Lectio Template 236

  "Happy are they who dwell in your house!"

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...

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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.

LECTIO: from Psalm 84: 1-6

How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! 
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; 
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.

Happy are they who dwell in your house! 
they will always be praising you.

Happy are the people whose strength is in you! 
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.

Those who go through the desolate valley will find
it a place of springs, 
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

They will climb from height to height, 
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

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 Divina to Centering/Silent Prayer. 

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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.

                          
The New Zealand Anglican Lord's Prayer

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

--The New Zealand Book of Prayer  | He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa

Teaching / Reflection: 

When we discover and live from the coherence in our being, we discover that we are in a relational field with all beings, with a mystical spark at the center that connects us all. Merton saw this clearly at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, [when he realized “the gate of heaven is everywhere”] [2] and Teilhard de Chardin saw this and his writings are permeated with it. In "Cosmic Life," he said, “To live the cosmic life is to live dominated by the consciousness that one is an atom in the body of the mystical and cosmic Christ.” [3]...

Just as all began (from the Big Bang, or the Word, depending on whether you are talking about physics or the New Testament) and expanded into the myriad forms that are permeated with the One, all returns to Oneness, which could be described as the cosmic Body of Christ. [4]

    ~In Richard Rohr's blog for Dec 4, 2024, “Admiring the Divine Handiwork.” [2] Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Garden City, NY: Doubleday,1966), 142. [3] Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “Cosmic Life,” in Writings in Time of War, trans. René Hague (New York: Harper and Row, 1968), 70. [4] Joy Andrews Hayter, The Cosmic Web: Hope for Our World through Spirituality and Science (Rhinebeck, NY: Red Elixir, 2023), 142–143, 144.

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We now take some time to share our thoughts and reflections on our own spiritual journey and our prayer practice. This may be 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]