"Go and tell...what you hear and see."
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 Matthew 11:2-11
When John heard in prison what the Messiah
was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who
is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell
John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good
news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
As they
went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out
into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go
out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are
in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you,
and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am
sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly
I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the
Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
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 or another contemplative guide.
Teaching:
Family, ethnic, and religious values are important and
may support us for a certain time and to a certain place in the spiritual
journey, but not to the place of total freedom that is God’s ambition for each
of us. Perhaps it was John’s preconceived ideas about asceticism that God wanted
to demolish in order to free him in the last days of his life to accept God’s
coming in any way at all, including through the eating and drinking and
compassion of the actual Messiah. Jesus, by the miracles he worked in the presence
of John’s disciples, thus said to John in answer to his question, “My friend,
you did not make a mistake. I am the Messiah. But the Messiah is not limited to
your ideas of what he should do and how he should behave.”
~Thomas Keating, The Mystery of Christ, 20-21.
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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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