December 30, 2019
As we head into the new year.......
|
I am excited about the offerings we have for the next couple of months. We begin with a series on
The Way of Wisdom
, which I will be leading on four Mondays beginning next Monday, January 6th. I look forward to sharing the path in the Christian story that has always called to me and that has shaped my understanding of who Jesus is and how he invites us into larger life, an understanding shaped and supported by writers like Cynthia Bourgeault and Marcus Borg
Then on January 12th, our evening service will be expanded a bit and restructured around the poetry and thought of Mary Oliver as we focus for Epiphany on the way all of nature speaks of the presence of God.
And in February, also Monday evenings, L.J. Milone will return to lead a three week series on Thomas Merton called
Awakening to Reality: Thomas Merton and the Contemplative life
. The series runs from February 10-24.
I look forward to seeing you in the new year.
John
|
|
Beginning Next Monday,
January 6, 13, 20, & 27 7:30 pm
The Way of Wisdom and
the God of Being
|
|
Wisdom teaching is about transformation. About becoming. Wisdom offers a way of growing into a lived awareness of and participation in the deepest reality of being that many of us call God.
The wisdom teachings of the great traditions describe a process of opening ourselves to the “something more” that we intuit, that our hearts may recognize in fleeting moments of clarity. In the call to wisdom we hear words like realization, becoming, and enlightenment because that is where the work of wisdom is meant to take us. We also hear of practice, balance, and intention, for those are the means of achieving the growth we seek. Wisdom teaching addresses the question: where can I find guidance and support for the work of opening myself to the deeper life that calls me? Wisdom is a way of life--a way of living that moves us toward fuller participation in the ground of all being.
Western Christians may not recognize the language of wisdom and transformation as a part of our tradition. We were brought up on stories of the God of action who does great deeds, changes history, transforms nations. We know Jesus of the cross and empty tomb, savior, healer, miracle worker. We may be less familiar with the Wisdom Jesus who teaches about opening ourselves to an awareness of the God of being who is near us, within us, and among us—the God in whom we live and move and have our being. We live in a time when the wisdom teaching of Jesus is being recovered and reexamined and found to be a rich resource for transforming not just individuals, but our world.
This four-week series will introduce wisdom teaching and practice, with particular attention on Jesus as a teacher of wisdom.
If you would like to do some reading before the class, you might look at Cynthia Bourgeault's book,
The Wisdom Way of Knowing
, or Marcus Borg's,
Jesus, a New Vision
.
Please Note: This series and the Thomas Merton Series in February have been moved to MONDAY evenings to keep from crowding the Thursday evening Gospel of Thomas and Soul Circle discussions.
|
|
January 12, 5:30 pm
Mass on the Epiphany in Creation
Drawing on the works of
Mary Oliver
|
|
The Epiphany season calls us to an awareness of God’s presence among us—in the everyday, in unexpected places, and hidden sometimes right in front of us until illuminated by prophets, poets, and seers like Mary Oliver. Oliver not only draws our attention to the spectacular in the mundane—which would be reason enough to invite her vision as we celebrate our participation in the divine—but her poetry also reveals the intricate, interwoven nature of all creation, in which the mark of the creator is indistinguishable from the being of that creator. Oliver’s ability to craft words into connections often leaves one with a sense of having participated in what she is describing. In a very Eucharistic way, her poetry bridges a gap between our lives and the world she would have us experience.
We will hear Mary Oliver’s poetry in the framework of the Eucharist: in gathering, remembering, and blessing as we celebrate this season of God’s appearing in the world. We will pray, sing, reflect, and listen to meditations from one whose love affair with creation has made her beloved for so many of us. You are invited to come and share this evening of worship and music, and to honor the season of Epiphany through Oliver’s glimpses into the heart of creation where God is always to be found.
|
|
February 10, 17, 24 7:30-9 pm
Awakening to Reality:
Thomas Merton on the Contemplative Life
With L.J. Milone
|
|
Thomas Merton was long driven by the question, “what is contemplation?” His life is a testimony to contemplation being at the core of the Christian experience. Additionally, in his later years, Merton realized that contemplation was necessary for the life of the world and for humanity. Merton wrote, “contemplation is a sudden gift of awareness, an awakening to the Real within all that is real.”
In this series of talks, we will discuss what Merton discovered to be the meaning of contemplation and how we might live more contemplative lives in our daily existence. We will look at a few of Merton’s later works to probe the theme of contemplation as awakening to reality.
L.J. Milone is the Director of Faith Formation at St. John the Baptist in Silver Spring, MD. He has been working in pastoral and contemplative ministry through a Catholic parish and the centering prayer movement for over a decade. L. J. is working on a new book on Meister Eckhart.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
