Monday, June 30, 2025

Lectio Template 262

 "I am sending you out like lambs..."

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 Luke 10: 1-6

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid.

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: 

Jesus taught that to be his disciple we need to deny our “inmost self.” That is more crucial than the things he invites us to separate from. Any identity at all, apart from God, is not it. To have no identity or the identity that God wants us to be is what the transformative process is designed to bring about. To want to be anything other than God is not humility. It does not give due credit to God’s generosity since he wills to give us not only every-thing, but his very Self.

~Thomas Keating, Reflections on the Unknowable, 160.

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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] 

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