We were welcomed once again with Sequentia, an amazing ensemble of women’s voices, on CD; as we gathered for the Contemplative Prayer Service at St John’s  Anglican Church, Maffra on Sunday 11^th October, 2009.

The scripture of the day came from the book of Psalms: ‘Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love; that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”

Our welcoming Blessing came from the book ‘Benedictus’ by John O’Donohue, where we were invited to come to accept our longing to belong in love, creativity, and friendship, as divine urgency; an urgency with which God also longs for us.

The musical track ‘Columcille: Dove of the Church’ by David Fitzgerald encouraged us to immerse our selves in calm, peace, love, and feel the freedom of flying as the Dove in the Church.

During the reflection, in the style of Teresa of Avila, we heard how Teresa compared the soul to a clear crystal castle, a castle of many rooms.  In the midst of the rooms at the very centre is the chief mansion, where the most secret things pass between God and the soul.  Teresa saw the brilliance of this castle, how a sun was shining at its centre, its light spreading out to all rooms.   She noticed the outer rooms of the castle had little light, and the further away they were from the centre, the darker they became.  Although the light continued to shine from the centre, it was as if the soul was unable to enjoy and partake of its great brilliance and beauty.  How sad it is for a soul to be separated from the light.  It can feel like a black cloth is draped over our castle, blocking the light from penetrating through our relationships.  When the light is blocked, love is unable to flow.  However, by taking responsibility for the removal of our own cloth, we can invoke gentle responses.  We can do this by developing a connection or a reconnection with the divine.  God can bring all things to fulfilment, if only we choose to ask.

The time of meditation led us in humility and faith into silence.  We were heartened to ponder the sun’s brilliance as it shines from the centre of the castle.  Slowly we considered the other rooms, the rooms above, the rooms below, and the others at each side.  We considered these rooms and noted if any of them were in darkness.  If they were, we asked for the light to gently enter those rooms. We asked for the great love of God to shine all the way through.

As we were received back from the silence, we heard the words, “May the shining sun of God’s unfailing love shine all the way through us, and may we know nothing can take away its loveliness.”

Our closing Blessing asked that we be blessed with good friends, and learn to be a good friend to ourselves; may we never be isolated, but know the embrace and love of our God.

The final musical track, ‘Our World’ by Maire Brennan told of ‘A treasure of love sent from above’, with the personal request of, ‘Stay close to me.’

Contributed by Jo Inglis

Music by Sequentia, an amazing ensemble of women’s voices, on CD, offered a vocal and instrumental collection interpreted from Hildegard von Bingen (12^th century visionary, abbess, healer composer writer and saint) greeted us as we gathered for the Contemplative Prayer Service at St John’s  Anglican Church, Maffra on Sunday 13^th September, 2009.

The scripture of the day came from the book of Psalms: ‘Be at rest once more, O my soul, For the Lord has been good to you.’

Welcoming words reassured us that in the clutter of everyday life, when we feel we have left God behind, God stirs, right in the middle of it all, and God rests there, ever in the heart of our turmoil.

We listened to ‘Come to Me’ on CD, sung by Father Paul Gurr.  The words ‘Come to me, if you’re weary, come to me if it’s peace you seek; come to me if you’ve laboured, come to me if it’s rest you seek’ led us to hear ‘I am your God, find your rest in me’.

The reflection explained we sometimes do not understand ourselves and lose track of who we are.  By becoming so bound up with our worldly identity, we forget about our divine nature.  We were encouraged to persevere with the ongoing discovery of the eternal relationship that exists with our divine self.  We were encouraged to see how truly precious we are and to see all other beings as equally precious.  We were uplifted by the good news that loving, whether it be of self, or of another; is brought about by God, and fills our whole being with love.  We need not do anything, but simply allow the love of God to flow through.  It is not by doing that love ‘gets done’, rather it is by being that love simply happens.

We were led into a time for personal silence and prayer; with a vision of being brought before our loving God; allowing God’s love to fill our whole body; allowing Gods love to flow through our body; allowing ourselves to simply be and float in the love emanating from God; and look at our own preciousness in the same way God looks at us.

We were welcomed back from the silence with ‘Quiet and Still’ on CD  by Father Paul Gurr.

The closing words from ‘A Mystical Heart’ by Edwina Gateley, shared with us the reassuring words, ‘Still beloved, quiet be, Come My love, and rest in Me.’

Contributed by Jo Inglis