Lectio Template 158

 "Everything you have given me is from you."

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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LECTIO DIVINA: Listening to the Word of God with the ears of our heart [See Chopping Wood (or Carrots) Under the Gaze of God for a discussion of Lectio Divina]. 

First reading & silent reflection:  Reflect in silence.

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LECTIO: from John 17: 1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. . . .

I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in 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: 

Christ’s Body   We awaken in Christ’s body as Christ awakens our bodies, and my poor hand is Christ. He enters my foot and is infinitely me.   I move my hand, and wonderfully  my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him (for God is indivisibly  whole, seamless in his Godhood).   I move my foot, and at once He appears in a flash of lightning. Do my words seem blasphemous? —Then open your heart to Him   And let yourself receive the one who is opening to you so deeply. For if we genuinely love Him, we wake up inside Christ’s body

Where all our body, all over, every most hidden part of it, is realized in joy as Him. And he makes us utterly real.   And everything that is hurt, everything that seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful, maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged, is in him transformed   and recognized as whole, lovely, Where all our body, all over, every most hidden part of it, is realized in joy as Him. And he makes us utterly real.   and recognized as whole, lovely, radiant in his light. We awaken as the Beloved In every last part of our body.

    

      --Simeon the New Theologian, "Christ's Body."

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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]