"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off."
We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.
Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.
CONTEMPLATIVE / SILENT PRAYER
Our Centering Prayer sit is 20 - 30 minutes sounded by the chime/chant. At the end of the Prayer sit, we will linger in silence a few minutes, then follow by praying together the Our Father.
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First reading & silent reflection: Reflect in silence.
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LECTIO: Mark 9: 38-50.
[Jesus said,] “If any of you
put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it
would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you
were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is
better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to
the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is
better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into
hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you
to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown
into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
“For everyone will be salted
with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you
season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Second reading & reflection: What word or phrase catches your attention? Share or pass.
Third reading & reflection: How does this word or phrase touch your life? Share or pass.
Fourth and last reading & silent reflection: How is God inviting you to grow? We will reflect in silence for a few moments before we move from Lectio Prayer to the teaching by Father Keating.
Teaching: The paradox is that we can never fully fulfill
our role until we are ready to let it go. Whoever we think we are, we are not.
We have to find that out, and the best way to do so, or at least the most
painless way, is through the process that we call the spiritual journey. This
requires facing the dark side of our personality and the emotional investment we
have made in false programs for happiness and in our particular cultural
conditioning. Rest in Centering Prayer provides us with profound healing. To be
really healed requires that we allow our dark side to come to full consciousness
and then to let it go and give it to God. Thomas Keating, The Human
Condition, p.35
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We now take some time to share our thoughts and reflections on our own spiritual journey and our prayer practice. Followed by brief prayers of intercession. Share or pass.
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Go in the name of Christ Jesus to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God!
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[This is an adapted format courtesy of Martha Johnston, Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington, DC]
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