Contemplative at Home

“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

 She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

What we celebrate on Easter morning was for those who lived through it a time of bewilderment and confusion and shock. Using text from Mark 16 and John 20 we pray with the women who went to anoint Jesus’ body for burial, and we are invited into the unfolding mystery through their perspective. Grab your journal, find a comfortable place for prayer, and give as much of yourself as you’re able to this practice of prayer.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

Mark 16:1-6, John 20:14-18 is read from the NRSV

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Artwork: Tissot

At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Today we are invited to be present to Jesus as he hangs on the cross. Mark (15:22-41) exposes the various people who bore witness to these moments, Simon who helped to carry the cross, the women who watched, who stayed, and the many who mocked, derided, and taunted him, laying humiliation over these final excruciating moments.

At times we have all been the mocker, the deserter, the faithful friend. Where do you recognize yourself today?

Again this is a difficult place to stay, but you are invited to be here, remembering that Jesus himself chose to be here. Find your favourite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with yourself and the Lord for 22 minutes.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

Mark 15:22-41 is read from the NRSV

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Artwork: James Tissot

Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.”  But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” Mark 14:70-71

In Mark 14:66-72, Peter is watching as Jesus is on trial with the chief priests, the elders and the scribes. A servant girl knows she has seen Peter with Jesus, and yet Peter pretends he knows nothing about his closest friend. Find your favourite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with the yourself and the Lord for 20 minutes.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

Mark 14:17-25 is read from the NRSV

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Art: Peter Denies Christ by Michael O’Brien

Some more images which may enhance your meditation can be found here.

Further reading on God’s inherent faithfulness and love regardless of our unfaithfulness can be found here.

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Suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. Judas approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?”

In Luke 22:47-53, on a dark and quiet evening, the garden where Jesus has been praying in anguish is suddenly filled with torchlight, and an aggressive crowd led by one of the twelve. The disciples’ instinct is to fight but Jesus chooses another way. Find your favourite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with the yourself and the Lord for 20 minutes.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

Luke 22:47-53 is read from the NRSV

This was first published at Contemplative at Home. Find us on: Facebook

Art: Caravaggio, Taking of Christ 1602

“And he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.’”

In Mark 14:32-36, just after the Passover meal, Jesus leads his friends out to an olive grove where they have stopped together many times before. As Jesus grapples with his own impending death, he asks for his friends to stay present. Find your favourite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with the yourself and the Lord for 20 minutes.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

Mark 14:17-25 is read from the NRSV

This was first published at Contemplative at Home. Find us on: Facebook

For further reflection:

Stay Here With Me from IgnatianSpirituality.com

Gethsemane as Liminal Space by Ron Rolheiser

Art:

http://www.studiobrien.com/gallery/modern/

XAL249262 Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, from a series of Scenes of the New Testament (fresco) by Barna da Siena (fl.1350-55); Collegiata, San Gimignano, Italy; Italian, out of copyright

 

“While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’”

In Mark 14:17-25, Jesus and his friends gather in an upstairs room to share the Passover meal. At the table, Jesus says that one of the twelve will betray him. While they are eating, he picks up a loaf of bread and offering it around says “Take, this is my body.” Find your favourite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with the yourself and the Lord for 20 minutes. May it be a blessing to you.

 

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

 

Mark 14:17-25 is read from the NRSV

 

This was first published at Contemplative at Home. Find us on: Facebook

“Then they brought the colt to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on it, they set Jesus on it.  As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.. and the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen”

During Lent, we will be praying through the events of Holy Week, stretching what is normally remembered during one week across six weeks. Today we pray with the text that is traditionally remembered on Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In Luke 19:35-42, Jesus asks for a colt that he may ride into Jerusalem, invoking Zechariah’s prophecy that the awaited “king will come… lowly and riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey”. His faithful followers are moved to a loud and joyful outpouring of song and praise, flinging their cloaks down before him and hailing him with palm branches.

You are invited to enter this story imaginatively, being present to Jesus and the events as they unfold.

Friends! You are most welcome to come and join our community of listeners in our new Facebook group, a place to connect with others who are listening to the podcast, and to share what has been significant for you as you prayed. I’d love to meet you there.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

Source material and a few interesting pieces of art can be found on Wikipedia.

This was first published at Contemplative at Home. Find us on: Facebook

“Jesus was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, sitting at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.”

Meditating on Mark 14:3-9, we are present with Jesus as he prepares for his death. A meal for guests, a lavish and controversial act of reverence, Jesus mentally preparing for the coming events. Find your favourite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with the yourself and the Lord for 20 minutes. May it be a blessing to you.

Friends- I have recently launched a new Facebook group for the community of Contemplative at Home listeners around the world, and I’d love to have you join the conversation there. It will be a place where we can share with others about our experience with prayer, and glean further insight into the text and all it has to teach us.

You may notice new music this week, brought to us by my dear brother. We are having fun playing with this together, so you may hear a few new things in the coming weeks.

Are you listening to the prayer in a group? Click here for suggestions on how to share the prayer together.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality.

Mark 14:3-9 is read from the NRSV and The Message.

This was first published at Contemplative at Home.

While he was still speaking, suddenly, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’

As we are nearing Lent, this week’s meditation is on Matthew 17:1-8, when Jesus and his closest friends go on a long walk and experience the quintessential mountain-top spiritual high. Transfigure means “to transform into something more beautiful or elevated” and while this happens to Jesus, Moses and Elijah appear, Peter blunders and God confirms again that Jesus “is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight.”

Find your favorite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with yourself and the Lord for 20 minutes. May it be a blessing to you.

Friends- I have recently launched a new Facebook group for the community of Contemplative at Home listeners around the world, and I’d love to have you join the conversation there. It will be a place where we can share with others about our experience with prayer, and glean further insight into the text and all it has to teach us.

You may notice new music this week, brought to us by my dear brother. We are having fun playing with this together, so you may hear a few new things in the coming weeks.

Are you listening to the prayer in a group? Click here for suggestions on how to share the prayer together.

Matthew 17:1-8 is read from the Message and the NRSV.

Here are some pieces of art which may deepen your prayer experience. Choose one which you are drawn to and study it as you pray.

This was first published at Contemplative at Home. Join the conversation in our Facebook group, Contemplative at Home Community.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality, in a style similar to Lectio Divina.

{And – as you can hear – I was a bit heavy with one of this year’s viruses during the recording! Hopefully it won’t distract you too much.}

“Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”

Peter has newly confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, and then Jesus begins to explain that he won’t be a saving with the kind of glory and power and might that Peter has in mind. You are invited to follow him, but it involves losing attachments to many things we may hold dear. Find your favourite spot for prayer, grab your journal, and sit deeply with the yourself and the Lord for 20 minutes. May it be a blessing to you.

Friends! You are most welcome to come and join our community of listeners in our new Facebook group, a place to connect with others who are listening to the podcast, and to share what has been significant for you as you prayed. I hope that it will also become a space to encourage each other in the everyday journey to becoming more fully at home with our truest selves, and our gracious, loving God. I’d love to meet you there.

Contemplative at Home offers a guided prayer experience drawing on Ignatian spirituality and Lectio Divina.

Mark 8:29-36 is read from the NRSV

This was first published at Contemplative at Home. Find us on: Facebook

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