Lectio Template 198

 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son..."

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 3: 14-21

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

      “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

 

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: 

Our deepest life consists in a willed correspondence with the world of the Spirit, and this willed correspondence, which is prayer, is destined to fulfill itself along two main channels; in love towards God and in love towards humanity – two loves which at last and in their highest become one love. Sooner or later, in varying degrees, the power and redeeming energy of God will be manifested through those who thus reach out in desire, first towards [God], and then towards other souls. And we, living and growing personalities, are required to become ever more and more spiritualized, ever more and more persuasive, more and more deeply real; in order that we may fulfill this Divine purpose.

  --Evelyn Underhill, Quoted in Lent with Evelyn Underhill, G.P.M. Belshaw, ed. p.48-9.

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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 Richard and Linda Hall, Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington, DC]