Category: Prayer

Called to pray

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 07/10/2026

Photo by Michael Heuss on Unsplash

In today’s gospel the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray:

“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

When they discover him praying they recognise something of value, something they want and feel that the lack. I guess they felt something similar when they heard from John’s disciples about how he taught them to pray. I’m always touched by this scene.

It’s tempting to think that as the disciples were always with Jesus prayer came easily and naturally to them. This interaction shows us they struggled to pray, just as we do. I find that both consoling and encouraging.

Even knowing the value of a regular practice of prayer we ignore the promptings of our heart to take time for prayer. There are a myriad of reasons why prayer can be left at the bottom of our “to do” list.

It might be that we are too busy, or that we think we will pray when all our other jobs are done, or when we are less tired… But I am inclined to think there is a deeper reason for our reluctance.

Prayers’ fruits are often hidden or unrecognisable. In a society that values achievement that can make prayer feel pointless. Alongside that we live in times that expect us to be in control of every aspect of our lives.

Prayer is a call to the very opposite of this. It involves letting go of all control. It calls us to let Christ lead us in challenging and unexpected paths.

Where is Christ challenging you to make prayer a daily practice in your life?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Disciples, #Discipleship, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #Practice, #prayer, #Prayerful, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Prophetic voices Saints Scripture

Minds filled with Christ

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 04/10/2026

Photo by Toni Reed on Unsplash

Writing to the Philippians in times of full of challenge and uncertainty Paul offers a message of hope, saying to them:

“There is no need to worry, but if there is anything you need, pray for it…and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”

In a world that is growing ever more fragmented and violent his words have a new rfesonance for us. In the face of the news we hear daily it’s tempting to let ourselves spiral down into despair and hopelessness.

St Paul invites us to find another way, reminding us that even when we feel powerless we can still make choices that can be life changing. Echoing Deuteronomy’s call to “choose life” Paul tell the Philippians to deliberately choose to fill their minds with what will keep them focussed on Christ and his peace:

“Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise.”

We have so much choice it can be overwhelming. This can encourage us to choose mindlessly, without reflecting on the consequences for ourselves or for others. That is not good enough for Paul. He calls us to examine our choices, to make them mindfully and prayerfully.

He reminds us that our choices have a real effect on our lives and the lives of others. He tells us that part of our Christian calling is to be discerning about our choices.

We are called to choose to hope when life feels hopeless, to give the benefit of the doubt to others, to trust and focus on the peace of Christ so that we can share it wherever we can.

Where is Christ calling you to focus on his peace today?

Tags #Attention, #attentiveness, #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Deuteronomy, #Good, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #Philippians, #Scripture, #StPaul, #true, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Prophetic voices Saints Scripture St Therese of Lisieux Uncategorized

The power of love.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 01/10/2026

Photo by Berkan Küçükgül on unsplash.com

Today we are celebrating the feast of St Therese of Lisieux. She entered Carmel at 15 and died at 24. Once she entered Carmel she never left, she built no career, had no wealth and little influence. Even after her death, when her saintliness is recognised, she is often presented with an overlay of sentimentality and sweetness.

Her spirituality is often called “a little way” and that can make it tempting to dismiss her. In these challenging times we might be tempted to look for a saint who is more obviously heroic than this young woman. To do that would be to greatly undervalue St Therese’s message

Saint Therese was a woman of faith, courage, wisdom and discernment. Her little way takes us to the heart of the gospel. In a time when the church placed little value on love she was courageous in putting it at the heart of Christian life. Reflecting on St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians she writes:

“Love, in fact is the vocation which includes all others; it is a universe of its own, comprising all time and space – its eternal… My vocation is love… I had discovered where it is that I belong in the Church, the niche God has appointed for me. To be nothing else than love… That’s to be everything at once.”

She was able to see the one thing that she could do that had the power to change the world, one small act at a time. In these times when we are overwhelmed by the suffering we see in every area she offers us a way of making a difference. By choosing to show love in a world that often feels hateful our actions can affect real and lasting change.

Where are you being called to put love at the heart of your life today?

Tags #Benedictine, #CarmeliteSpirituality, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #disciple, #Discipleship, #DoctorOfTheChurch, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #LittleWay, #newlife, #StTherseOfLisieux, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Scripture Uncategorized

Radical Trust

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 23/09/2026

Photo by Galen Crout on Unsplash

It can be hard to feel hopeful when life is tough. In challenging and uncertain times we tend to tense up and close in on ourselves. We find it hard to be hopeful, trustful or aware of our blessings. We look for ways of maintaining the status quo, and keeping ourselves safe Understandable as that is Scripture calls us to a different way of being.

In his own challenging and uncertain times Jesus sends the Twelve out to preach the Good News with nothing except his authority. Instead of allowing them to look for ways to protect themselves he challenges them to risk embracing the uncertainty:

“He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to take sandals, but he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.’”

We are so familiar with this passage that it’s easy to sanitise it. We can assume it’s for the disciples, but not for us today. We can allow the challenges of our lives today to overshadow that call, using those legitimate demands to avoid it.

We are also called to the radical trust and hope of discipleship. That can be easier when life is good, when our nations and societies seem stable and secure.

It becomes much more difficult when we live with fear and uncertainty across the globe. Yet, while the details might look different to the instructions to the Twelve, the underlying call is the same.

We too are called to live with radical trust and hope in the midst of much that would undermine that.

Where are you being called to radical trust in Christ in your life today?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Disciples, #Discipleship, #Follower, #GoodNews, #gospel, #Hope, #journey, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #proclaim, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture Uncategorized

Fairness and generosity.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 20/09/2026

Vindemia Winery

Some thoughts on fairness and generosity from our archives: Today’s gospel is all about fairness and generosity. At the beginning of the day a landowner goes out to hire workers for his vineyard, offering them a fair price for the day’s work.

He goes out again several times later in the day, right up to the 11th hour, and still finding idle workers sends them to his vineyard offering them “a fair wage”.

At the end of the day he tells his bailiff to pay all the workers the same amount, starting with the ones who came last. This causes some consternation to those who have been working all day, and they grumble that it’s not fair as they have worked longer and should receive more.

They evoke our sympathy because we all know what it feels like to be treated unfairly. Yet, the vineyard owner takes a different view, saying to them:

“My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius?… Why be envious because I am generous?

His words turn the situation on its head, challenging his workers, and us, to look at it from a different perspective. He calls us to look at our motivations and to acknowledge that there can be a thin line between our desire for fairness and envy.

His generous action points out that generosity is a hallmark of the Kingdom. It compels us to reflect on where we can be generous towards those around us with both our material goods and our time.

Where is Christ calling you to act generously today?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christlike, #Discipleship, #Fairness, #generosity, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #LandOwner, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #trust, #VineYard, #Workers

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Rule of St Benedict Scripture

People of forgiveness.

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 13/09/2026

Photo by Gus Moretta on unsplash.com

This Sunday’s gospel calls us to be reflect on forgiveness, one of the most challenging and most necessary parts of life. We know that our relationships with one another are often broken.

Whatever our best intentions we end up wounding each other in a myriad of ways throughout the day. This leaves us with a real interest in Peter’s question about the limits of forgiveness.

If we’re honest, like Peter, we’d like a limit put on that forgiveness. We’d like to know there’s a point at which we can close the door on a troublesome situation. But Jesus’ response extends the limits of forgiveness, saying:

“‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.”

He goes on to tell the story of the unjust servant. The story very directly highlights the way we might subvert the challenging work of forgiveness. Having been forgiven does not incline the servant to be forgiving himself, just the opposite.

Jesus uses the story to remind us that we have been forgiven by God, freely and lovingly. He then calls us to learn to forgive others as God forgives us, from the depths of our hearts. Our forgiveness is to come with with openness, love and a willingness to give the benefit of the doubt:

“Forgive your sister or brother from your heart.”

He invites & challenges us to recreate our relationships in ways that reflect the love and compassion that God lavishes on us. This is one of the hardest things we’re called to, which is why St Benedict reminds us to be quick to ask for forgiveness.

Where is Christ calling you let acknowledge your need to be forgiven and to forgive others?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #disciple, #Discipleship, #forgive, #forgiveness, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newlife, #StPeter, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Scripture

Time for prayer

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 02/09/2026

Kenneth Ntende on Unsplash.com

Today’s gospel is all about service. Leaving the synagogue Jesus goes immediately to Simon’s house where he cures Simon’s mother-in-law. Immediately she gets up and begins to serve them.

The evening sees Jesus serving again, as crowds of people come to him seeking healing. It must have been a long and tiring day, and all of us know that feeling. The next morning Luke tells us:

“When daylight came, he got up and left the house and made his way to a lonely place.”

We read this as a break in the pattern of service, Jesus taking time out to pray in order to return to serving refreshed and renewed. On one level that is is true, but the Gospels often have many layers of truth. On another level Jesus’ act of taking time to be alone in God’s presence is also an act of service.

It is an act of self-care which allows him to draw all that he needs to carry on from God. It’s also an act of service to others, a reminder that part of what it is to be human is to need time to rest and recharge.

When the needs of the people we serve seem to be overwhelming we can feel pressured to keep going regardless of our own needs. Jesus doesn’t wait until every need is met, every person healed, every situation resolved before he takes the time he needs. He doesn’t expect us to do that either there is both an invitation and a challenge in that.

Where is Jesus inviting you to take time to pray in the midst of serving others?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christ, #Christlike, #Discipleship, #gospel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #LonelyPlace, #love, #newlife, #prayer, #rest, #service, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Cross Discernment Divine Office Lectio Divina Liturgy Monastic Life Prayer Prophetic voices Rule of St Benedict Saints Scripture

With softened hearts

Post author By Sr Judith
Post date 19/08/2026

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on unsplash.com

In challenging times such as ours it can be helpful to look to our Christian past for role models whose example can give us courage and hope. St Bernard Tolomei, the founder of the Olivetan congregation, whose feast we celebrate today is one of those. He was a 13th century lawyer who, with a few friends, left the city to live as hermits in the hills outside of Siena.

13th century Siena could be a violent and dangerous place. Bernard and his companions may have been glad to leave all that behind as they chose a radical form of contemplative life. But choosing the contemplative life is an act of love, not an escape from the challenges of living with others. This was summed up this morning at Lauds:

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

That call of Love leads us into desert places to spend time alone with God. It can also, as Bernard and his companions found out, lead us back into the midst of the bustle of society with all its challenges.

When plague struck Siena in 1349 the Love that called Bernard and his companions into the desert called them back to nurse the victims of the plague. It was there that Bernard fell victim to the plague himself and died.

His life suggests that it’s our time spent with God that enables and sustains our service to others. It is the love we discover in the heart of God that softens our stony hearts and enables us to love our sisters and brothers.

How is God softening your heart towards your neighbour today?

Tags #Benedictine, #challenge, #Christlike, #ContemplativeLife, #courage, #Discipleship, #Ezekiel, #Hope, #kingdom, #KingdomValues, #lectiodivina, #love, #newheart, #service, #StBernardTolomei, #Transformation, #trust

Benedictine Spirituality Christ Discernment Gospel Lectio Divina Prayer Prophetic voices Scripture Uncategorized

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