Lenten Meditations: Wednesday 24 March

Mar 24, 2021 by

 

Wed
Mar 24

am 55,24
pm: 85
Jer 22:20-23:8 Gal: 4:1-5 John 12:1-11

FIFTH WEDNESDAY OF LENT Walter Hilton of Thurgarton, Canon & Mystic,1396

LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY:  Born in 1343, Walter Hilton studied Canon Law at Cambridge but after a period as a hermit, he joined the community of Augustinian Canons at Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire. Highly regarded in his lifetime as a spiritual guide, he wrote in both Latin and English and translated several Latin devotional works. Controversy with the Lollards gave a sharper definition to his exposition of the aims, methods and disciplines of traditional spirituality. Amongst his major works, Ladder of Perfection (Book Two) declares that contemplation, understood in a profoundly Trinitarian context as awareness of grace and sensitivity to the Spirit, may and should be sought by all serious Christians. (The Lollards followed from the teachings of John Wycliffe a prominent theologian at Oxford in the mid-14th Century. They wanted reform of the Church and taught that piety was a requirement for a priest to be a “true” priest and perform the sacraments. They also maintained that a pious layman had power to perform those same rites, believing that religious power and authority came through piety and not through the Church hierarchy).

MEDITATION OF THE DAY: St. Paul in his letter to the Christians in Galatia make a proclamation that proclaim the mystery of God moving among his people. Paul writes “we are no longer slaves to sin, the law, and the world, but sons of the eternal Father, and if we are His sons ( and daughters), then we are heirs of all that is His.  This occurs by the profundity of God’s grace  which is mystical and transformative which comes about by a radical change of heart . This is a fitting reflection on the day that commemorates Walter Hilton  who is his work The Ladder of Perfection calls Christians to a life of penance and  personal holiness so that we can be heirs of all that is God’s. He  guides the reader through stages of spiritual development leading to the renewal of our selves formed in the image of likeness of God just as Paul was identifying with the people of Galatia centuries before

PRAYER OF THE DAY:  Now I pray you, O God, Giver of life, stir my mind and my will by the pleasing grace of your spiritual gifts to love you with all my heart. And direct my paths by your absolute power that I may walk in the path of your commandments without straying so I may delight in your will always. Amen

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE:  “The purpose of prayer is not to inform our Lord what you desire, for He knows all your needs. It is to render you able and ready to receive the grace which our Lord will freely give you. This grace cannot be experienced until you have been refined and purified by the fire of desire in devout prayer. For although prayer is not the cause for which our Lord gives grace, it is nevertheless how grace, freely given, comes to the soul.”- Walter Hilton.

Lenten Discipline – Learning new patterns to pray sounds as if it is something that we should welcome but we don’t embrace that which we do not understand, today as part of the desert journey of Lent spend your prayer time, utilizing the principles of contemplative centering prayer. To get oriented go http://carmelnet.org/larkin/larkin092.pdf  as a basic primer for this experience of being the mystic Christian.

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