(Jonah 2) – 5 December 2021Neil Millar After a chapter spent evading God, through whirlwind and wild waves, and three days in the dank, dark confines of a large fish, (the dark night of the soul) our dejected prophet seems suddenly to have found his voice. ‘On the third day, or so the story may … [Read more…]
(Jonah 1) 28 November 2021Neil Millar ‘I’m done, I’m dead’: Man swallowed alive by humpback whale,reads a headline in Yahoo News, dated 12 June 2021. ‘A diver says he’s lucky to be alive after being swallowed by a humpback whale’, the article continues. Michael Packard, from Wellfleet, Massachusetts, was lobster diving in waters off Cape … [Read more…]
Neil Millar – 21 November 2021 ‘Contemplate Christ in three stages’, writes 12th century Cistercian monk, Aelred of Rievaulx – ‘baptised in the Jordan, transfigured on the mountain, and glorified at length in heaven.’ Take these three moments ‘to represent three stages in the soul’s progress’, he says. ‘Christ’s baptism represents our purification, his transfiguration … [Read more…]
Philippians 3.4-16 & Matthew 5.1-10 – 14 November 2021Neil Millar ‘In the beginning you weep, then subsequently you learn to wait’ (25). These are the words of Belden Lane, referring to his experience of different phases or stages or movements of growth in the spiritual life, which is our focus in these final weeks of … [Read more…]
Psalm 38 & Luke 18.9-14 – 7 November 2021Neil Millar ‘In the beginning you weep’. It doesn’t sound a very promising start but this is what our tradition teaches when it comes to progress in the spiritual life. In the first canto of Dante’s epic 14th century poem Divine Comedy the pilgrim finds himself lost … [Read more…]
Mark 12.28-34 – 31 October 2021© Sarah Bachelard We’re coming to the pointy end of Mark’s gospel. In last week’s reading, Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho on the final leg of their journey to Jerusalem. They encountered blind Bartimaeus begging by the side of the road and, Jesus having restored his sight, were … [Read more…]
Mark 10.46-52 – 24 October 2021Neil Millar Ever since I first heard this story it’s been a favourite for me. Even though this is all we hear of him, I particularly warm to Bartimaeus as a character – his pluck and resilience, his daring ‘give it a go’ approach to life. In fact, judging by … [Read more…]
Philipians 2.1-11 October 17 2021Sue Hanna The poet TS Eliot wrote “Humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve; nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of self.” Last week we explored the noxious thought of vainglory, which is the close relative of the final noxious thought, Pride! to the extent … [Read more…]
Luke 18.9-14 10 October 2021Sue Hanna This week we are going to look at the noxious thought of vainglory. To do so, I thought I’d venture into the thought world of Evagrius himself, to take a behind the scenes look at how and why he formed these thoughts. One feature of Evagrius’s writings is he … [Read more…]
Three pigs (Psalm 104)Neil Millar – 3 October 2021 I’m going to do something different this morning and order my reflection around three poems. Three poems about pigs. Why poetry? American poet Denise Levertov has said that, ‘Insofar as poetry has a social function, it is to awaken sleepers by means other than shock’. Good … [Read more…]