The older I get the more the years seems to pass rapidly. Time as the young person experiences it is an illusion gone in the blink of an eye. Young people want to grow up, and go out into the world to do their own thing. So many endless years before them with possibility. There was a time when I could look backwards and forwards. A feeling that perhaps I was half way through my journey of life and prayer contained in this human cycle of existence. I was sorry for some things if I am honest. Missed opportunities . Waisted graces, and hurting loved ones . Not really fully loving God and my neighbour. But I could also look forward to hopefully enough years to redress the balance in the other half of my life. Now as I look through the windows of my place of prayer and the ever rapidly passing seasons I understand that there may be no endless years to come. I understand all life is sacred. All life is a gift, but it is fragile. It can end in the blink of an eye. Actually we live our whole life in the light of eternity. Each hour could be the last hour on earth for anyone of us. The Gospel warns us that we do not know the hour in which the master will come and call us. Actually this does not make me sad in any way. It is the reverse. In the words of the mass I wait in joyful hope. As I grow older I have let go of everything and each moment simply reach out into God for He alone is lasting. I learn to see Gods goodness in all I face, and experience. I cherish the exchanges with my Brothers and Sisters, but equally respect they need the time and space to work out this journey. I understand that much of what we discuss now is only within the context of a conversation that never ends. It will have to be completed the next side of the eternity. There is nothing spectacular about this journey. It is in the very ordinary things that we learn to seek and explore. Learn to love and hold, and when it is time to let go again. Always from the old we travel to the new. The end is the point that we begin from, and the very best will be yet to come. There is no room for pride on this journey. I think we become ever more aware of our failings and short comings. If our past were the bench mark no single person could claim they were worthy to come within our walls. What is important is not what happened to lead us to our Society of Prayer, but what we become once we have joined. In the end everything is gift. The pure gift of love. Just think what God must be really like who is the giver of the gifts ? We may in our most honest moments think we are no more than the poor men and women of God. Brothers and Sisters knocking on the gates of Paradise asking for mercy. But the love of God is all consuming. God is mercy within mercy within mercy. A Member of the Community.( Society of Prayer )
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It is often in the days after a major feast or celebration such as Christmas Day
we feel we are returning certain quietness and stillness. Around us and within us a peace unfolds. But often in our prayer we feel we are calling out into nothing, and sense no reply. Sometimes it may seem that our prayer is so small, and so insignificant that we are calling out into an empty space where nothing is there. We may think no one hears even in all the vastness of the eternity. It is precisely at that moment because of the eternity has no beginning or end we feel, sense, or hear nothing back in return.Feeling and reality are two different things. We need to understand the nature of the prayer we are being drawn into and become at that moment. For it has its ultimate value and purpose in the self emptying of Christ on His Holy Cross. The one who makes the holy offerings of sacrifice becomes the offering as he is consumed by the offering he makes being led out of himself held in the present moment of time and space. The Divine Light that he receives on behalf of all and for all men and women transforms him or her into that light that which knows no boundaries of time and space. A light that in a single moment unfolds into an infinity of little moments to be everywhere present, and in all things in both the Heavens and on earth. The feeling of emptiness, and nothingness is simply we have gone from what we know, experience, touch, feel, smell, and see.We have gone into what we can not touch, and sense to where Divine Love dwells beyond all words, and images. We have entered in the vastness of the eternity that has no beginning or end gathering all in, and taking it to the very core of that place where all things are restored in Christ. This is at the heart of the mission in silence and solitude to become that point of connection where all things beyond sin, suffering, and death are restored to their original nature, and identity, that is at the very core of the still point of it all from which they came. A member of The Society of Prayer . For many of members their life and commitment to prayer is lived in the
midst of busy working lives. The beginning of their journey has sometimes been like most people to ask " How do I have time to pray there ? There are not enough hours in the day." Here at the Society of Prayer we offer a simple pattern of prayer people can follow or adapt to suit their circumstances. Prayer is not simply about petitions i,e asking for things. It is about becoming aware of God who is always with us even in the business of every day life. It is about spending a few moments with a loved one like we would with a human companion. We always can find time for example to text someone. Why then is it impossible to find time with God ? It is not just words , but the simple turning of the heart to one we love. A gaze of love. An act of kindness towards someone who is also a Son or Daughter of God. Some people are early morning people, and some clearly are not ! But when we awake we can begin our day with Christ by silently offering to Him the day that is to come. God is as much in the ordinary things of life as He is in big things. We can ask to be used as an instrument of God to bring His light to all those we will meet this day. As we go to the bathroom we wash and prepare ourselves this day. We can bring before God in those few moments all the sin and brokenness of humanity. Asking God will heal all divisions , and unite all the peoples of the world. We can acknowledge our own faults, and forgive anyone who has done wrong against us. The journey to work is symbolic of our life's journey. Today another page will be written even in the most ordinary of circumstances. We pray we will find the presence of God in all that comes our way. Some pages contain love and beauty, and some pain and suffering . But God can turn the suffering into wisdom. And the wisdom into a beautiful life for the Church and humanity. The simple meal at lunch time reminds us of the earthly meal Christ left us in the Eucharist/ Service of Holy Communion. For some this is an important part of their journey. We pray for the day when all believers will truly gather as one around the tables of His word and sacrament. We pray for Priests. For communities that have no Priests. As the afternoon draws to a close and we look forward to going home we begin to reflect on another homecoming that awaits us all. In this all men and women are equal. We pray that in death all men and women will find peace, and be led home to gates of paradise. In few moments of silence in the evening or perhaps listening to some sacred music as we prepare the evening meal we bring before God the events of the day. The people we have met on this day's journey. We reflect on any lessons we have understood this day. As we go to bad we surrender our life into the hands of the Lord. An old childhood song goes " As I lay my head to sleep I praise the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I praise the Lord my soul to take." And so the end of the day we have spent the day with Christ, and fulfilled our promise to be a people of prayer. Brother Anthony - Bruno |
Moderated by Brother Anthony - Bruno Archives
February 2020
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