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.
FOUR ANCHOR POINTS
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B, 5th May, 2024
‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love.’
Today’s readings centre on the theme of love: the totally faithful, unconditional love of God for us.
The First Reading describes a turning point in the growth of the Early Church. Peter visits the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion and Gentile, announcing that ‘God does not have favourites’. God reaches out to those who listen to him through his Holy Spirit. He creates a community of love that embraces all humanity.
St John (Second Reading) reminds us that God loved us first. God’s nature is love. The great depth of that love is revealed in God sending Jesus, whose self-sacrifice redeems our sins and draws us into the life of God.
The Gospel shows us Jesus teaching his disciples about his loving relationship with his Father. Jesus chooses and invites us into that same intimate relationship. He tells us how to follow him: that we should love one another.
The Psalmist encourages us to sing praise joyfully to the Lord whose love offers salvation to all.
As we approach the end of the Easter season, we pray for the grace that we ourselves might reflect the gift of God’s love, through our actions to our brothers and sisters, and to all creation. We also give thanks for the love of our friends, and for the joy that they bring to our lives.
Previous Posts
‘I am the vine, you are the branches.’ We are deeply rooted in the love of Christ. The risen Christ is the source of all that we need to grow… Where do I stand in the Holy Week? Come and join St Beuno’s Outreach by Zoom on Monday 25 March 2024 at 7-8.30 pm (UK time) for our Holy Week… ‘I will write my Law on their hearts’ As Lent draws to a close, each Spring day is gradually suffused with increasing light. All around us, nature is waking up… Using our Senses to be with Jesus Our St Beuno’s Outreach Holy Week booklet this year takes its inspiration from a reflection by Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ on ‘Making sense… ‘My Lord and my God!’ On this Second Sunday of Easter, the readings invite us to believe and trust God’s mercy. According to the ways of the world, mercy does…Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B, 28th April, 2024
A Holy Week invitation from St Beuno’s Outreach
Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year B, 17th March 2024
Holy Week with St Beuno’s Outreach
Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), Year B, 7th April 2024