"Be reconciled to your brother or sister . . ."
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 5: 21-37
“You have heard that it was said
to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall
be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother
or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or
sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will
be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar,
if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave
your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or
sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your
accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand
you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into
prison."
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:
We do not go to God, finally, because we
should, but because we want to, because we are drawn with pleasure and
delight to all that is good and true and beautiful. As we move toward God, we
shall find that we have less and less need to carry with us a lot of baggage
filled with anger and anxiety about old wrongs that cannot, in any case, keep
us from the true and lovely God.
It takes too much energy to go on being angry, to go on dwelling on past harms,
when I want to be rejoicing in my beloved’s beauty, in my friend’s
companionship. Eventually, I will want to free myself for that delight by
abandoning the distractions that have kept me entangled with an unrenewed,
unredeemed shadow of the past.
--William Countryman, Forgiven and Forgiving, 114.
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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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