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.

Pentecost Sunday, Year A, 24th May 2026

The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Spirit of God dwelling within us, alleluia!

On this great celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit, today’s readings tell of the gifts of consolation and peace, and of the commissioning of the disciples.

The First Reading describes how the Holy Spirit arrives as tongues of fire, with the gift of communication.

The Psalm implores the Lord to send his Spirit for the renewal of the whole earth.

St Paul, writing to the church at Corinth (Second Reading), focuses on the unity of the Spirit through a diversity of gifts.

 Finally, St John (Gospel) recalls the appearance of the Risen Christ to the disciples in the Upper Room. Christ’s gift of consoling peace empowers them for mission.

Let us pray, this week, that we, like them, might receive what the Lord wants to give us and so respond in like manner.

Prego Pentecost Year A (2026)Download
Prego Plus Pentecost Year A (2026)Download

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