→ LEARN MORE: You Got a Friend in Me!
This month, we learned that prayer is a relationship with God, and that call continuously calls us into a deep, loving, and intimate relationship with Him. We learned about the Lord’s Prayer—The Our Father—in Matthew 6:5-15 and how this prayer exemplifies how we ought to pray. It is the only prayer Jesus gave us—so it must be crucial! We went through the Our Father line by line and translated it into our modern language in order to better understand what Jesus means.
But, relationships take work…and sometimes they’re hard. If we’ve never thought of prayer or our faith as a relationship, it may be difficult to know where to start. Take a look at these two videos to get started on forming a prayer life:
Struggling to pray? This might help.
Why Small Actions Matter: The Transformative Power of Showing Up
→ MONTHLY LECTIO DIVINA: John 15:9-17
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.This is my command: Love each other.”
Questions to Consider
- This reading is from the “Last Supper Discourses;” these are different dialogues Jesus gave to his disciples at the Last Supper (before he was crucified) in order to comfort and prepare them for when he was gone. What does Jesus emphasize in this passage, and why do you think he emphasizes this?
- Jesus says to His disciples, “I no longer call you servants…instead, I have called you friends.” How does that make you feel that you are Jesus’ friend, and not just his “follower” or “servant”?
- How can we use these words of Jesus in our everyday lives?
→ MONTHLY VISIO DIVINA: Trinity (or The Hospitality of Abraham) by Andrei Rublev
About this Piece
Perhaps considered one of the most famous Russian icons, the Trinity depicts God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit facing one another and enjoying each other with a meal. This piece is based on the Genesis 18 story of Abraham hosting a group of three angels. The angels in this piece are semi-identical, representing the idea that each Person in the Trinity are simultaneously unique yet same in nature. This piece emphasizes that God is One Divine Being comprising Three Divine Persons — not one Person with three similar characteristics When we say we “pray to God,” we are talking about praying to the Holy Trinity—God! We may pray to God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit but we are really praying to the Holy Trinity—one cannot exist without the other! (If you don’t quite understand it, you’re not alone! The Holy Trinity is a mystery, meaning that we can forever learn more about it but never fully comprehend it!).
(Source: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/andrei-rublevs-trinity-icon-10158)
Questions to Consider
- What catches your eye about this picture? Describe why it catches your eye. What do you think God is trying to tell you through this? How do you see yourself in this picture?
- This piece has experienced a lot of wear-and-tear (as you can see!) but one part you can see is all three of the angels looking at one another. Oftentimes, we describe the Holy Trinity as the “mutual loving relationship between God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.” Do you think this picture visually represents that idea? Why or why not?
→ HOMEWORK
- Write a reflection on John 15:9-17 using the questions as guidance (3-5 sentences).
- Write a reflection on Trinity by Andrei Rublev using the questions as guidance (3-5 sentences).
