Rule of Life Week 4Exploring Your Relationship with Others

Opening PrayerLet the earth glorify the Lord,* Praise him and highly exalt him forever.Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills, and all that grows upon the earth,* Praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams,* O whales and all that move in the waters.All birds of the air, glorify the Lord,* Praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord, O beasts of the wild,* And all you flocks and herds.O men and women everywhere, glorify the Lord,* Praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Reflections on our 3rd Week Considering – How did you feel about last weeks exploration of loving yourself? What did you discover or reconnect to about yourself?What “givens” in your life did you notice that you need to account for in relationship to yourself?What did you discover that you want to have in your Rule of Life that will enable to take good care of yourself?

This Week’s ReflectionsExploring our relationship with Others.Here are the questions for you to be reflecting on this week:† What is one practice you would like to establish this week that would

improve your relationship with others?† What particular area of your relationship to others needs the most

attention during this season of your life?

† How is God opening your heart to others now? What is God’s invitation to you to care for others in this season of your life?

† What is one practice you could establish this week that would nurture one or more of your relationships with others?

† Who are people that you interact with daily that you may not have really noticed before? Take some time to notice them and get to know them this week.

Opening ReadingA reading from Rule for a New Brother by H. Van Der Looy. The chapter is entitled “Following Jesus.” How it may apply to their own life.

Following Jesus does not mean slavishly copying his life.It means making his choice of life your own,starting from your own potential and in the place where you find yourself.It means living for the values for which Jesus lived and died.It means following the path he took,and seeing things as he saw them.

If there is anything in which this life, this way, can be expressed,in which God has revealed himself most clearly,it is the reality of love.You are someone only in as far as you love,and only what has turned to love in your life will be preserved.What love is you can learn from Jesus.

He is the one who has loved most.He will teach you to put the center of yourself outside.For no one has greater love than one who lays down his life for his friends.He will also teach you to be unlimited space for others, invitation and openness:‘Come to me all you who are weary and overburdened and I will give you rest.’

So be converted to love every day.

Change all your energies, all your potential, into selfless gifts for the other person.Then you yourself will be changed from within,and through you God’s Kingdom will break into the world.You are called to follow Jesus closely.With Him you will take the road up to Jerusalem,the city of suffering and glorification.With Him you will give everything that the Kingdom may come.

On this road you are called to be least of all and not master,to carry others' burdens and not lay your own on them,to give freedom instead of taking it,to grow poor in order to make others rich,to take the cross upon yourself thus bringing joy to others,to die in order that others may live.This is the mystery of the gospel, and there is no purpose in endless talk about it.Be silent – for it will be true and genuine only if you practice it.

So keep Jesus Christ before your eyes.Don't hesitate to go anywhere he leads you;don't stay where you are and don't look back,but look forward with eagerness to what lies ahead. Amen.

Activity: Web of Connections

Our opening reading encourages us to carry the burdens of others while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. This is a huge task that requires daily discipline. As we participate in this next activity, let’s think more deeply about how our lives affect those around us in small and big ways.

I will ask a question then after I answer I will draw a line to one of your names then you answer and draw the line to the next person until the line comes back to me last then I will ask another question and start the process going again. Each time it comes back to me I will change the color of the line. We will be building our own art work web.

The first set of questions: What roles do you have that connect your life to other people? In what ways does your daily life interact with others? I invite you to share some of the specific roles you have or people with whom you interact regularly. (for example: “I am a mom” or “I interact with people on the internet.”)

The Second set of questions: What are ways that you show love to others? to family members? to friends? to coworkers? to strangers? (for example: “I make my partner/family breakfast” or “I pray for my coworkers.”)

The last set of questions: What are some ways you can provide healing, justice and hope to those in need? in your neighborhood? in your town? in the world?

We all have a number of roles to play in our lives and we interact with a variety of people every day, directly and indirectly. We are all connected to one another, as these lines symbolize. When we begin to think about all of these roles and all the opportunities we have to offer love and service to others, this web gets stronger and weightier. Like vines growing wild, we can expand the life of love together.

Personal Reflection “My Web of Connection” drawing in Phase 4. Lets take some time to fill in the circles on our webs with the names of the people who are most important to us. Or hand write out a list of the names of the people most important to you and the prayer of your heart for them. We will be reflecting especially on those relationships that need extra care.

I invite you to take some notes on what you hear each person share and lets pray for each other this week as we think about our Rules and especially as we focus on God’s call for us in relationship to others.

Closing PrayerA word from Saint Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth-century Spanish Carmelite nun and mystic. Please hear her words as an invitation to celebrate how we are called to love and serve one another as the Body of Christ.

Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Christ Has No BodyChrist has no body but yours,No hands, no feet on earth but yours,Yours are the eyes with which he looksCompassion on this world,Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,Yours are the eyes, you are his body.Christ has no body now but yours,No hands, no feet on earth but yours,Yours are the eyes with which he lookscompassion on this world.Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

What do you hear? What is your response to these words?