Entering the time of prayer:
First, I find a quiet corner to begin this time with God. I close my eyes and allow myself to feel God’s loving gaze, to feel God’s delight that we are about to spend this precious time together. I allow myself time to absorb this truth. I let myself be held in the warmth of God’s loving embrace.
I take a deep breath and then, bit by bit, breath by breath, I let go of all the busyness, let go of whatever has been on my mind in the hustle and bustle of my day. This is a time for God; everything else can wait. I breathe again and open myself more and more to that place of stillness within me. I feel God’s loving presence that is always there. I let it fill me as I open my heart and my mind to this time of prayer.
First thoughts:
As we know from this ‘long night’ of COVID lockdown, the light of the new day comes as an enormous relief and, literally, release. During Lent we look forward to the new dawn that is Easter, when the resurrection of Jesus shows us that death is not the end but, instead, there is the promise of new life and the beginning of a new creation.
Today’s Bible text: John 9:5-7
Jesus said, “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” After saying this, he spat on the ground, and made some mud with the spittle, and he put this on the man’s eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which in translation means, Sent). So the man went away and washed, and he came back able to see.
I read the scripture passage slowly, I repeat it again and let the words fill my heart. What is the word or image that touches me most? How does it make me feel?
Some questions for reflection:
Jesus sees the blind man in our story differently from everyone else. The crowd sees someone who is being punished because of sin – his own or his family’s – but Jesus rejects this idea. Jesus sees the man as he truly is – beloved of God.
- God sees the beauty of our innermost being. God cuts through all the barriers we, or the world, may have erected and sees us as we truly are. I let myself be held in God’s loving gaze.
- In this loving gaze, God also knows the deepest needs and longings of our heart. Amidst the difficulties and darkness of lockdown, what do I ask of Jesus?
- Jesus doesn’t join in the condemnation of the man, but helps him, literally, to emerge from the darkness. Are there times when I rush to condemn? Are there times when I could do more to help?
Bringing our time of prayer to an end:
I close this time of prayer by speaking openly and freely to God for a few moments about what I have experienced. I speak just as I would to my closest friend. And I listen also for the ways God might be speaking to me – in the images that stay in my mind, or the feelings I am having. Then, I bring our time together to a close with a small gesture of gratitude and love, perhaps by making a sign of the cross, bowing my head, or by saying an Our Father or Glory Be.
Noticing the fruits of the prayer:
After my prayer I look back for a moment. I ask myself, what was it like? What touched me the most? What was challenging or difficult? What gave me feelings of warmth or peace of strength? I write down some keywords to record and remember, so that the things that are most important are not lost. I hold on to one positive and life-giving word or image in particular and hold it close to my heart as I make my way, with God, through the rest of the day.
