"The Holy Spirit descended upon him ... "
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 Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
All were questioning in their
hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of
them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I
is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear
his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he
will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Now when all the people were baptized, and
when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and
the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came
from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
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 spiritual journey does not require going
anywhere because God is already with us and in us. It is a question of allowing
our ordinary thoughts to recede into the background and to float along the river
of consciousness without our noticing them, while we direct our attention toward
the river on which they are floating. We are like someone sitting on the bank of
a river and watching the boats go by. If we stay on the bank, with our attention
on the river rather than on the boats, the capacity to disregard thoughts as
they go by will develop, and a deeper kind of attention will emerge. Thomas Keating, Open
Mind, Open Heart, 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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