May 9, 2020CARFLEO

Praying Sunday’s Gospel: May 10

Resources for Lectio Divina + Visio Divina + Audio Divina + Video Divina

5th Sunday of Easter ,  May 10th, 2020

John 14:1-12. Sunday Mass Readings from Living With Christ

Meaningful Quote: How can we know the way?

Lectio Divina

Commentary: “The readings for the last few Sundays have been about the Resurrection, but today’s Gospel takes us back in time to an event in Jesus’ life before his Passion. Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house. He promises that where he is going, his disciples will be able to follow. Thomas contradicts Jesus by saying that the disciples don’t know where Jesus is going or how to get there. Jesus explains that he himself is the way, the truth, and the life. In knowing and loving Jesus, the disciples now love God the Father.  Philip then makes a request that challenges Jesus’ words. Philip wants Jesus to show the Father to the disciples. Recall that Jesus has just told his disciples, “If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” As a good teacher, Jesus responds to Philip by repeating and elaborating on what he has just told the disciples: they have seen and known Jesus, so they have seen and known the Father. Then Jesus offers another reassurance about his departure: because of faith in God and in Jesus, the disciples will do the work that Jesus has done and more.  The connection between Jesus and his Father, between Jesus’ work and the work of the Father, is made clear in today’s Gospel. Jesus is in the Father, and God the Father is in Jesus. As God spoke his name to Moses, “I am,” so too Jesus speaks his name to his disciples: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith/liturgical-year/sunday-connection

Questions:

1.  When have you asked a question like Thomas or Philip in class, asking for what has already been explained?  How did you feel when you realize your mistake?

2.  Describe when you met someone who was just like their family member?  Maybe a father and son?  Or an aunt and niece?

3.  Who are you most like in personality or perspective?  Do you enjoy being alike?

Other Resources for Lectio Divina of John 10: 1-10

Audio Divina

Song Lyrics – And Jesus Said by Shirley Erena Murray

And Jesus said: don’t be afraid– I’ve come to turn your fear to hope, I’ve come to take you through the deep, to be your friend until the end, and give your troubled heart to sleep.

And Jesus said: don’t be afraid– I know your emptiness and grief, I hear your words of unbelief, but if you will, I’ll heal your soul and give your doubting heart relief.

And Jesus said: don’t be afraid– I am the Way, I am the Light, I am the Truth that holds you tight, and in God’s home you have a room, a place of welcome and delight.

Words © 1999 Hope Publishing Company, 380 S Main Pl, Carol Stream, IL 60188

Video Divina

Video Divina uses movies, YouTube and Vimeo videos, clips Television and Streaming Services as a way of coming closer to God. The term is being used in Montreal by Fr. Lloyd Baugh S.J. Before beginning Video Divina, read John 14:1-12. Sunday Mass Readings from Living With Christ.

Reflection Questions:

  1. How is the tone of the video and John 14:1-12 similar?
  2. How is this video relevant to your situation?
  3. How is God present in this video?

Alternative Video: Be Not Afraid https://youtu.be/RF0DIpFOoBg

Visio Divina

A Method of Visio Divina

  • Pray in quiet with your eyes closed. Bring yourself towards stillness.
  • Gaze at the image. Let your eyes rest on the characters and objects. Note your feelings as you examine the whole and parts of the work.
  • Read or listen to accounts of the events. They might be scripture, insights into the work, guided meditation
  • Gaze at the work again. Imagine that you are in this scene. What do you see from your vantage point? What you hear? smell? sense?
  • How is the sacred present to you in this experience?
  • How does this Visio Divina relate to your life now?
  • What insight from this experience do you want to retain? How will you do that?
  • Complete the Visio Divina by offering a prayer of thanksgiving.
  • Notes: This method can be adapted to individual or group settings. Periods of silence should be included according to comfort level.
Many Mansions, Kerry James Marshall

Reflection on the Painting

Many Mansions is the first in Kerry James Marshall’s series of five large-scale paintings depicting public housing projects in Chicago and Los Angeles such as Rockwell Gardens, Wentworth Gardens, or, as in Many Mansions, Stateway Gardens. Struck by the absurdity of the term “garden” to describe these failed solutions to low-income housing, Marshall was inspired to represent the profound contradictions of living in such an environment. Many Mansions is filled with ironic and startling juxtapositions of the real and artificial—from the unnaturally cheerful landscape to the three haunting, ebony-skinned figures dressed in nostalgic Sunday best. The title of the painting, visible on the red ribbon above, is a variation on Christ’s oft-quoted remark found in John [14:2]: “In my Father’s house there are many mansions.”

For more see: Many Mansions, Kerry James Marshall, Art Institute of Chicago Educator’s Package

Christian.Art Today: In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places

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