Chaos outside, meditate to find Jesus inside

– Archbishop tells students at SEPOS

It is in the quiet within that Jesus is always waiting, Archbishop Jason Gordon told a group of Catholic students of the South East Port of Spain, Nelson Street on February 14.

The school was in the news last November 27 when there was a report of a stray bullet reaching a class while it was in session. Classes were temporarily suspended as a result.

To bring a sense of quiet Archbishop Gordon invited the students to participate in Christian Meditation. They sat in silence with eyes closed in the school’s library. The shouts of their peers playing indoor cricket in the school’s gymnasium on the ground floor intermittently penetrated the room. A few teachers also took part in the meditation exercise.

There was a chime after five minutes but the silence extended for two more minutes. Archbishop Gordon asked how they felt? “Calming”, “relaxing” were comments about the experience. It was “difficult” for one or two.

He said, “You could do this prayer, any day, anywhere, any time; imagine if you felt this nice every day, what would that be like? That would be sweet…”

Archbishop Gordon advised the students that through meditation in the moments of silence they can experience inner calm daily. The students responded in the affirmative when he asked if this would be good in their lives. He said, “God is everywhere but God is inside of us in a special way and when we go quiet into meditation what we do is we go and find God who is inside waiting on us”.

Observing that the routine of the students’ lives could be hectic from morning to night when they “crashed” in bed. He asked how many had silence during the day and only a few raised their hands. Archbishop Gordon said it was in the silence that the truth of things can be recognised—God is always waiting.  He asked them to remember the prayer experience when faced with the chaos “outside”.

“School is chaos. Sometimes family is chaos, sometimes the community is chaos, sometimes everything around is chaos, social media is chaos, tv is chaos,” he said. There were responses of “yes’” interjected by some students. He said sometimes the one place to find calm, peace and quiet was inside where Jesus can be found.

Archbishop Gordon introduced them to a second form of prayer, Lectio Divina, which he said was about 1900 years old. He explained “Lectio” meant—reading, and “Divina”—divine so together meant divine reading. The scripture is read several times when doing Lectio Divina.  Reading is followed by meditation, contemplation and the action to implement in one’s life.

The students read Mark 8:27–30. They were asked to share a phrase or word in the scripture that appealed to them and why.

Next, Archbishop Gordon asked them “Who is Jesus to you?” There were responses such as, “someone who protects and loves everyone”, “a father”, “someone who protects everyone and me”, “Lord and Saviour”.

Archbishop Gordon has been visiting government secondary schools interacting with youth.   –LPG

Christian Meditation

– A Way of Praying

Posture: Sit in a chair with your back upright and feet on the ground. Hands on the knees either up, receiving or down for letting go. Become conscious of being in God’s presence.

Breath: Notice your breathing and then slow it down till the breath is slow, deep and rhythmic. Breathe from the belly. Let the breathing be deep, slow and constant.

The word: Christian Meditation uses the sacred word Maranatha – “Come Lord Jesus”. St Paul uses the word at the end of his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 16:22) It is also found in Revelation 22:20. It is an invocation, a cry from the heart, a plea to God to come to His children and not delay.

The word is said with every breath in four syllables- Ma-ra-na-tha. Some say the whole word while breathing in and again while breathing out. Split the word using two syllables on each part of the breath.

The practice is 20 mins in the morning and in the evening but start where you are comfortable and build up to 20 mins.