Praying the Sunday Mass Readings with St Beuno’s Outreach

St Beuno’s Outreach is based in St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre in the hills of North Wales, in the Diocese of Wrexham. The Outreach began in 1989, with the idea of helping people develop and maintain a personal relationship with God through Christ by praying the Word of God in the Sunday liturgy. From a prayerful awareness of the Spirit working in and through us will come a sense of mission, a desire to join Christ in his mission.

How to pray with Scripture - from St Beuno's Outreach
It is usually most helpful when entering into a formal period of prayer to spend some time quietening down and centring on God. The following indications, known as “Anchor Points” have been found to provide a good framework for your prayer. Particularly important after coming to some inner quiet is the slow entry and slow exit from prayer.

FOUR ANCHOR POINTS

  1. PREPARATION

Choose your place of prayer. Make yourself comfortable, you may like to light a candle. Get in touch with your feelings: What is my frame of mind? What do I want to say to the Lord; what do I desire?

  1. ENTRY INTO PRAYER

Become quiet and still. Relax. Try to put aside any distractions. Choose a passage of scripture. Make the sign of the cross, visibly or in your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your prayer. Read your chosen text slowly several times. Notice what comforts or disturbs you.

  1. SLOW EXIT FROM PRAYER

Speak to the Lord in your own words about this time of prayer, what has it meant to you. Perhaps finish with the Glory be to the Father or a favourite prayer of your own. Make a sign of the cross, internal or external. Leave your place of prayer, thanking God for the time he has spent with you.

  1. REFLECTION AFTER PRAYER

Ask for whatever grace you need to respond to our Lord, “with my whole heart, my whole soul, my whole mind”. If possible, do this in a different place. Recall the prayer period: Was it good to be at prayer?  Did you learn something; maybe feel that the Lord was asking something of you? Notice how you are feeling now. You may find it helpful to jot down your thoughts in a notebook.

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 14th June 2026

He bore them on eagles’ wings. He had compassion for them.

In this week’s readings, two images stand out to give us an idea of the relationship of the Lord with his people; with us.

The first reminds us that God carried the people of Israel ‘on eagles’ wings’. If they keep his covenant, they will become a holy nation. (First Reading)

The second, in Matthew’s Gospel, is the compassion of Jesus for his people. Feeling sorry for them, he calls his twelve disciples and gives them authority to heal and support them in their helplessness. 

When we fully realise the extent of this compassion, we may want to cry out and sing with joy, like the Psalmist.

However, as the people failed to obey the Lord’s voice, God shows yet again his merciful love through the death of his Son for them; for us. (Second Reading)

This week, then, we might like to focus our prayer especially on those people in the world who feel harassed and helpless, trusting that the Lord will look after them.

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