5 Marks of Love

Living Life Marked as Christ’s Own

In our Baptism, we were “sealed by the Holy Spirit” and “marked as Christ’s own forever” by God’s grace, we share in the Divine Life, given to us in Baptism. How does this Life express itself in and through us?  If we are “marked as Christ’s own,” what are the “marks of love” that characterize the Divine Life abiding and at work within us?

Monastic Wisdom

for everyday

This six-week journey of reflection on the Anglican Marks of Mission is now available as an anytime series for individuals and groups. Observe and reflect on the ways in which the Divine Life expresses itself in and through us; individually, and in our faith communities, as well as in the world around us. Each week will explore the Anglican Marks of Mission (Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure) through videos, questions, and exercises designed to help us speak more clearly and act truthfully, motivated always by hearts marked by God’s love.

Subscribe to receive the series' video meditations from the SSJE Brothers directly in your inbox, or scroll down and view the videos below. This video offering is accompanied by a helpful workbook, and facilitation guidance for small groups from the Center for the Ministry of Teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary.

To receive this offering in your inbox, as a daily email for six weeks, add the date you would like to begin. (We recommend that you start on a Sunday to maintain the weekly sequence). If you are going to follow this series as a group, we suggest that everyone coordinate the same start date to receive the videos in sync.

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The Marks of Love are not simply a list of tasks to be checked off one after the other; they are signs that our life is rooted and grounded in the Being of God. The Brothers of SSJE will draw on their own monastic spirituality to help us balance action with contemplation, so that our words and deeds proceed from the deepest places of our hearts, where God dwells.  The resource encourages us to reflect on how we should live, not what we should do.

This series is designed for use by individuals or small groups. In small groups, facilitators will guide the growing process as participants discuss and learn together. For individuals, daily videos and reflections will lead them through a similar process. Ultimately participants will learn to offer themselves, body and soul, to God’s Mission, and to live for God’s glory. Facilitator’s Guides and other additional supporting materials are available online here >

Theological Reflection

Beloved
Marks of Mission, Marks of Love

Br. Mark Brown examines the story of Jesus’ baptism to uncover its role in helping to establish his sense of mission – and the mission to which we are all called.
Read more >

Workbook

A 16 page easily printable workbook with reflections and space for daily questions.

Download here >

Guidance for Groups

The Center for the Ministry of Teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary has created resources to help your community get small groups going.

See full support resources here >

Marked as Christ’s Own Forever: Week 1 | Day 1

In Baptism, we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.” This introduction to the six-week series,”5 Marks of Love,” from the Brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, invites you to participate in God’s mission.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Activity Guidance – Letter to God: Week 1

The first week, as we reflect on the meaning of our baptism, we are invited to participate in the meditative activity of writing a “Letter to God.” What might you say to God in response to this good news that you are valued and loved?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

You Are My Beloved: Week 1 | Day 2

God says to each of us, “You are my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Br. Mark Brown explains how the very first sign of God’s Mission, before all the others, is that we are called into a mutual, reciprocal relationship of love with the Living God.

Q: Can you hear those words that Jesus heard spoken to you? Can you say those same words back to God?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Say Your Prayers: Week 1 | Day 3

Do the Five Marks of Mission feel overwhelming, rather like a big to-do list? Just “say your prayers,” Br. John Braught recommends, because the mission is God’s, not ours, and God will reveal to you how and who you are to serve – often in very small ways that arrive throughout the day.

Q: How, in small ways, could you carry out God’s Mission today?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Arma Christi: Week 1 | Day 4

Br. Keith Nelson shares his own personal devotion to praying with the five wounds of Christ, as remembered in medieval spirituality, especially in the visual illustration of the “arma christi,” Christ’s coat of arms. He asks us to imagine what a “coat of arms” based on the 5 Marks of Mission would look like for the contemporary Christian.

Q: Which “Mark of Mission” is closest to your wounded, sacred heart?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

What Is God Doing?: Week 1 | Day 5

Who acts in mission? Not us, as we might often think, but God. Br. Jim Woodrum encourages us – before looking to begin acting in mission – to first look around us and see what God has been doing in and around our lives.

Q: Where do you see God at work?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Go in Peace: Week 1 | Day 6

When we worship, we can’t help but be changed. Br. James Koester discusses some of the moments in worship that have most changed him and urges us to “go” out into the world from our worship and bring the change with us.

Q: How are you going to be God’s hands in the world today?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Letter to God: Week 1 | Day 7

Hannah Tadros shares her experience of completing the first week’s activity, writing a “Letter to God”: how reluctance and even fear turned into not one but four letters to the One who calls her “beloved.”

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Good News: Week 2 | Day 1

The first “Mark of Love” invites us to “proclaim the good news of the kingdom.” As Br. David Vryhof explains in this introduction to the second week of the series, when we receive good news, we want to share it. How has the good news of God touched your life?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Activity Guidance – Listening Hand: Week 2

The second week’s activity, “Listening Hand,” invites us to listen and learn as we share five conversations with people who embody the Life of God. How might their stories invite you to express your own?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Let God In : Week 2 | Day 2

It can be hard for others to know what the “good news” of Christ looks like, without a personal story of how God has acted in our lives. Br. John Braught admits that, for him, it is easiest to let God into his life in times of darkness. Thus good news often comes out of bad times.

Q: What difference has having a relationship with God made in your life?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

How can I keep from singing?: Week 2 | Day 3

“Evangelism” has become something of a dirty word in our moment, but it actually just means proclaiming good news. Br. Jim Woodrum reflects on what being an evangelist means to him.

Q: What is God doing in your life? How can you be an evangelist of the Good News?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Stop and See: Week 2 | Day 4

Do you sometimes forget how God has been faithful in your life? Br. Luke Ditewig shares his daily practice of stopping at the end of the day to see where God has been present, so that he can claim and share his good news.

Q: What stones do you carry? What do they mean?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

The Kingdom Within: Week 2 | Day 5

What is the kingdom we are called to proclaim? Br. Nicholas Bartoli reflects on Jesus’ description of the kingdom being “within us” and shares how taking time to rest in stillness can help us to become aware of that kingdom.

Q: What can you let go of to foster “the kingdom within you”?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Choose to Change: Week 2 | Day 6

Mark’s Gospel opens with John the Baptist proclaiming, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Br. Robert L’Esperance explains how the gospel concept of repentance – which literally means having a change of mind – is the essence of the kingdom, because it means that the world does not have to be the way it is. We have the power to change it.

Q: How can you make a difference in your own life, and in the lives of others?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Listening Hand: Week 2 | Day 7

Sitraka Andriam shares how the experience of completing the second week’s “Listening Hand” activity expanded his heart and transformed his life. How might talking with five people who have been Christ for you transform your relationship with them – and yourself?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

People of Love: Week 3 | Day 1

As Christians, we belong to God and to one another. In the second “Mark of Love” we are called to help nurture God’s love with and in one another. As Br. David Vryhof explains, in this introduction to the third week of the series, community is a necessity of Christian life because we are people of love who are called to encourage one another in this new life.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Activity Guidance – Well of Life: Week 3

Br. David Vryhof introduces the third week’s activity, the “Well of Life,” which invites us to pray with and reflect on the Baptismal Covenant throughout our day.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

The Great Commandment: Week 3 | Day 2

Are you familiar with Jesus’ teaching of the “great commandment”: to love God “with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength,” and to “love your neighbor as yourself”? Br. Jonathan Maury hears in these familiar words not an imperative, but an invitation; not something we need to achieve, but something we are called to receive.

Q: How have you experienced God’s love? How does that experience inform how you love others?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Ask the Right Question: Week 3 | Day 3

Jesus constantly asks questions that force people to pause, to reach down within themselves, and to discover their own deepest desires. Br. Keith Nelson encourages us to bring such a questioning approach to our experiences of worship.

Q: How is your experience of worship an expression of God in your life?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Accountability: Week 3 | Day 4

We are called to the continual work of formation in the Christian life, yet it can be easy to drift into complacency. Br. John Braught discusses how the sacraments of the church help ground us in the accountability of true Christian fellowship.

Q: In what ways are you helping form others? In what ways are you being formed?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Baptism of Spirit: Week 3 | Day 5

The second “Mark of Mission” invites us all to share in baptizing new believers. Br. Nicholas Bartoli explores how we can help others share in the “baptism of Spirit,” the inward grace that baptism by water recognizes and remembers.

Q: Who in your life can you help by bringing the baptism of the Spirit to them?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

We Belong to One Another: Week 3 | Day 6

The truth that, in the Christian life we belong to and need one another, is easier to accept with some people than others. Br. Curtis Almquist invites us to the practice of “philonexia,” love of the stranger, for in the Good News of Christ, there are no strangers.

Q: What is the core of the Gospel (“Good News”) for you?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Well of Life: Week 3 | Day 7

Do the promises of the Baptismal Covenant ever feel abstract or distant to you? Patrick Burrows shares how completing the “Well of Life” activity helped him to claim and commit to these promises in his daily life.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Channels of Mission: Week 4 | Day 1

Suffering is a part of the human condition that none of us completely escapes. As Br. David Vryhof explains in this introduction to the fourth week of the series, it is a “Mark” of God’s love operating in our lives when we respond to human need by loving service. First we must seek to see how God is already working in the lives of those in need, and then discover how we can be channels of that mission in the world.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Activity Guidance – God Sighting Map: Week 4

Br. David Vryhof introduces the fourth week’s activity, the “God Sighting Map,” which aims to make us aware of God’s presence and activity in our life, in our surroundings, and in our interactions with others.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Confess the Good: Week 4 | Day 2

What if you were asked to confess…to all the good you’ve done? Br. Mark Brown shares how important it is that we acknowledge all the ways that God’s power is and has been active in our lives.

Q: How are you already responding to human need?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Ministry of Prayer and Intercession: Week 4 | Day 3

How can prayer address human suffering and unjust structures in the world? Br. James Koester shares his own experiences of the power of prayer around the struggles in South Africa and Northern Ireland.

Q: For what place or situation in the world will you devote yourself to pray?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Listen: Week 4 | Day 4

It can be too easy to make assumptions or presumptions about what we or others need. Br. Keith Nelson explores how listening itself can be an act of loving service.

Q: What is the balance between your listening and your speaking?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Being Loved: Week 4 | Day 5

“Love one another as I have loved you,” Jesus said after washing the feet of his disciples. Br. Luke Ditewig notes that love comes out of being loved; it is in allowing our own need to be seen and touched that we can then reach out and touch others’ lives.

Q: Who is “washing your feet”? How are you “washing” others?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Vocation: Week 4 | Day 6

Everywhere we look, we see a world in desperate need of healing. So where do we even begin? Br. Jim Woodrum invites us to consider mission through the lens of “vocation”: what is the unique way in which you are being called to participate in God’s mission?

Q: What is God’s mission in the world? What is your unique way of participating in that mission?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

God Sighting Map: Week 4 | Day 7

Adwoa Lewis-Wilson shares her experience of completing the “God Sighting Map” activity, particularly reflecting on how we first become aware of human needs – especially our own – before we can offer any loving service.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Prophetic Witness: Week 5 | Day 1

In this introduction to the series’ fifth week, on the fourth Mark of Love, Br. David Vryhof explores how the prophetic witness of Christ calls us to recognize and fight for human unity. Christ came to tear down the walls that divide us. How can we continue this mission, challenging unjust structures, working for peace and reconciliation?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Activity Guidance – Icons of Hope: Week 5

Br. David Vryhof introduces the fifth week’s activity, “Icons of Hope,” which invites us to envision God’s Kingdom.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Within Us and Among Us: Week 5 | Day 2

As we cultivate God’s Kingdom within us, we naturally desire to foster God’s Kingdom among us, by selflessly serving others. Br. Nicholas Bartoli explores how each individual’s way of fostering the Kingdom will be responsive to our unique individuality and vocation as a member of Christ’s Body.

Q: What desire do you feel within yourself to change the world for the better?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

The Power of God: Week 5 | Day 3

The Marks of Love are not some check-list we need to get busy on. Br. Mark Brown encourages us, before setting out to “accomplish” the fourth Mark of Love, to reflect on how the power of God has transformed unjust structures of society in the past.

Q: How has the power of God transformed unjust structures of society?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

I’m Only One Person: Week 5 | Day 4

Br. James Koester confesses that to him the fourth Mark of Love is the most daunting. “I’m only one person,” he exclaims. He encourages us to start small, start here, and start now.

Q: What’s the one small thing you can do today to transform unjust structures, to pursue peace and reconciliation, and to challenge violence of every kind?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

I Renounce Them: Week 5 | Day 5

As good as our intentions may be, we can become complicit in the evil we renounced in our baptism. Br. Jonathan Maury encourages us to reflect on how, in our daily life, we might contribute to the evils the fourth Mark of Love names, and to renounce them.

Q: Ask God for help in being aware of the choices you are making which contribute to the suffering of others. What actions could you take to transform that suffering?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Mission Malpractice: Week 5 | Day 6

Just as malpractice exists in medicine, a tragic history of malpractice exists in the Church, where the good intentions of mission have gotten corrupted. Br. Keith Nelson explores how we might do mission in a different way, with a curious, listening, open-hearted approach to others.

Q: Where have you seen a spirit of mission that is respectful and curious? Where have you noticed mission “malpractice”?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Icons of Hope: Week 5 | Day 7

Sarah Hill shares her experience of reflecting on transformation this week with the “Icons of Hope” activity. She honors the witness of strong women who have inspired her, identifying how they embody the gifts God has given them.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

We Are One with Creation: Week 6 | Day 1

In this introduction to the final week of the series, Br. David Vryhof reflects on the fifth Mark of Love, which invites us to participate in God’s work of safeguarding the creation. This mark calls us, first, to appreciate the beauty of the earth and then to commit ourselves to protecting it.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Activity Guidance – Date with Creation: Week 6

Br. David Vyrhof introduces the final week’s activity, a “Date with Creation,” which invites us to visit a beautiful spot in creation and to be fully present in our senses and our gratitude to God for the gift that this place represents.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Everything is Connected: Week 6 | Day 2

Ecology is not about protecting the environment, but about realizing that everything – animate and inanimate – is connected. Br. Robert L’Esperance delves into quantum physics to marvel at our connection to the world and people around us.

Q: Recognizing the fact that we are all part of a web of being, how will one choice that you are making today affect that web?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

The Best Thing We Can Do: Week 6 | Day 3

In the face of the degradation of creation, it is easy and understandable to feel overwhelmed and powerless. Br. John Braught encourages us that God comes to us in our darkest hour and in our greatest need. The best thing that we can do right now, in the face of this situation, is pray.

Q: Have you discounted the power of prayer with regard to the restoration of creation?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Treasure Creation: Week 6 | Day 4

The language we use to talk about something deeply shapes how we relate to that thing. Br. Luke Ditewig encourages us to consider the way our talk about creation might help us treasure creation, not as an object for our own use, but as a subject, created with dignity and love, just as we ourselves are.

Q: How do you really view creation – as “I-it” or as “I-Thou”?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

To God’s Glory: Week 6 | Day 5

The whole of creation is sacramental, pointing us to God. Br. Curtis Almquist suggests how an understanding of panentheism – that everything is in God – can ignite our passion and point us toward something we can do to safeguard the creation, and to God’s glory.

Q: What is it in creation that captures your passion?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

All Ground is Holy Ground: Week 6 | Day 6

Creation is not just sacred, but ongoing, something that God is creating each moment. Br. Nicholas Bartoli ponders along with the words of his favorite hymn, how we are still in Eden, where God is still at work creating. All ground is holy ground.

Q: When did you last recognize creation as “sacred”? How can we foster that sense of awareness?

Watch the video and share your reflections >

Date with Creation: Week 6 | Day 7

Atticus Olivet shares how two separate experiences of this week’s activity, “Date with Creation,” opened him to a deeper appreciation of how the wonders of creation and the natural world can be experienced no matter where we are.

Watch the video and share your reflections >

72 Comments

  1. […] This six-week series invites us to observe and reflect on the ways in which the Divine Life expresses itself in and through us; individually and in our faith communities, as well as in the world around us. Be sure to check out the online site at: http://www.ssje.org/ssje/5marksoflove/ […]

  2. […] This six-week series invites us to observe and reflect on the ways in which the Divine Life expresses itself in and through us; individually and in our faith communities, as well as in the world around us. Be sure to check out the online site at: http://www.ssje.org/ssje/5marksoflove/ […]

  3. Janice Izlar on March 9, 2017 at 19:17

    I am excited to be able to participate.

  4. Elaine Taylor on March 7, 2017 at 11:13

    Looking forward to sharing

  5. Fiona Retief on March 7, 2017 at 03:32

    This looks like a wonderful and practical study.

  6. Joanna Cotter on March 6, 2017 at 20:55

    I am pleased to once again share, ponder, question and reflect on God’s guidance and presence in my life as part of my Lenten journey. Reverend Sue made this series available, and I find the title Five Marks of Love intriguing and inspiring.

  7. Katharine Fleming on March 4, 2017 at 10:55

    I visited the Monastery many years ago, and look forward to receiving the e-mails from the Brothers.

  8. […] The 5 Marks of Love (More information. Sign up form.) […]

  9. Sandy swift on March 3, 2017 at 11:13

    I had the wonderful experience of attending a service with you all and my dear friend father Edmund Harris. He shared with me your website and I am so happy to be making this a part of my Lenten worship and meditation.

  10. […] you using the Lenten Resource 5 Marks of Love led by the Brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE)? If yes, what did you take […]

  11. […] Society of St. John the Evangelist’s Five Marks of Love This six-week series provides the opportunity to observe and to reflect on the ways in which the Divine Life expresses itself in and through us; individually and in our faith communities, as well as in the world around us.  Each week will explore the Anglican Marks of Mission (Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure) through videos, questions and exercises so we can speak more clearly and act truthfully, motivated always by hearts marked by God’s love. More information here […]

  12. Cassandra Winger on March 1, 2017 at 19:07

    I learned about the series through my Rector, I have read three emails and viewed three videos. I am happy that so far the course has been in understandable layman’s terms.
    I was afraid that I it would be like my four years of EFM that took a lot of research to stay on task.
    Thank you for this Lenten study

  13. Elaine Konoski on March 1, 2017 at 17:50

    I am really excited to have this opportunity. I thank you ahead of time

  14. […] the free program, whether individually or in groups.  Sign-up is readily accessible at the series website – just name and email (no user name, password or address needed).  When you sign up, you receive […]

  15. David Cone on March 1, 2017 at 09:07

    Thanks for leading

  16. Nan on March 1, 2017 at 08:24

    I’m ready to have God in my life, every minute.

  17. george spencer on February 28, 2017 at 17:03

    I am looking forward to participate in this six-week series. I recognise that I need to grow deeper in my spiritual life because spirituality is an ongoing process and dynamic. Thank for sharing.
    Fr. George

  18. Sharon Rathbun on February 28, 2017 at 15:02

    I’m looking forward to the 5 Marks of Love Lenten study.

  19. Sherryl on February 28, 2017 at 04:58

    I believe this will help me grow and broaden my spiritual perspective as I continue my journey on this earth.

  20. Nancy on February 27, 2017 at 20:20

    I need this in my life now.

  21. Kathleen Emmons on February 27, 2017 at 08:15

    We are going to utilize this for our prayer Group during Lent.

  22. Joanne Kraycs on February 26, 2017 at 21:36

    Iam looking forward to this as a Lenten study.

  23. Roxanne anthony on February 26, 2017 at 20:26

    I’m quite interested. I’m looking forward to the structure to help focus myself during lent

  24. Roy Port on February 26, 2017 at 19:16

    I’m looking forward to gaining a firm,er foothold in my walk with God

  25. Joan Guerra on February 26, 2017 at 16:01

    Looking forward to the study over the next six weeks.

  26. Ellyn Gałecki on February 26, 2017 at 11:44

    I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to participate. I feel deeply called to serve to serve God. I am hopeful that this Lenten offering will add to my discernment. Thank you.

  27. Leila on February 26, 2017 at 11:34

    I have enjoyed utilizing the resources provided by SSJE for serveral years now. They have assisted me in growing my relationship with God through a disciplined and purposeful approach inspired by love.

  28. Jane Kominiak on February 25, 2017 at 10:49

    Am looking forward to the series.

  29. Rhonda Lawrence on February 24, 2017 at 21:00

    This will be so wonderful to
    partake in. Thanking you for
    this opportunity to have
    our Lord as my constant love and
    guide into righteousness and share his care and love to others.

  30. Robert Bagioni on February 24, 2017 at 18:34

    After using the Rules of Life last year we were eager to participate in this years offering. Parishioners were asking in January if we we planning to participate again this year. We are looking forward to a rewarding Lenten season.

  31. Wayne E. Clark on February 24, 2017 at 12:25

    Looking forward to studying this.

  32. Emmetri Monica Beane on February 23, 2017 at 16:24

    With the climate of the United States being what it is at this time, the 5 Marks of Love are so appropriate. As I put down social media during Lent, I am grateful to the Society of Saint John the Evangelist for giving me the 5 Marks of Love to take up, make my own and share.
    — The Rev. Emmetri Monica Beane
    Deacon
    Little Fork Episcopal Church
    Rixeyville, VA

  33. Allene T. Taylor on February 23, 2017 at 15:20

    Am very grateful to participate in the 5 MARKS OF LOVE. Thank you.

  34. Gary Harvey on February 23, 2017 at 08:03

    I’ll be suggesting this 6 week series become my church men’s group focus for weekly discussion, and spiritual exploration in Lent.

  35. Joan Powers on February 22, 2017 at 22:07

    Looking forward to this. My parish is doing this and that is where I got the information..

  36. Nancy Marcy on February 22, 2017 at 16:53

    My church, The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Kansas City, is using this as a Lenten study. The regular noonday prayer and Bible study will be working through the series. Members & guests may also come to an evening study group. I am looking forward to yet another way to be a part of my church family.

  37. Rev. Wectnick Paul on February 22, 2017 at 11:46

    Thank you very much for the coming series

  38. Douglas Hutto on February 22, 2017 at 06:36

    Thank you for this gift..

  39. Amanda Clemens Tudor on February 22, 2017 at 05:54

    Thank you!

  40. Darlene Thibault on February 21, 2017 at 14:28

    I am very interested in this program. It was suggested by my loving and caring daughter. She was in a very bad place at one time. Suffers from Lyme Disease but finds relief in the writings of the Bible.

  41. Edith Raby on February 20, 2017 at 14:14

    This is so wonderful! My whole church is looking forward to doing the series!

  42. Jim Belmont on February 20, 2017 at 13:13

    I have been following off & on the “daily word”.
    This seems to be to good next step. This is also a wonderful opportunity to learn more how to be ministered to and to minister to others.
    Also thank you for this Lenten gift to learn more of God Love and how one can shre that love with others.
    Thank you,
    Jim Belmont

  43. Michael on February 20, 2017 at 12:53

    Enjoyed last years series very much and I’m looking forward to this year’s series

  44. Helen Bell on February 20, 2017 at 12:53

    I have been struggling to hold on to the Love side of life as I’m been engaged in political battles of late. I pray this series will help me to refocus on Love.

  45. Rev'd John Emlyn Harris-White on February 20, 2017 at 12:01

    Thank you for your thoughtful work, in the tradition of the Cowley Fathers.
    Enabling us all, wherever we are in the Anglican Communion to grow in Grace and Love.

    Fr John West Lothian Scotland

  46. Cliff Langford on February 20, 2017 at 12:00

    This is a fine Lenten study. Can’t wait to start.

  47. Victoria Gelberg on February 20, 2017 at 11:02

    I want you to know how blessed I am to hold the roots of my faith, pulled up from their covering, and then replanted in my soul’s soil. I found your path through the Advent Calendar. So glad to be on this path with you and the One who draws us nearer and deeper into Truth and Grace.

  48. Fr Roger Marsh on February 20, 2017 at 11:00

    I am very much looking forward to receiving this course as I found that of last year very useful.
    I also enjoy being in daily touch with SSJE in the USA as I can no longer have that link here. One day perhaps I shall cross the Pond!
    Many thanks
    Fr Roger

  49. Zara on February 20, 2017 at 08:38

    Looking forward to this as I so enjoyed it last year. Our church will support the program with weekly discussions so we get the best of both I ndividial and group benefits. I will be traveling in Lent but I won’t miss a step! Thank you she.

  50. 2017 Lenten Study – Wind in the Pines on February 18, 2017 at 11:46

    […] join me in this Lenten Study. Sign up with the Brothers to receive a daily email and links to other materials. Let us speak with and listen to each other […]

  51. Mary on February 16, 2017 at 15:36

    Thank you so much for this! On February 19, I am going to be leading an orientation to the 5 Marks of Love for our congregation. I have the books, but can you clarify the timeline of the accompanying videos? Do they begin on February 26? Does the “Tell” section start that day, or is it better saved for the first full week of Lent?

    • Reviewer on February 17, 2017 at 05:58

      The series will start on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, February 26. The videos and activity for the week are intended as a starting point, hopefully setting the table and getting folks in the swing of the rhythm of the series and starting some thoughts and reflections.

      The “Tell” section follows that week, starting with Sunday March 5. The weeks begin on Sundays with an Introduction to the week ahead as well as an overview of the activity for the week. Each Saturday, rather than a brother, a lay person who has done the activity will be presented in a video, sharing their experiences of where the activity led them and what it provoked for them.

      We deliberately design these offerings in such a way that they may be adaptable, and used at any time during the year. So, we do hope that you may use the series on whatever timeframe works best for the group. We know some groups meet once a week and view all of the videos from that week together and discuss. Others meet twice a week and discuss and do the activity together. And others may have each individual in the group follow along on their own during the week and then as a group, they come together and discuss their thoughts, or perhaps they do the week’s activity together.

      There really is no set timeframe required to utilize the series, so adapting it to a schedule that works best for your group should provide everyone with the most rewarding experience.

  52. JConkle on February 15, 2017 at 21:08

    I am looking forward to participating.

  53. St. John's Episcopal Church | Devotions for Lent on February 14, 2017 at 10:10

    […] The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a monastic community of the Episcopal Church, has an online, Lenten resource called “5 Marks of Love”. You can sign up for daily emails when you click here. […]

  54. Mary-Lou Cleveland on February 13, 2017 at 22:31

    Looking forward to this resource as a reflective activity in searching for my best self.

  55. Laura Krustchinsky on February 8, 2017 at 11:33

    I did not do or read the Rule of Life from last year. Do you have them archived where I could read them? I happen to be doing that right now.

    • Reviewer on February 8, 2017 at 13:17

      SSJE is happy to now be able to offer the series to be delivered at anytime. Please complete the brief form on this page: https://ssje.org/ssje/growrule/ to sign up and select the date you would like to start receiving the meditations. Each day, a video meditation with question for reflection will be delivered to your in-box.

  56. Nancy Walter on February 6, 2017 at 20:09

    So looking forward to this!

  57. Brenda Hamilton on February 4, 2017 at 08:07

    I have been joining the Brothers now in these Lenten meditations for 3 years. I find them really helpful to my journey and spiritual discipline. If you are just now finding these, I recommend going to ssje website and finding the archived materials for developing a Rule of Life. They have helped me redefine my worshipping communities and practices as the Church evolves into new forms for the 21st century.

  58. Bafa U. Armon on January 21, 2017 at 01:33

    I’m just getting excitement about the series of articles, books and ministry materials, which will enhance our relationship and ministry activities with others

  59. […] The Marks of Love are not simply a list of tasks to be checked off one after the other; they are signs that our life is rooted and grounded in the Being of God. The Brothers of SSJE will draw on their own monastic spirituality to help us balance action with contemplation, so that our words and deeds proceed from the deepest places of our hearts, where God dwells. The resource encourages us to reflect on how we should live, not what we should do. […]

  60. Pascoal Noronha on January 17, 2017 at 08:49

    I am anxiously awaiting these inputs . God bless u.

  61. Ginger Graves on January 9, 2017 at 09:50

    The last two Lenten series were rich and thoughtful as to affect me all year through. “Time” raised an everlasting awareness in me, and “Growing” my rule of life gave me more clarity on change that was possible. Actually small steps in one view, but hugely important for me (and those around me.)

  62. Dyane Hyer on January 5, 2017 at 19:32

    Thank You, may we all Love God’s Life the sooner 70 x 7 in season & out…
    Dyane Hyer

  63. Jonathan Appleyard on January 4, 2017 at 05:52

    Thank you.

    One of the monastic wisdom series was on Time. I wanted to revisit that teaching and have had difficulty finding access to it on the webpage. Is there a simple way to access it?

    Thank you for your continuing ministry, Jonathan

    • Reviewer on January 4, 2017 at 07:46

      We will be working towards making previous Lenten offerings available for delivery, but for now, we can only do so for the 2016 “Growing A Rule of Life” series. However, all of the videos from the “Time” series can be accessed via this link to the SSJE youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlNCTk6MJbI0hdUHohUNYwtTf2ptRADuU

      Please email friends@ssje.org if you would like either the workbook for the “Time” series, or the Monastic Wisdom booklet, which accompanied the series.

      And for the “Love Life” series, “Praying Our Lives” and “Framework for Freedom” series’ you may use this link to access the videos for those series (keep hitting “Show More” to view the entire list): https://www.youtube.com/user/SSJEOnline/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=1

  64. Fred Klinck on December 22, 2016 at 12:11

    Looking at this as a Lenten study offering at our church

  65. Micheal lenahan on December 14, 2016 at 10:37

    Last years growing a. Rule of life was really great. I’m looking forward to this years offering.

  66. The Rev Sherry Hardwick Thomas on December 1, 2016 at 18:13

    Thank you for enriching Advent for me and for those I touch.

  67. Laine Covington-Goren on November 15, 2016 at 16:12

    Although I am living in Colorado I am very interested in this series. As I get older I realize I need to work harder on recognizing God’s presence my life.

    Thank you for the opportunity.

  68. Virginia Harlan on November 9, 2016 at 11:52

    Sounds like a wonderful opportunity to refocus – to really try loving as the center of living. Probably hard to stick to, but really worth trying.
    Thank you for your many offerings of love.

  69. Jaan Sass on October 20, 2016 at 18:18

    I am definitely interested this sounds like it will be a great series I am working through Growing a rule of life late I might add but I have found it rewarding and helpful.

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