"Those who worship [God] must worship in spirit and truth."
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 4: 5-42
The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a
prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the
place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to
her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not
know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour
is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship
him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit
and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who
is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said
to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
. . . Many Samaritans from that
city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I
have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with
them; and he stayed there two days.
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:
The Samaritan woman [is] one of the most
sharply drawn characters in the Gospel. This woman is symbolic not only of
Samaritans who come to Jesus, . . . but of the new Israel, who is given to Jesus
the Bridegroom “from above.” The symbolic identity should warn the reader
against the sexual literalism to which so many commentators immediately leap.
. . . . [T]he entire dialogue between
Jesus and the woman is the “wooing” of Samaria to full covenant fidelity in the
new Israel by Jesus, the new Bridegroom. It has nothing to do with the woman’s
private moral life but with the covenant life of the community. Nowhere else in
the Fourth Gospel is there a dialogue of such theological depth and intensity. .
. .
. . . . The woman challenges Jesus’
prophetic judgment by insisting that “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,”
[Mt. Gerizim, in the Samaritan tradition] . . . but Jesus vindicates his
position, insisting that the question of where to worship has become irrelevant,
because, just as Samaritan theology taught, the messianic era that has arrived
in Jesus will be characterized by true worship of God in spirit because God is
spirit. . . .
--Sandra Schneiders, Written That
You May Believe: Encountering Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, (138,140-41)
excerpted.
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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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