Category: Pentecost

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The abundant generosity of the Holy Spirit.

Image ©Turvey Abbey

ABUNDANCE

My final Eastertide word is ABUNDANCE. All of Eastertide expresses the overflowing abundance of God’s love for us. That’s especially true as we celebrate the ABUNDANCE of gifts the Holy Spirit showers on us at Pentecost.

This comes to mind when I reflect 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 want to overflow in your heart this Pentecost?

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Attentive to Christ’s Call

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ATTENTIVENESS

Today’s Eastertide word is ATTENTIVENESS. Today’s gospel covers the very end of Jesus’ conversation with Peter. Once again I find myself touched by Peter’s bluntness.

Even in the middle of his intense and intimate conversation with Jesus Peter is distracted enough to wonder about the fate of the beloved disciple. He asks Jesus:

“What about him, Lord?”

I too can be easily distracted even in my most prayerful moments. So Peter’s distraction and his honesty about it are consoling. They make me realise how commonplace distraction in prayer is.

His honesty in speaking to Jesus about it are a reminder that we can be open with Jesus when we too are distracted. Jesus’ response brings Peter back, firmly and lovingly from his distraction. He draws him back to the focus of their conversation, saying to him:

“If I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.”

Sometimes allowing distractions to flourish in our minds and hearts can blunt the urgency or challenge of Jesus’ call. If we feel challenged, we can shift some of our discomfort by focussing on other things or other people.

This last part of Jesus’ conversation with Peter calls us to reflect on that. It calls us to notice our distractions and to bring them to Jesus. Then he can help us to lay them aside so that we, like Peter can give ourselves wholly to our encounter with him.

As we move towards Pentecost where is Christ challenging you to give your full attention to following him?

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The Glory of Christ

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GLORIFY

Today’s Eastertide word is GLORIFY. Beginning with Jesus’ prayer for his disciples the word “glorify” repeats again and again throughout this Sunday’s gospel:

“Jesus said: ‘Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your son may glorify you; and, through the power over all humankind that you have given him, let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him.’”

In an age that sees itself as egalitarian his words seem baffling or even downright uncomfortable. We’ve seen too many misinterpretations of glorification to be comfortable with it. But John’s Gospel is not speaking of the human glory that we’ve seen misused and abused in so many areas.

The glory of the gospel is discovering the reality of divine presence in the midst of ordinary life. We’ve seen that unfold in Jesus’ in miracles and life transforming encounters.

Now Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure and the coming of the Spirit. His prayer for them is that the presence of God will continue to break through into their lives.

That presence won’t remove the challenges, difficulties and dangers they face. Instead the presence of God with them will transform them, giving them courage to move forward in hope and trust.

In our own challenging and uncertain times that presence still has the power to break through and transform our lives. It is unlikely (though not impossible) that we will see it in grand gestures and actions.

It’s more likely to be apparent in glimpses and glimmers in the midst of the most ordinary and mundane activities of life. If we are attentive and alert it will come to us in the most unlikely of circumstances.

Where is God calling you to be attentive to the presence of God’s glory in your life?

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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Eastertide Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Liturgy Monastic Life Pentecost Prayer Scripture

Come Holy Spirit.

Image ©Turvey Abbey

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 Divine Office Eastertide Gospel Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Pentecost Resurrection Scripture Trinity

The call to unity.

Photo by Hannah Busing on unsplash.com

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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Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Eastertide Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Liturgy Pentecost Prayer Scripture Uncategorized Vespers

Come Holy Spirit

Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from pixabay.com

Our celebration of Pentecost has begun with Vespers. It’s is full of passion and drama. There’s the Apostles transformed and inspired by the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel in new ways and new languages. There’s Jesus’ appearance to the disciples offering peace and sending them out to take the Good News to the whole world. There’s Paul’s beautiful image of unity and diversity. Out of this rich tapestry of inspiration it’s these words from St Paul’s letter to the Romans that have stayed with me:

“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 regularly 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 celebrate the joy and hope of Pentecost what does the Spirit carry from the depths of your heart to the presence of God?