Praying with Images: A Living Stone

Apologies for the lack of posts recently – I have been poorly. Here is the prayer for last Sunday’s scripture. I wasn’t well enough to record the guided prayer, but it occurred to me that the generic praying with images audio file I recorded and used during Holy Week might be suitable so I offer it now. I hope to be back blogging on my normal routine in the next few days. Thank you for following me.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

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Here, as stated before, it is my intention to draw from the forthcoming Sunday liturgy and to offer a guided prayer on one of the pieces of scripture in the same way that we have been doing in Exploring Personal Prayer. I do not intend to offer any reflections on the scripture. My suggestion is that you follow the Ignatian structure: preparation for prayer by reading the scripture, going to your prayer place and doing the prayer itself, and then moving away to another place and doing a review of the prayer. Keeping some sort of prayer journal is good practice. Note any moments of consolation in the prayer, where you felt drawn more deeply into God, and moments of desolation, where prayer was disturbed, where you were distracted and pulled further away from God: feelings of attraction and repulsion should be noted. These points may provide areas for repetition of the prayer. Also, if you have a spiritual director or prayer partner, someone who can listen with an ear to where God is in this, it may be worth sharing your prayer with them. I am following the processes outline in the prayer cards above. You may print these onto A6 or A4 card to have in your prayer space to help you become accustomed to this way of praying, remembering it is more of a flow than a rigid structure.  

1 Peter 2:4-9

⁴ Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and ⁵ like living stones, let yourselves be built^[a] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in scripture:

‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him^[b] will not be put to shame.’

⁷ To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the very head of the corner’,

⁸ and

‘A stone that makes them stumble,
    and a rock that makes them fall.’

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,^[c] in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.