Sunday November 23: Today You Will Be With Me

To Practice:

• Prayerfully re-read these passages again in the manner of Lectio Divina, reading them aloud to engage more of your senses and feel the vibrations in your body. Gaze at the image. What do you receive for your journey now?

• Call to mind a moment of pain, struggle, or rejection in your own life. Were you also aware of God with you in that moment? If you were not aware of the Divine presence at that time, are you able to look back now and recognize Christ loving and suffering in solidarity alongside you? Or a mysterious sense of peace or strength within the difficulty? What can this moment teach you now about the nature of the “kingdom of God?” Or of being remembered by Jesus? Consider writing your response to these questions in your prayer journal or in the community forum.

• For further reflection on a contemplative understanding of God’s sustaining presence within human darkness and struggle, listen to James Finley’s “Our Response to Suffering,” a 7-minute recording available at this link on YouTube.

If you wish, you may re-read the full email reflection here: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/2025_word-of-the-week-nov23

The image “From the Cave of the Heart” by Tomás Sánchez speaks deeply and profoundly to me. I see myself not in the safety of the cave. I am the figure on the beach, fully exposed to the oncoming tornado(s) of life. All appears calm, serene, peaceful around me. Are these storms without or within? Vulnerable, exposed, I sit and know from my inmost being I am in paradise amidst my sufferings. <3 linda

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