Meditation Moment in Lent, Day 5: Give Up, Take On, Pray '24

First Monday in Lent, February 19, 2024

 

   

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)

was a Spiritual Being who had an extraordinary human experience.  A Jesuit priest born in France and who later lived in New York, he also trained as a paleontologist and geologist and was involved with some spectacular discoveries including Peking Man in China. He was also a stretcher bearer in WWI. Yet, as with others who were ahead of their times, some of his writings were considered contrary to doctrinal teachings in the Catholic church and banned by the Vatican from publication from 1939 through the rest of his lifetime. Today, while he still has a few die-hard doctrinal detractors, he is widely praised, including by 3 Popes and other Catholic hierarchy. Simply put, one of his beliefs ~ as with St. Paul ~ was that our everyday work in secular surroundings is every bit as important in our spiritual development as our religious activity when we offer that work to the service of God. And, furthermore, all that we do in everyday life is a necessary part of Creation. Are you ready to experience some spiritual growth in your everyday human experience?

        Creator God, in this first Monday of the first full week of Lent, it’s still taking me a while to recognize that I am truly part of Your Holy Creation. I have had the thought that I had to give full days off to a soup kitchen, spend every possible moment in Church, and be hours on my knees in prayer and, partly, that only those who are ordained or living in monastic communities are truly doing Your work. Today, I will give up feeling spiritually inadequate and take on my everyday activities with a new spirit of dedication. Each morning when I wake, I will breathe deeply and offer all that I do in the day to Your service, even the most mundane task. I will pray for continuing confidence in my growing relationship with You, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as my Guides. I give thanks for this season of Lent, for a purposeful time as a spiritual being to explore my human experience with and for You.  amen.

For more on Pierre click on these links:
 
Biography: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Teilhard-de-Chardin
 
Writings by de Chardin: https://teilhard.com/teilhard-de-chardin-resources/
 
More about de Chardin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin

 

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