'the power of the Most High will overshadow you" Luke 1:35

For March 25. Today is the feast of the Annunciation. There was Mary, living in a poor town, really a peasant woman. Alone in her home. Surely she was praying in some way when the angel came and began talking to her. Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you. She wonders about these words to her. She engages in conversation with that angel and questions the angel too. She does not run out to consult someone else. In the depth of her being she realizes she is being asked to make a decision that will have effects unknown to her. The future is not spelled out to her. Is ours, really?

She doesn’t ask for details of the future. She seems to have no anxiety about that. Rather, she asks How? “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Then she said yes. Overshadowing was a treasure in that sun soaked land. It was shelter from the heat that could kill you. So there was assurance of the care of God in these words.

Jesus gives us that same assurance when he says I am with you always. Or when he says abide in me as I abide in you.

Freely Mary said: Behold the servant of the Lord. She is aware that only one is her Lord, God who in the prophet Isaiah (Ch 45) says: I the Lord am God, there is no other, none beside me. God who is love can be trusted to be our Lord, to whom we can each say behold the servant of the Lord. Then Mary says Be it done to me according to your word. And so we say Hail Mary full of Grace. Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us.

By her example we can trust that in prayer God will lead us too. The Spirit of God also overshadows us. And in a way when we meditate, we entrust our lives to the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.

We sit in stillness as best we can. We close our eyes gently. We speak to God present with us and within us. We need to acknowledge the living reality of God in a personal way. Be present to God as God is present to us. "Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." Ps 23. Then we start saying a prayer word or phrase and keep repeating it. Whenever our mind drifts into thoughts, images, feelings, we gently return to our prayer word. We can have a timer and when it rings the 20 minutes, we quietly say the Lord's Prayer in our hearts. We have entrusted our whole life to the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit!

"to know the love of Christ" Eph.3:19

“I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:18-19

God’s attitude toward us is one of whole, eternal and everlasting love. Salvation is from love, from God seeking to convince us of the great love in which God holds us. It is positively primitive, even barbaric, to think that we have to appease God for our sins. Yes, in Lent we look at our lives and repent of our sins. But what does Jesus say? Repent and believe the good news. Believe in this, that God so loves the world and each one of us that he sent his Son to share our human life to the full. And for us to realize that to the full means Resurrection from the dead.

Love is at the heart of all that Jesus did on earth. We are saved by believing in God’s love. The love God has for us is always available. It is not conditioned by our behavior. So when we acknowledge our sins, we gradually begin to realize that these come from our wounded false self. They do not diminish God’s love, for the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit at all time. What our sins do is somehow block our awareness of love and this is why we need to distinguish our true self from our false self. I believe that our sins come from insufficient belief in the unconditional Love which God has for us!

I love something Thomas Merton said in a conference on Prayer: “The great central thing in Christian faith and hope is the courage to realize oneself and to accept oneself as loved by God even though one is not worthy.”

When we take the time to meditate, for 20 minutes we let go of our thoughts and images and entrust ourselves, our superficial selves, our surface selves, and our deep selves, false self and true self, to LOVE who is God. For this half hour we just let God do in us as His love desires.
Let us pray.

“There is nothing so like God in all the world as silence.” Master Eckhart

We know that Jesus often went off alone into desert places to pray. And we Know he often admonished demons to be silent. And he often told those whom he healed to be silent. We also read that after a short conversation with Pilate Jesus became silent. These silences are especially present in Mark’s Gospel. Some have called this the Messianic Secret. As if to say, Jesus did not come out and say who he really was.

St. Ignatius of Antioch who was martyred around 100 CE had this to say about silence: “If we cannot understand the silence of Christ we will not be able to understand his words either.” And I wondered if he means some evidence of the silence of Christ in the Gospels or the fact that we experience silence from God in our own lives.

Ammonas (c.350 CE): “Beloved, my beloved, I have shown you the power of silence, how thoroughly it heals and how fully pleasing it is to God. I have written to you so that you may know that it is by silence that the saints grew, that is was because of silence that the power of God dwelt in them and the mysteries of God were known to them.”


St Benedict:480-543 CE had two words: quies and silentio. The quies is the stillness of the body. And of physical things. (like TV or some uses of the computer) The silentio is about our words and our thoughts. We keep silence so that we Can listen to God, listen to God’s work of love.

"Silence,how thoroughly it heals and how fully pleasing it is to God. I have written to you so that you may know that it is by silence that the saints grew, that is was because of silence that the power of God dwelt in them and the mysteries of God were known to them.”

Many saints speak of the interior silence in which we let go of our wandering thoughts, our worrying about the future, our complaining about the present and our harrowing of ourselves or others about the past. All the “if onlys” that come up should be dropped instantly as totally useless. Just turn to God in prayer – short and intense though not agitated.

Lent is a great time to try to have more silence in our lives. The quiet of less noise and less rushing. The effort to live in the now in our thoughts. the giving of more attention to spiritual reading and less puzzling out of the meaning of life. Taking a little more time to rest in God. Trying to be more assiduous in the practice of Christian Meditation or centering prayer.

Meditation – we say our prayer word in order to let go of our own thoughts and we are silent from them even if they are floating around, so that God will speak to our hearts in the mysterious way of love

Since the unselfishness of human love is always transformative, how much more is God who is love always transformative? The more we are willing to interrupt our wandering thoughts with prayer, the more we realize that the Presence of God is the reality which gives the real meaning,shape and purpose to everything we do. and everything we are.

Rebecca and the Cliff

My twelve year old cousin, Rebecca, was walking the big family dog near a cliff when we were visiting in West Virginia. They were not walking but running. All of a sudden she saw in front of her a cliff that they could just go over precipitously. The only thing she could do to stop was to sit right down on the ground which she did.

In the complexity of today’s world it is easy to fall off a cliff into a life of perpetual motion. A life that often leads to confusion of mind and heart. The need is to sit down. As Master Eckhart says, we need to have as much interiority as exteriority. And even in our interiority we need time just to rest in God, in total trust in the great Love that God has for us. When we trust God we are entering mystery. We are in God and God is in us. This is what Jesus has promised us. Abide in me as I abide in you. It was a promise that for the Apostles was beyond understanding. Then Jesus rose from the dead. Even then it was not so much a matter of understanding but of believing the words of Jesus because He had risen from the dead and that wonderful witness was quite enough to have them trust in his great Love.

Paul writes: If Christ be not risen from the dead we are of all people the most foolish. (1 Cor, 15) This is why we sit in silence. Why we make the time just to be with God in prayer. We trust our God enough to avoid going off the cliff by sitting down with God in meditative prayer.. We acknowledge consciously the reality that God is present. Then we just repeat a simply prayer word or phrase. And let go of all thinking, imagining, worrying, going over the past or planning the future. Even 10 minutes is good. But twenty minutes twice a day is better.

We are living the paradox of the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Paul expresses this in another way. He says: when I am weak then I am strong. So what looks like the weakness of just praying repetitively is actually relying so much on God that the Divine energy of Love can work freely in us. And that is our true strength.

Elijah in a cave

When Elijah was in trouble and his head was filled with fears and all kinds of thoughts, he went and hid in a cave. There were all kinds of noises – mighty winds, an earthquake, a fire, but when there was the quiet of a gentle breeze, he stood in the mouth of the cave and listened. Then God gave him directions as to what to do next. 1 Kings 19:9 ff

I like the image of a cave ever since I went to Niagara Falls and stood in the cave behind the falls pouring down endlessly.

If we look at our process of thinking as a waterfall, a continual cascading of thoughts, then meditation is like going into the cave behind the waterfalls. Behind the endless stream of thoughts. We may see the cascade of thoughts, but we are out of the torrent for a while. Or maybe we feel ourselves immersed in mighty winds or aa earthquake or even a fire. Then if we to the cave of inner silence, we will hear the gentle breeze of God’s word to us.

IN Christian Meditation we sit quietly, let go of all out thoughts by simply repeating a prayer word and coming back to our prayer word or phrase gently when we realize we are thinking again. While we meditate we are just letting God act in our hearts and minds as God wills, for God loves us so much. God wants to change our hearts so that we more fully respond to God’s immense love for us. This is something we cannot do for ourselves.

So when we are feeling out of sync, dissatisfied, restless, distressed, we don’t look at our thoughts, we just go to our cave. We meditate. God teaches us quietly, secretly, without our knowing how, without our help, without words, in mystery. We enter a knowing without knowing. God’s love for us is hidden in silence. Perhaps so that we may long for God more intensely or with the patient waiting of faith, until the day dawns when we see God face to face.

Here is a great reading from the Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-19..
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

Purification of Heart

Purification of Heart
Purification of the heart is the endless struggle of seeking a more God-centered life. It is the minute-to-minute discipline of trying to be so aware of God's presence that the heart has no space for our own worries, ambitions, or attention to appearances. (Jim Forest, The Ladder of the Beatitudes. Orbis Press, Maryknoll.1999. Pg. 96)
It has often seemed to me that the best way to do this is through prayer, especially the walking prayer, that is, having a prayer phrase that we say whenever we are walking. It can be just a short walk, up a flight of stairs., or whenever we are walking anywhere. There are some tasks during which it is easy to pray. For me that might be setting the table. And sometimes intermittently while I am cooking. However, I know I have to be careful there. The other night I was cooking a new recipe. The base was familiar so I launched out. And did the first part. Then I looked down at the new part and did it, but alas, I had skipped an important phrase. Right after the familiar part it said “instead of this, do that! So the unused part is still in the frig! Many of us have work that requires total attention. Then we seek to find short intermissions in which to say a word to God, or simply acknowledge God’s sustaining Presence.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Mt 5:8. Moses begged to see the face of God. And God had him stand ‘in the cleft of a rock’, and God covered him with his hand while God’s glory passed by. Later Elijah too wanted to see God and he experienced God in a still voice. In the Transfiguration, the three apostles saw Jesus surrounded with light and Moses and Elijah talking with Him.
These strong experiences tell us that God wants to reveal Himself to us. So it is immensely worth our while to try to pray always, and let go of worries and critical thoughts and any other garbage that floats into our conscious mind. It is by having prayers and hymn phrases and memory gems from Scripture or poetry that we call upon whenever possible that we gradually find our hearts and minds less congested.
The desert fathers and mothers used a verse from Ps 70: O God come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me. Many over the years have used some variation of a prayer with the Name of Jesus. As simple as Jesus, Mercy. Or as a friend of mine says: Jesus, Jesus, help, help, help. He likes it because he can say it rhythmically as he walks. Find a phrase - often from Scripture that you can repeat as you go about your day. Remember: Blessed the pure of heart, for they shall see God

“Where have you hidden, Beloved, and left me groaning.”

John of the Cross in The Spiritual Canticle

It has fascinated me that John of the cross wrote this beautiful poem while imprisoned in a tiny dark cell where three days a week they brought him into middle of the dining room where he had to eat kneeling on the floor.. They also beat him three times a week. Those wounds were bad enough that they took years to heal.

In a way St. John teaches us by this long beautiful prayer that the place within where not everything is all right, where you feel wounded, that it’s the place to go for prayer.

As I was going to write more about this, we received news that there is political turmoil in Madagascar where we have many friends. Everything is closed, government, schools, stores. And it is dangerous to go out. So our friends are stuck in their homes.

And that is sometimes how we feel about our own inner ache or confusion or sorrow. It is then and there that we have the opportunity to turn to God in faith. To act in our prayer with faith no matter how we may feel. And when we hear news like this we know that whatever ache or sorrow or confusion we may have, it is not a private affair. It is always joined to the cries of Jesus on the Cross. While Jesus cries out My God, My God why have you forsaken me, following that he says a word of comfort to the good thief, and a word of great trust: Into your hands I commend my spirit.

This is a good way of prayer then: to feel our way to the wound that is in us, (in case we have the insight to discover that place) to the place of our need, - to go there and hold our need before the Lord.

And always to remember that Jesus rose from the dead. We live in hope, we walk by faith, we trust in the love God has for us.

Sing a New Song unto the Lord. Ps. 96:1

We humans mostly like new things. And even if we do not like the present new leadership, we at last know there is newness already.

But the Bible often means much more. They sang about their freedom from Egypt. They sang about when David became the new leader of them as a people. They often sang about newness in their lives. They sang about the newness of forgiveness, which we sing every Friday in the morning office, Psalm 51. All through the Bible they sing about newness of one kind or another.

But the greatest and most wonderful newness is the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

That mystery gives us a great expanse for newness. In Isaiah, God says he will make a new way in the wilderness…so if you feel like you’re in confusion as if in a wilderness, just ask God to lead you in a new way.

Again in Isaiah, God says I will make you hear new things. But to hear we have really to listen. And over and over we hear that God has mercy and love for us. There is only goodness in God, only love

In Jeremiah we read that the Lord says I will make a New Covenant. We live in that covenant and celebrate God’s promises to us often, especially in Holy Mass.

In Lamentations is a favorite of mine: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, say my soul, therefore will I hope in Him.

This newness is in us every day, because God is within us. We live and walk in God, and as Paul say: Christ in you, your hope of glory. 1 Col.

As we say at the end of Ps.73: My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

With God giving total attention to each of us, it seems a strong invitation to give ever more attention to God. Which is why we pray.

Behold the Kingdom of God is within you.

In the very first line of the Spiritual Canticle by John of the Cross, he writes “Where have you hidden, Beloved.” And when St John writes in prose about this he insists that we pay attention to the words of Jesus. The Kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20. That is, God who loves us so much is within each one of us. So it is important to go within ourselves if we want to know our God. Yes, all creation gives witness to the glory of God. Yet we also have St. Augustine writing: "I did not find You without Lord, because I wrongly sought You without, Who were within."

As the Prophet Isaiah said: Come my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself for a little while. Is 26:20

How are we to go within ourselves? One way is to become silent and to make an act of faith in the reality of the Presence of God within. O God, I believe you are here in mystery within me.

WE cannot ever be without God. As we are immersed in God so God is immersed in each one of us. You are the Temple of God. St. Paul tells us. (2 Cor. 6:16) God is love so when we read in Romans that God’s love is poured into our hearts, we can be assured of the Presence of God in us.

St.John of the Cross adds: “All your good and hope is so close to you as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without Him.”

So when we come to Christian Mediation or Centering prayer, it does seem important to me, to take a moment to make a very personal word to the Beloved within. A word of faith in the Presence of God. A word of Hope in which we express our trust in the love God has for us. Or a word of desire for more intimacy with God, which is a word of love. Then we begin our prayer word as a way to keep silent By saying our mantra and paying attention to it, we are letting go of all our ego thoughts, imaginations, worries, and quarrels with life. For this short time we are letting God within do as He wills with us. We say with Mary; behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.

“Value yourself at your true worth.” Sirach 10:28-29

This quote is from Today’s English Version of the Bible. I like it. The New Revised Standard says: “Give yourself the esteem you deserve”. And the New Jerusalem says: “Value yourself at your proper worth”.

Actually the first part of that verse counsels humility! So where does our true worth come from? Not from what others think of us. And not really from our accomplishments either. Not how much money we make. Why not? Because even these are a gift from God. After all, we did not choose where we were born or what family we might have.

Our true worth is that we are loved unconditionally by God. Thomas Merton wrote “The root of Christian love is not the will to love, but the faith that one is loved. The faith that one is loved by God.” (New Seeds of Contemplation. New York, a New Directions Book. 1961. p.75)

"Nothing or no one is more beautiful than I, since God -- beauty itself -- has fallen in love with me." Angelus Silesius 1670
Our reality is that we are greatly loved. There is no pretension here. Our reality is that we have been loved into life. And that the love God has for us is forever. This is our faith. When the Bible expresses God’s anger with us, we need to realize this is like the anger my Mother had when I went near the Troublesome Brook and fell is. She had after all, warned me no to go near it. . Why was she angry? Because I had done what was bad for me, dangerous. It was from her love for me. So punishment was to make me remember what was safe and not dangerous. I was probably only 10 but I knew well that my Mother loved me.

Often we identify ourselves with our work. This is not true. What is the first reality about me? I am the beloved of God. What is the first reality about you> You are God’s Beloved.

When we take the time to be silent in the Presence of God, we are opening our hearts to love. When we sit quietly and repeat a prayer phrase, we are letting go of our own agenda and letting God do with us as His love wants to do. We are entrusting our lives and our inner being to the great and enduring love that God has for us. We cry out with Jeremiah: The Mercies of the Lord are new every morning, great is thy Faithfulness. The feast days of the Christmas season are a yearly reminder to us that God has so loved the World that he gave us his only begotten Son. (John 3)

O WISDOM

These nine days are the days of what we call the O antiphons. And the one today starts O Wisdom. These are the antiphons for evening prayer of the Church.

I remember when I first realized this pattern. It filled me with joy somehow. So I want to talk about the joy of Christmas. We have all these lights because we are celebrating Jesus the Light of the world. People may not know that anymore but that is the real reason for all the light. Divine light is more penetrating than laser, more vast that the light of the sun. God’s Light, Jesus, Light of the world, goes through and overcomes all darkness – prejudice, hypocrisy, deceit, pernicious ideas.

The Light of Christmas brings peace to disturbed hearts, overcomes all our tendencies to get even, to retaliate, to unforgiveness. AS Jesus said “My peace I give you, not as the world gives, I give peace.” Christmas is a good time to remember that Jesus really said that whole sentence that included “not as the world gives peace.” I am sorry we say only say half of the sentence at Mass. Some days I feel like petitioning Rome to put them together! And think of Paul writing: “See now if the day of salvation”2 Co 6.2.

Christmas is a gift to us, - God giving himself. Yet Christmas Is also an invitation to open our hearts to each other, for that is how we open to God.

In Christian Meditation or Centering Prayer we say our prayer word and let go of all our inner monologues and images. We entrust our whole being to God. We are opening our hearts to the Light of Christ, to the light of Christmas. We kept our prayer word going so that we do not drift into a sort of dreamy state that we might think of as holy. What we seek is to be open to the light of God. To let God lead us, and teach us in the depths of our hearts where we never really can go on our own.

None of us have real physical poverty like the millions of people who are on the edge of starvation today. And yet, when the Light of Christ shines in our hearts at Christmas we are invited to recognize that all is gift. That Jesus told us the truth when He said: without me you can do nothing. Christmas can be a time to rejoice. The flip side of the gift of Christmas is our own total need of Jesus. And so we can be filled with joy because the light of Christ shines upon us. And within us when we open our hearts. Let us take time each day, against the demands of business this season, to sit in silence to pray. Let us pray now.