Encountering mystery: Spirit as ‘inexpressible closeness of God’
“Prayer is….God’s breath in man returning to its birth” George Herbert Spirit as “inexpressible closeness of God” Jurgen Moltmann Image: Georgia O’Keeffe, Ballet Skirt or Electric Light (from the White Rose Motif) John V. Taylor, closes his book “The Go-Between God” with a story of a West Indian woman who had been told that her […]
Scripture – a privileged place of meeting: experiencing God and finding transformation
We were conceived in the mind of God as the partner in a dialogue. Hans Urs von Balthasar We are the beings created as bearers of the Word, and only in responding to the Word do we rise to our full dignity. We were conceived in the mind of God as the partner in a […]
Scripture – a privileged place of meeting: befriending the text
For the Word of God is a happening, not a thing. Karl Barth For the Word of God is a happening, not a thing. Therefore the Bible must become the Word of God, and it does this through the work of the Spirit. Karl Barth Image: Carlos Cazares, Anticipation The Word of God in Scripture […]
Scripture – a privileged place of meeting: Jesus as Word or expression of God
We believe in a Spirit that emerged into visibility. Michael Morwood Rowan Williams talks of Jesus, Incarnate Word of God, as “earthly visibility, open availability”. Jesus is the place of meeting, always pointing beyond himself to the Other. Reflect upon how, in the gospels, Jesus is the place of meeting and encounter with Other for […]
Scripture – a privileged place of meeting: Spirit made visible
There lives the dearest freshness, deep down things. Gerard Manley Hopkins We are not given our eyes just to stop us from bumping into things.Stanley Spencer Word is what is said, Spirit is the saying.Michael Downey Image: Filippo Rossi, Hidden Streets 12, 2021 Think about Spirit as wind, air, breath. Pay attention to your breathing…and […]
Scripture – privileged place of meeting: a symbol is…
A symbol should go on deepening. Flannery O’Connor The world offers itself to your imagination.Mary Oliver Image: Daniel Arredondo, Hidden Below, Our Roots A sacramental universe is a symbolic one. This life, and this world says to us that the starting point for becoming who we are intended to be is not striving after another […]
Scripture – a privileged place of meeting: a sacramental universe
Everything that meets our gaze is a parable veiling and unveiling its higher meaning. Hugo Rahner Sacramental vision is not instant photography of the world – it is something learned by patient education of our sensibility to the engagement of God with the world. Alan Ecclestone The sacramental principle means that God is present to […]
Scripture – a privileged place of meeting: begin in wonder
Days pass when I forget the mystery… Days pass when I forget the mystery…. The mysterythat there is anything, anything at all,let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,rather than void: and that, O Lord,Creator, Hallowed One, You still,Hour by hour sustain it. Denise Levertov Image: Caitlin Connolly (American 1986-), An Earth So Quiet She Could […]
Towards healing: a way of being with the God who heals
Flawed as you are you stand on holy ground. Angela Tilby Flawed as you are you stand on holy ground.This is the ground God has cleared for you.God meets you here, and nowhere else.Angela Tilby Listen to the language of your wounds.Jim Cotter Image: Seonna Hong, In Tribute to the Gate of Heaven and Earth […]
Towards healing: do you want to be healed?
Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk” John 5: 8 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids – blind, lame and paralysed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus […]