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 11th 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