As a Lay Benedictine Community, we are spending this Advent reflecting on what it means to truly care for humanity. We are reminded constantly that the call of Christ is not an abstract principle, nor a purely spiritual invitation. It is incarnational. It is grounded in the real people in front of us: our neighbours, our brothers and sisters in community, our fellow parishioners, and our wider communities. Caring for humanity means putting flesh on the Gospel, especially for

The image of the shepherd runs like a vein through Scripture: it shapes how God relates to a vulnerable people and how people are called to relate to one another. Sometimes we stand in the safety of the flock; sometimes we take up the staff. The question isn’t merely symbolic, it is practical, moral, and spiritual. Where we find ourselves at any moment will shape how we listen, act, and love. Photo by Pawan Sharma  on Unsplash Biblical Foundation The Bible uses shepherding to

Where and what is Europe? Israel and Australia have contended in Eurovision, so geography cannot be the main factor. England left the...

As I am writing this in July 2025, England is between heat waves. We have already had two heat waves this year and the third is just...

The European project has, and will continue to have, a significant part to play in our lives. Though most people would consider it has...

St. Benedict of Nursia (ca. 480-ca 547), is considered the father of “western monasticism” and the author of the “The Rule,” a simple set...

I remember as a young adult being amazed by my first encounters with St Benedict and the Rule he wrote.  I was visiting Worth Abbey in...

It is an honour to be invited to contribute to the blog for this week celebrating the impact and legacy of St Benedict patron of Europe....

I was intrigued when it was suggested that I might write a blog post on a quote from Pope Paul VI's Letter  Pacis Nuntius : 'Benedict...

In September 2023, I attended the International Oblates Congress in Rome at Sant’ Anselmo. The week included a visit to the monastery at...

Does St Benedict have a ‘word’ for us today? ‘Peace’ would certainly be one. War threatens the whole of Europe now, as the Cold War did...

I seem to have reached an age where gathering with family and friends is prompted more often by funerals than weddings, baptisms, or any...

For the second year in a row, and more by accident than design, Lent began for us at Stanbrook Abbey in North Yorkshire. Celebrating Ash...

“As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.” 1 Corinthians 13   This seems a...

In this Jubilee Year as a pilgrim of hope, I sit and reflect on where I have come from and where I am going to on my journey through...

When Jerome invited me to write a blog on the theme of “Living Hope",  I misread his email and thought that the theme was  “Living in ...

I found myself responding to a friend not long ago saying ‘My life is full of church’. Even as I said it, I thought of how superficial it...

A few days ago, a friend recommended a video of Bishop Erik Varden, a Cistercian monk bishop, speaking about ‘Healing Wounds’ to the St....

Life in Bethlehem Today   For us, our journey into the issues of Justice and Peace in the Holy Land started with a Holy Land Pilgrimage...

Lourdes has been a place for pilgrimage since 1858 when Our Lady appeared on 18 occasions to a poor 14-year-old girl called Bernadette...