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.

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 30th August 2026

‘Let them take up their cross and follow me’

Today’s readings remind us that whilst we may find ourselves caught between the values of God’s kingdom and those of the world around us, we will always have the love of God to protect and uphold us.

Jeremiah laments that answering God’s call has led to him being mocked and derided (First Reading). Yet despite this, he can still sense a burning desire to speak God’s words.

The Psalmist, wandering in the desert, thirsts for God’s presence, just as he thirsts for water. Recognising the Lord’s loving mercy, he is able to raise his hands in praise and thanksgiving.

St Paul (Second Reading) reminds the Romans that the life we take on through baptism becomes the inspiration for how we live. Paul encourages them to resist the temptation to conform to the demands of the world as they seek to respond to God.

In the Gospel, we see Peter’s struggle to embrace fully the reality of Jesus’s Way. Soon after being named ‘the rock’ on which the Church will be built, Peter is still holding on to the values of the world, and struggling to accept what Jesus tells him about the suffering that lies ahead.

This week we pray for those taking up their cross in the service of Christ and his Church around the world. We ask the Lord to keep them safe ‘in the shadow of his wings’.

Prego Sunday 22 OTA (2026)Download
Prego Plus OTA 22 (2026)Download

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