2011

m A R G A R E T S I L F

2011

© 2010 by Loyola PressAll rights reserved

Scripture excerpts are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Psalms, Copyright 1991, 1986, 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Cover and interior design by Kathy Kikkert

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataSilf, Margaret. 2011 : a book of grace-filled days / Margaret Silf. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-8294-2911-4 ISBN-10: 0-8294-2911-5 1. Devotional calendars—Catholic Church. 2. Catholic Church—Prayers and devotions. I. Title. II. Title: Twenty eleven. BX2170.C56S56 2011 242’.2—dc22 2010010504

Printed in the United States of America 10 11 12 13 14 15 Bang 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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i n t r o d u c t i o n

This series of daily reflections began during Lent, some fifteen years ago, in a small parish in an industrial area of the northwestern Midlands of England. The people of that parish were looking for ways to deepen their spiritual life, and they asked me to write a few reflections on the lec-tionary readings for the weeks leading up to Easter. These reflections appeared as a series of weekly leaflets available to anyone who wanted to take one. I called them “Potter’s Clay” because the parish was in that part of England that is home to the ceramics industry and is commonly called the Potteries.

I could not have guessed then that this small and very local Lenten journey would continue not just beyond Easter but also through many years to come—and that it would cross the Atlantic in 2001 to appear under the title A Book of Grace-Filled Days. I am delighted to be able to rejoin the book’s journey now, on the tenth anniversary of its first beginnings in the United States.

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There is an ancient practice of scriptural meditation known as lectio divina. In the past, when very few people could read, it was common for monks to gather for morn-ing meditation and simply listen in prayerful silence, as one among them who was able to do so would read the Scripture for the day. That monk would read slowly and reflectively while the others listened, and whenever each of them felt that a particular word or phrase or image was especially potent for him that day, he would leave the chapel and go to his cell to meditate on whatever had captured his imagi-nation. He would chew it over in his heart and in his mind until he felt he had found what it was that God was saying to him that morning through what he had heard. The process could be compared to sucking on a sweet until all the fla-vor has been extracted. The reader would continue to keep reading and rereading the Scriptures until there was no one left in the chapel.

Today we live in a very different world from that of these ancient monks, but lectio divina is still a very powerful form of scriptural prayer and is practiced by many Christians on a regular basis. It is the way A Book of Grace-Filled Days has been written. I begin by reading the daily texts from the lection-ary and simply noticing what in particular seems to spring to

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life for me as I do so. That nugget then becomes the basis for my reflection.

Sometimes the readings seem to draw me to reflect on things that are happening in my own life or in the wider world. Sometimes they open up new ways of “finding God in all things”—as St. Ignatius of Loyola would say—in the daily journey of life. Always they lead more deeply into the sacred texts. And the strange and wonderful thing is that when we seek to get inside Scripture in this or any other way, what actually happens is the opposite. It is Scripture that gets inside us, shaping us, forming us, challenging us, and sometimes flattening us and beginning all over again to re-create us—a bit like clay on the potter’s wheel.

Most of us don’t begin our days in chapel listening to the lectionary readings but in the tumult of family life, in the challenges of the workplace, or in the loneliness of an empty room far from our loved ones. Nor do we continue our reflections in a quiet monastic cell but on the highway, in the classroom, on the factory floor, or on the streets. None of this should prevent us from adapting the process of lectio divina to our twenty-first-century lives. If you take an extract from the daily readings as the starting point for your prayer each day, notice what seems to speak to you especially, and

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keep bringing that phrase or image or thought to mind as you go through your day whenever you have a moment—perhaps during your coffee break, in the shower, in traffic—then you are practicing lectio divina.

I hope that this year’s reflections will help you make your own journey of scriptural meditation as the days go by. Perhaps you are a seasoned traveler who has journeyed with the series since its first inception. Perhaps this is your first introduction to the possibility of daily scriptural reflec-tion. Either way, welcome to the journey of a year that can become the journey of a lifetime, and may every day of 2011 be full of grace.

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Sun d ay

N o v e m b e r 2 8 • F I r S T S U N D A y o F A D v E N T •

So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.— M a t t h e w 2 4 : 4 4

A recorded message: “Sorry I was out when you called. Please leave your name and number.”

Will this be my response to the touch of God upon my life? To that totally unexpected moment when I know

beyond doubt that God is and that God is in touch with me?

God doesn’t leave messages; God speaks to the heart. May we keep our lines open 24/7.

Isaiah 2:1–5

Psalm 122

romans 13:11–14

Matthew 24:37–44

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Isaiah 4:2–6

Psalm 122

Matthew 8:5–11

On that day,The branch of the Lord will be luster and glory,

and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel.

— I s a I a h 4 : 2

After the long winter months, the prophet Isaiah speaks of an amazing springtime. Then the trees of the forest that have withstood the frosts and gales will begin to reveal what they truly are. What will be the blossoms

and fruits of human life on this planet? Dare we trust this promise that, in God’s hands, the fruits will be beauty and glory, reflecting the image of the Creator, and that the darkest hours we experience are truly cultivating

God’s springtime?

M o n d ay

N o v e m b e r 2 9

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romans 10:9–18

Psalm 19

Matthew 4:18–22

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into

the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

— M a t t h e w 4 :18 – 2 0

Jesus calls these men to become fishers of men because they are already fishers of fish. He calls them to move to a deeper engagement with the gifts and experience they

already have. As always, he draws our attention to the real world and circumstances in which we live and work, and he shows us how those circumstances might reflect the glory

of God, if we will only follow and trust. We are not all fishermen. What gifts and experience is Jesus calling forth

in you? How will you respond?

Tu e s d ay

N o v e m b e r 3 0 • S T .   A N D r E W , A P o S T L E •

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Isaiah 25:6–10

Psalm 23

Matthew 15:29–37

[Jesus] ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven

baskets full.— M a t t h e w 15 : 3 5 – 3 7

What we, in the affluent nations, waste might fill the tables of the poor seven times over, but it will take a miracle to

make us see this and act upon it.

We dn e s d ay

D e c e m b e r 1

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Isaiah 26:1–6

Psalm 118

Matthew 7:21, 24–27

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

— M a t t h e w 7: 21

At a Quaker meeting a visitor breaks the silence to ask his neighbor, “When does the service begin?”

The reply: “As soon as the worship finishes.”

T hur s d ay

D e c e m b e r 2

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Isaiah 29:17–24

Psalm 27

Matthew 9:27–31

On that day the deaf shall hearthe words of a book;

And out of gloom and darkness,the eyes of the blind shall see.

— I s a I a h 2 9 :18

When my ears are deafened by the clamor of the world’s distractions, and my eyes are dazzled by its fleeting

attractions, God’s promise breaks through: “I will open the ears and the eyes of your heart.”

Fr i d ay

D e c e m b e r 3 • S T .   F r A N C I S X A v I E r , P r I E S T •

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Isaiah 30:19–21, 23–26

Psalm 147

Matthew 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6–8

The light of the moon will be like that of the sunand the light of the sun will be seven times greater

like the light of seven days.On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of his people,

he will heal the bruises left by his blows.— I s a I a h 3 0 : 2 6

In the night of our fears and sorrows, we grope our way through life by the meager candlelight of our wavering

faith. But slowly, gradually, those lights are leading us into a new dawn that will outshine them all.

Sa t ur d ay

D e c e m b e r 4 • S T .   J o H N o F D A M A S C U S , P r I E S T A N D D o C T o r o F T H E C H U r C H •

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Isaiah 11:1–10

Psalm 72

romans 15:4–9

Matthew 3:1–12

There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,

as water covers the sea.— I s a I a h 11 : 9

If I truly could know my enemies, I would understand them. If I truly could understand them, I would be able to forgive them. And if I can forgive them, I can no longer cause them harm. The tide of God’s love will wash clean

the messy shoreline of my heart.

Sun d ay

D e c e m b e r 5 • S E C o N D S U N D A y o F A D v E N T •

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Isaiah 35:1–10

Psalm 85

Luke 5:17–26

Kindness and truth shall meet;justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth will spring out of the earth,and justice shall look down from heaven.

— P s a l M 8 5 :11 – 12

The coming of God’s reign is not so much about obeying a command as it is about surrendering to an embrace. In that

embrace, miracles happen.

M o n d ay

D e c e m b e r 6

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Isaiah 40:1–11

Psalm 96

Matthew 18:12–14

A voice cries out:In the desert prepare the way of the Lord!

Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!— I s a I a h 4 0 : 3

I have my own ideas about where God’s highway should be routed in my life: it should take in all the best bits and my achievements and successes. God has other ideas. God’s

way leads right into and through my wilderness, my mess, my chaos and my failures.

Tu e s d ay

D e c e m b e r 7 • S T .   A M B r o S E , B I S H o P A N D D o C T o r o F T H E C H U r C H •