Category: Prayer

Being Courageous

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 09/08/2026

Photo by Giulia Veneziano on unsplash.com

There’s a resonance between the story of Elijah in the first reading and of disciples on the stormy lake in the gospel. They are a call to focus our whole attention on God without allowing ourselves to be distracted by the inevitable storms of life.

Elijah waits attentively in his cave through mighty winds, earthquakes and fire, until he discovers the presence of God in the quiet of a gentle breeze. On the storm tossed lake Jesus invites Peter to walk across the water towards him.

While Peter focuses his whole attention on Jesus everything is fine, but as soon as he is distracted by the force of the wind he begins to sink. As Jesus walked across the water to his disciples he calls out:

“Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”

Both the story of Elijah and of the storm tossed disciples require courage and trust. It takes courage to sit out the storms of life, not letting them blow us off course. It takes trust and faith to keep ourselves focused on Christ when life is challenging, uncertain and frightening.

We live in stormy & uncertain times. In the midst of those Christ calls to us not to be fearful, but to focus on his presence with us. As Julian of Norwich tells us that presence will not remove us from those storms, but it will prevent them from overcoming us.

Where do you need the courage to stay focused on Christ’s presence in your life today?

Tags #attentiveness, #Benedictine, #calmingthestorm, #challenge, #courage, #Elijah, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #listening, #love, #newlife, #Peter, #SheerSilence, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture

Change and Growth

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 05/08/2026

Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash

Today’s gospel is an uncomfortable read. Jesus encounter with the Canaanite woman highlights racial tensions between two groups of people who have been at enmity for some time. When the Canaanite woman, stepping out of her comfort zone, asks for help Jesus initially ignores her. Then, when his disciples compel him to respond he brushes her aside saying:

‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’

This is not the sort of response we might expect the Jesus we know as open, loving and accepting of all people. As he is pressed by the women who continues to plead for her daughter his response becomes more negative:

‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’

It almost seems that he is confirming the prejudices of his own people rather than challenging them. The Canaanite woman is courageous or desperate enough to challenge his response saying:

“Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.”

Her persistence & courage touch Jesus’ heart changing his mind and his view of his mission. He moves from seeing this woman as a stranger, and outsider to valuing her as he does his own people:

“Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.”

In these divisive times this gospel challenges us and offers us hope. It challenges us to look again at those we perceive as “other”, actively seek ways of reaching out to welcome them and learn about them. The change we observe in Jesus offers us the hope that encounters across cultures and races can change our minds and expand our hearts with love.

Where is Christ challenging you to allow your mind to be changed today?

Tags #Benedictine, #CanaaniteWoman, #challenge, #change, #Christ, #Christlike, #courage, #Discipleship, #faith, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Lectio Divina Prayer Resurrection Saints Scripture

St Mary Magdalene

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 22/07/2026

Photo by Gary Yost on Unsplash

Today we are celebrating the feast of St Mary Magdalene, one of the first witnesses to the resurrection, who was sent to tell the disciples that Christ had risen. It’s sometimes easier to say who she wasn’t than who she actually was.

Despite being portrayed through the centuries as the archetypal penitent woman, she’s not the woman taken in adultery. Nor is she the woman who poured oil on the feet of Jesus, anointing him for his burial.

Jesus cast out seven devils from her. So she is a woman marked by the pain of severe mental anguish. It may have been crushing anxiety, debilitating fear, depression or a myriad of other conditions that sap the joy and hope out of life.

Freed of her demons she follows Jesus, supporting him and the other disciples from her own resources. She stayed with him until the very end, standing at the cross with the other women when the rest of the disciples fled. She follows him, even after death, to see where his body has been laid.

Even when he is laid in the tomb her desire to be close to him draws her back to his tomb in the dark of the early morning. It is there, as she stands weeping, that the risen Christ appears to her, and commissions her to proclaim the good news of his resurrection to the other disciples, telling them:

“I have seen the Lord…”

Where is Christ inviting you to seek and proclaim his presence in your life?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Disciples, #Discipleship, #easter, #faithfulness, #GoodNews, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #resurrection, #StMaryMagdalene, #trust

Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Rule of St Benedict Scripture Uncategorized

In the secret of our hearts

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 17/06/2026

Photo by Jon Tyson on unsplash.com

In today’s gospel Jesus warns us against seeking attention and admiration for our faith and our good deeds. It’s a message that very much goes against the wisdom of age, which encourages us to seek notice and attention in every situation. It’s a call to live humbly. Humility is essential in Benedictine spirituality.

It’s not easy, it requires self-knowledge, self-awareness, self acceptance and self-love. It calls us both to accept our limitations and our giftedness, to acknowledge that we are both made of dust and the beloved children of God. As I reflected on this I was touched by these words from the gospel:

“When you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.”

It seems to me that Jesus shows us the best way to learn to live humbly. He calls us to come alone into God’s presence, to spend time in a quiet, private, intimate space with God. It’s not an easy or comfortable place to be. Like the desert, it can be a place where we both wrestle demons and discover angels.

Entering that private place where God is we can come to acknowledge our weakness and our failings, learning to accept them lovingly as God does. We can discover the precious gifts that God has given us and discern how best to use them in the service of others. The secret place where we encounter God is a place of challenge, it is also a place of consolation, healing and encouragement.

How do you draw strength from your times alone in God’s presence?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christlike, #discernment, #Discipleship, #Gift, #gospel, #Hope, #humility, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #prayer, #secret, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Communion Corpus Christi Eucharist Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture

United in love.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 07/06/2026

Photo by Considerate Agency on unsplash.com

Corpus Christi being celebrated on two different days gives me another opportunity to revisit its rich readings.

“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

His words are full of hope, speaking to the unity we all desire. It’s a unity that has two dimensions. There is the personal union with Christ that we are all called to, but desirable as that is it is not enough. So alongside that there is a call to unity with our sisters and brothers.

The call to follow Christ, while it is deeply personal, is not individual. It’s a call to community. As Benedict reminds us we go to Christ “altogether”.

In a world where we are all too aware of our disagreements and divisions, both in society and in the church,St Paul’s words can seem impossibly idealistic. When we look at the divisions between our churches his vision can seem like an unachievable dream.

With this in mind I turned to the readings for the 10 Sunday of ordinary time. I found that they laid out a pathway to the unity St Paul speaks of. In the first reading the Prophet Hosea reminds the people that God calls them to be people of love:

“What I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.”

This gives me a deeper understanding the unity at the heart of Corpus Christi. It is first a call to build a community of love that is inclusive and welcoming to all who seek God.

As we celebrate Corpus Christi how are you being called to help build the church into a community of love?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Church, #Communion, #community, #CorpusChristi, #gospel, #Hope, #Hosea, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #trust, #unity

Ascension Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Eastertide Holy Spirit Lectio Divina Pentecost Prayer Prophetic voices Resurrection Scripture Uncategorized

The abundant generosity of the Holy Spirit.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 24/05/2026

Image ©Turvey Abbey

ABUNDANCE

My final Eastertide word is ABUNDANCE. All of Eastertide expresses the overflowing abundance of God’s love for us. That’s especially true as we celebrate the ABUNDANCE of gifts the Holy Spirit showers on us at Pentecost.

This comes to mind when I reflect on our Pentecost tapestry and how it highlights the themes of the feast, listing our hopes for the coming of the Spirit into our lives:

“Come, cleanse, renew, heal, guide, fill, strengthen.”

I often find myself thinking that it seems a little bit crowded. The words seem to be jostling for space, almost overflowing the narrow hanging. This thought was in my mind as I read the first reading from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. He tells us:

“There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them.”

In the light of his words I it seems hardly surprising that the words on the tapestry seem to burst out of the available space. Pentecost is a feast overflowing with a generosity and energy that are impossible to contain. The variety of gifts God pours out at Pentecost cannot be contained.

They overflow, just like the words on our tapestry, insisting that we use them in all sorts of different ways to help, support and nurture the people of our times.

Just as the disciples were compelled to reach out to the world by wind and fire the Spirit demands that we burst out of whatever upper room imprisons us to share her gifts generously with our needy world.

What gift of the Spirit do you want to overflow in your heart this Pentecost?

Tags #Abundance, #Benedictine, #challenge, #eastertide, #Eastertide2026, #EastertideLexicon, #GiftsOfTheSpirit, #gospel, #HolySpirit, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #Pentecost, #trust

Ascension Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Resurrection Scripture

Coming to know Christ

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 21/05/2026

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez unsplash.com

KNOW

Today’s Eastertide word is KNOW.

The farewell discourse in John’s gospel are full of riches as Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure he seems he does everything he can to make himself known to them in the fullest possible way:

“I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.”

His words remind me that we our Christian call is to an intimate relationship with Christ. We are called to get to know him as well as we would know our best friends.

To do that we have to spend time with him, listening to his teaching, watching his actions, learning what matters most to him.

It’s not only are called to come to know Christ. The call to friendship is never one way so it’s also a call to allow Christ to know as. Christ opens himself to us in the Gospels, showing himself as he truly is.

He calls us to open ourselves to him in the same way, allowing him to see us truly are. It’s a beautiful idea, one that really touches our hearts and the depth of our longing. Yet the reality is it can be quite hard to be open ourselves to the love and friendship that Christ offers.

The knocks and bumps of daily life very quickly overshadow that longing. Our relationships and their experiences leave us wounded and hurt. Often we feel frustrated, isolated and unloved. It’s so tempting to give into those feelings and then it becomes very hard to allow ourselves to be known by Christ.

How is Christ inviting you to get to know him this Eastertide?

Tags #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #eastertide, #Eastertide2026, #friendship, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #Know, #known, #lectiodivina, #listen, #love, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Resurrection Scripture

Remembering…

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 09/05/2026

Photo Vitaly Gariev on unsplash.com

REMEMBER

Today gospel is full of challenge. Jesus reminds us disciples that they will face persecution because of him. It’s a dark gospel for Eastertide which we think on as a time of joy and celebration.

While that is true it doesn’t wipe out the suffering that makes up any life. So today my Eastertide word is REMEMBER. Jesus tells his disciples:

“Remember the words I said to you…”

He reminds them that they can draw comfort, support and strength for the sufferings they face from his teaching. He knows that they won’t remember everything, even from their own intimate experiences with him.

He makes allowances for that. He tells them elsewhere in John’s gospel that the Holy Spirit will come and “remind” them of all he has taught him. His words remind me of the importance of memory for our faith journey.

It’s important for us as a Christian community to remember all that God has worked in the life of the church, even when the church has been broken and sinful.

t’s important each of us to remember where we have known the presence of God and the working of the spirit in our own lives, even when those lives have been full of struggle and pain.

Eastertide calls us to actively remind ourselves of the times when we’ve been aware of Christ’s presence so that we can draw strength from them to face the hardships of these challenging times we’re living through.

What is the Risen Christ inviting you to remember this Eastertide?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christlike, #eastertide, #Eastertide2026, #gospel, #HolySpirit, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #Remember, #resurrection, #RisenChrist, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Eastertide Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Resurrection Rule of St Benedict Scripture

An Eastertide Vocabulary.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 13/04/2026

Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on unsplash.com

One of the most helpful books I’ve read is “Amazing Grace, a vocabulary of faith.” By Kathleen Norris. She describes it as “an exploration and record of some of the words in the Christian lexicon that most trouble and attract me.”

The book reminded me of an important Benedictine principle, that words matter. They shape us, form us, challenge us and help us grow.

Last year I made a Lent lexicon. This year I’m aiming to make an Eastertide one. I’ve chosen words that attract and sometimes scare me. They also both shape and challenge my experience of Eastertide.

I’m including words that are particularly connected to Eastertide, and words that, though they’re connected to other seasons might have a different resonance in this Eastertide.

Tags #Benedictine, #BenedictineSpirituality, #challenge, #eastertide, #Eastertide2026, #EastertideLexicon, #gospel, #Grace, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #resurrection, #trust, #Vocabulary

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Divine Office Holy Saturday Holy Week Lectio Divina Lent Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture

In The Emptiness

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 04/04/2026

Photo by Anton Maksimov on unsplash.com

After the high drama of Good Friday people often talk of Holy Saturday as a “tomb day”, a time to sit with the emptiness that follows death, to allow the events of Good Friday to sink in. I recognise the yearning for that and its wisdom. Yet, it’s not an experience I recognise from monastic life.

In practice, for many of us Holy Saturday is very much a hybrid day, we are aware of its emptiness, the mourning and the uncertainty. We also have to acknowledge that the Easter vigil is fast approaching and that Easter liturgies and treats do not plan themselves. So it is also a day of preparation and anticipation that can be very busy.

As we move through this hybrid day I’m reflecting on these words from the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah from this morning’s Office of Readings:

“The favours of the Lord are not all past, nor his kindnesses exhausted; every morning they are renewed: great is his faithfulness. My portion is with the Lord says my soul, and so I will hope in him.”

Even in the midst of his lamentation Jeremiah is able to acknowledge the kindness and faithfulness of God, and to put his hope in that. His words speak to me of the hybrid reality of the day. It seems to me that the emptiness of Holy Saturday calls us to imitate God’s kindness to others as we get on with the many preparations for Easter, and to ourselves as we seek small moments of quiet during the day.

In the emptiness of Holy Saturday where are you aware of the Lord renewing your capacity for kindness?

Tags #challenge, #DivineOffice, #emptiness, #faithfulness, #HolySaturday, #HolyWeek, #Hope, #Jeremiah, #kindness, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #Lamentations, #lectiodivina, #Lent, #love, #Triduum, #trust