The Celtic Monk

A LIVING PRAYER BENCH, ROSTREVOR, NORTHERN IRELAND   In my last posting I shared with you a breakthrough in my personal prayer life, several things coming together which became a new foundation.  So that my experience might be more helpful to you I thought I'd pull apart the pieces of that experience to share some semblance of a path, however imperfect, that you might wander upon in your own prayer journey. My initial intention for the day was simply to pray, to seek, to knock hoping for the door to be opened as Jesus tells us in the Gospel.  What I could not plan for was what would come from what seemed a rather simple posture of openness.  With a single question in mind I opened my journal to answer the question:  What are your images of God right now?  I sat with the question for only a moment when like water flowing over a waterfall or the rush of rapids all the pious sounding platitudes--well rehearsed from years of repetition--spilled onto...

PATH TO THE LABYRINTH SAM BUILT FOR ME IN OUR BACKYARD. How's your prayer life?   How has it changed over the years?  Does it make your heart sing?  Or do you have the sense that something is missing?  There has been some amazing theological reflection done in the past decade on spirituality during the second half of life .  Even before you wonder if you are in the second half of life let me ask you...do you remember Howdy Doody?  If so, you're here! I'm in my final residency (this week and next) with The Shalem Institute at a wonderful retreat setting outside of Baltimore.  Already we've had some amazing teaching, silence, peer group interaction and significant time with  our prayer partners.  Rosemary Dougherty who has literally  written the book  on prayer spent all day Wednesday with us lecturing and leading us in prayer practices.  This kind of rich spiritual experience makes our days which begin...

ST. JOHN'S ABBEY  COLLEGEVILLE, MN        2013 is the first time in the past 20 years that I have not written, shared or published a devotional or prayer guide for the season of Lent.  It's been my practice, an offering to the communities I've served as well as a labor of love, devotion and an outpouring of my faith during my entire ministry.       Some of those years I took the season of Lent to journal my devotions based on a Gospel or spiritual classic planning, after the 40 days, to edit and polish it for use the following year.  As a project during one year of my doctoral work, I used the sayings of the desert mothers and fathers to launch the daily devotional--adding themes, scriptures and prayers.  Likely, most of you have found it to be true in your own acts of devotion, I learned much preparing such an offering for others.       This L...

Sanctuary in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland   Why come to worship?  It seems an odd wondering as the second Sunday in Lent approaches, on our annual journey towards Jerusalem with Jesus and his disciples.  A journey that inevitably takes us through the events of Holy Week--its horror and its mystery; and on to Easter morning which if we'd been there held some horror and mystery of its own. Remembering the disciples weren't coloring eggs, filling baskets with jelly beans, or parading with lillies quite yet. This year the church I'm serving, has an extra opportunity for Lent, the addition of a mid-week worship service that includes the Lord's Supper.   It's quite out of the ordinary for protestants who have historically been happy with a monthly or quarterly inclusion of the sacrament to have the opportunity to partake weekly. There were times in my ecumenical past that I received the sacrament on a daily basis and still do...

         It was time. Actually, it was time months ago.  But I finally doned work gloves to weed and rake the Labyrinth.  I'd begun the task back in September. Really?  Yes, September.  Half a weeded Labyrinth was better than none.  I could simply walk over all those things that just won't stop growing!          How did it escape me that there would be "upkeep?"  Did I really think those truckloads of gravel would stop things from growing here in the tropics?  In a matter of weeks it seemed that a little moss formed where the palmettos shaded the path, then a little (okay a lot) of humidity turned the moss into soil and voila! things sprouted.  Without diligence on my part, it just kept on growing.         I find the same to be true in other areas of my life as well. There's a lot of upke...

        As promised, here are some ideas for your practice of The Examen which can transform and deepen your spiritual life. I've done a lot of study about this spiritual discipline and have practiced it intermittently for the past few decades. The suggestions below are just that; options for how you might wish to practice the prayer.  May it bring you joy day-by-day in 2013 and beyond. Take a moment to remember you are beloved of God, just as you are.  There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Remember and give thanks for the gifts that God's love has bestowed upon you today; sunshine, friendship, an answered prayer, strength for a challenge, daily bread, etc. Ask God for a blessing that will make this prayer time more than a human endeavor; then watch for an insight that comes not from within you neither heart nor mind, but from above. Trusting in God's love, review the past 24 hour...

  Taking time off between Christmas and the New Year is a luxury of which I've rarely been able to indulge.  This year it's a special treat. I've already used the time to clean my Inbox of the 400 emails that I was going to read some time . I've also read through the email box named "Inspiration" where I put things along the way that look interesting but which I didn't have time for at the moment.   The idea of time has come up in enough conversations lately that I've noticed the trend.  Some of those conversations centered around the beleif that time seems to be moving faster than ever; blink it's Christmas, blink it's summer.  I attribute the seemingly increased pace of time to the fact that I'm getting older--it takes me more time to prepare and more time to let go.   But other conversations regarding time have to do with a vague sense that "the times" in which we are living are changing--perhaps even on a co...