Sayers reminds us that the people who surrounded Jesus in the Gospels were real people who had their own lives and concerns. They encountered Him within a specific time and specific cultural pressures. They made choices about Him with the little information they had – unlike us, who know the end of the story. Caiaphas and Pilate did not condemn Jesus to death so they could fulfill prophecy, but as an expedient way to protect their own interests in unstable times.
I wondered how to do it differently this year, How could I move through the holidays with gratitude rather than resentment, with a sense of peace even in the midst of activity? After all, Jesus was born into the very messiness of human life, not into a place where all was neatly prepared and ready. I longed to carry the Christ child in my heart this Advent season, but there was simply no room in the Inn. And so, that first evening, as we all sat in prayer, I asked God for the gift of peace. I prayed that, in the space between gently released thoughts, the veil might be lifted from my eyes and Christ enter in. . . .
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to befriend someone who had spent time in prison? S. Paula Hagen OSB has an experience to share about volunteering with S. Kathleen Atkinson OSB, who is coming soon to the Benedictine Center of St. Paul's Monastery.
By the mid-point of the School of Lectio I wrote this in my journal, “I have fallen in love with Scripture as prayer!” It was as if God and I were rekindling an old friendship on a long weekend retreat together. I was learning anew what it might look like to trust God enough to live a life completely surrendered to God.
