The Gift of Fear of the Lord – To fear God takes a daring heart…

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It should have been a happy day, but tears flowed down my cheeks. I tried to stop them, to compose myself, to put on the expected reverent posture, but as I processed in for my 25th Jubilee of religious profession, the tears would not be stopped.

They spilled out of a heart that was transfixed with wonder at 25 years of religious life. They had not been easy. A stroke, subsequent collapses, depression, TLE…. Feeling set aside because of illness in those very early years in your twenties when I wanted to throw myself into the apostolate…. Spiritual combat on every front against my own pride and anger and….

But here I was at the culmination of all that and so many more memories both positive and difficult…weeping…tears dripping from a heart that was suddenly, unexpectedly, transported out of our Motherhouse chapel in Boston to…amazement at the beauty of  my life and the God of wonder who was wrapping me in his presence and smothering me with a love that washed away the struggles so that only the morning dew of awe remained.

In Scripture “to fear God” is to be in awe of his power and knowledge. To fear God requires a daring heart!

Only a heart that fears God dares to believe that God created each one of us on this earth at this moment in time to know, love, and serve him in this life and to be happy with him forever. Can you dare to believe this about your family? Your enemy? The other both near and on the other side of the planet?

Only a heart that fears God can be joyful. Fear is a word that we typically interpret as referring to a state of emotional distress in the face of some danger to our personal safety. The term “fear of the Lord” appears over 100 times in the Old Testament. For example: And now, Israel, what does the Lord, your God ask of you but to fear the Lord, your God, and follow his ways exactly, to love and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul (Deuteronomy 10:12). However, in the New Testament, the term is only mentioned two times and has been transformed into a sense of awe that is joyful rather than horrified. It is the gift of fear that gives us an unmistakable and irrefutable sense of God’s closeness and his ultimate victory over all evil in the world.

The gift of fear of the Lord gives us a greater sense of the greatness of God that should spark in our hearts a sense of amazement and awe that could bring us down to our knees. If we abandon astonishment we are left with a mediocre piousness.

To fear Him is to bow before mysteries we can never comprehend, like our freedom to choose, even though our free choices often have dire consequences for others, and another’s freedom to choose may have dire consequences for ourselves or one we love.

To St. Bonaventure fear of the Lord was “the most beautiful tree planted in the heart of a holy man which God waters continuously”  [II.6].  This “most beautiful tree” bears the precious fruit of love and reverence for God. Fear of the Lord for St. Bonaventure was the sort of trembling before experiences of God’s majesty that we hear perfectly encapsulated in the hymn:

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth
Our full homage to demand.

The fear that St. Bonaventure had in mind is sort of a continuum that spans a certain range—depending upon one’s perfection in the life of grace—from “servile fear” to “filial fear” to a fear cast out by love which has taken over one’s whole heart (cf. 1 John 4:17-18).

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7) because it puts our mindset in its correct location with respect to God: we are finite, dependent creatures, and He is the infinite, all-powerful Creator.

Here are two things you can do to prepare your heart for the activation of the gift of the fear of the Lord:

  • Give yourself amazing experiences. People who contemplate the grandeur of nature (even on the TV set or Youtube or in their backyard if necessary) are more likely to emerge from their own utilitarian mind-set of duty and obedience and open up to the awe and grandeur of the God whom we worship and whose closeness can be deeply treasured.
  • Use Ignatius’ prayer method in praying with Scripture to more personally experience it. Rather than simple reading about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, for example, a person could imagine the details of the sights, sounds, and smells of personally being there. Stanford University Anthropology Professor Tanya Luhrmann has found that individuals randomly assigned to go through Ignatian prayer exercises in which they engage in this kind of imaginative prayer are more likely to report awe-inspiring mystical experiences than those assigned to listen to lectures on the Gospels.

 

Prayer

“My Lord and my God, all my good consists in being united to you and placing all my hope in You. If my soul were left to itself, it would be like a puff of wind…. Without You I can do no good, nor can I remain steadfast.  Without You I cannot love You, please You. Therefore, I take refuge in You, I abandon myself to You, that You may sustain me by Your power, hold me by Your strength, and never permit to become separated from You” (St Bernard).

We all receive more than we deserve (Matthew 20:1-16a)

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The parable of the landowner and the laborers hired to work in his vineyard is, on one level, about abundance. The landowner had a large enough vineyard that he needed to hire laborers repeatedly throughout the day to get the work done. As evening approached and the men lined up for their pay, the landowner paid all of them a denarius each. A “denarius” was a silver Roman coin used as payment for a full day’s wage. The owner of the vineyard didn’t need to scrimp and save. “Are you envious because I am generous?” he asked those who complained that all had been treated with equal generosity.

The landowner’s actions depict the endlessly loving heart of the Father that poured itself out onto his undeserving creation with the incarnation of his Son, the Word-made-flesh, God-with us. Jesus Christ became our brother, our Savior, our Friend, the Lamb of God, our Eucharistic Lord, generosity without limits. As he one day multiplied the loaves and the fish for a crowd of 5000, Jesus abundantly multiplies the gift of his presence to us in the Eucharist all over the world until the end of history. Generous abundance is a hallmark of the Kingdom. Jesus said: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10).

Against the backdrop of this image of this extravagant magnanimity the parable paints the stinginess and selfish demands of the workers of the first hour. They assumed that they would get more than what had been agreed upon because the landowner was doling out a full day’s wage to those who had come at the last hour and who had clearly done far less than they. As these tired laborers watched I can imagine them muttering among themselves that these latecomers were absolutely unworthy to be treated the same as they. The unexpected reversal of the parable is this: no matter how much or little we work, we are all equal recipients of God’s generous abundance, of the gifts of his forgiveness, holiness, mercy, salvation, eternal life.

How many times have I thought that I deserved more than the others because I had given more of my time, energy, and love than they. I have fallen into the trap that the others deserved less because of how little they worked or how selfish they had been. This parable frees us from thinking we need to win God’s endless love. This love is abundant and freely given to us all according to God’s own generous determination. Let us not be upset that others receive what we have been given, but rejoice that others have been gifted, included, loved, blessed as have we, for we all receive more than we could ever deserve.

Jesus, you surprise me by your love for me and your love for others who I sometimes feel don’t deserve that love. I am amazed at how you keep me in existence through your bounteous mercies, even when my love is so small and stingy compared to yours. Take my heart, O Lord, and make it just like yours. Amen.

Praying with this passage of Scripture

Lectio Divina is a way of listening to God as he speaks in his Word. It is a practice of communicating with God through Scripture and attending to God’s presence and what he wishes to tell us. In this slow and prayerful reading of the Word of God, we allow ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit who forms us into the image of Christ.
There are four movement in Lectio Divina: Read (lectio), Meditate (meditation), Pray (oratio), Contemplate (contemplation).

Begin by finding a still space to pray. Breathe deeply and become quieter within. Abandon any agenda, worries or thoughts you bring to this prayer and entrust these things to the merciful care of God. Ask for the grace to be receptive to what God will speak to you through this Scripture reading. Grant me, Jesus Divine Master, to be able to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God and your unfathomable riches. Grant that your word penetrate my soul; guide my steps, and brighten my way till the day dawns and darkness dissipates, you who live and reign forever and ever Amen.

Read (lectio)
Begin by slowly and meditatively reading your Scripture passage out loud. Listen for a particular word or phrase that speaks to you at this moment and sit with it for a time.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Meditate (meditatio) – Read the same passage a second time. As you re-engage the text, let the word or phrase that stood out become your invitation to speak from your heart with God who wishes to share his heart with you. Allow this word or phrase to wash over you and permeate your thoughts and feelings. You may wish to repeat this phrase quietly and gently for a period of time.

Pray (oratio) – Read the text a third time. Listen for what God is saying to you. Speak heart to heart with God. Notice the feelings that this conversation with God raises up within you. Share with God what you notice about your response to this conversation. You may wish to return to repeating the phrase quietly and gently, allowing it to permeate you more and more deeply.

Contemplate (contemplatio)
Read the text a final time. Now be still and rest in God’s embrace. Ask God to give you a gift to take with you from this prayer. You might ask God if he is inviting you to do some action, for instance, make some change in your thoughts, attitudes or reactions, in the way you speak or how you treat others. Thank God for this gift and invitation as you conclude your prayer.

Image Credit: Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash

The Gift of Piety – I know God will take care of everything… I hope….

Published on by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSP3 Comments

The sign went up one morning in the front yard of my parents’ house: For Sale. There was a finality about that moment as a young girl in a pick-up truck pounded the wooden sign into the ground and took a picture to send to the real estate agent. It was the same sign I’d seen all over our town. But now it was in front of the home my parents had been in for the past 50 years. The house was officially for sale. My parents were moving.

It seemed surreal as we prepared to support my parents as they moved from their home into a much smaller apartment. So much loss. None of us realized how much would need to be given away or thrown away in order to make the move. With every item that couldn’t go with them, a part of me died…. That part of me that had grown up there as a child, loved to listen to the birds, had run down the hallways and learned to cook in the kitchen, loved and been loved…. Connections, security, past roots…

Now with the sign hanging ominously in the front yard, the unknown was closer and the leap into the future imminent. A lot of fear flowed through our family in those final days…. My siblings wanted the best. We tried to do the best thing for them.

I often say that I have infinite trust in divine Providence…but when it is your own parents’ happiness at stake it suddenly seems a flimsy hope. If I could just be sure. If I could control the outcome. If I could know the future…. But we can’t. We have to do our best. The best we can with what we have at the moment. Then it sometimes feels we have nothing left but to hope against hope that it all works out.

The Holy Spirit moves within our souls at times such as this, activating in us the gift of piety. The gift of piety is a supernatural habit infused in our souls in Baptism. When this gift within us is weak, we try to convince ourselves that God is good, to believe that God will take care of us. But under the influence of the gift of piety, we change our outlook completely. Jordan Aumann in his book Spiritual Theology states: “For those who are governed by the gift of piety, the world and all creation are considered as the house of the Father, and everything in the universe becomes a testimony of his infinite goodness. Such persons are able to discover the religious meaning hidden in all things.”

It is the gift of piety that surprises us with an affection for God as our beloved Father and an absolute child-like love. As we go through the situations of our life that could make us tremble, we walk instead with a filial confidence in the heavenly Father from whom all things come. Aumann states: “Intimately penetrated with the sentiment of its adoptive divine filiation, the soul abandons itself calmly and confidently to the heavenly Father. it is not preoccupied with any care, and nothing is capable of disturbing its unalterable peace, even for an instant. The soul asks nothing and rejects nothing. It is not concerned about health or sickness, a long life or a short life, consolations or aridity, persecution or praise, activity or idleness. It is completely submissive to the will of God and seeks only to glorify God with all its powers…. These souls run to God as a child runs to its Father.”

Here are two ways you can dispose yourself for the activity of the Holy Spirit related to the gift of piety:

1) Consider all things, even material things, as belonging to the house of God. St Francis of Assisi, for example, saw and judged all things in this visible world as belonging in some way to the heavenly Father. The created universe and everything about our lives is truly the Father’s domain. All things belong to him. By treating all things and every situation as somehow belonging also to God, we grow in union, respect and reverence for the Almighty and tender Father.

2) Practice daily a spirit of surrender and trust in God. We can try to do what we can, as I did as I faced the losses connected with my parents’ move. Even though our trust in God won’t be perfect until the gift of piety is intensely activated in us, the practice of striving for an evenness of spirit because we know for certain that God loves us as a father and cares for us in our daily needs will dispose us for the action of the Holy Spirit’s power.

A Prayer

O Holy Spirit, create in me the heart of a child toward its heavenly Father, a heart that seeks him always, loving and serving him with good will. Create in me a heart to my brothers and sisters that is kind, gentle, and meek with all. Amen.

 

Listening to the Word of God: The Bread of Life (John 6:22-29)

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-qkjcf-140ee21

Highlights:

In order to live, we need to nourish ourselves, we need dignity and peace. The hearts of the people in this crowd were hoping against hope that things could change for them on a temporal level. They just didn’t realize that things had already changed. With the radical newness of the incarnation of the Son of God, everything had already become new. A greater hope of a more eternal promise was being fulfilled before their very eyes. Yet they could not recognize it. They were enamored still of the loaves of bread they had eaten. They were still looking for the food that perishes. Their imagination was too small.

When we have found him, when we have let ourselves be seen by him, when we have allowed ourselves to be saved by him, we will no longer be absorbed by what we can get for ourselves, but in how we can tell others about Jesus.

I hope you stay in touch. Sign up for my newsletter here: https://touchingthesunrise.com/newsletter/

Image: Gabriel Manjarres

The Gift of Knowledge – What infuriates me….

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I sat in the California sun, across from a friend, with anger raging through my heart. This precious friend of mine had shared something she had been told a teacher in religious education class. Here 40 years later she struggled daily, crippled with fears and anxieties about God’s harsh judgment of her.

The son of another close friend is beginning the same journey. Thoughts of suicide every day. Buried under the ravages of OCD and scrupulosity. The “wisdom” of a confessor in those delicate early years of a conscious relationship with God had resulted in this. I think of Fr. Hammond, our pastor in the parish in which I grew up. Older, wiser, an everyday gentle presence among us in the school and in the confessional. Now, gone to heaven, he is still in my grateful thoughts.

I can’t tell you the number of people who have unconsciously built their spiritual lives around the counsel of a spiritual person or minister who, no doubt, struggled with their own relationship with God. It breaks my heart when someone tells me, for example, that  Father So-and-So told them they were going to hell because of some struggle they have. Even more, it infuriates me, because I have seen the twisted spiritual lives of those who have believed this nonsense.

Last night, I received an email from a mother asking for words of advice for her son, a young man with a failed business venture, failed relationships, lots of regret, and sunk in depression as black as midnight. Could I give her words of advice for him. I closed my computer. What were the magic words? I realized I did not know them. I was inadequate of myself. Insufficient. Poor. Afraid…. I went to bed and slept on it. I needed the Holy Spirit and his gift of knowledge.

The gift of knowledge is a supernatural habit by which we, under the action of the Holy Spirit, judge rightly concerning created things as related to eternal life and Christian perfection. It is not a question of philosophical or psychological knowledge, which gives a certain knowledge of things we can deduce by natural reason. It isn’t even a question of theological knowledge. It is, according to Jordan Aumann in Spiritual Theology, a question of a supernatural knowledge or “divine instinct” that comes from a special illumination of the Holy Spirit. Under the influence of this superior impulse and higher light we are able to judge rightly concerning created things in relation to their supernatural end.

Under the influence of knowledge activated by the Holy Spirit a person who is untrained theologically may be aware whether or not a maxim, or counsel, or devotion is in accord with the faith or opposed to it. I remember some women coming into our Pauline Books and Media Center in Metairie over twenty years ago looking for candles for the imminent three days of darkness that had been announced on a Catholic TV station. Observing the fear that motivated their request as they sought to ward off the impending doom, I steered them toward the Divine Mercy. Jesus never told us in the Gospels to be afraid. In fact, he told us NOT to be afraid. I don’t claim I was motivated by the gift of knowledge, but the Holy Spirit helped all of us see that this counsel given on the show they had watched was not in accord with the Gospels, and they left with greater peace and a means of spiritual devotion that was new to them.

It is by the gift of knowledge that preachers, confessors, ministers, teachers, spiritual directors, superiors, parents know what they ought to say to meet the spiritual needs of the persons before them. Saint Catherine of Siena once offered at the abbot’s invitation an impromptu spiritual conference in a monastery she had never been in before. Afterwards, the abbot told one of her companions that Catherine could not have offered a better conference if he had explained to her the spiritual journeys and struggles of each one. It was the gift of knowledge that had inspired her words to perfectly respond to the needs of each soul before her.

The gift of knowledge also teaches us how to use created things in a holy way. The contemplation of nature, of people, of events, of all the gifts of God should raise us to praise God, to go beyond them to adore the glory of God visible through them.

Here are two ways that you can prepare the ground, so to speak, for the activation by the Spirit of the gift of knowledge:

  • Pause a bit before responding. Email and texting have trained us to respond as quickly as possible to others. Try doing as St Francis de Sales who bowed his head in a conversation for a few moments of silence before responding, begging the Holy Spirit to replace your thoughts with divine thoughts, your understanding of the situation or person with the wisdom of God who loves and cares for them. And if you are receiving another’s counsel–or even reading it in a book or hearing it in a sermon–pause long enough to ask the Spirit to guide you in listening so that you take in what is meant for you and let go of what is not. Don’t be afraid, especially when receiving advice that upsets you or goes counter to the Gospel, to “get a second opinion.”
  • Cultivate a simple glance that raises itself to God whenever it looks upon created things. Let nature, people, events cause you to raise your heart in prayer, gratitude, petition, and praise.

Prayer

May you, O Holy Spirit, fill me with the gift of knowledge so that you can use me to speak your words to others, to bless others with advice that is not mine but yours. I am so poor. I can never know for certain what you want me to say, but from this moment I beg you to replace my thoughts with your thoughts, my words with your words, my actions with your actions. I beg you to use me!

To be Jesus’ disciple is an immeasurable privilege (Matthew 23:1-12)

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Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:1-12).

In this Gospel, Jesus sets up two different models of religious observance, that of the Pharisees and that of the disciple of Christ.

The Pharisees were an ancient Jewish group of laymen and scribes concerned with the purity of the Jewish people and a clear Jewish identity in everyday life. They were interpreters of the Law, teachers, masters, and mentors of the spiritual life. They had something to say, to teach, to enforce. Those who followed the Pharisees were required to carry out the commands of the law according to the Pharisees’ interpretation. Hence Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading: “They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders.”

Jesus’ group of disciples, on the other hand, were invited by him to receive the revelation of the Father’s love and will. They were to esteem themselves blessed when their lives bore the wounds of Christ: rejection, the cross, poverty, persecution, martyrdom. They were invited to love each other and to give their lives for one another, and even to give their lives for their enemies, as Christ did for us. The disciple was not the master because it was only Jesus who taught. “I speak only what I hear from my Father” (cf John 12:49).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus draws clear distinctions between the Pharisees and those who would be his disciples:

  1. The Pharisees were a privileged group in Israel and are depicted here acting in isolation as teachers, seeking honors and deference from others, visibility, and prominence. Jesus addresses his disciples as members of a community. “There is only one master, the Christ.” They were all brothers and sisters.
  2. The Pharisees tried to attract disciples by stressing how they had attained a greater purity than the rest of the Israelites. Jesus attracted followers by being with those who were considered impure and not worthy: sinners, tax collectors, women.
  3. As the Pharisees sought honors the disciples of Jesus were to seek to be servants, last, humble.
  4. The interpretation of the Torah imposed on others by the Pharisees was hard to carry. Jesus calls it a “heavy burden” laid on people’s shoulders. The followers of Jesus are yoked with Jesus and take up his teaching which is an easy load to bear.
  5. As a Pharisee, one could attain status and honor. To be called Jesus’ disciple is an immeasurable privilege one could never merit.

Jesus told his disciples to observe what the Pharisees told them to do but not to follow their example. Jesus, as a true Master, taught his own followers both by word and example. The Son of God himself was servant before he asked his disciples to serve one another. As St. Paul wrote to the Philippians:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross! (Phil 2:5-8)

Friends, brothers and sisters, fellow disciples, there is only one Master, the Christ. Let us follow him, learn from him, take up his teaching which is an easy load to bear, and find rest in him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:28-30).

Praying with this passage of Scripture

Lectio Divina is a way of listening to God as he speaks in his Word. It is a practice of communicating with God through Scripture and attending to God’s presence and what he wishes to tell us. In this slow and prayerful reading of the Word of God, we allow ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit who forms us into the image of Christ.
There are four movement in Lectio Divina: Read (lectio), Meditate (meditation), Pray (oratio), Contemplate (contemplation).

Begin by finding a still space to pray. Breathe deeply and become quieter within. Abandon any agenda, worries or thoughts you bring to this prayer and entrust these things to the merciful care of God. Ask for the grace to be receptive to what God will speak to you through this Scripture reading. Grant me, Jesus Divine Master, to be able to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God and your unfathomable riches. Grant that your word penetrate my soul; guide my steps, and brighten my way till the day dawns and darkness dissipates, you who live and reign forever and ever Amen.

Read (lectio)
Begin by slowly and meditatively reading your Scripture passage out loud. Listen for a particular word or phrase that speaks to you at this moment and sit with it for a time.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Meditate (meditatio) – Read the same passage a second time. As you re-engage the text, let the word or phrase that stood out become your invitation to speak from your heart with God who wishes to share his heart with you. Allow this word or phrase to wash over you and permeate your thoughts and feelings. You may wish to repeat this phrase quietly and gently for a period of time.

Pray (oratio) – Read the text a third time. Listen for what God is saying to you. Speak heart to heart with God. Notice the feelings that this conversation with God raises up within you. Share with God what you notice about your response to this conversation. You may wish to return to repeating the phrase quietly and gently, allowing it to permeate you more and more deeply.

Contemplate (contemplatio)
Read the text a final time. Now be still and rest in God’s embrace. Ask God to give you a gift to take with you from this prayer. You might ask God if he is inviting you to do some action, for instance, make some change in your thoughts, attitudes or reactions, in the way you speak or how you treat others. Thank God for this gift and invitation as you conclude your prayer.