Pilgrimage to Easter: Easter Sunday

Meditation for Sunday 26 March: Easter Sunday
... from the readings of the day:

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
Psalm 118:24

The Empty Tomb

MARY
I couldn't sleep, just wanted to be near. I knew
I wouldn't get in: that huge rock at the opening!
But needed to be on my own, to be close.
It was a full moon, quite bright for walking,
but the black of the entry was all the darker.
Suddenly I needed the others. It was so silent.
It was only later, in the light, he said my name.

PETER
I was still awake. The sun was almost up, first
cockerels crowing, when Mary burst back in. John
and I ran down first. The boy waited, and I went
in. Just enough light to see now. He was gone.
All the cloths rolled and neatly stacked, but where
was the body? Stolen? Had I let him down? again!
But he knows I love him. I love him. I love him.

JOHN
I won, but waited for the old man. The first ray 
of the sunrise hit the wall as he went in, so we 
could see clearly. Peter was an elder, examining
the evidence - but I saw it was empty, and knew,
knew! in that instant, it was full! The universe 
froze, anchored in a moment touching eternity,
blinding white light whirled in new dawning.

Suggestions for meditation

Always begin by offering your time to God and asking for the grace to grow closer: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time as I reach out to you, and ask that you guide me now, and each day, closer to you".

The exact words of the prayer are not important but you do need a firm intention to open yourself to God's input.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for the personal message for you. There will always be one word or phrase that will reach into your heart. Think of it as the personal meaning God has for you alone!

If you would prefer a more authoritative reading to focus your meditation, try this from one of today's readings, Paul's first letter to the John 20:1-9

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead. 

Focus on a significant word or phrase in this passage or the meditation for a few moments.

Is there a word or phrase that jumps out to speak to you?

Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 15 minutes with your word from Jesus, or the word LIGHT or DAWN.

You need a clear intention to empty your mind of random thoughts (you won't be entirely successful but you need the intention).

You might want to begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.

After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the word/s you have chosen.

Each time your attention moves away from the word/s, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock.

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Pilgrimage to Easter: Day 44

Meditation for Thursday 24 March
... from the readings of the day:

This day shall be a memorial feast for you: a pilgrimage to the Lord.
Exodus 12:14


WASHING FEET WITH PETER
I came to bring you to Life. You think you are alive, but you walk in dreams. That is not the Life you were born for. You need to wake up.

You cannot come to Life unless you can sacrifice each of the things in yourself you think define you. You will Live only when you can take into your heart your crosses, your shames and poverties.

You must be humble; let go your pride and wash feet with me. You think your little list defines who you are, and why you are loved. God knows you are so much more. Let go your rank and stature; they are unheeded shackles, worn so long you think they are part of you! Kneel with me.

I will show you how to be born again, how to be resurrected into a full new Life. 

You must be your Father's little child - not rapt in your own glory beginning to think you are all-powerful, knowing all. I am on my knees washing your feet, my friends, so that you stay my friends and do not become my worshippers, pushing me away - no longer one of you. We are brothers and sisters: what I do, you can do - you must do - to gain Life.

I submit to whips and thorns, pain and shame so that I do not become the angry man leading a revolution of spears and swords and breaking. I go tonight to those who hate me and show them, and you, that I love them. I forgive them. They too are my brothers and sisters. 

My cross, my death, will set me free and give me Life - will show you how to free yourself too, and how to wake the world. 

Suggestions for meditation

Always begin by offering your time to God and asking for the grace to grow closer: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time as I reach out to you, and ask that you guide me now, and each day, closer to you".

The exact words of the prayer are not important but you do need a firm intention to open yourself to God's input.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for the personal message for you. There will always be one word or phrase that will reach into your heart. Think of it as the personal meaning God has for you alone!

If you would prefer a more authoritative reading to focus your meditation, try this from one of today's readings, John 13:1-8 ... 

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”

Focus on a significant word or phrase in this passage or the meditation for a few moments.

Is there a word or phrase that jumps out to speak to you?

Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 15 minutes with your word from Jesus, or the word LIGHT or SONG.

You need a clear intention to empty your mind of random thoughts (you won't be entirely successful but you need the intention).

You might want to begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.

After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the word/s you have chosen.

Each time your attention moves away from the word/s, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock.

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Pilgrimage to Easter: Fourth Sunday of Lent

Meditation for Sunday 6 March
... from the readings of the day:

Brothers and sisters: Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 COR 5:17

“Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: 

the old things have passed away; look,

new things have come.”

New things have come: we are born in two worlds 

- and must choose to live in the opaque threatening
world of limits, surfaces, sensations - or a mysterious 
translucent universe hinting at life and resurrection.

New things have come; for years we clung to banal

expectations of work, seeking happiness and security,
clichéd superficial experiences for a full life: a

glitzy daydream obscuring soft aura of possibility.

New things have come: we live not in our home;
we are tenants in temporary accommodation! We come to love our squat, but reality of love and awe
and joy await us the moment we know who we are.

“Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: 

the old things have passed away; look,

new things have come.”

Suggestions for meditation

Always begin by offering your time to God and asking for the grace to grow closer: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time as I reach out to you, and ask that you guide me now, and each day, closer to you".

The exact words of the prayer are not important but you do need a firm intention to open yourself to God's input.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for the personal message for you. There will always be one word or phrase that will reach into your heart. Think of it as the personal meaning God has for you alone!

If you would prefer a more authoritative reading to focus your meditation, try this from one of today's readings, Luke 15:16-20

And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father. 

Focus on a significant word or phrase in this passage or the meditation for a few moments.

Is there a word of phrase that jumps out to speak to you?

Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 15 minutes with your word from Jesus, or the phrase CHANGE or CREATION.

You need a clear intention to empty your mind of random thoughts (you won't be entirely successful but you need the intention).

You might want to begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds.

After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the word/s you have chosen.

Each time your attention moves away from the word/s, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock.

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: The sun rises

One of the many joys of winter:
rising to be with the sun rising.
Rising in darkness to see the sky
darken as the first glow of day
colours the line between sky and sea
between land and cloud
between heaven and earth.

   Rising in darkness
   knowing the light is coming
   in glory 
   to bring new life to my world,
   in glory
   to touch the dark corners,
   in glory
   to fire my heart with joy.

Standing in the cold darkness feeling 
the chill, but knowing that warmth
is rising to fill the cold,
pouring in to overflow the emptiness,
bringing new life to all green things
new life to everything of cold blood
new life to those standing alone in the dark.

   Rising in darkness
   knowing the light is coming
   in glory 
   to bring new life to my world,
   in glory
   to touch the dark corners,
   in glory
   to fire my heart with joy.

We stand cold and without light;
lonely, separated, waiting in darkness, 
in the cold darkness of illness or depression,
in dark and cold uncertainty waiting
for purpose, for meaning - and then
it starts, a glow, a glimmer, a beacon of fire

   rising in darkness -
   the light is here 
   in glory 
   to bring new life to my world,
   in glory
   to touch my dark corners,
   in glory
   to fire my heart with joy.

Suggestions for meditation

Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you. 

The exact words of the prayer are not important but you do need a firm intention to open yourself to God's input.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for Jesus' personal message for you.

If you would prefer a more authoritative reading to focus your meditation try Genesis 1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.”And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Focus on this passage or the meditation slowly a couple of times.

What word of phrase jumps out to speak to you?

Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe hear Jesus speaking, and reply.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with those words, or the word LIGHT or the word RISING. 

You need a clear intention to empty your mind of random thoughts (you won't be entirely successful but you need the intention). 

You might want to begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds. 

After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the word/s you have chosen. 

Each time your attention moves away from the word/s, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock.

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: We are one

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2, 19-22

We are many different packages but, if we can see it,
all, one at heart.

Many drops of rain but, if we can open our eyes,
one river flowing to one sea.

Many perfect unique snowflakes but, if we look,
one glacier collecting the weight of each and grinding to the ocean.

Many perfect people in lives of solitary pain but open your eyes,
throw aside your dark dream of individuality, 

see our one spirit, already redeemed.

Individual grains, ground together, quickened and baked, now we are
one bread, one body, one sacrament of grace and life.

Suggestions for meditation

Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you. The exact words of the prayer are not important but you do need a firm intention to open yourself to God's input.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for Jesus' personal message for you.

If you would prefer a more authoritative reading to focus your meditation try Paul speaking to the Ephesians 2, 19-22

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

OR listen (and maybe sing) One Bread, One Body: https://youtu.be/R6xIdDYiA9A 

Focus on one of these passages or the meditation slowly a couple of times.

What word of phrase jumps out to speak to you?

Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with those words, or the word ONE or the word GOD. 
You need a clear intention to empty your mind of random thoughts (you won't be entirely successful but you need the intention). 
You might want to begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds. 
After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the word/s you have chosen. 

Each time your attention moves away from the word/s, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock.

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: First day of holidays

One of the incidental characteristics of teachers around the world is quarterly exhaustion. Four times a years we see teachers work themselves to the point that they are mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. And then, they develop ways to recover all that and return to school re-created and re-energised for the new term. Amazing!

For now I am fully involved in life wearing a body,
and right now my body is sagging, 
my emotions are drained, and
my brain is thinking trivial fleeting thoughts.

But I visit my granddaughter and my heart fills.
First there is the shy re-introduction, the coy half-smile, and hiding behind her mother.
Curiosity and courage grow, 
and soon there is the hug, and maybe a kiss. 
Within hours I find myself going for walks, feeding ducks, singing silly songs, and even tolerating messy eating.

This is the cycle of adult life: 
synapses slow, endorphins lose their potency, muscle tires, 
but love takes us past our physical limits.
Love brings hope, and takes us beyond our margins
to glimpse the amazing beings we are at heart.

This is Creation's lesson.

We see the same rebirth in gnarled ancient trees - 
too old and tired to thrive,
standing solitary above the competition for light, 
merely surviving - for the last hundred summers.
But a new seedling re-ignites flowering: 
after a century of standing alone, suddenly the old tree is re-born, 
thinking again of new generations. 
Re-created. 
Alive.

Suggestions for meditation

Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for Jesus' personal message for you.

If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest one of the stories where Jesus gives life, maybe one of the stories in Matthew 8, maybe the first three verses.

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Read this passage or the meditation slowly a couple of times.

What word of phrase jumps out to speak to you?

Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.

Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with those words, or the word LOVE. You might want to begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds. After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the word/s you have chosen. 

Each time your attention moves away from the word/s, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock.

At the end thank God, and return to your day.

Meditation: Hymn to Glory: Easter 2015

It may be helpful to see Jesus as a man 
who always did the right thing;
who knew his God in his heart and 
in the teachings he was raised with.

He knew they would have revenge for his OCD
but still spoke his beliefs,
still did the things he needed to do. 
And they killed him for his nuisance.

It may be helpful to consider that
he knew his God as praying people always have.
He knew his own spirit because
it is in his spirit that he prayed, at one with his Creator.

It may be helpful to remember that
he was first, a man of faith;
such faith in his unity with God
to truly make them one and

all-power, all-knowing, all-loving.

It may be helpful to project that thought
to ourselves. Jesus didn't show himself after his death
to prove to us that we too will rise.
He already knew that - had always known -

as every other praying person knows 
intuitively, created by God and like God,
we cannot die. Our natural state is
as part of God living the unending now!

It may be helpful to consider that our emphasis on
the resurrection is our humble attempt
to see proof that Jesus is God.
But maybe that was just the first premise.

It may be that the real point of Easter
is that each one of us is also at one 
with our Creator; also part of the
all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving.

And then we may begin to see that 
as was foretold, this sure knowledge
can indeed move mountains,
forgive all wrongs and resentments,
heal each illusion of fear and limit,
perform wonders greater than Jesus,
and transform

this beautiful creation, every person, every part of it
into the eternal and perfect kingdom our Creator dreamed it to be 
   for us
all one
all good
all loving
all glory
    daughters and sons of God joining Jesus 
all Christ.



Jesus is always present for us - if we ask, if we are prepared to see him. 

And when we don't ask, and are not looking for him, he is there - but we just don't notice because we are not looking for him or listening for him. We just don't have eyes to see or ears to hear.

He is present because he is part of us - and we are part of him in the body of Christ. Look. Listen. We must do all we can to make that truth real for ourselves: pray, meditate, read, talk. Go to church.

One of my favourite Catholic quotes is from Pope St Leo the Great 1600 years ago: Our sharing in the body and blood of Christ has no other purpose than to transform us into that which we receive. 

May we each take steps (however small) along that path of self-awareness each day.

Suggestions for meditation
Always begin by offering your time to God: something like "My loving God, I love you with my whole heart and above all things. I give you this time when I am reaching out to you" and then a few moments reminding yourself of some of the blessings God has given you - the clear signs of God's love for you.

Read the mediation over slowly a couple of times.

Listen for Jesus' personal message for you.

If you would prefer a Bible reading I suggest John 14, 10-12

Do you not believe, Philip, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I have spoken to you, Jesus said to his disciples, do not come from me. The Father, who remains in me, does his own work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. If not, believe because of the things I do. I am telling you the truth: those who believe in me will do what I do—yes, they will do even greater things, because I am going to the Father. 

1. Read this passage or the meditation slowly a couple of times.
2. What word of phrase jumps out to speak to you?
3. Why? Try to put yourself into those words. Maybe imagine Jesus speaking, and reply.
4. Then spend 5, or 10, or 20 minutes with those words, or the words Joining Jesus. You might want to begin the meditation using the breathing exercise I suggest in We have two minds. After a minute or two focused on your breathing, move your focus to the words you have chosen. 

Each time your attention moves away from the words, push the distraction gently aside and return to the word ("without the intervention of analytical thought" as The Cloud of Unknowing puts it).

You may need a countdown clock. 

At the end thank God, and return to your day.