Heart-Head-Hands

One of my favorite writers on Ignatian Spirituality is Margaret Silf. For Christmas, my husband gave me her new book Compass Points: Meeting God Every Day at Every Turn. This book is composed of several short reflections from Margaret's journal. I find the short vignettes to be thought provoking and a great tool for prayer.

Here is a piece from one titled "Apostolic Sucession":

"Royal Lineages, apostolic successions....are characterized by the laying-on of hands upon heads. But God's touch on our lives...is laid upon our hearts." (p. 95).

Reading this has reminded me of the passage from Jeremiah that speaks about the new covenant God will make with his people,

"I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jer 31: 33).

Both Margaret Silf's piece and the verse from Jeremiah challenge us to look at how God takes hold of our hearts, how the conversion of our hearts leads to our heads, and finally how the conversion of our minds leads us to do God's work with our hands.

What is our heart, the place where God speaks, calling us to today?

~Becky E.

Contemplatives in Action

It is on days like today, when our news is full of a natural disaster like the earthquake in Haiti, that I find myself pondering what it truly means to be a contemplative in action. A contemplative in action requires two things: First, we are called to be mindful and aware of God's presence and work in our lives. Second, as we become rooted in God, we are called to ask the question: "How can we respond to God's call?"

As we continue to pray for all the people in Haiti, let us pause for a minute and ask ourselves: "How are we called to respond to this present situation that our brothers and sisters in Haiti are dealing with?"

Becky E.