July 2024
The following is a possible framework for the Witnessing of the Word. It can be personalised or altered: its purpose is to serve as an example of how this Saying might be used primarily in the context of a Prayer Group, but it may be used by individuals too. It is not intended to be definitive. In the context of a group: the periods of silence should be appropriate for your group - probably not less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes.
Saying for the month: ‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’. Mark 6.31 (RSV).
In your time of contemplation, you may like to shorten this to ‘Come away … and rest’. Mark 6.31.
To begin the exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still; you may want to relax your way through your muscles or you may find it helpful to become aware of the sounds around you and then put them aside as you offer this time of prayer to God.
Say this introductory invitation to prayer, then keep a further minute or two of silence: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11.28)
Introduction to the first silence - a preparation for listening with the mind:
‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’.
We begin by setting the scene for the beautiful invitation Jesus extends
to his disciples at a time of great sadness following the death of John the
Baptist. His words are recorded by Mark
and it may help us to understand Mark's authorship, by first noting the
importance of the word gospel and then getting to know Mark himself.
Mark is the only New Testament book which refers to itself as a gospel. ‘Gospel’ was a term used by the Roman imperial authorities to announce an event ‘after which the world would never again be the same’.
Mark’s is the most action packed of the four gospels and probably the first to be written down. There’s a strong early tradition that John Mark, the author, wrote it in Rome, setting down Jesus’ story as he’d heard it directly from Peter. We know he was a close friend of Peter, who referred to him in his first letter as his ‘son’. In Colossians, Paul in prison acknowledged the comfort Mark brought him there.
He was clearly at home in the circle of those first followers of Jesus, and this probably accounts for his gospel’s extraordinary vividness. Brief in contrast to the other three, it is full of life as we read of the marvellous things Jesus did, the places he visited and the people he met.
Mark’s narrative of Jesus’ early ministry hints at the political
opposition towards him. Mark’s record of increasing hostility shows us
that Jesus’ peaceful yet direct confrontation with the Jewish and Roman
authorities (and the system they represented) is integral to his teaching about
discipleship.
The Good News Jesus proclaimed was a radical threat to those with power and influence. He became the focus of their anger even though his ministry was clearly one of caring for the frail and sick who flocked to him as he brought healing and hope to the despairing.
Yes, Jesus was Good News to many as he demonstrated his power over the demonic, the chronically ill and even the dead. He went to those in desperate need, those who by every tenet of Jewish law were thought unclean. His ability to make clean and embrace what the law rejected, was anathema to those in power. Demons feared him, as did the religious hierarchy. Consequently the plot to get rid of him deepened daily.
Turmoil is a word that expresses the feelings of many at this time. It was a time of shifting sands, political and religious upheaval, and the disciples must surely have been affected by the changing opinions of the world around them.
In Mark 6.30 we read that Jesus’ disciples gathered around him developing a deepening bond of closeness as part of Jesus’ family. They had just spent weeks working hard after he had handed over increased responsibility to them (v.7). Mark hints at their weariness and hunger, and then follows the invitation to withdraw for secluded rest and much needed peace and quiet. It didn’t last long of course, but the encouragement of realising Jesus’ understanding of them must have been refreshing in itself.
We take this Saying into our minds, allowing the saying to speak to us and to refresh us in similar ways. We are known and we are loved deeply. Jesus says to us: ‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’.
A time is now kept for silence of the mind – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes. The silence concludes with a short thanksgiving, and/or feel free to repeat the Saying.
The first silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word.
Introduction to the second silence - a preparation for listening with the heart:
‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’.
In Isaiah 30.15, God, the sovereign Lord of Israel says: ‘In
repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it’. What an indictment! The sad thing
is that God could probably say exactly the same to us today. We will
return to this thought later.
Let’s look, for now, at Jesus in these early chapters of Mark’s gospel.
After his baptism by John in the river Jordan, Jesus was sent by the Spirit into the desert for forty days. Tempted by Satan, attended by angels, he was being prepared for a new phase of life, a hectic high pressure life, maybe a bit like a politician today. News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee, and from then on it seems people followed him everywhere he went. Jesus never sought this fame, in fact he took measures at times to avoid it, but his meteoric rise gifted him with a celebrity status. At the home of Simon and Andrew in Capernaum, one evening after sunset, we are told that the whole town turned up bringing to Jesus all the sick and possessed.
How did Jesus cope? In those days it was common for people to retire for the night after sunset. Following this particular late night, very early in the morning, in the dark, Jesus got up, left the house, went off to a solitary place where he prayed. Of course he was found and told ‘everyone is looking for you’!
In all the busyness of this time, there were some opportunities to have a break. In Chapter 3 we read that Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, but ... guess what? A large crowd followed.
In Chapter 4, when evening came one day, Jesus encouraged his disciples to leave the crowd behind, but not for long.
Our saying from Chapter 6 is set in the context of many people coming and going, so many that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have a chance to eat.
In these chapters then, we see that Jesus coped with all the pressure by snatching moments to meet with his Father in heaven. Despite fatigue, he climbed mountains to escape, got up early in the morning, and jumped on boats to get away.
We can see in Jesus the one who understands the pressures we feel in our daily lives; I also see him model a way of life which resourced him and energised him for the demands of the next day. He demonstrates a way of life we can emulate. As it says in Psalm 46: ‘Be still and know that I am God’. God, refuge and strength, help in trouble, who helps when the morning dawns, calls to his beloved son and calls us too today, to be still and know that he is god.
In Matthew 11.28 Jesus says ‘Come to me you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’. If we choose to prioritise a daily time in a quiet (if not lonely) place, we too can find rest for our souls. The precious gift of choice is ours.
Now we take this word into our hearts, as we allow Jesus’ words to speak in us, to let it touch us and let it work more deeply upon our lives.
A time is now kept for silence of the heart – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes.
The second silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you that your Word is alive and within us.
Introduction to the time of intercession – taking God’s word outwards into the world.
‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’.
In Benedictus, John O’Donohue writes a ‘Blessing for One who is Exhausted’. Included are these words:
Draw alongside the silence of stone until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Gradually, you will return to yourself, having learnt a new respect for your heart
and the joy that dwells deep within slow time.
As we bring to mind in contemplation the many people we know or know of who carry very heavy burdens, we fulfil the practice of the Fellowship of Contemplative prayer, using Jesus’ invitation to come away and rest a while.
Our world feels increasingly frenetic, many people struggle with mental health problems, few seem to have time to sit and gaze (a practice recommended by the Franciscan Richard Rohr). Maybe we can offer an example in the tradition of Jesus and his disciples and fulfil our calling to pray for the needs of the world as we practice the presence of God? We breathe the words of Jesus out beyond the confines of our homes and churches to whomever and wherever God’s spirit directs.
Say the name of a person or a group of people, and after a short pause, repeat the saying. For example:
‘Alison and your family … ‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’.
Or
‘Alison and your family … ‘Come away … and rest’.
As we allow the word to speak through us we might direct Jesus’ word towards those people and situations where there is suffering, hurt and an absence of joy and where abiding in Christ would bring comfort. Conclude this time of intercession with words of thanksgiving: Father, we thank you that your Word has gone out through us to those for whom we pray.
The Conclusion
Feel free to use the Fellowship Prayer (below) or another closing prayer to conclude your time of contemplative prayer:
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness, ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that we do. Amen
You may wish to say the Grace together before departing.