and challenging times this feast offers us the opportunity to reflect on what we might do to lighten the burdens and give rest to the people we encounter in daily life.

As we celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart where are you able to lighten the burdens of those around you?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Communion Corpus Christi Eucharist Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture

United in love.

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Corpus Christi being celebrated on two different days gives me another opportunity to revisit its rich readings.

“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

His words are full of hope, speaking to the unity we all desire. It’s a unity that has two dimensions. There is the personal union with Christ that we are all called to, but desirable as that is it is not enough. So alongside that there is a call to unity with our sisters and brothers.

The call to follow Christ, while it is deeply personal, is not individual. It’s a call to community. As Benedict reminds us we go to Christ “altogether”.

In a world where we are all too aware of our disagreements and divisions, both in society and in the church,St Paul’s words can seem impossibly idealistic. When we look at the divisions between our churches his vision can seem like an unachievable dream.

With this in mind I turned to the readings for the 10 Sunday of ordinary time. I found that they laid out a pathway to the unity St Paul speaks of. In the first reading the Prophet Hosea reminds the people that God calls them to be people of love:

“What I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.”

This gives me a deeper understanding the unity at the heart of Corpus Christi. It is first a call to build a community of love that is inclusive and welcoming to all who seek God.

As we celebrate Corpus Christi how are you being called to help build the church into a community of love?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Communion Corpus Christi Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Truth

In Christ’s Presence

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A post from our archives for the feast of Corpus Christi. As we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi I’m reflecting on the nature of Eucharist. The Scripture that comes to mind is the Emmaus story. Although it’s not part of the feast’s liturgy it seems to me to capture something of its essence.

It acknowledges the despair and hopelessness of the disciples as they trudged home disappointed and unsettled by all that has happened. We can identify so strongly with those feelings in our own lives that we almost feel the weight of it all as they pour out their story to Jesus. They remind me that Eucharist offers us an opportunity to bring our brokenness, hurt and disappointment into the presence of Christ.

Jesus responds to their despair by taking them through the Scriptures already know, reminding them of the passages that speak about the Messiah. As he does this their hearts are ignited, and through their sadness they glimpse something so good that they don’t want to let it go, so they invite him to stay with them. Full recognition only dawns as they sit down to eat together and:

“He took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognised him…”

It seems to me that the essence of the Eucharist is an invitation rediscover the reality of Christ’s presence in every part of our lives, in our liturgies, in our communities, in all our relationships and activities.

As we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi where do you recognise the reality of Christ’s presence in your life?