Dear Group Leaders and Friends in Christian Meditation,
This morning, the last day of February on a day that I could sleep in a bit, my body woke up at 6 in the morning — my typical daily alarm goes off by now. I grabbed my phone to check the time and felt called to distraction with social media. A terrible habit for me and sadly narcotic like. I saw the headline that Iran was attacked. What echoed in my heart was Pope Paul VI’s words as he spoke to the United Nations. He was the first pope to do so. That day on October 4, 1965, he said: “No more war, war never again.” We continue to lose that plot in our human story. The daily Gospel for this day in the Catholic Tradition, Saturday of the first day of Lent is from Matthew 5 which is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Here is the first section:
“Jesus said to his disciples:
You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father…”
I want to be the child of God that I was created to be in my life. So, I sat down to meditate. Meditation is healing for me; it is a balm for our world. In my life, I have been inspired by many people. One of which was the Catholic priest and peace activist, Father John Dear. John often speaks of disarming our hearts. When I was in active Catholic priesthood, I would often begin the penitential rite (now known as the penitential act) reminding us of the struggles each of us has. Prior to the Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy), I would say something like “Let us take a moment to disarm our hearts and ask for God’s mercy…” Father John Dear reminded me of the wars and insurrections that go on in my own heart.
Each of us has our own inner battles. These inner battles often are projected into our lives, both personal and political. And that has been the struggle in my life when I was in active Church ministry. I would say things in homilies that people found challenging. Political doesn’t mean partisan. When Jesus preached and lived “loving our enemies”, he wasn’t taking a side on a partisan spectrum. He was calling the human family to be one with each other and one with our God who is One. That is daunting and perhaps might seem impossible, but that is our mission as followers of Jesus.
Mahatma Gandhi, a good Hindu, reflected the life of Jesus in his own way. He read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6, and 7) every day of his adult life. I know that I don’t do this, but maybe I ought to as I strive to follow Jesus. To see the life that we are called to as Christians, each of us might want to take some time with the Sermon on the Mount during these Lenten days … perhaps a small portion after our daily times of meditation. These chapters show the values that Jesus incarnated. They are what we are invited to live into in the present moment. Our Christian lives and our practice of meditation are calling us away from the distractions that we surround ourselves with each day, calling us to pay attention to the present moment where God is waiting for each of us and calling us to the peace that only God can give us.
Please remember that our Christian meditation community here in the United States is hosting the John Main Seminar 2026: “Healing the Breach:
Finding Faith, Meaning and Dignity in a Season of Contempt” in Washington DC September 17-20 https://wccm.org/jms2026/. Our organizing committee meets regularly as we prepare for these days, and more information will be available soon. The topic is timely and a good reminder of what Father John Main often said: meditation creates a community of love.
May Jesus the Prince of Peace continue to call us to be peacemakers as we disarm our hearts in the quiet of our meditation.
Warmly,
Kevin Maksym
