DESERT The Lord will always guide you, giving you relief in DESERT places. He will give strength to your bones and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never run dry. Lent invites us into the desert and the Exodus experience of the Israelites. I hear in Isaiah’s …
Category Archives: Monastic
Lent Alphabet (C)
COMPASSION Now, now- it is the Lord who speaks- come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again for he is all tenderness and COMPASSION, slow to anger, rich in graciousness and ready to relent. Each of …
Lent Alphabet (B)
BELOVEDAnd a voice came from heaven,‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’ The Lent Lectionary pairs Mark’s account of the Transfiguration with the poignant story of Abraham and Isaac climbing Mt Moriah and preparing for sacrifice. Both Jesus and Isaac are beloved, only sons, both are following the path marked out …
Lent Alphabet (A)
ALMSGIVING But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your ALMSGIVING must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. Lent begins in a potentially re-assuring place by offering us the three ancient spiritual tools of prayer, fasting and …
A Lent Alphabet
I’ll be posting reflections each weekday in Lent. I have chosen key themes from the Liturgy of the Word.
Feast of the Holy Family
There are a myriad of biblical threads which could be traced in today’s Liturgy of the Word: blessing, promise, mutual obedience in family life, faithfulness to the Law, joy and sorrow. Add to that the opening Collect and the other prayers of the Mass and the picture which emerges is something a little more complicated …
Advent Alphabet (Z)
We have journeyed throughout Advent with the people of Israel. We have followed their joys and sorrows. With them we have held fast to the promise that out of desolation God will bring hope and joy. We have attuned our ears to God’s word. We have listened to words of comfort and of challenge. In …
Advent Alphabet (Y)
YOUNG MEN This Scripture verse always takes me back to my early 20s and memories of the combinations of things that I just took in my stride. Suddenly falling exhausted was quite a rarity. It’s an entirely different matter now. The context for Isaiah’s words is the promised return from Exile in Babylon, a theme …
Advent Alphabet (X)
CHRISTΧρίστος ‘This is how Jesus CHRIST came to be born.’ Matthew begins his gospel with a lengthy genealogy which requires great concentration, whether you are listening to it or reading it aloud. It’s not unlike having a complicated story plot explained or trying to work out how you are related to a distant relative. The …
Advent Alphabet (W)
WILDERNESS Let the WILDERNESS and the dry-lands exult,let the wasteland rejoice and bloom,let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil,let it rejoice and sing for joy. Over the years I have had a number of friends from missionary Religious Orders. One of them in particular brought this passage of Isaiah alive by talking about the …