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TRANSCRIPT
REFLECTIONS FOR THE LENTEN SEASON
2014
THE WEST VIRGINIA INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUALITY
CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA
The West Virginia Institute for Spirituality
Retreat & Training Center 2014
Reflections for the Lenten Season
INTRODUCTION
Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving – three words you will see and hear in the
coming 40 days of Lent. It is our wish the reflections we have prepared for this
season will help you on your Lenten journey.
To prepare for Lent some time in reflection and journal:
…the many ways you can pray.
...the many ways you can fast.
…the many ways you can give.
Blessings to you on your journey!
ASH WEDNESDAY - March 5, 2014
“Love winter when the plants say nothing. The prayer of
the heart introduces us to deep interior silence.”
Thomas Merton 1915-1968
I have enjoyed silence for as long as I can recall. And with the first
snowfall, I sensed nature was in its long, deep sleep. Walking in the
snowfall, especially at night, alerted my hearing. I could hear sounds far
away. Maybe it was my mother or the nuns who told me to carry the
rosary in my pocket. I would not always say the Hail Mary or Our Father
completely. Just a short phrase: “Holy Mary”, “Jesus”, “daily bread” as I
walked between school and home. My favorite phrase then was Jesus
saying: “I am with you always”.
The ‘prayer of the heart” is BEING – PRAYER rather than DOING -
PRAYER.
PRAYER PRACTICE:
It works like this:
1) Noticing your breathing- God’s gift to you.
2) Choose a word or phrase- THE GATEWAY TO ENTERING INTO
THE SILENCE - (perhaps from Scripture or a hymn) as an expression of
your INTENT AND DESIRE to respond to God who loves you.
3) Sit comfortably and upright, with eyes closed and begin to repeat
silently this sacred word. (As your attention is focused on the DESIRE
behind the word, gradually let the word slip away. REST IN SILENCE –
IN GOD, THE SILENT ONE).
4) When thoughts, images or sensations arise, gently return to your
breathing and the word, a sign of your CHOOSING, CONSENT TO
GOD’S PRESENCE AND ACTION WITHIN YOU.
You can practice this ‘prayer of the heart” anywhere, modified, of course:
waiting in lines, stopped for lights or traffic, shopping, waiting for
appointments, etc. Notice the SILENT ONE creating calm and peace and
rest within you, even while you are busy about many responsibilities.
Love God, even when God is silent.
Consider joining us any Thursday at 7 pm at WVIS to practice this prayer.
Fr. Bill Petro
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
First Thursday in Lent – March 6, 2014
“Identify oneself with the universe. Everything less than
the universe is subject to suffering. Innocent Christ
suffered. When we suffer in Christ, we are innocent, too.”
Simone Weil 1909 – 1943
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to his disciples of his eventual suffering,
death and resurrection. Immediately following this announcement, Jesus
describes the condition for one who follows him. “If you wish to come
after me, you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily and follow
me”. Luke 9: 22-25. Literally, Jesus loved us to death, death on a cross so
that we might live forever.
Through His passion, Jesus is a model for our own sufferings, whether
they range from serious life threatening illnesses or to the more mundane,
annoying inconveniences that come with daily life. Like Jesus, can we
learn to listen to God through what we are experiencing? Can we become
interiorly quiet in order to hear what the call might be in the suffering we
are experiencing? Do we see our suffering as a way we are invited to share
in the suffering of Christ? (Colossians 1:24) Where might I be called to
bring Jesus’ healing to a suffering world?
These forty days of Lent offer us an excellent opportunity to keep our eyes
fixed on Jesus, to learn from Him and respond with great love.
Suggested practice(s) for this day:
Slowly make the sign of the cross, remembering your own baptism in the
life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
How might you be the hands or heart of Christ giving comfort, hope or
care to someone who is suffering?
In the awareness of your own suffering, pray for those who might be
sharing the same struggle.
Sr. Molly Maloney, O.S.F.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
First Friday in Lent – March 7, 2014
“My Son’s nailed feet are the ladder by which you climb to His side
and view his innermost Heart”
Catherine of Siena 1347-1380
We climb because there is somewhere to go; we hold on because we know
it is safe, we look up and search because we lack something. We stand
beneath the cross because there is Someone we look to and love…Christ
so wanting to give love and we to receive it. God, in Isaiah 62 says: “
Come to me”… .the song by Bob Hurd: “trust in me and do not tremble,
for I will show you the way”. It is on the cross that Christ becomes so
vulnerable, open to us, and to whom do I look? Who understands and
who is there who loves as He does? His Heart, the symbol of love, waits
for us to respond. Can I be with Jesus as he outpours his love? Can I hold
his feet, touch his wounds, and be present as he gives all? I am reminded
of an image of special needs student who looks at a statue of Christ, who
touches gently the feet and heart of Christ…tenderly caressing the Jesus
he knows loves him. I pray to do the same…climb the ladder of St.
Catherine, be, just be, receiving and giving that gentle love.
Prayer Practice:
Today I will consciously be with the one
whose outpouring love knows my hurt and
the hurts of others today. I will cherish the
gift of life He so generously gave and who
said to me:” I chose you and gave you My
Life….” (Mt: 11: 28-20)
Sr. Ritamary Schulz ASCJ
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
First Saturday in Lent – March 8, 2014
“You cannot know God with words and ideas. You only know God
with love. See God with the prayer of your heart”
Cloud of Unknowing 1380
Around the year 1380 an anonymous English monk wrote “The Cloud of
Unknowing” In his work he shares that there is a cloud of unknowing
between us and God. That “You cannot know God with words and ideas.
You only know God with love from the heart”
The word “know” has a broad variety of meaning; which means to
perceive, to understand, to acquire knowledge, to know, to discern. It also
is a word of intimacy.
God longs for us to know him. We know God through an intimate
relationship with God through prayer. Yet there are times in our prayers
that we come to this “Cloud of Unknowing” Maybe it’s because we have
lost focus and allowed words, ideas and stuff to get in the way of our love
relationship. Love is not always about what we can get. Yet often times in
prayer we approach God with our wish list of all we want God to do for us
we say a-men and then we are gone until the next time of prayer.
Prayer Practice:
As we celebrate this season of lent let’s challenge ourselves to practice
the presence of God by getting lost in God’s love, sometimes not even
asking for anything, or saying a word but just allowing God to hold us,
staying in God’s presence as long as we are able.
Scripture Reflection:
Romans 5:5; 1st Corinthians 13
Rev. Dr. Michael A. Poke Sr.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
First Sunday in Lent – March 9, 2014
“IS-ness is GOD.”
Meister Eckhart 1260-1327
Eckhart’s view of God, the Trinity and all things of God are deep and
profound. As it happens, the beginning of Lent finds us at such a place in
our meditations, if we are taking Lent seriously. We are re-examining our
relationship with the One who created and sustains us, the One whose Son
died and was resurrected to set us free from sin. Often, we are very hard
on ourselves, particularly at Lent. God holds us accountable for our sin
and wrongdoing, but God loves us regardless of it all. As we grovel
around, murmuring over and over again, ‘Mea culpa, mea culpa,’ hear
what God is saying to us, just as He said it to Jesus: ‘This is my child, the
Beloved with whom I am well pleased.’ Matt. 3:17 It is just so very
difficult for us to own that God could possibly be pleased with us. So, our
Lenten task is not to get God to love us; our task is to open ourselves to
the possibility that, despite it all, God already DOES love us and that God
IS love expressed in us and through us. God is the God who transcends us
and all of creation, but God is also within us and intrinsically part of us.
Hear how Eckart says that: ‘Man never desires anything so earnestly as
God desires to bring man to himself, that he may know Him. God is
always ready, but we are very unready; God is near to us, but we are far
from him; God is within, but we are without; God is at home, but we are
strangers…’ Don’t be a stranger. Enter into the presence of the One who
unconditionally, positively and completely loves you.
Rev. Barbara M. Bailey,
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
First Monday in Lent – March 10, 2014
“Four proximate effects may be ascribed to love: melting, enjoyment,
languor and fervor.” St. Thomas Aquinas 1224-1275
I sat hunched over the steering wheel anxiously scanning the gray sky, nervously
drumming my fingers on the half-empty coffee cup perched in the console cupholder, and
listening to Christmas carols booming from the radio “miraculously” playing an iPod
playlist. Two of us, pastor and parishioner, were sitting in stalled traffic, the umpteenth
car in a long line of exhaust-puffing cars waiting, no…daring the traffic light to change
and allow us impatient commuters to move forward. We were caught in a nautilus of
traffic winding our way through the slush-covered streets of a downtown neighborhood to
get to the interstate highway, and I was worried about my travel companion who would
shortly need her post-surgery pain medication.
The season’s first snow is something to be savored and celebrated, I thought as I recalled
a childhood where we eagerly rushed to frost-covered windows to catch a glimpse of the
first snowflakes. In our neighborhood, the child who stood outside, mouth wide open to
catch this intitial icy offering of the playful Creator God of the Seasons “earned” points
which we tracked the entire season. I do not think we did anything with those points
except nudge each other at the bus stop and whisper through chapped lips, “Whaddya up
to now?”
There is nothing like the first snow! The heavens open and shower the earth with
shimmery white snowflakes, each a unique design, like vintage tatted doilies. The first
snow… always the first snow, the lacey one time gift of the Divine Crocheter, is
treasured like the biblical pearl of great price. A child swaddled in a winter jacket,
snowpants, wool hat, mittens, scarf, and boots, quickly learns to shield his eyes from the
sun’s brightness and listen to the unspoken promises of creation’s cottony softness
pillowing toward the earth. “I am here! Just for you!” God whispers through chapped
lips, and the child is entranced by a divine love more brilliant than the frozen diamond
prisms cascading from a cloudless robin’s-egg blue sky.
It finds you…the grace of enchantment; that fleeting moment shared by children and
revellers, pastors and parishioners caught in traffic jams, lovers and contemplatives,
artists and poets, anyone for whom 1 + 1 never equals 2. The first snow…winter’s
bounty…the initial icy offering of the God of the Seasons…the pearlescent gift of Love
that came to earth in the bleak midwinter in David’s City. The blue-cold baby of
Bethlehem filled the frigid night air with his cries; the very cries that would one day
pierce the cold night air swirling around Golgotha.
What Wondrous Love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
Prayer practice: Pray the quizzical words of the American folk hymn, What Wondrous
Love is This, and experience the amazement that accompanies the gift of Love.
Rev. Rindy Trouteaud
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
First Tuesday in Lent – March 11, 2014
“Logosmois, the spiritual practice of disclosure of
thoughts, provides the spiritual guide with insight
and the seeker with self-knowledge.”
Kallistos Ware
There is no greater insight than that which percolates up from an aspirant’s
sincere and genuine self-reflection. The ancient Greek temple of Delphi,
to which throngs of people flocked in antiquity, was said to have been
inscribed with the words: gnōthi seauton—Know Thyself! The beginning
of the spiritual journey is to be found in this rigorous pursuit of self-
awareness and self-knowledge. This does not denigrate to self-
preoccupation, however. In fact, one, ironically, is able to persist in self-
deception, which is the true distortion of our being, only when one does
not engage in a process of self-awareness and self-knowledge. If we can
find the courage and the self-honesty, our journey of Lent can be an
opportunity for us to reach deeper levels of self-awareness and extricate
ourselves from the many layers of self-deception which forms like a
residue from the many experiences which occur over the years of our
lives.
Prayer Practice for the Day: At the end of the day, look back over the
day’s events and select one episode of your life where you found yourself
taking offense or in a situation which you took most seriously. See if you
can laugh at yourself with a holy laughter and in so doing, find a new
vantage point perspective.
Michael C. Richards, D.Min.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Second Wednesday in Lent – March 12, 2014
“Do you wish to have love? Then you must leave love.”
Mechtild of Magdeburg 1207-1282
Yesterday, I welcomed the dawn in celebration of my son’s birthday, a
love that I had held close for over forty five years. This morning I am
called to celebrate a greater LOVE through remembering, using the small
piece of folder paper I hold in my hands. On October 8, 2010 at 5:00 P.M.
sitting in the I.C.U. waiting room at UNC (University North Carolina), I
pleaded with God for my son David’s life. I looked up and saw Jesus on a
cross dripping with blood. Angels were at the foot of the cross with
buckets, scooping up Jesus’ blood and pouring it (blood) over David. I
spoke up and said, “What about Mr. Chapman (a family I had befriended
during my stay at UNC) and the other patients on 2nd
floor? Then I saw
hospital beds being rolled up to the cross so the angels could pour Jesus’
blood over them. Then everything disappeared. I looked around in awe at
what I had seen. I reached for a paper napkin on the table to write down
what I had seen. The same small piece of folded paper I now hold up
before God in the early light in gratitude, remembering that unconditional
LOVE takes on many faces while the tears on my face are being wiped
away. This small piece of paper holds the words written on that afternoon.
The Mystery, indescribable is held deep within my heart. Only my sage
Spiritual Director of several years and one other person have seen and
heard what’s written on this paper and now you, the reader.
Practices:
Let this season of Lent be a time to slow down, ease up on the grip of our
possessions and remember. The grace to remember can rekindle a LOVE
that spills over onto our ordinary days. This love expands our capacity to:
forgive ourselves for not responding to someone’s love,
forgive others for not responding to our love as we had hoped,
and love simply because we have been LOVED.
Phyllis Weagel Vealey, M.A.
Associate Spiritual Director
Second Thursday in Lent – March 13, 2014
“…feet are the ladder by which you climb to His side and
view his innermost heart.”
Pope John XXIII 1881 – 1963
How did I get to know my best friend? I spent time with her. I got to know
her mind and heart. I learned we had a lot in common. We shared in each
other’s life.
How do we get to know God’s innermost heart? The same way. We walk
beside Him. It’s not always easy, but we spend time with Him. We get to
know His mind and heart. We learn we have a lot in common. We share in
each other’s life… He within us; we being His hands and feet and heart.
Sometimes, my ladder I climb to view His innermost heart is more
horizontal than vertical. But, as Jesus says in our gospel today: “Ask and it
will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be
opened.”
So every day, we need to remember to…
MOVE YOUR FEET!
ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK!
And He will come and open your heart to His unending love for you.
Prayer Practice:
Take any one of today’s Scripture passages and
read it slowly several times. Put yourself in the
scene… envision Jesus opening your door…
envision Jesus giving you what you ask for…
envision Jesus helping you receive what you
seek… envision the love of Jesus moving from
His heart to yours… envision the warmth of His
love.
Elaine Soper
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Second Friday in Lent – March 14, 2014
“May this be my prayer: I do not want to turn my
eyes from you, O God, no matter what happens to
me within or without.”
St. Catherine of Genoa 1447-1510
St. Catherine was a beautiful, wealthy, noble woman of 14th
century
Genoa. She prays here to keep her eyes fixed exclusively on God, not
what we’d expect ordinarily from someone of her station. Catherine
seems to have had everything – except a single human being to love her
passionately. She married young at her family’s insistence, a gentleman
of her circle. He betrayed her repeatedly and seems to have been so
immature as not to have had even a thought at all about her. Intelligent,
talented, caring, extremely sensitive, even compulsive, she seems to have
turned obsessively toward God and God’s suffering poor. She founded
and managed hospitals in her town and loved God with her whole heart.
PRAYER PRACTICES.
. Visit the herb garden at the oldest hospital in the US, the “Pensy” in
Philadelphia, and pray there for the ill and those who work with them.
. Memorize Psalm 130, find someone you know or know of in extreme
need, go to a place of great beauty and say the psalm fervently for that
person’s aid.
. Ask St. Catherine for God to help you with the balance, poise, peace she
begged for from Him.
Barbara Richter
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Second Saturday in Lent – March 15, 2014
“Through the dark night pride becomes humility, greed becomes
simplicity, wrath becomes contentment, luxury becomes peace. No soul
ever grows up without God’s passive work in the dark night.”
St. John of the Cross 1542-1591
In times of dissonance, life is not easy. When darkness pervades, the
beauty of the light is absent. Nothing appears to be going ‘my way!’
The usual solutions to momentary darkness do not work! “Where, oh God,
where are You in this time of dissonance?” And then I pause and allow
the darkness to envelope me. I rest with You, and in You. This kind of
listening requires that I be still. That I let go and let things be, finally
realizing that if I rest in YOU, ‘all will be well’. The darkness is a call to
listen, to “Be still and know that I am God”
When I hear the words of the psalmist, I struggle, looking for answers,
waiting, waiting and then finally I realize that listening opens my heart to
YOU , YOU are the light resting within,
Prayer Practice:
Use the following text as a mantra for the day:
“Only in You will my soul be at rest.. You are my stronghold…”.
Sr. Donna Marie Beck, CSJ
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
E-mail” [email protected]
Second Sunday in Lent – March 16, 2014
“You will not be able to enter the dwelling places through your own efforts. I
advise you to use no force if you meet with any resistance. Rest in all things” –
from the epilogue of The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila 1515-1582
Here, St. Teresa teaches us about prayer. In this excerpt, “dwelling places” are
the rooms or places in the castle. At first, we enter three interior places where we
experience the fruits of our own efforts at prayer and learn what is possible
through human efforts and grace. Then we enter the interior places where “the
passive or mystical elements of the spiritual life” occur – what God does in us in
prayer! It is to this prayer that Teresa refers here.
This passive or mystical experience cannot come of our own efforts – a difficult
truth for anyone from western culture. We are unaccustomed to receiving
undeserved gifts or care. But in this prayer, there is no point to working or
struggling; it is not a matter of how well we are able to discipline ourselves. We
are invited to rest in total receptivity to God’s gift, the freedom I imagine made it
possible for Peter, James, and John to be open to experience Jesus’
transfiguration.
Teresa teaches that this grace is easier to understand when one has had an
experience of it. I searched back through my own life and experience. What came
to mind were the times I was surprised by God in prayer and experienced what
Teresa calls gustos or spiritual delights. One such experience now seems pivotal
for me – as I gazed silently on the crucifix during a retreat, a loving Christ lifts
his head on the cross and says to me, “let me do this for you…”
PRAYER PRACTICE:
Choose an icon or symbol that attracts you. Gaze on the symbol as you begin a
breath prayer: let the reflex rhythm of inhaling and exhaling remind you that God
is creating you momently. Silently express your longing for communion with
God and then let your mind be quiet.
Carolyn (Carrie) Nickerson
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Harrell, D. D. (2011). Ten ways to pray: A short guide to a long history of talking with
God (2nd
Digital Edition). Mt. Dora, FL: Stone’s Throw Publishing.
Kavanaugh, K. & Lisi, C. (2010). The interior castle by St. Teresa of Avila (Study
Edition). Washington, DC: ICS Resources.
Second Monday in Lent – March 17, 2014
“I arise today through the mighty strength of the Trinity….
Christ to shield me today.”
from The Breastplate of St. Patrick,
attributed to St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland (390-469 C.E.)
Patrick is not only my patron saint; he is also a model for the ministry God has
given me. He traveled all over Ireland preaching the Gospel; I travel all over this
country (and, occasionally, beyond) doing the same. My preaching is usually in
the context of a retreat, parish mission, or day of prayer. And, like Patrick, I too
rely upon (as The Breastplate says):
God's strength to pilot me,
God's might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s shield to protect me….
For his fifth-century audience, Patrick’s message was both novel and
challenging: a call to leave their pagan ways and be converted to the Gospel. For
my twenty-first-century audience, the message is usually not new; but is every bit
as challenging, especially when we recognize that conversion is not a once-and-
for-all event. Rather, conversion is a life-long journey, calling us to keep our
minds and hearts open to the full import of Jesus’ message – which is always
beyond what we have yet grasped.
Today’s Gospel (Lk. 6:36-38) points out, uncomfortably so, how much further I
have yet to go on that journey. It contains some of the very few absolutes Jesus
ever gave those who would follow him: Be merciful. Stop judging. Stop
condemning. Forgive.
Has there been a day on which I have not failed in those very ways? That is one
reason why a prayer I offer every morning are the first words of The Breastplate
(in this two-fold translation, so that I might better remember the message):
I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity.
I bind unto myself the strong presence of Father, Son and Spirit.
Perhaps that prayer may help me be a bit more converted today – and perhaps it
might do the same for you.
Fr. J. Patrick Foley, Ph.D.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
www.itinerantpapistpreacher.com
Second Tuesday in Lent – March 18, 2014
“When Christ was in pain, we were in pain.” Julian of Norwich 1342-1416
“When Christ was in pain, we were in pain.” Julian of Norwich in her writings
describes her pain in her total immersion into the suffering and pain of Jesus.
She tells of her ‘gift’ of “not only to suffer as a true lover of Christ with Christ in
his dying, she was wounded to the very core of her being.” … “she experienced
the death-pains of Christ in her own body and mind, she appeared to those
around her to have actually died herself.” (2008 The Order of Julian of Norwich)
I have experienced pain, as have you. There are many types of pain – physical –
mental – emotional – spiritual to name a few. What can we learn from pain?
What can we learn from the pain Jesus suffered for us? This Lent let us take
some time to reflect and pray for the wisdom to really understand the meaning of
this season … the compassion to feel the pain and suffering of Jesus …. to fully
grasp why he suffered and died.
Prayer Practice’s:
(1) Spend some time in quiet. Be with Jesus on His walk to his death. Feel his
pain – his agony. (2) Reflect upon the words of “Gaze Upon The Lord” …
Gaze Upon The Lord
Briege O’Hare, osc from prayer of St. Clare of Assisi “Woman’s Song of God” Album
Gaze upon the Lord, gaze upon His face
Gaze upon the one who holds you in his embrace.
Gaze upon his life, gaze upon his love,
Gaze upon his coming home from heaven above.
Look upon your Lord, look upon his way,
Look upon his heart that opens to each day.
Though he was despised, the lowest of all men,
Look upon his sacred cross which brings life again.
If you open to life’s pain, then with it you shall reign
And allow your heart to weep and with Him you’ll rejoice
Open to His Cross the wounds of each day’s love
Then you’ll know the splendor of His kingdom above
Gaze upon his life, gaze upon his love
Gaze upon his coming home from Heaven above,
From Heaven above.
Margaret (Susie) Pace
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Third Wednesday in Lent – March 19, 2014
“God is all, I am nothing. Let this do for today.”
Blessed John XXIII 1891-1963
Any quote from Pope John XXIII invokes in me an image of this short, pudgy,
feisty little Italian who knew his Church well because he knew his people well.
Angelo Giuseppe Roncali also knew the signs of the time in the Church he so
loved. His call for aggiornamento through the Vatican II councils is a sure sign
that he knew God in a very special way. The special connection I feel with Pope
John was heightened when I saw his entombed body in the altar of Saint Jerome
at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. I always feel drawn to his wisdom and
empowerment through the life-size statue of him outside our local Pastoral
Center, which is named after him. When I touch his head and his heart I can feel
something very special. I whisper a prayer of thanksgiving and re-commitment.
It’s no wonder that I am drawn to a better understanding of the all he refers to in
his words above.
I believe this humble man teaches me to better understand what it means to be
nothing. I believe he is inviting me in this Lenten Season to take a closer look at
the importance of my nothingness and to strive for my own aggiornamento. I am
invited to disappear with Jesus and into Him. As I go to die with Him, I will lose
myself in obedience so that I too will rise with Him and Him in me.
Nothingness is about patience – patience with what God wants for me. It teaches
me humility. It reminds me that Jesus is the only answer. It draws me to a vision
of God that I can claim for myself – knowing God in my own special way as did
John XXIII. It encourages a hope which is all I need for today.
John XXIII also said, “We were all made in God’s image, and thus, we are all
Godly alike.”
Pope John’s words are a simple but challenging message for Lent. But they are a
message with profound implications.
Prayer Practice:
Take just a moment today to speak to Jesus. Come to Him with an open mind
and heart. Invite Him to plant His desires within you that He may infuse you
with a dream that seems far beyond your reach. Listen for His response.
Meditate on Matthew 11:28-30.
Bob Sylvester, M.A.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Third Thursday in Lent – March 20, 2014
“Suffering is the badge of the human race.” Mahatma Ghandi 1869-1948
If suffering is the badge of the human race, can I be an Alien? The first
time I saw this quote, I was discouraged. Who wants to suffer? What did
Ghandi mean by this?
What is a badge? Why did Ghandi use that word in the early 1900s? A
badge is a sign or symbol of an ‘achievement’ or ‘position’ or ‘a
characteristic mark’ or ‘something that shows a particular quality.’ I
suppose my ‘achievement’ is having raised two boys from an early age as
a single parent, getting them through college and out on their own. I have
many memories of their achievements and their wonderful qualities
remind me of the big and little achievements along the way. They have
suffered too! My ‘position’ as a Catholic I hope shows through my
actions, not a cross I will occasionally wear around my neck. The
‘characteristic marks’- I have many, scars on the outside and the inside.
Most have healed and the others are in process. I think of Jesus and his
achievements – His position as healer and sufferer. I think of His
characteristic marks. His are both inside and out. I wonder how His
emotional torment was comforted.
“Something that shows a particular quality” –the quality I most appreciate
when my suffering is over is the patience I develop along the way. I saw
Jesus have patience with his followers. He got frustrated with them, but I
hear a gentle voice asking the apostles, “could you not pray with me for
one hour?” During this Lenten season, I pray my understanding grows.
PRAYER PRACTICE:
Search your heart and think of the “badges” you have earned.
Think of the suffering you have experienced. Walk with Jesus as He
walks to Calvary. Ask God to take you in His loving arms and comfort
you in your suffering. Ask God to heal your wounds.
Kathryn M. Lester
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Third Friday in Lent – March 21, 2014
“All we need to know is how to recognize God is the present moment:”
Jean Pierre De Caussade 1675-1752
Psalm 139 reminds us that “before a word is on my lips, God knows all of
it”. Did Jesus in His suffering find consolation in that phrase? Possibly. I
like to imagine the ‘mind and heart’ of Jesus. I believe that especially in
suffering moments we each ‘know’ God, recognize God only in the
moment in which we are. Both the past and the future feel too intense.
Today, I received word that my friend’s partner is in critical condition,
death is immanent. So, how do we support our loved ones, our friends,
and ourselves in these ‘critical condition times’? First, I cry…a human
release of emotion that prepares me to cope with what God believes I can
manage ‘at this moment’. Second, I make an act of faith in God AND in
myself. Third, I focus on this moment, the only moment I have been
given to ‘know God and to ‘do good’. How is God present to you in ‘the
moments of today’?
Prayer Practice:
When you remember, touch you heart with your hand today as a reminder
that your words, deeds need to be from the ‘heart’ to the ‘lips’.
Carole A. Riley, CDP, Ph.D.
WVIS Executive Director
Third Saturday in Lent – March 22, 2014
“Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, …It is the
Shekinah of the soul, …
Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, ....”
Thomas Kelly 1893-1941
The invitation to prayer began with what appeared to be a throw-away line
from a television commercial. Her persuasive voice and provocative
assertion enticed me to corroborate what she, the voice-over, had spoken:
on a dark night, a healthy human eye perceives the light of a candle 25
miles away. And then…I prayed.
Rejoicing
I am so wondrously made.
Repenting
How quickly, how often, I forget the wonder of my making
and because I forget, I do not see what I am made for seeing.
Turning
Away from forgetting, toward remembering,
Returning
To the wonder that I am made for such a seeing,
There, in the dark, the distant, I see… light… shining.
Prayer Practice:
Go to a quiet and darkened space. Light a candle.
Gaze at the candle. Invite your gaze to widen. See the
light, the dark, the meeting place of light and dark, in
the candle, the room, your life.
Rev. Diane Shoaf
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Third Sunday in Lent – March 23, 2014
“O God my Redeemer, I will not go forth today except you
accompany me with your blessing.”
John Baille 1886-1960
Scripture Readings
First Reading-Exodus 17:3-7
Second Reading-Romans 5:1-2; 5-8
Gospel Reading-John 4:5-42
With the recent water pollution in the Greater Charleston Area, we were
made to realize how precious water really is. Unsafe drinking water is the
leading cause of death in many parts of the world. In the Scripture
readings for this Sunday, the value of the life giving water of the
Redeemer is affirmed.
Prayer Practice:
As you enter your prayer space today, take with you a
glass of water. Recall all the times in the life of Jesus
where water was used in His ministry. Recall in your
own ministry where Jesus accompanied you with his
life giving water. Offer a prayer of gratitude to
conclude your prayer period.
Dr. Bob Harrison
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Third Monday in Lent – March 24, 2014
“After communion one day, Jesus made me understand: Draw me:
When a soul has been captivated by the intoxicating perfume
of your ointments, she cannot run alone.”
St. Theresa of Lisieux 1873-1897
What captivates a child’s soul? Children are drawn to the wonder around
them by sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. A child is captivated
through his or her senses.
I was recently captivated by God’s love when I had the good fortune of
spending time with my two nieces. I was captivated by their simplicity
and imagination in their play. To my nieces, their baby dolls and tea
parties are real. In their world, everything becomes alive. Through their
senses, they fully experience life. They notice the smell of mom’s baking.
They hear the voice of their grandmother on the phone and their eyes light
up. When touching the cat’s soft fur and looking at a flower, they are
mesmerized. They know the difference between tasting broccoli and
chocolate chip cookies.
I experienced an irresistible wonder of the presence of God within them.
Seeing the tender expression on their faces, I was captivated by their
simple humanness. My soul was drawn to the mystery of being human.
By tasting, touching, smelling, hearing, and seeing, my awareness of God
became real.
Prayer Practice:
St. Therese of Lisieux is known for the simplicity and practicality of her
approach to the spiritual life. I invite you to stimulate your soul through
your senses. Where do you sense God’s presence in your daily life? What
sights, sounds, and scents invite you to be in touch with the presence of
God?
Sr. Karina Conrad, CDP
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Third Tuesday in Lent – March 25, 2014
“Hear things that strike us dumb with awe: we become members of Christ;
Christ is my hand, my lowly foot; do not blush, Christ is in my every
organ.” St. Symeon the New Theologian. 949-1022
We frequently hear that our DNA is Christ - A powerful statement for me
to absorb. That is a current truth with ancient roots as we hear from this
tenth century writer. Christ, by his Incarnation, blesses each bodily
function, each cell of every body. Nothing has escaped his blessing…no
cell, no human activity, emotion, gesture, craving, function. We easily
sing: We are the body of Christ. Say: I am the ‘body of Christ’. Saying
‘I’ changes the experience for me. What about you? ‘I” am a mystery of
creation, not just in my mind, but in my very body. I use my body in
prayer, to serve, to define the space I occupy in life. I nourish my body as
the ‘body of Christ’. How important to ‘care’ for the body with exercise,
nutrition, gentleness and respect. I struggle to make that ‘real’ for me.
What about you?
Practice: Look tenderly at your own body today and recognize that you too are holy
because Christ is in your every organ.
Sr. Carole Riley, CDP, Ph.D.
WVIS Executive Director
Fourth Wednesday in Lent – March 26, 2014
“Whoever possess spiritual knowledge knows how many ways Christ is crucified,
buried and rises again”. Maximus the Confessor: 580-662
Fr. Richard Rohr OFM speaks of the test for all true religion as being, “What
does one do with one’s pain?” Those who have acquired spiritual knowledge
from life experience (as opposed to head knowledge) have lived into the answer
to that question. When disappointment, failure, sorrow, pain and suffering come
knocking as they surely will, the person on the spiritual path of the Christian
comes to know that this is God’s invitation to participate in the suffering, dying,
and rising of our brother, Jesus, the Christ. This Paschal Mystery is to be
imprinted onto the fabric of one’s life so that one may be recognized as one of
His followers. In fact St. Paul goes so far as to say, “It is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me.” Jesus so identifies with humanity that He unites Himself
with all human beings especially in their pain and suffering. “Whatsoever is done
to the least of my brothers is done to me.” God not only gives all that is necessary
to bear it but also raises each one up from the deadness of their sin, sickness,
grief, failure, and brokenness to new life.
As I reflect on my own spiritual journey, this pattern has appeared over and over
in small personal struggles as well as life and family crises. Pain always gets my
attention and motivates me to do whatever is needed to stop it, even change,
which is often accompanied by much yelling and angst. A year and a half ago,
having once again gained weight, unable to stop my out of control eating, and
hobbling around Ritter Park with my painful arthritic knee, under Dr.’s orders to
lose some weight, I was miserable, full of self- criticism, judgment, and
condemnation. “What was I going to do?” My desperation became God’s
invitation to die to self –MY ideas on weight loss, how to eat, what to eat, how to
take care of myself. Once I was willing to surrender to Him, “Into your hands I
commend my Body, Mind, and Spirit,” then God could lead me to the changes I
needed to make in order for God to raise me from the deadness of my compulsive
overeating to a new life of freedom. “Glory be to God whose power working in
us accomplishes more than we could ask for or imagine.”
PRAYER PRACTICE:
Today take some time to reflect on your life and look for the imprint of the
Paschal Mystery (suffering, death, and rising of Christ) in your life experience.
Write on one instance and end with a prayer of thanksgiving, or a sing a song of
praise, or pray using your body to express gratitude for saying yes to the grace of
accompanying Jesus in His suffering, death, and rising as you follow Him.
Eileen Chwalibog,
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Fourth Thursday in Lent – March 27, 2014
“Let every part of our existence be a theological challenge for me directed
toward HIM as our only legitimate goal. Reckon with God every
moment.” John Calvin 1509-1564
I am a slow learner! I don’t remember John Calvin’s writings being on
the list of recommended readings when I was growing up as a young Catholic.
Nowadays, I read Calvin’s message as the message of Jesus: an exhortation of
the sovereignty of God, obedience, and the joy of self-denial. Discarding all
personal and selfish considerations is not an option. We are to be disposed and
prepared to reckon with God every moment of our life. We are expected to lead
a well-regulated life with sobriety, righteousness, and Godliness. We are to lean
on the mind of Jesus Christ and not our own. Surrender to Him should be our
only legitimate goal.
These words of Calvin speak to me of my sloth. Something like what
Kathleen Norris describes it in her beautiful little book Acacia and Me. Her
spiritual laziness is different than mine. But we both have discovered ways to
deal with it.
A recent example of this in my own life is when I decided to audition for
a part in a play to be performed by a local community theatre company. As soon
as I realized how challenging would be the dual role of soldier/priest in the play
Lincoln An Opera, I found myself praying for strength and endurance. This
seventy-two year-old man who is declining physically and cogitatively started to
pray more as the task of the three-hour rehearsals and the memorization became
more real. As things progressed, I began to feel a new strength, physically,
emotionally and cognitively. My whole attitude became positive excitement.
The lines and the lyrics seemed to be sticking. My focus and energy sharpened.
My wife Kathy noticed it too.
I could feel the power of the prayer and even the presence of Jesus and of
his thought processes. The reckoning was paying off. It is a spiritual renewal for
me and an answer to my sloth.
I’m a slow learner. Slow but sure. Calvin’s words remind me of the process I
was going through. I’ve begun to experience that confident trust that Jesus so
often promises if only I trust in him. I’ve come to realize why being a slow
learner can be strength and not a fault.
In your prayer time, try speaking to God/Jesus in a posture of reckoning
as if inviting His answer. Pray for strength and endurance. Expect to become a
faster learner. Expect to be a better performer. But remember too that God’s
work can sometimes be slower than we would want it to be. And that patience is
the key.
Bob Sylvester, M.A.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Fourth Friday in Lent – March 28, 2014
“Place your mind before the mirror of eternity.
Transform your entire being into the Godhead
through contemplation:”
St. Clare of Assisi 1195-1253
St Clare of Assisi gave up everything she’d been entitled to as a daughter
of nobility. She founded an order of nuns, the Poor Clares, based on St.
Francis’ teaching. They lived in extreme poverty, and yet were a strong
community of prayer and service.
I can’t imagine such a rich woman today choosing this sort of life. I
wonder why St Clare’s heart burned with zeal to serve God? I wonder if
she, as all people do, yearned for a meaningful and passionate life and did
not see her life as purposeful?
To transform our entire being into the Godhead through contemplation is
not to run away to a convent, or run away from anything or anyone, but is
a call to become aware of God’s presence, which is Mystery. To notice
God is to invite the Spirit, available to everyone, to light up a path of
purpose that brings us into harmony with all we have been, all we are, and
all we might become for ourselves and others.
Prayer Practice:
Today, pause every hour for a moment, and look around, listen, smell.
Where are you, who is there, what do you hear and smell? How is
Mystery in these moments?
Christina St Clair
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
www.christinastclair.com/blog
Fourth Saturday in Lent – March 29, 2014
“Night designates contemplation of invisible things as Moses entered the
darkness of the Cloud and it became his hiding place” Gregory of Nyssa d. 348
There is something about praying in the middle of the night that invites me
into a more intimate relationship with God. Maybe it’s the stillness.
Maybe it’s the darkness. Maybe it is the lack of interruptions. Maybe it is
the concept that everything is slower, less busy during the night. I feel a
oneness with the Lord that allows me to be more open to listening. Our
parish has created a unique environment for Eucharistic Adoration
throughout the entire night on Holy Thursday. The breezeway is filled
with plants and candles and the
lights are dimmed. As Jesus called
his disciples in the Garden of
Gethsemane to stay awake and
pray with him, I feel that same call.
I was blessed to have taken a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to
visit the Garden of Gethsemane.
Praying in the middle of the night
on Holy Thursday in front of the
Blessed Sacrament in our own
garden is a powerful reminder that my loving God is just as real today as
the night Jesus prayed in the Garden! These feelings often return while
praying at home in the middle of the night.
I must admit that I am a “night person” so this probably contributes to my
response. In fact, I am actually writing this reflection late at night! In
conversations with others who are the opposite, “morning people”, they
often have the same feelings by waking early in the morning while it is
still dark and before others awaken.
Prayer Practice:
Stay up late after everyone in your home goes to sleep or get up before
anyone else does. If you feel so inclined, you could wake up in the middle
of the night. Spend some time in the quiet stillness just being in the
presence of the Lord.
Gerri Wright
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 30, 2014
“A life not lived for others is not a life:”
Teresa of Calcutta 1910-1997
When my favorite and only little kid sister was first placed in my hands, I
was enchanted. She weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and came in a blue hat
and matching blanket. She was magic and light; a gift.
When she was a teenager, she wrapped herself in disobedience and
antagonism. She was still a gift, but in those days, the package was oddly
shaped, awkward and uncomfortable.
Today, she’s a young mother of two beautiful girls, a confidant on the
phone and an encourager in email. Each day, I unwrap the packaging of
her life anew and find some treasure hidden within.
When my favorite little kid sister was a small child, she gave her gifts to
me unknowingly. When she was a teenager, she thought she had no gifts
to give. Today, she gives herself to me freely.
Each day of each life is a gift; precious, sometimes lovely and sometimes
not.
Mother Teresa understood that she was a gift given by God to the world.
The poorest of the poor whose hearts and bodies she held were also gifts,
given by God to be held.
And this is a mystery: we are all gifts. Knowingly or unknowingly, each of
our lives is lived for others.
Prayer Practice:
Today, look for the gifts God has placed in your hands and ask to see the
gift you are to others.
Gayle Wooton
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Fourth Monday in Lent – March 31, 2014
“What have you been doing with your life? IS Christ living in your
home? Reflecting on what Jesus has done, groan for your own revival.”
Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892
On the eve of April Fools Day, I am aware of the seriousness of the
question. I do still GROAN for my own revival, for a deep awakening of
faith and faithfulness. My desire to make each day, each minute ‘count’
for something meaningful increases as I watch the Olympians fulfill their
dreams. What if I were that ‘alive’ with daily discipline and fervor for
Christ. What difference would my life make? Would my home exude a
blessing?
Prayer Practice:
Today I will ask three people about the meaning of life, their life and I will
‘bless’ one room as a sign of my belief that Christ lives in my home.
Sister Carole Riley, CDP, Ph. D.
WVIS Executive Director
Fourth Tuesday in Lent – April 1, 2014
“Arise, begin this very moment and say, Now is the time to do: now is the
time to fight, now is the proper time for amendment.”
Thomas A Kempis (1380-1471)
One of the most beloved and frequently prayed Catholic prayers is the
Hail Mary. Did you ever notice that this wonderful prayer speaks about
the two most important times of our lives?
The second is the "hour of our death." Will we be prepared for what lies
ahead? We believe we will be judged by God on how well we have lived
as Jesus taught us to live, loved as Jesus taught us to love, and gave as he
taught us to give.
Who of us can say with certainty that we are ready? If we remember that
we are dust and will return to dust, then we WILL turn away from sin and
be faithful to the Gospel.
The other, perhaps most important time of our life is NOW. This is what
Thomas A Kempis talks about in his classic book The Imitation of Christ.
Saint Paul puts it this way in his Second Letter to the Corinthians and a
passage we hear every Ash Wednesday. "Now is the acceptable time; now
is the day of salvation."
Is there something sinful or destructive in your life that you need to stop?
Is there something concrete that you need to do to help grow closer to
God?
Now is the time.
Not tomorrow.
Not next week.
Not someday.
Now is the time!
Fr. Paul J. Wharton, Pastor
St. Leo Catholic Church, Inwood, WV
Fifth Wednesday in Lent – April 2, 2014
“For unless a person’s unconscious life is involved in their redemption
how little of them will be permanently altered.”
Doug Steere 1901-1995
How often we begin the spring ritual of cleaning by using our trusted tools of
removing waste, dirt, and dust from our sacred spaces. Our unconscious lives are
like the particles of waste that lay complacently dormant in our souls.
Resentment, self-pity and victimhood are often the toughest waste to remove and
typically require we get down on
our knees and examine closely
the beliefs, attitudes, and the
nature of the soul. Yet, having a
strong enforcer mentality of
removing the waste along with
instilling personal shame does
not help toward personal
redemption. While growing up
shame and guilt were used to
keep me in line and motivate me
toward moral salvation. It was
such that lying became an
important defense mechanism.
Making mistakes wasn’t allowed or tolerated. It has taken the 12 Step Program
to reconstruct my spiritual foundation, provide tolerance toward healthy
admission of fault, and to demonstrate how an unconscious life can be forever
altered with rigorous honesty, building a healthy community, and service to
others.
Prayer Practice: Discover Our Motives
Personal transformation is an ongoing process and mindfully we take an
examination of our behaviors and ask ourselves: Where is God in this
situation? How have my actions reflected my core values? What
behaviors are no longer serving my best self? Cleaning the sacred spaces
of the soul prepares a room for our Beloved, our God Center.
Sr. Linda Hylla, CDP, LCSW
Social Worker
Fifth Thursday in Lent – April 3, 2014
“What we are all more or less lacking at this moment is a
new definition of holiness.”
Teihard de Chardin 1881-1965
As a child attending an old-school country Christian church, I learned to
associate holiness with living as sin-free a life as possible while being
devoted and obedient to God. God, in his perfection, glory and power,
was also considered holy.
Since we humans will have weaknesses and make mistakes regardless of
how devoted to God we are, perhaps another way to look at holiness is
living a life of love. While trying to overcome our weaknesses and learn
from our mistakes, we can also reach out with compassion to others and
strive to develop more loving characters in ourselves.
According to Thich Nhat Hanh, "if love is in our hearts, every thought,
word and deed can bring about a miracle. Because understanding is the
very foundation of love, words and actions that emerge from our love are
always helpful."
Prayer Practice:
Breathe deeply and think about someone you love. What words and
actions can you take to be helpful to this person?
Rick Steelhammer
President, WVIS Board of Directors
Fifth Friday in Lent – April 4, 2014
“Silence is the beginning of purification of the soul.”
St. Basil the Great d. 349
It has been said that one reaches an experience of true love with their
beloved when the two can reach heights of intimacy and communion with
one another without having to say a word. Many experienced couples and
friends can attest to the joy of a very present and mutual silence. Such
silence is the fruit of maturity in a relationship and cannot be forced. This
is an active and engaged silence and is not to be confused with
noiselessness, which may indicate, instead, disinterest and disengagement.
In a world of noise, clatter, and endless occupation, we would do well to
seize moments of aware, active silence. Whether the relationship we wish
to cultivate is with another human being, or whether it is with The Divine,
such silence can become a portal into our interior world, which is God’s
choice meeting place—the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Prayer Practice:
O Infinite and Eternal Other, alive at the center of my being; may I accept
your invitation to unplug from the noise of my world and my noisy mind
and just be in Your Presence. Amen.
Michael C. Richards, D.Min.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Fifth Saturday in Lent – April 5, 2014
“The purpose of prayer is not to inform our Lord what you desire, for He
knows all your needs. It is to render you able and ready to receive the
grace which our Lord will freely give you." Walter Hilton 1395
During my school years, our parish honored the Stations of the Cross
every Friday afternoon throughout the Lenten season. Early on, my
attention was drawn to the sixth station wherein Veronica wipes the face
of Jesus. In the years that followed, I questioned -- Did Veronica witness
Jesus befriending the woman about to be stoned? Or know of the nine
lepers Jesus had cured? Did prayer and pondering his mercy toward
sinners strengthen her nerve, soften her heart and prepare her to perform
some courageous act at a particular moment in time? The sixth station
depicts Veronica stepping away from the crowd. Halting the Roman
soldier goading Jesus toward Calvary hill, she used her veil to wipe the
bloody face of her Savior. Catholic tradition holds that the image of
Jesus' face was permanently recorded on Veronica's veil. I wonder if this
was a gift from Our Lord in return for the mercy she had shown him.
During those childhood Lenten seasons I vowed secretly that I would try
hard to become more and more like Veronica. At age 82 I am still trying.
Prayer Practices:
I begin every morning seated at my kitchen table where I offer to
God, two special prayers borrowed from Alcoholics Anonymous twelve
steps.
***Third Step Prayer: "God, I offer myself to Thee, to build with me and
to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may
better do THY will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may
bear witness to those I would help, of THY power, THY love and THY
way of life. May I do THY will always."
***Seventh Step Prayer: My Creator, I am now willing that you should
have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every
single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to
YOU and my fellows. Grant me strength, please, as I go out from here to
do YOUR bidding. Amen
***I follow with a daily three minute retreat provided on the internet by
Loyola Press.
Joan McAteer
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Fifth Sunday in Lent – April 6, 2014
“Let us be rooted and grounded in charity that we might be
able to grasp the depth of God’s Wisdom”.
Bonaventure: (1217-1274)
As a hospital chaplain, I often ask a patient this simple question: “What
concern are you holding in your heart today?” The usual answer is: “I
want to get well and go home.” Of course, we all desire to be free of pain,
disease and the discomfort of being a hospitalized patient.
In our Gospel story for this 5th
Sunday in Lent, we hear the familiar story
of Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus. Martha knew that Jesus was a
healer and wondered why it took Him two days to arrive at their home.
She went in search for Him. I wonder what feelings Martha experienced
when Jesus arrived and brought Lazarus out of the tomb and back to life?
What about Mary? She stayed home waiting for Jesus. She also, must
have experienced the power of Jesus as He touched and healed many sick
people. What might have been her feelings and response?
Prayer Practice:
Jesus continues to touch and heal us
today! Where do we go to seek and find
Him? Do you have a sacred space in
your home, at church or outside where
you can be alone with Jesus? What
concern are you holding in your heart to
be touched by Jesus? Don’t hesitate to
ask Him! Let Jesus surprise you. He
will!
Sr. Fran Kirtley, OSF
CAMC Chaplain
Fifth Monday in Lent – April 7, 2014
“The more the mind approaches perfection, the more the soul
is in covenant with God.”
Richard of St. Victor
What could Richard mean, as “the mind approaches perfection”? Are we
to believe as we gain more knowledge we become closer to God? Could
God love those with great minds more than those simple of mind? No,
God loves us all with unlimited love.
God is always present. But for us to be open to hearing His word, we must
learn to gather the wanderings of the mind, quieting the static of our daily
lives. We must seek to attain a mental state of pure contemplation, which
Richard defines as “profound and pure gaze of the soul, fixed on the
marvels of wisdom, combined with an ecstatic sense of wonder and
admiration”. It is here, in this uncontaminated silence, that we will find
the presence of the Holy Spirit speaking softly to us.
Let us practice diligently to clear our minds of all that is around us so that
we might enter into this silence, becoming open receptacles to the Lord.
As Richard so eloquently warns, “See to it that the very time He begins to
knock at the door is not the first time that you begin to want to throw out
the crowds of those who make noise . . .”
Prayer Practice: Find time today
to sit quietly for 10 minutes in
silence, quieting your mind of all
distractions, being only a
welcoming receptacle.
Ed Neely
Fifth Tuesday in Lent – April 8, 2014
“I am not sure that in this life we attain the fourth degree of love, to love
ourselves for God’s sake. We live in a world of suffering and tears, and
experience God’s mercy and justice in that compassionate context.”
Bernard of Clairvaux 1091-1153
I read this teaching through the writings of Richard Rohr over a year ago.
My first thought was the frequent, and very old visitor that spoke up to
remind me of my list of imperfections. Love myself? For God’s sake?
My granddaughter showed me the way.
Addy is three years old. One morning she said to her mother, “I am going
to write a letter to God”. My daughter replied that God would like that and
asked Addy what she was going to say to God. Addy replied... “God is
going to say, Thank you Addy, and I will say, You are welcome God.”
Of course she loves herself at three for her own sake. She has yet to grow
through giving up center stage, but she will...and I pray she comes to love
God first for her own sake too... to trust God for everything she needs.
And in time, I pray she comes to love God for God’s sake, entering into
the sweet familiarity of God. Then I prayed that Addy would never lose
this sense of her own lovableness and that she is gift.
For a child, the relationship is simple. When little ones pick up a block,
they offer it to the other. Adults say “thank you” and then hand it back.
The simple element of any relationship ... to give and to receive. How
often we let what Rohr calls the ‘tragic wound and our incessant attempts
to heal it”, consume our relationship with God.
Practice for today:
Become still. Imagine picking up a block and that
all of your tragic wounds and efforts are
encapsulated in that block. Hand it to God. Hear
God say, thank you (your name). Say to God,
You are welcome. Then thank God for taking it
all. There is nothing left but to rest.
Cindy Neely
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Sixth Wednesday in Lent – April 9, 2014
“Temptations assail no one more than the follower of Christ.”
St. Anthony the Great
St. Anthony is said to have faced a series of supernatural temptations
during his pilgrimage to the desert. There are some temptations from
which we should flee and others which we must endure and conquer. If
the will is kept firm, God comes to the rescue. He grants grace to do His
bidding and to overcome temptation. The hardest way to get rid of
temptation is self-denial and self-discipline, which is commanded in the
Word of God. I try to overcome temptation by keeping busy for the Lord.
Find something to do for Him. Seek to serve Him. Once you are willing,
He will open innumerable doors to service.
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God
is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can
stand up under it.” I Cor. 10:13 NIV
PRAYER: Please, Lord, give me the wisdom to walk away when I am
tempted, and the clarity to see the way out that you will provide. Thank
you God, that you are a faithful deliverer and that I can count on your help
in my time of need. Amen
TEMPTATION PRACTICE:
(1) Recognize the tendency,
(2) run away from the temptation.
(3) resist with the Word
(4) refocus, with praise and
(5) repent quickly when you fail.
Virginia H. Masters
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Hilton Head, SC Satellite
Sixth Thursday in Lent – April 10, 2014
“Wanting to do something and being unable is, in the eyes of God WHO sees our
hearts, as though it were done.” St. Mark the Ascetic from 226 texts
There is a struggle in me to accept good intentions as faithfulness. They
say “the road to hell is paved by good intentions.” Who among us has not
experienced the intended kindness, undelivered when we needed it? As a
community with many physical, economic needs around us, a thoughtful
kind word seems to fall short. I remember Charles Schultz’ Peanuts
cartoon where Snoopy is freezing cold, at the brink of death. Charlie
Brown walks by noticing Snoopy’s plight with sympathy. Charlie is
bundled up in warmth and comfort. Charlie then walks by wishing
Snoopy good things, without offering a hand. The world watches us and
judges Christians as hypocrites when our actions fall short of our spoken
intentions. Jesus himself addresses hypocrisy in the Pharisees in today’s
Gospel reading. “And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be
like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word.” John 8:55
From a young age, my parents taught me that doing right is an important
extension of our faith. However, as I live through my years, I have
discovered my own limitation in doing. Many times I have intended more
than I delivered. My own failure reminds me how badly I need God!
Then, God shows such love for me, seeing into my heart. This same God
forgives me for thinking that I can do or be it all. And God loves me as
though it were done. Sometimes, later, God fills me with his intentions
and equips me then for doing so.
Prayer Practice for the day:
In a quiet place, let go of your distractions.
When ready, answer a knock at your door to
find Jesus. Welcome him into your space.
Give him your intentions. Offer him your dis-
ease and guilt. Hear and feel his forgiveness
and love for you. Listen to what he has to say
to you. Enjoy each other’s company a while.
Rev. Elizabeth S. Mallozzi
Director of Mission and Pastoral Care
The Shores at Wesley Manor, UMHNJ
Sixth Friday in Lent – April 11, 2014
“Join to every breath a sober invocation of the name of
Jesus and the thought of death”
Evagrius the Monk 346 - 399
Evagrius a monk and probably a priest was born about the middle of the
fourth century. Some of his teachers were Basil the Great, Gregory of
Nyssa and Gregory the Theologian. He was influenced by their lives and
writings and became a monk. He became a philosopher, not only in word
but also in his life. He lived as a solitary in a cell in Egypt. He died here
in 399. He wrote different works on the spiritual life both for monks and
the ordinary lay person. These writings are still relevant today for those
trying to live a spiritual life and grow closer to God. I became acquainted
with Evagrius several years ago in my search in how to improve my
prayer life. The “Jesus Prayer” an eastern from of prayer long known in
the east and now popular in the west. I was introduced to it by a friend.
The Jesus Prayer soon became a major part of my prayer life and practice.
St. Paul tells us that we should pray always. The constant invocation of
the Divine Name of Jesus, either as a single word or as part of a short
prayer, derives according to tradition, from apostolic times. “Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God have mercy on me a sinner.” Evagrius tells us “Join to
every breath a sober invocation of the name of Jesus and the thought of
death with humility. Both of these practices bring great profit to the soul.”
Daily I use this form of prayer sometimes with my lips, sometimes with
my breath and sometimes with both together. I find great peace and joy.
Driving along in the car, walking on the street, setting alone in a chair,
lying in bed (when I can’t sleep), when I am tempted this beautiful prayer
assists me. Sometimes I use part of the prayer or just one word “Jesus”.
The name of Jesus is sweet and good for my soul.
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God Have Mercy on me a Sinner.”
Deacon David Wuletich
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Sixth Saturday in Lent – April 12, 2014
“All the flame and glowing in heaven and earth burns and shines
through God alone.” Mechtild of Magdeburg 1207-1282
Fire burns and shines. Burning causes hurt and pain, turns things to ashes,
and destroys. We reflexively recoil when we get too close to fire. On the
other hand, we love things to shine and to glow. We want our teeth to
shine, our shoes to shine and we prefer sun shiny days to cloudy ones. We
might describe someone as glowing when they exude joy, happiness, or
contentment in their demeanor. The oppositeness of these two aspects of
fire seems to parallel life. Life is both/and, a mixture of sorrow and joy, a
melding of suffering and peace. It is because the wood burns in my
woodstove that I feel the warmth that gives me comfort in my home. We
are sometimes burned by our own pains and difficulties, but these can also
bring about growth and newness. A forest that has been burned to the
ground is now fertile for growth and newness -- and God is in all of it.
What sustains us in the burning and what helps us notice and celebrate the
shining and the glowing, that is God.
Prayer: Help us to remember to ask for awareness of your presence in all
things, to seek you during the difficult times and to give thanks during the
times of shining and glowing. Amen.
Mary Quick, M.A.
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Sixth Sunday in Lent – April 13, 2014
“You are the clear light that is clearer than any light and deeper than any
depth; enlighten my darkness.” Gertrude of Hefta 1256-1302
One of my favorite household chores is to clean windows and mirrors. I
find great personal satisfaction in getting them to squeak and shine. I love
to step back and admire the clarity of light and vision that sparkles through
a spotless window or in a sparkling mirror. I am amazed how the right
cleaning products and a little elbow grease can bring new light into a
room.
During this Lenten season I reflect on the times in my life that Jesus has
brought clarity and depth of light into my darkened soul with a brightness
that surpasses anything I could humanly clean. In this liturgical season of
darkness, may each of us experience the grace, love, light, and forgiveness
of God through the death and resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ.
Prayer Practice of the day:
Light a candle and allow God’s shining light to penetrate through the
darkness of your life.
Leanna Lake
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Sixth Monday in Lent – April 14, 2014
“A feeble drip that keeps on dripping softens
the hardest stone” St. Isaac of Syria
A gentle persistence softens the hardest of hearts. This is what comes to
mind as I read this verse from St. Isaac. So where does the hardest heart
reside? Do we see it in others? Do we see it in ourselves? Are we the
persistent drip or is that really God speaking to us in His gentlest voice?
I am reminded of Elijah in the cave listening for God, but God does not
come loudly, God comes in a gentle breeze. In today’s readings we hear
the words of Isaiah “he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying
out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.” a gentle
persistent drip maybe.
We are called to be Christ to all we come into contact with on our life’s
journey. Do we speak to them in a Christ like manner, gentle but
persistent with the intention of softening that heart that is hardened by
life’s circumstances. We can be that feeble drip that softens the hardest
stone if we but let ourselves become Christ to others.
Prayer Practice:
As we prepare for the resurrection of Jesus the Christ on this Easter let us
pray that our hearts be softened so that we in turn may be that which
softens the hardest of hearts.
Thomas J. Soper
Candidate Deacon Formation Program
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Sixth Tuesday in Lent – April 15, 2014
“Who shall give back this time if we waste it?”
Dorotheus
I attended the Journaling workshop at WVIS a couple of months ago. I
enjoy the concept of journaling. I also enjoy looking at journals and
looking at books and magazines about journaling. It’s much easier than
actually finding the time each day to write. Sr. Carole had an extensive
bibliography of journaling resources and I noticed one was already on my
Amazon wish list. Of course, I purchased it and began to read it. I read it
before starting to journal and just reading the book had an immediate
impact on my thinking.
The instructions were to set an intention to have God’s wisdom come
through the writer, in order to bring clarity to bothersome situations. One
of the last suggestions in the book was to write the story of your life. I
thought I would start a decade or so ago, and enumerate facts and perhaps
some of the feelings involved. From the moment I sat at my desk with pen
in hand, I have been on a journey I never expected. I didn’t get the first
word written about my story. Instead, I wrote about the story I tell myself
about me. That led to why that story was so important, not just for me to
live with, but for others to realize as well. As one may expect, it had more
to do with my ego than my authentic self. By detaching from my ego, I
was able to understand myself without the mask. I was able to understand
my contribution to all the things in the world which I blamed others for.
And for the first time, I was able to feel what I had always read
intellectually, that I was loved by the Creator and I am ok the way I am.
Since I have been journaling for only six weeks, I can only imagine what I
will continue to uncover. All it takes is a spiral notebook, a pen, and a lot
of courage. The results are worth it. Good luck.
Pam Steelhammer
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Seventh Wednesday in Lent – April 16, 2014
“If the angel comes it will be because you have convinced her, not by your
tears but by your humble resolve to be always a beginner, always
beginning.” Ranier M. Rilke
Contemplating this quote from a poet who lived 1875-1926, I was
naturally curious about his origin and train of thought. He was considered
an intense lyrical poet (a mystic to many), focusing on “the difficulty of
communion with the ineffable age of disbelief, solitude and profound
anxiety”.
I am immediately reminded of the trials and resolve that I continue
to experience in my spiritual journey to the heart of Jesus, that place that
only my heart can know. As I recognize the path I am walking, seeing the
stepping stones in place (or needing to be placed), I am reminded of the
trials of learning to ride a bicycle. I just get up from the fall and do it
again and again until I get the feel for it. Balancing while pedaling will
not come by simply asking, I must practice the intricate movement
patterns in order to feel that moment of connection.
I realize that some of the characteristics of being human, allows
me to slip into complacency, so I must be willing to repeat, to get up and
try again, those practices that reconnect me to the truth that my heart longs
for. I must be willing to begin again, with patience and the knowledge
that practice will enhance the journey, with absolute belief that my heart
rests with Jesus.
Prayer practice: Look at the path
your journey to the heart of Jesus is
taking. Look carefully for the signs
of complacency, disillusionment and
solitude, and pray for the resolve to
pick up and begin again.
Mary H. Malamisura
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director, Intern
Holy Thursday – April 17, 2014
“Suddenly in the night, the whole world was gathered up before God’s eye
in what appeared to be a single Light.” St. Gregory the Great 540-604
Walking with God sometimes one experiences “gathering experiences”.
Some people ask me why I do contemplative prayer. Once while doing
contemplative prayer, I had a “gathering experience”. I knew in the depth
of my heart that I was praying for all the prayer requests in the whole
world. I must pray!!! Like our Savior, I am impassioned: “Zeal for thy
house has eaten me up” (John 2:17).
I have had other “gathering experiences”. I lived in Philadelphia for 13
years. I remember waiting for a train. Hugh crowds were waiting for
various trains. I remembered what Jesus said: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I
wanted to gather you children together, just as a hen gathers her brood
under her wings, and you would not have it” (Luke 13:34). I looked over
the crowds and wept for that lost city (Luke 19:41).
“Suddenly in the night, the whole world was gathered up before God’s eye
in what appeared to be a single Light”. God experiences “gathering
experiences”. When God was finished on the sixth day of creation, God
had a “gathering experience”: “God saw all that He had made, and behold
it was very good”. It was as if all that God created appeared “as a single
Light”.
Prayer Experience:
God we thank you that you created the whole world. We are thankful that
all of creation is good. We are thankful that the floor of your cathedral is
the ground. We are thankful that the walls of our cathedral are our
mountains. Finally, we are thankful that the ceiling of our cathedral is the
heavens. It is good and light to You.
Paul Bricker
VA Chaplain
Good Friday – April 18, 2014
“If the only prayer we utter is THANK YOU, it would be enough.”
― Meister Eckhart
Current media espouse the physical and mental health benefits of grateful
living; it reduces stress and boosts the immune system. Keeping a
gratitude journal and “paying forward” acts of kindness help cultivate
grateful living. Most days I can readily list things for which I am
thankful: good health, a loving spouse, my children, my dogs, friends, and
faith community. My basic needs are met in abundance. In prayer I seek to
count as blessings the irritations of the day; they are opportunities for
growth.
Today, I am invited to utter my “Thank You” in the dark night. I place
myself at the foot of the cross as Mary and John. I remember keeping
vigil with my siblings and father as my mother died. I feel helpless and
afraid. Regrets, sorrow, and memories wash over me. Jesus turns from his
own agony. Our eyes meet, and I hear, Woman, here is your son. Here is
your mother. Jesus’ voice is echoed in my mother’s as she offers each
child a unique blessing. She smiles and nods, calling me: My Baby! I
discover my “Thank you.” Jesus’ words of compassion and commission
point to the path of healing and life.
I pray to be attentive and open to the opportunities for being Christ’s
compassionate presence for someone in distress. I pray for the grace to
accept help from others in my time of need so they may experience
Christ’s grace and healing through their service.
Prayer practices:
Begin and end the day with a thanksgiving hymn (Perhaps For the Beauty
of the Earth)
Evening: Examen prayer:
1. For what event today am I most thankful?
2. For which moment am I least grateful?
3. God, what is your call to me?
4. Grant me the grace I need to respond to you. (Hebrews 4:16)
Ann Winton
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
Holy Saturday – April 19, 2014
“All praise be yours, my God, through Sister Death, from whose
embrace no mortal can escape.” St. Francis of Assisi 1182-1226
A long time ago, on every Holy Saturday in our convent chapel, a
prone image of the deceased Jesus lying on a slab was placed in the
worship space. The hands of Jesus were folded together resting on his
stomach. His face was somewhat serene. The color of this figure was of a
dull white to various shades of gray. It demanded stark silence from
everyone present. It was death. All of this for me was framed in
mystery. It felt so strange to me to be there sitting with the dead Jesus.
If I were a disciple on that first Holy Saturday, how would I
feel? A day without Jesus being alive – Jesus dead! I would be
traumatized. I would feel abandoned. What to do now?? What can I fall
back on? Jesus, you promised to be with me always, and I am hanging on
to your promise . . . You said over and over to us “Do not be afraid. Peace
be with you!” I am desolate and sad. For you, dear Jesus, my soul in
stillness waits. I want to cling to your promises. Where are you?
On that first Holy Saturday, the Apostles and disciples did not
know that the Resurrection would be following the next day - that Jesus
would be alive again. What devastation must have encircled them! You
and I don’t feel the same impact of that experience because we know the
rest of the story - that Jesus rose from the dead. - that the Risen Power of
Jesus is the Promise of God’s faithfulness to us. . . that Jesus is our kindly
light leading us on. The big question is “Is this a reality in our
lives?” Are we desolate and waiting to come alive again? Will
Resurrection happen for us? “Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see the
distant scene – one step enough for me.” What is the rest of your story?
Prayer Practice:
***What have been the Holy Saturdays without Jesus in your life?
***How is God inviting you to Resurrection in this moment?
***Do you believe that you hold the Risen Power of Jesus in your being?
***Dear Jesus, help me to be with someone who is desolate and waiting to
come alive. How can I be kindly light companioning them on the journey?
Easter in me!
Sr. Diane McCalley, CSJ
WVIS Associate Spiritual Director
‘Rooted and living in the light of God's love.’
The West Virginia Institute for Spirituality Retreat & Training Center 1601 Virginia Street, East
Charleston, West Virginia 25311 304-345-0926
Website: www.wvis.org Email: [email protected]
Sr. Carole Riley, C.D.P., Ph.D, LPC, AAPC – Fellow WVIS Executive Director
[email protected] 412-901-4259
Suggested Donation: $5.00 All donations for copies of this booklet will be used to support the
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