Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Gently voiced meditations in the spirit of lectio divina and centering prayer, held in quiet, immersive stereo sound and shaped by the rhythms of Scripture and the turning seasons of the Christian year. Best experienced through headphones.
BREATH OF LOVE -- Advent 3A
>>>Welcome
Welcome to Breath of Love.
This is a place for sacred listening --
a rhythm of Scripture, silence, and embodied prayer.
Each week we enter the same simple pattern:
breathing, receiving,
returning to the heart of love that holds all things.
Wherever you are -- in stillness or in motion --
alone or among others --
you are part of this circle of sound.
There is nothing you need to perform here.
Only to breathe.
Only to receive.
So we begin, as always,
by finding the breath again --
a breath that meets us where we are
and carries us deeper
into the mystery of Christ alive in all things.
>>>Centering & Breath Prayer
Find yourself in a comfortable position…
You might be sitting…
or lying down…
or even walking gently…
and wherever you are,
you may notice the way your breath is already moving…
with no need to change it…
just letting the body be where it is…
as if the ground itself is carrying a little more of your weight…
inviting you into the quiet center of the moment.
You may sense the air around you…
the subtle temperature on your skin…
or the way your breath gathers in the chest…
or loosens in the belly…
and if your attention wanders -- as it naturally does --
that wandering can simply become part of the practice…
a soft reminder that every return to the breath
is its own kind of prayer.
And as you settle,
you might imagine the way Mary received the angel’s greeting…
not with all the answers…
not with certainty…
but with a tender courage that grew
from somewhere deep within her…
somewhere the Spirit was already singing.
Let your breath meet that song…
as we enter the prayer for this week.
Breathe in: My soul magnifies Love…
Breathe out: Love lifts the lowly...
Once more.
Breathe in: My soul magnifies Love…
Breathe out: Love lifts the lowly...
And now… held by a breath Mary once breathed…
we turn toward the scripture that shapes this week’s joy.
>>>Reading 1 (Isaiah 35:1-10)
A reading from the prophet Isaiah.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
"Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you."
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God's people; no traveler,
not even fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
Thanks be to God.
>>>Meditation 1 (Isaiah 35:1-10)
The desert rejoices in Isaiah’s vision…
the wilderness blossoms…
the feeble are strengthened…
the fearful are encouraged.
It is a landscape learning to sing again.
You might imagine a dry place within yourself --
a place that has waited too long for water --
beginning to soften…
beginning to green…
as if joy were not a feeling you have to manufacture…
but a gift making its way toward you.
And in this greening place,
Mary appears again…
a young woman carrying impossible promise,
walking a road none had traveled before…
her footsteps echoing Isaiah’s promise:
“Here is your God… coming with healing…
with joy… with singing.”
Let your breath meet that promise.
Breathe in: My soul magnifies Love…
Breathe out: Love lifts the lowly...
>>>Reading 2 (Canticle 13 “The Magnificat”)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
>>>Meditation 2 (Canticle 13 “The Magnificat”)
Mary’s song rises like dawn.
It is not polite.
It is not small.
It is a song that rearranges the world --
that scatters the proud,
topples the mighty,
fills the hungry,
and embraces those forgotten by every empire.
Her joy is not naïve.
It is fierce.
It is joy as resistance.
Joy as prophecy.
Joy as the first tremor of the world God is bringing to birth.
You may notice the way this joy moves in your own body --
not loud, not demanding --
but steady…
like a low-burning flame in the heart…
the kind of joy that says,
“Even now, something holy is unfolding.”
Let your breath lean toward Mary’s courage.
Breathe in: My soul magnifies Love…
Breathe out: Love lifts the lowly...
>>>Reading 3 (James 5:7–10)
A reading from the letter of James.
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.
The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth,
being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
You also must be patient.
Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
Beloved, do not grumble against one another,
so that you may not be judged.
See, the Judge is standing at the doors!
As an example of suffering and patience, beloved,
take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
Thanks be to God.
>>>Meditation 3 (James 5:7–10)
James invites us into patience…
not the patience of resignation,
but the patience of the farmer…
who knows the soil is alive
even when it appears barren.
You might imagine the patience Mary carried --
nine slow months
of ordinary days and ordinary breaths…
holding a promise she could not yet see…
trusting that God works in hidden places:
in the womb…
in the soil…
in the slow unfolding of your own becoming.
And as you breathe,
you might notice some part of you that has been waiting…
for healing…
for clarity…
for peace…
and allow that waiting to soften…
not as delay,
but as the quiet work of God in you.
Breathe in: My soul magnifies Love…
Breathe out: Love lifts the lowly...
>>>Reading 4 (Matthew 11:2–11)
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew.
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing,
he sent word by his disciples and said to him,
“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
Jesus answered them,
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and the poor have good news brought to them.
And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John:
“What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?
A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in soft robes?
Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.
What then did you go out to see? A prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women
no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
Thanks be to God.
>>>Meditation 4 (Matthew 11:2–11)
John the Baptist asks Jesus,
“Are you the one?”
And Jesus answers not with argument,
but with evidence of life restored:
the blind see…
the lame walk…
the poor receive good news.
Mary knew this before anyone.
She held the child who would hold the world.
She felt the weight of hope in her own body
long before anyone else recognized him.
You might imagine her standing beside him in this moment…
her Magnificat echoing in his response…
the song she once sang in Nazareth
becoming the ministry he embodies in Galilee.
Let that echo settle into your breath.
Breathe in: My soul magnifies Love…
Breathe out: Love lifts the lowly...
>>>Body Blessing
And now…
let us bless the body that carries traces of Mary’s own courage…
the body God meets without hesitation…
the body that waits and hopes
and bears the promise of joy.
Bring your awareness to your head and face…
the places where thoughts gather…
where the tongue shapes words,
where the eyes hold light.
May clarity and softness meet here.
Let the attention drift to your throat and neck…
where breath passes,
where voice emerges.
May openness and ease rest here.
Moving now to your shoulders and arms…
the wingspan of your reaching,
the strength of your holding.
May they bear only what is yours to carry.
To your heart and chest…
the inner well of compassion,
and the pulse of your own Magnificat.
May joy root itself here.
To your belly…
the quiet center of courage,
the place where holy promise once found shelter in the world.
May trust rise here.
To your hips and low back…
keepers of memory and movement.
May rest root itself here,
as if God were teaching your body to sway with mercy.
Down through your legs…
the instruments of your walking,
your waiting,
your standing firm.
May steadiness gather here.
And finally, to your feet…
meeting the earth’s patience each day.
May blessing find its way here,
holding you as you walk in joy.
A whole body now…
held in breath…
held in hope…
held in the same Love that overshadowed Mary
and brought joy into the world.
Amen.
>>>Farewell
As our time together comes to a close,
There is no hurry.
The breath that holds you goes with you into what is next.
When you speak, may your words carry kindness.
When you move, may your steps remember stillness.
And when you rest, may you feel the quiet joy
of belonging to all that is.
This is Breath of Love.
Until next time --
go gently,
and breathe peace.
The Bible texts (except for the Canticle) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
The Canticle is from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
All other content is copyright 2025 by Breath of Love.