Since April 2020, I have been jointly hosting a shared Lectio group on Tuesday evenings. The following are my reflections only, during the prayer session and as I wrote them up. Please see my separate commentary and leaflet for more information about shared Lectio.
Reflections for 3 November | 10 November | 17 November | 24 November | the whole collection…
3 November
Gospel reading: Luke 14.12-14
This week I was at Malling Abbey on retreat, my first retreat since coronavirus hit.
10 November
Gospel reading: Luke 17.11-19
Words: Keeping their distance
Reflections:
- The lepers were considerate of Jesus, careful not to come near him and hence infect him or make him unclean. But viewed in a more negative light, they were circumscribed by others’ laws, which held them back and kept them from Jesus… and I found that sad.
- What rules or practices do we have in the Church today that keep people at a distance from Jesus? LGBT+ and disabled people spring to mind, for example. How have I been culpable, either actively, or passively because I haven’t challenged attitudes or processes?
- Not embracing my calling to contemplative prayer fully has meant that I have been keeping my distance… for stupid reasons I’ve put up barriers, so this in a way is a call to continue dismantling them.
17 November
Gospel reading: Luke 19.11-28
Words: they supposed
Reflections:
We have a tendency to make assumptions, not least about the Kingdom of God. Did ‘they’ suppose that if salvation could come even to a tax collector like Zacchaeus, then the Kingdom was already here? Or was it more to do with being near Jerusalem and their assumptions regarding the person of the Messiah?
My assumption had been that the parable is of the Kingdom. That is, Jesus was foretelling his crucifixion and resurrection and receipt of royal power using some sort of dubious earthly parallels. But this time it struck me that it could be describing some of the realities of life, living in the real world. The Kingdom will not sweep everything away just like that, but is coming in secret in our hearts, and it is up to us to be salt and light and to challenge economic injustice and abuse of power.
24 November
Gospel reading: Luke 21.12-19
Words: make up your minds not…
Reflections:
It seems topsy-turvy and counterintuitive to make up my mind not to use my mind to prepare for something. A little like telling someone not to think of a pink elephant… which I and I expect you are doing right now! Once an idea is put into my mind, I keep returning and worrying away at it. It seems easier to make up my mind to do something, as a one-off, than not to do something, which needs to be returned to continuously throughout each day, or at least frequently – I will not bite my nails, or speak ill of anyone, or eat sugary food. Likewise, in my prayer, I give the time to God and still my mind once, but then it gets distracted and I have to return to myself and become still again and again and again.
So there is value in this command. In both the context of the passage and in my prayer, it is something I need reminding of. Otherwise it may not occur to me, or to anyone else in such a position in the moment.