"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
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: from Mark 12: 28-34
One of the scribes came near and heard the Saducees disputing
with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which
commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O
Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all
your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him,
“You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him
there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the
understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as
oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are
not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any
question.
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: One of the most familiar
of Jesus’s teachings is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But we almost
always hear that wrong. We hear “Love your neighbor as much as yourself.” (And
of course, the next logical question then becomes, “But I have to love me
first, don’t I, before I can love my neighbor?”) If you listen closely to
Jesus’s teaching however, there is no “as much as” in there. It’s just “Love
your neighbor as yourself”—as a continuation of your very own being. It’s a complete seeing
that your neighbor is you. There are not two individuals out there, one seeking
to better herself at the price of the other, or to extend charity to the other;
there are simply two cells of the one great Life. Each of them is equally
precious and necessary. And as these two cells flow into one
another, experiencing that one Life from the inside, they discover that “laying
down one’s life for another” is not a loss of one’s self but a vast expansion
of it—because the indivisible reality of love is the only True Self. These are
the core points of a very radical teaching—not only light years ahead of its
time but way ahead of our own as well. Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Jesus, 31-32.
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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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