This picture hung in the bedroom that my sister and I shared when we were very small. When one of us couldn’t sleep my mother would pick us up and tell us the story of the flight into Egypt. She’d point to St Joseph finding dates for Mary and the baby Jesus, Mary having a rest, the baby Jesus waking up and playing with the grapes and the donkey having a drink and some grass to eat. The Holy Family had reached an oasis – a place of safety. At that point, my sister and I would

Prison Fellowship is an organisation which comprises of an ecumenical group of Christians who support prison chaplains in their work. Its motto is ‘ No one is beyond hope’ and its mission, ‘ To show Christ’s love to people in prison by coming alongside them and supporting them’. There are groups throughout the country connected to all prisons. I have been a volunteer with them for the last five years. Prayer is central and my local group meets monthly to pray for specific i

Last week, I came across a podcast interview with the writer and psychotherapist Francis Weller (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/65-emptiness-grief-francis-weller/id1643318607?i=1000638574215). I had known of his work before, and had already read his beautiful and rich book: ‘The Wild Edge of Sorrow.’ However, it was great to be reminded again of some his wonderful musings on the nature of what it means to be a human being living in community with other human beings. Ph

For thirty years of my life, I was given the immense gift by the monks of Worth Abbey to be able take some part in their daily routine of prayer, work and study. Singing the Office alongside the monks transported me into a space where God was ever present. But then so too was God there in the rest of the day, in the holy space that was Worth Abbey. Juggling work and prayer was far more difficult at the time in my everyday life. A job and family commitments pushed prayer out

I keep wondering if caring for creation has become something I just try to do – recycle, be a mindful consumer, and especially support local water and air pollution issues – because it’s a matter of justice, of our common humanity. But where is the heart of this? What catches my spirit? It’s almost certainly in two words: ‘presence’ and ‘relationship.’ Photo Credit: Erik Mclean If I think of the words of scripture that move me most, that somehow are truly foundational for w

As I thought about writing this, I reread the blogs on the LCSB website, carefully curated by Jerome. They are wise and perceptive. The writers urge us to find peace or communion in a world that is noisy and turbulent, often fraught with difficulty and hurt. Symbols are what help me make sense of confusing thoughts, so I was particularly struck by what Mike Woodward wrote about the Benedictine PAX graphic ‘nestled’ in a crown of thorns. Peace is rooted in the midst of our tan

When I was young enough to be at the beginning of my adult faith-life, but not old enough to have any idea how I would live out my Christian vocation, I was given a copy of the Rule of St Benedict. I had never seen the Rule before and had barely even heard of St Benedict, but as I read that short document I experienced a wonderful shock of recognition: “This is a How-to for living close to the Lord,” I thought. “This Rule is something I can begin to follow now and take with

In 2004, during a major escalation of long-running conflicts in Sudan, I travelled to Darfur to help manage the combined aid response of 46 Catholic and Protestant agencies working together from across the globe. The notorious Janjaweed militia had been attacking communities in Darfur resulting in shocking death tolls and the displacement of millions of people from their land, homes and communities. On a visit home during the early stages of our response I spoke to my mentor

It was in the 1990s that I encountered Greg Ryan, a stalwart of the WCCM, using 'Pax' as a conclusion to his emails. At the time, with the departure of 'Yours sincerely', I was fed up with the shortcomings of "Friendly", "Kind Regards", "Warm feelings" & "Have a nice day". They all seemed...incomplete. I liked it that, in Benedictine life, the PAX graphic always comes nestled within a crown of thorns: it is a dose of reality that speaks especially to our troubled times. P

There's an ecological crisis but perhaps you haven't noticed. It seems many people haven't. Writing this I'm staying in a small village on the Norfolk Broads, just one of Britain National Parks. A local resident told me that there was plenty of nature around here. Surrounded by the green reed beds and blue waters it's easy to be lulled into thinking that all is well. But many species shows signs of decline across the country including in protected areas. The most recent state

We are guests in God’s world and stewards of its resources. ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.’ (Genesis 2:15). The Rule envisages a life where prayer and practical work are both important – the Benedictine tradition of practical agriculture and animal husbandry reflected care for God’s creation and care for community members and guests. The contemporary Benedictine community of Regina Laudis, Connecticut, combines this tradit

It is easy to think of St Benedict as someone in control of life. His rule provides in-depth guidance and advice on how to live life as a Christian. It emphasises peace and calm. However, he faced war, destruction, shortages of food and basic necessities. Outside the monastery, the Roman Empire had collapsed, there was political fragmentation, cultural shifts and the emergence of new power groups. His own community even tried to poison him as they weren’t happy with some of

I think we can all acknowledge that inherent in our human condition are all sorts of complicated confusions and paradoxes. For example, a tendency to fantasize and idealize. Or the very opposite - to catastrophise, or perceive relatively routine events in our lives, or our world, as existential crises. Our attachment to social media, even traditional media (overdosing on the Today programme, for example) doesn’t help when it comes to seeing the worst in human nature, or be

Feeling a little frazzled, I recently took myself off for a walk to the beautiful modern chapel at Ripon college, the Anglican theological centre at Cuddesdon, close to our home in Oxford. A year ago, on a similar visit, I had found a copy of ‘Etched by Silence’ – a selection of poems by the priest and poet R. S. Thomas - lying on one of the pews. Sitting now with a copy of my own, I flipped it open at random and settled on the poem ‘In Church’. In it, Thomas describes sittin

Being a member of the Lay Community of Saint Benedict has 4 key components for me: · The Rule · The Community · Our Prayer · The Promise It is the last one that is significant for me. "In response to the call of Christ, I offer myself to Almighty God, by the help of the Holy Spirit, with the love of the Lay Community of St Benedict to live holy communion, create holy space and offer holy service in ways in which my circumstances allow." Being a

Several weeks ago, I gave a talk to a gathering of meditators which I belong to called Benedict’s Well. The title of the talk was ‘Living With Absurdity’, and was a reflection on how the way of Christ was a call to embrace the seemingly contradictory nature of life (you can find the talk here, beginning at around 33 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwulZRbwNns). At the end of the talk, I referred to a phrase that I had recently come across in one of the daily emails

We live in a world where total silence is impossible. A friend went on a walking holiday in New Zealand. She said it was beautiful, but noisy. “Really?” someone said to her, “Weren’t you miles from anywhere?” Yes, but there was wind, birds and streams. The external world is never silent, God made it that way. That noise is God’s will. Some people are uncomfortable with silence, associating it with being alone and lonely. Some can’t see the point, others look forward to bein

For St Benedict, prayer and work seem to be on an almost equal footing. Ch 8 – 20 of The Rule of St Benedict deal with the Monastic life...

When people join the Lay Community, they make a promise and repeat it annually. "In response to the call of Christ, I offer myself to Almighty God, by the help of the Holy Spirit, with the love of the Lay Community of St Benedict to live holy communion, create holy space, and offer holy service. in ways in which my circumstances allow." On the surface there is nothing in the promise that any active (I dislike the word practicing in this context) Christian should have a proble

As we approach the feast of All Saint’s Day, celebrated in many churches as a day on which to remember those holy men and women who have...