And This is Our Enclosure

Click here for more about the 'enclosure' of a Cloistered Heart


Painting: Winslow Homer, Gathering Autumn Leaves

Let Me Realize What This Means

'Let me recall that God within me is ever awaiting a whispered word, a loving glance, an act of service or of adoration. Let me realize what this means.
It means that:
I need not take a single step in order to put myself in His Presence.
I need not even speak aloud in order to be heard by Him.
The very movement of my will is plain to Him.
His one desire is for my worship never to cease.
From my heart, as from the Tabernacle Lamp, a steady little flame of love should always be ascending.
This love should burn by day and night in storm and calm, while I work or while I rest.
It is the uninterrupted adoration of my soul for the God Who dwells within.
It shows that I am looking at Him and loving Him as He wishes to be looked upon and loved by His children.
So be it!'

(from Listening to the Indwelling Presence, compiled by a Religious, Pellegrini, 1940, p. 39)

A Constant Conversation

'I would like us, in our meditation today, to make up our minds

 once and for all that we need to aspire to become 

contemplative souls, in the street, 

in the midst of our work, 

by maintaining a constant conversation with our God 

and not breaking it off at any time of the day.'

St. Josemaria Escriva

No Mirrors

Painting: William Merritt Chase, The Mirror, digitally altered

The Dazzling Simplicity of Lectio

What a gift God has given us in Scripture.  What a blessing He continues to give as He opens our hearts to His Word, shedding light into all our dark corners, giving us personal love and peace and truth.  

Yesterday I had a touch of "lectio" without a Bible in front of me.  Having spent a fair amount of time with Scripture over the years, I'm privileged to now have some key chapters committed to memory.  Memorization is something I'm glad to have in my "box of prayer tools" when I find myself with time to pray but no access to a Bible - like once when I was lying in an MRI tube.

With a bit of time to myself (yesterday) but no Bible at hand, I began praying with lines I'd memorized from John's Gospel.  When I came to John 1:5, where it speaks of the Light shining on in darkness, a darkness that has not overcome it, I felt a touch of peace.  No matter what darkness may seem to be around - in the world, the media, my nation or my life - the Light of Christ is shining in the very midst of it.  I was struck by the words "in darkness."  Darkness may indeed be lurking, but His Light is there.

It was a simple exchange, a conversation between my Lord and me... but lectio does not have to be complicated.  Day to day interactions between loved ones are generally not complicated either; sometimes it's wonderful to just bask in each other's presence.

"Today I sat quiet and just opened up to some scripture," wrote one of you, "staying with words from a commentary on the scripture that I was reading.... to 'bask in His Love.'  I reflected on these words......so I  basked in His Love.....like a cat basking in the Sun of a Winter Day!" - Anita 

"I found myself with a few quiet moments this afternoon," wrote our friend Rose, "so I decided to try a little lectio.  I found a nice sunny spot on the front porch where I could soak up the sunshine.  I closed my eyes, placing myself in the presence of God, feeling His presence in the warmth of the sun.  I picked up my missal and read the readings for today's Mass.  Nothing in the Epistle struck me; but, oh the Responsorial and the Gospel.  The  Responsorial was the Psalm about 'Lord, you know me.  You know when I sit and when I stand.  You knit me in my mother's womb.'  That was followed by the Gospel story of Mary and Martha.  WOW!  Did all of this ever speak to me right now, right where I stand spiritually.  I felt like God was saying, 'I know all about you.  I know how busy you are. I know all that you do. I know it is good to cook and clean and do all that you do but can't you give me a

little Mary time?'  So, I gave God a little Mary time.  And it was wonderful.  I ended my prayer time by taking a nice long walk back to the woods, praying a rosary along the way, singing hymns on my way back.  I arrived back home totally refreshed and ready for two little granddaughters to come play with me for a couple of hours.  What a blessed afternoon." - Rose 

"With these beautiful experiences in mind, I will quote something written on this blog awhile ago, when I spoke of "the dazzling simplicity of Lectio... 

"It does not have to be complicated.  It is God meeting man, God speaking to man. It is the written word of God becoming a fresh, vital, personal, breathed-forth-for-me-at-this-moment word of God.  It is loving, intimate, real.  It is when inspired words of God ring from the page or out of the mouth of a reader and are spoken to ME, here and now. It is my response to the Voice of God as I thank, talk with, love, adore."

May He continue granting us graces to thank, talk with, love, adore.

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org