"...the light shines in the darkness.'"
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 John 1: 1-14
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came
into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light
of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a
witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He
himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light,
which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and
the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came
to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who
received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man,
but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his
glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
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:
From a God’s-eye view of creation, the real
operational challenge is not sin and evil; it is posed by the vastly unequal
energetic frequencies between the realms. How can the sun touch a
snowflake? How can divine radiance meet and interpenetrate created life
without incinerating it? This is the ultimate metaphysical koan—to which
Christianity proposes as its solution the mystery of the incarnation….
The Son, in this wider metaphysical context, is no longer one who bails us out
or who rescues us from our fallen state, but one who becomes the bridge between
the realms. Recognizing the enormous difficulty of the mission, Jesus
comes to accompany us on it, advocating for our human finitude in a way that
respects its integrity but doesn’t allow us to get trapped in it….he becomes our
mediator. Standing at the confluence of two vastly different orders of
being, he offers his own life as the sanctuary between them.
….[H]is incarnation is not about fall, guilt, or blame, but about goodness,
solidarity, and our own intimate participation in the mystery of love at the
heart of all creation.
~Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Jesus, 101-103.
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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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