Resource theme: Encountering God
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The Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 23)
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Opening Prayer Faithful God we give you thanks that you promise to be with us and that with you we are never alone. Help us to be faithful in our discipleship and that our lives would echo to the reality of your presence in the world as we meet and engage with others. Amen. Exegesis A…
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Gathering Prayers
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Come to me all who are tired Come to me all who are excluded Come to me all who are overwhelmed Come to me all who are worried Come to me all who are busy Come to me all who are alone Come to me all who are angy Come to me all who are…
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Preparing for God’s Presence
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Bible Passage With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my…
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Preparing to Seek God
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Bible Passage I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. – Psalm 121:1-2 Reflection Working in universities means I spend much of my working time in cities. On an ordinary morning I have to go through Manchester to get into…
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The Kingdom of God
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Bible Passage The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. Mark 1:15 Reflection In my experience, when Christians share the ‘good news’ they almost never talk about the Kingdom. We ignore the first part of Christ’s message at the start of Mark’s gospel, which…
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The Tower of Babel (1: Genesis 11.1-9)
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Opening Prayer O God, for the beauty and frustrations of the multitudes of language and the variety of your creation we give you thanks. Grant us the courage to live with uncertainty and the honesty to admit when we don’t understand each other. Amen. Exegesis The story of Babel is likely a myth, but like many myths,…
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The Daily Examen
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The Examen is part of Ignatian spiritual practice and was the prayer that St. Ignatius asked those in his order to prioritise; once at noon and once in the evening. How to pray the Examen. Become aware of God’s presence. Ask God to bring clarity and understanding as you begin to review your day. Review the day…
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Meditation – some basics
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There is a fine line between prayer and meditation. Some say that prayer is a conversation with God, and meditation is us listening to God. But these delineations don’t always hold. Some meditations can feel like a deep unspoken conversation, and some prayers feel more like listening. The practices below might better be described as…
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Lectio Divina
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If you’ve ever visited a Benedictine monastery, you might have heard about the monastic practice of lectio divina. This practice, which literally translates as divine reading, is by no means exclusive to monastic communities. Many individuals and groups find it a useful way of praying with scripture. It provides a slow, contemplative way of meditating on…
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