Ephphatha, be opened. What opens the ear to hear? Is it not true that when the heart is open we are able to hear? Feel into this reality for a moment: when my heart is closed or hardened by harsh judgments, hurt, presumptions, shadow stuff, worries, and you can add to the list, we do not hear. We hear only our noise.
“Through God’s Word the monastics are trained in a discipline of heart and action to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and so attain purity of heart and a continual mindfulness of God’s presence” (CST 2). This is a profound statement given right at the beginning of our Order’s Constitutions, which explicate the ‘nature an
“What God longs for us to do is to live in the truth Jesus reveals. This means believing in God’s absolute, unconditional love, not in a notional way but one that transforms our attitudes and whole approach to life” (Essence of Prayer, p.51-52). Th
“More than all else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the wellsprings of life” (Proverbs 4:23). What a remarkable text from Proverbs, a text we heard at our Morning Prayer on Thursday. There is a paradox in this selection because the very next verse reads: “Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you
In the gospel reading of St. Luke, which we heard during the octave of Easter, the disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Here in today’s gospel of St. John, before Thomas arrives on the scene with his doubts, Jesus shows his wounds and the disciples immediately recognize him. What do these two recognitions of the Risen One tell us would be believers?
