Lectio Divina

Quiet me in your temple, Lord and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

by Fr Jean Celestine Ngoma

 

Rekindle in me Lord the joy to dwell in your temple.

Quiet me with Your gladness, Lord.

Let me now rest in Your temple

Where I can breathe in and out throughout the day.

Quiet me now with Your love, Lord.

and work through my fives senses, through my mind, through my body.

Quiet me, Lord, in your temple and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

 

Pause

 

As I enter prayer, I pause to be still. I breathe slowly, re-centering my five senses upon your presence, O God.

 

 

1. Lectio (Read)

 

When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord  (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons”.  Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.  And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law,  he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
 for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

(St Luke 2:22-32, ESVUK)

 

 

2. Meditatio (Reflect)

 

I contemplate this passage of the Holy Scriptures using my imagination.

I join the scene where Jesus is brought to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord with his parents and relatives.

I am then nudged to creatively imagine visiting Herod’s temple complex in the time of Jesus.

I enjoyed the positive feelings and excitements that the Lord’s temple brings into my actual understanding of the Word of Life.

 

Quiet me in your temple, Lord and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

I first joined Mary and Joseph and their relatives in the “pilgrim caravan” on their way to the temple. It’s just before dawn, so I imagine the pink sky of the east and the sound of Palestinian Muezzin.

Once in the temple, I see the beautiful garden. Its trees and the scent of flowers prepare my mind and body for what I was about to experience.  From the western side of the complex, I could creatively see the High Priest of Sanhedrin coming out and greeting the people.  I reckon that it was in this chamber where my Lord Jesus sat among the teachers and listening to them.  While at the gate, I nod nervously at the two Roman guards. I am marvelled by the four massive lampstands, each having 86 feet in the court of the women with the ladder to climb them.

I see those beautiful pillars in the temple of my God. They are huge and seem unmovable. Those pillars have Christ's signature. Christ has written my name on a pillar. I then remember the promises in the book of Revelation:

"The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name." (Revelation 3:12)

Quiet me in your temple, Lord and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

 

I visualize the stones of the temple. There are so beautiful. The words of Saint Peter echo in my mind “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5).  I remember that my faith is not built on sandy ground, but built on a foundation of stones. (St Matthew 7:24-27)

I meditate on the courts, they are also beautiful. They lead me to say the words of the just man in Psalm 84: “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

At the gates of the temple, I remember the words of Jesus to not let my heart be troubled. So I feel blessed because I keep His ways and hear His instructions.

"Blessed are those who listen to you, watching daily at your gates, waiting beside your doors." (Proverbs 8:34)

 

Quiet me in your temple, Lord and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

 

 

3. Oratorio (Ask and Respond)

 

Lord, Your Son Jesus was presented to You in the temple in substance of our flesh so that I may present myself unto You with a clear conscience.

I cannot drag my unclean heart into your presence, Lord. You won’t allow it. But as an everyday Pilgrim, I need to always rest inwardly inside my heart in your presence, quieting and letting go my negativity and embrace Your Son's salvific love and power.

 

Pause

 

I now rest in stillness with my feelings and my communication with God to examine if the Holy Spirit has a response to the feelings that came up for me. 

Maybe the Spirit is nudging me to fully devote myself to God’s services in the temple as Simeon and Anna did? 

What is the negative stuff that I still have to get rid of in my life?

Quiet me in your temple, Lord and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

 

 

4. Contemplatio (Yield)

 

I take time now to bring this moment of imagination into actual prayer.

Quiet me in your temple, Lord and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

 

Pause

 

I ask you now Lord to reveal the thoughts of my heart.

To come inwardly to the temple that is my soul.

May your Holy Spirit give light inside my heart so that I may see what is really going on inside me.

 

Pause

 

Thanks to the salvific action of your Son on the Cross, I am no longer afraid to be honest, I no longer fear condemnation, but I can bring my inner trials, anxieties, confusion, pain, inner doubts, inner fears, inner guilt, inner shame to your tabernacle and ask for purification and support. Yes, I can bring it all before You to be cleansed.  (cf. Fr. David Phillips)

 

Pause

 

Jesus, I ask that in place of the trials and anxieties I carry into this week to reveal the thoughts of my heart, filling me with the courage to carry on, and reminding me that:

I am your creature: created in your image and likeness

That through your Son, I have become qualified of having a pure, true, and beautiful heart where you can dwell.

Quiet me, Lord, in your temple and reveal the thoughts of my heart!

 

Pause

 

Quiet me now Lord, as I inwardly dwell in your presence.

At your Brazen Altar, I do not offer animals as a sacrifice, but I do I offer my shame, sins, and anxieties so that I may be truly reconciled with you.

Quiet me with Your love, Lord.

Clean my conscience every day at the Molten Sea of the water flowing from the Cross of your Son.

Quiet me with Your love, Lord.

In the Holy place, I welcome the opportunity to have a deeper relationship with you this week.

May the flame from the candles of Your Candlesticks brighten my mood this week; filling me with Your Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, and knowledge.

 

Pause

 

I once more make use the calmness prayer of John Wise to exit my meditation of the living word of God:

Let me rest in Your strong, yet gentle arms.

What a prayer to breathe in and out throughout the day. 

Quiet me with Your love, Lord.

When the noise of the world blares, calm me with tender compassion.

When I am tossed and turned by my own self-doubt and misdirections, I return once again to You – where You dwell in peaceful silence.

When the toddler that still lives deep inside me, throws a tantrum when things don’t go my way or I hit disappointment at every turn, take me in Your arms and comfort me, Lord.

Quiet me, Lord so I can hear You and know You better.

Only in You can I find true peace.

Only in You can I experience love.

Only in You, Lord.

Quiet me with Your love, Lord.

Only in You, Lord.

Quiet me with Your love, Lord.  (John Wise)

 

 

Logo Ascension Optima skewed transparent 2 black

 

Worship Address: Adventist Church, Boomberglaan 6, Hilversum

Mailing Address:  Robijn 13, 3893 EN Zeewolde

Our Chaplain, Fr David Phillips, can be reached by telephone:
(+31) 06 124 104 31 or by email: revdgphillips@hotmail.com

Our Safeguarding Officer, Carla van der Does, can be contacted by email:
safeguarding@allsaintsamersfoort.nl  For our safeguarding policy please click here.

Donations:  NL75 INGB 0709 7677 49 (t.n.v. All Saints Anglican Church Amersfoort.)
(This All Saints account is designated for Ascension funds only.)

or you can use the Givt App:

https://ascension.nu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Ascension-Manuscript.jpg

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Psalm 127:1,2

There are free parking spaces on the church property and free parking in the streets next to the church on Sundays.  It is a 17 minute walk from Hilversum Train Station.
(On Sunday morning, Bus 1 gets you from Hilversum Train Station to within a 4 minute walk of the church.)