Tag: contemplative prayer

13th Sunday in OT 2019

This week’s Sunday’s readings begin by recounting Elisha’s reaction to the call to follow Elijah; and in the gospel Jesus gives more information about how we are to answer His invitation to discipleship. Elisha models for us the ideal response … tidy up loose ends, celebrate the call with loved ones, say farewell, and leave your old way of life behind. In fact, the Paulist Biblical Commentary refers to this passage in 1 Kings as a ‘vocation story.’ 

We know the word vocation to refer to a call, profession, mission or ministry; many of us have discerned our vocation. Such experiences of a call from the Lord typically seem to be a specific invitation issued once, with a few clarifying communiques in the course of a life-time.

But the words vocal and voice also share the same Proto-Indo-European root as the word vocation. The shared root means to speak. We may wonder, then, not only the content, the what that the Lord is calling us to do, but about the nature of our Speaker’s Voice.

Before Elijah throws his coat over Elisha, he and the Lord had a fairly extensive tete’-a-tete’ … the Lord prepared Elijah for His presence by stating He would be present but not in the wind or fire or a storm. Although the Lord was often present to the Israelites through these natural phenomenon, He suggests to Elijah, this time He would be present in yet another, additional way, in the no-sound.

Similarly, we too hear the Lord’s voice in storms, the no-sound and the wind. In the New Testament, The Holy Spirit is often compared to wind. 

Wind never really stops. Some days it’s very noticeable, but it is just ‘the flow of gases,’ and truthfully, on planet Earth, gases are always flowing, hence there is air to breathe and carbon-based life-forms survive. But we carbon-based life forms don’t tend to notice the flow of gases.

Jesus says to our three unidentified would-be disciples, in turn, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, let the dead bury the dead and whoever puts his hand to the plow but looks to what’s left behind is not fit for the Kingdom. These seem to me to be nuanced and various ways of reminding us time will not stand still, the Kingdom of the Shepherd is here and now, and His voice, His call, His Music, like the Wind, never cease. 

 

Journal Reflection Questions

    1. Where am I in the discernment process of my ‘call?’ Am I listening for a new to-do list, or have I noticed His voice, His call just never ceases to be?
    2. What changes could I make so I am able to hear His voice or notice His Presence more often? What changes could I make so I am able to just sit with Him and enjoy His Presence more frequently?
    3. What might change in my life, if I did so? 

 

© 2019 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

2nd Sunday, OT, 2018

1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19
John 1:35-42

We often use the words vocation, or calling to indicate life-style, career, and hobbies. Like Samuel, we may be called to service of the Lord as priest or vowed religious. The word may refer also to our raison d’être, the meaning of our life, our identity; Peter was called to be The Rock. Finally, we may be referring to a unique and marked talent or insight; the prophets were called to convey specific messages.

Programs such as Called and Gifted by the Catherine of Siena Institute, and other spiritual gift inventories are designed to help people discover their God-given gifts and His call to use them. While we are right to reflect on these and the concerns of our hearts, we need to guard against turning the Lord into a high school guidance counselor.

Neither Samuel or Simon Peter are called to do anything specific as of these moments before us: no mission or ministry has yet been suggested. Before any other communique, the Lord makes His presence known. While He used words to grab Samuel’s attention, His physical appearance itself told Peter, “Here I am.” When the Lord calls us by name, He is announcing the presence of all present. “Here we all are— together.”

I am visual, so creating a scene in my mind’s eye when I contemplate is helpful to me. Regardless of the setting, Jesus is typically present and waiting for me. When I asked Him about these readings…about calls, vocations and invitations… I forgot to listen to His answer. I was just so happy to be hanging out with Him. I was in peace; it was not a feeling but a state of being. I realized later, that was His response.

We may worry, “Have I understood accurately what He is calling me to do, who He is calling me to be?” We make what is simple overly complicated. For each and every one of us, like Samuel and Peter, He calls us to notice His presence, to be with Him, and to allow ourselves to be at peace. The rest is secondary fluff.

 

Journal Questions:

  1. What efforts have I made to discern my calling?
  2. Am I living my call or still searching for clarification from the Lord?
  3. When do I experience peace? Is it a feeling or state of being?
  4. How might I describe my perceptions of time I spend with the Lord to someone else?

 

© 2018 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved