{"id":3993,"date":"2025-05-31T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/?p=3993"},"modified":"2025-05-30T13:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T13:15:11","slug":"in-the-joy-of-gods-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/2025\/05\/31\/in-the-joy-of-gods-presence\/benedictine-spirituality\/3993\/","title":{"rendered":"In the joy of God&#8217;s presence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/hd-wallpaper-4184594_1920-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3998\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/hd-wallpaper-4184594_1920-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/hd-wallpaper-4184594_1920-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/hd-wallpaper-4184594_1920-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/hd-wallpaper-4184594_1920-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/hd-wallpaper-4184594_1920-1200x799.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/hd-wallpaper-4184594_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image by suju-foto from Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Some thoughts from the archives for the feast of the Visitation. As we celebrate this lovely feast I\u2019m being drawn to these words from the prophet Zephaniah:<br><br><em>\u201cThe Lord your God is in your midst\u2026 He will exalt with joy over you, he will renew you by his love, he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival.\u201d<\/em><br><br>I was a little surprised that these were the words that drew me. The quickest of glances at the daily news brings a sharp reminder that whatever direction we look in there is little to inspire joy or hope. So I turned to the gospel. The beautiful encounter of Elizabeth and Mary as they delighted in the discovery of God\u2019s presence deep within them echoed Zephaniah\u2019s words.<br><br>Their joy and delight were real and transforming, yet that did not mean their circumstances were easy, comfortable or safe. They both knew suffering, individually and as part of a persecuted community. They both had lives that could be precarious, uncertain and even dangerous. Yet, they could still recognise and respond to the transforming, renewing love of God.<br><br>It seems to me that to respond to God\u2019s love in uncertain times is both an act of courage and of faith. Even if we can\u2019t feel it, or see it, God\u2019s love is with us, renewing us whatever we face. Even when joy and hope seem impossible God rejoices in each one of us.<br><br>Where is God asking you to allow yourself to be renewed by God\u2019s love today?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some thoughts from the archives for the feast of the Visitation. As we celebrate this lovely feast I\u2019m being drawn to these words from the prophet Zephaniah: \u201cThe Lord your God is in your midst\u2026 He will exalt with joy over you, he will renew you by his love, he will dance with shouts of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,494,461,359,239,271,537,362,246,385],"tags":[28,18,241,176,6,8,130,33,229,13,29,175,15,109,10,174,386],"class_list":["post-3993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-benedictine-spirituality","category-christ","category-divine-office","category-eastertide","category-gospel","category-lectio-divina","category-liturgy","category-resurrection","category-scripture","category-visitation","tag-benedictine","tag-challenge","tag-delight","tag-elizabeth","tag-gospel","tag-hope","tag-joy","tag-kingdom","tag-kingdomvalues","tag-lectiodivina","tag-love","tag-mary","tag-newlife","tag-rejoice","tag-trust","tag-visitation","tag-zephaniah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3993"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3999,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3993\/revisions\/3999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}