SUGGESTIONS FOR PRAYER AND REFLECTION—SESSION 10-March 26-March 28
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:
How do you feel when you think about “the end of the world.”? When you hear of disasters,
wars, persecutions of Christians, and massacre of innocents, do you “link” them to the end”?
How do the words of Jesus effect your views?
How do you feel when you think about the end of your own life? Are you afraid? In what ways
do you have faith—trust, confidence—in God?
IMAGINATIVE CONTEMPLATION ON Mark 13:1-4: Imagine yourself with Jesus and the disciples, exiting the Temple complex, journeying to the Mount of Olives, and then looking over the whole city of Jerusalem. What do you want to ask him about present and/or future events? What does Jesus say to you in reply?
REFLECTIVE MEDITATION ON Mark 13:5-23: Read this text slowly and carefully, reflecting on how Jesus’ words contrast with much of the “apocalyptic hysteria” of our own times. How would Jesus want you to respond to people who interpret current events are foretelling the imminent end of the world?
REFLECTIVE MEDITATION ON Mark 13:24-37: Jesus tells us to “watch” since we do not know the “day or hour”. What can you do already now to prepare, practically and spiritually, for your own death? What can you do to prepare for his second coming?
CENTERING PRAYER: Using the final words of Jesus in this chapter, “Keep awake!” (13:35, 37), keep your attention focused on God. Remain keenly aware of God’s presence around you and within you.
Please feel free to call me if you need to 415-305-2124, or email etc. Take one or two and use and let God speak to you. River+
CONFERENCE 11—SHARING THE PASSION OF JESUS MARK 14-15-Wednesday March 28-Saturday, March 31
- Personal Reflection:
- Have you sometimes betrayed Jesus in some way, even if not quite like Judas?
- Have you sometimes denied knowing Jesus in some way, even if not quite like Peter?
- Imaginative Contemplation on Mark 14:3-9:
Imagine yourself present at the Anointing at Bethany. To which character are you most deeply drawn? How do you interact with Jesus? What do you do for him/or say to him? And how does he respond to you? How does his impending death affect you, deep inside?
- Imaginative Contemplation on Mark 14:55-65: Imagine yourself present with Jesus as he is being interrogated by the Sanhedrin. As you hear the false accusations made against Jesus how do you feel? When have you, like Jesus, been falsely accused by others? How can Jesus share in these painful memories or current situations?
- Reflective Meditation on Mark 15:22-41: Reflect on Jesus’ crucifixion, his pain and suffering, his feeling that even God had forsaken him. How do you see your own life experience of deep pain and abandonment in light of his? Can his response be yours? Can you pray using Psalm 22—all of it—as Jesus most likely did on the cross?
- Centering Prayer: Spend sometime quietly with Jesus, either before the tabernacle, or gazing upon the cross, or in a garden (as if outside his tomb). Simply allow yourself to be there.
CONFERENCE 12: ANNOUCING THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS—Mark 16-April 1-April 5
- Reflective Meditation on Mark 16:1-8: Reread the Empty tomb narrative closely and carefully. Consider the meaning of the message transmitted by the heavenly messenger to the women. Reflect on the implications of how the women react. What does this imply about the Early Christians in Rome? What does it say to us today?
- Imaginative Contemplation on Mark 16:1-8: Imagine yourself going with Mary Magdalene and the other women to the tomb of Jesus that morning. When you find it empty, how do you react?: What do you say to each other? When you hear the words of the “young man” outside the tomb, how do you respond? In fear and silence? Or do you share his message with others?
- Centering Prayer: Using just the words “He has been raised” (16:6), focus on the presence of the risen Jesus among us, even in the dark, quiet spaces of apparent emptiness.
- Questions for Continued Reflection after the Retreat?
What principal message have you heard during this week of retreat? Have you reacted with fear, or in trust? Will you share this message with others?
What signs of new life, undying hope, deepening faith do you find in yourself now? How have you grown in your faith, hope, love, and life during this retreat?
What does Mark’s Gospel—his portrayal of Jesus’ identity and ministry, and his teachings about Christian discipleship and mission teach you about?
Yourself? Your family and friends? Your parish or religious community?
Our culture and society? Our Church? Our world?
How and where, in each of these contexts, will you continue to discover the Jesus you have come to know better in Mark’s Gospel?
The Paschal Triduum-April 6-8
“Triduum” means “three days”: Good Friday (which, according to liturgical customs begins at sundown with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday); Holy Saturday; and Easter Sunday. Those intimate with liturgical details will note that there are no ritual greetings for the services on Good Friday, Holy Saturday, or Easter Sunday. There are no formal dismissals, either, until the Vigil of Easter. These aren’t separate liturgies for distinct feasts; they are parts of one liturgy, one vigil, the “mother of all vigils,” during which the Church attempts to both commemorate and to participate in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, which is itself an inseparable mystery of faith.
If ever there is one, now is the acceptable time for Christians to cease business-as-usual (2 Corinthians 6:2). Think of it as a three-day Sabbath, during which unnecessary work halts and prayer – sometimes somber, sometimes reflective, sometimes exuberant – flourishes. It seems
to me that there ought to be time set aside for traditional practices such as egg-coloring, basket-making and decorating, planting potatoes, and – my family’s tradition for flying a kite.
Accordingly, to both allow myself some spiritual “breathing space” and to do some justice to the paschal mystery, I am not going to dice it up into separate little bits. It needs to be experienced and savored as a whole. Of course, the Triduum will have its flavors, moments, and afford particular insights, which I hope you will share with the rest of us. The fifty days of the Easter season will also provide ample opportunity to unpack this rich treasure chest of spiritual wisdom.
I especially suggest pulling a dusk-to-dawn “all-nighter” (i.e., vigiling) on Saturday, reading, pondering, and praying the nine readings and accompanying psalms selected for the Vigil of Easter. You might include other favorite readings, films, and poems.
The scripture texts for the individual days/celebrations may be found online, as always, by clicking on the “USCCB Readings” link above.
Good Pasch!
THURSDAY–MAUNDY
Jeremiah 31:31-34
God has the capacity of remembering, and forgetting. How is this demonstrated to us?
Hebrews 10:16-25
Forgiveness is presented here as cleanliness. What images help you to grasp the concept of forgiveness?
Luke 22:7-20
What is the cup? What are we sharing?
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13- 53:12
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” It is impossible to exclude ourselves from this picture. How would you describe the picture?
Hebrews 4:14-16 and Hebrews 5:7-9
What do you understand by Jesus’ obedience? How does the suffering expressed in your life help you to better understand obedience?
John 19:17-30
“Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews,” but “This man said I am King of the Jews.”‘ What is implied by Pilate’s inscription? How is that changed for us in the requested revision?.
Holy Saturday
Job 14:1-14
“For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its roots grow in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.” The cycle of nature is birth – death – and re-birth. Philosophically, this was the observation of nature in Job’s day, while it was not real in the experience of men and women. In the midst of death we still find hope. How do we express that hope in our lives?
1 Peter 4:1-8
“For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.” What do you understand by this?
John 19:38-42
The Passover is the highlight of the religious commemoration for the Jew The Passover re-presents the deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt. The joy of the event was lost on Joseph and Nicodemus on this occasion. Much as it is for us when someone close to us dies during a holy season. Try to grasp the poignancy of the event. Describe how you feel.
