The Word Among Us e-magazine offers daily meditations based on the Mass readings of the Catholic Church, inspirational essays, stories of the saints and more. Founded in 1981, the organisations aims to assist people in reading, meditating on and understanding scripture and to provide practical advice on the living out of the Christian life.
Many people, including many Christians, think that meditation is only found in Buddhism or Hinduism. Meditation belongs to the Christian tradition too as the prayer of the heart, where we let go of all thoughts and words. Jesus says 'Go to your inner room, close the door and be there in the presence of God". 'How to do Christian Meditation’ is a short animation film that introduces meditation to people who have never meditated before.
Preaching on the transfiguration (Mark 9:2-9 with passing reference also to 2 Cor 4:3-6), Anglican Bishop Jo Bailey Wells explores how the glimpse of ‘God’s glory upstairs’ might transfigure our perspective and our prayers in the midst of pandemic. Listen to her inspiring words here.
21st Jan to 16th December 2021
The ecumenical World Community of Christian Meditation draws on the richness of its global community to bring inspiring and refreshing speakers from around the world to speak online about Christian meditation this year. Speakers include Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury; Herman Van Rompuy, former Prime Minister of Belgium and President of the European Council; Cynthia Bourgeault, modern-day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally known retreat leader and advocate for Centering Prayer; Kim Nataraja, Benedictine Oblate, and former director of The World Community for Christian Meditation School of Meditation; and many more.
Note: there is a charge for attending these virtual talks, based on ability to pay. The talks can be watched live; alternatively, as each talk is recorded, they can be watched for up to a month after each event. Click here for full details.
The ecumenical World Community of Christian Meditation draws on the richness of its global community to bring inspiring and refreshing speakers from around the world to speak online about Christian meditation this year. Speakers include Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury; Herman Van Rompuy, former Prime Minister of Belgium and President of the European Council; Cynthia Bourgeault, modern-day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally known retreat leader and advocate for Centering Prayer; Kim Nataraja, Benedictine Oblate, and former director of The World Community for Christian Meditation School of Meditation; and many more.
Note: there is a charge for attending these virtual talks, based on ability to pay. The talks can be watched live; alternatively, as each talk is recorded, they can be watched for up to a month after each event. Click here for full details.
“At this present moment, we know who we are, we know the world we want, but what is the world we have? What is possible now, and what is hopeful thinking? Using the patterns of history, how do we see more clearly in order to act more wisely? Who do we choose to be as we face reality, claim our role, and offer more sanity to this world?” Dr Meg Wheatley has worked globally in many different roles: a speaker, teacher, community worker, consultant, advisor, formal leader. In this challenging hour long video she describes how ‘clear seeing’gives us the capacity to better serve the people and causes we care about.
Poetry has been described as capable of making one into a tuning fork of the Divine. Journey with Jesus is a weekly webzine of the global Presbyterian Church, which includes a a poetry section offering over 300 poems by writers as diverse as Teresa of Avila, GK Chesterton, John Donne, Thomas Aquinas, Seamus Heaney, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mary Oliver, and many, many more.
|
Weekly contemplative reflections by Daniel O’Leary, former Episcopal Vicar for Christian Formation in Leeds, aimed at introducing the orthodox Catholic tradition known as the sacramental imagination.
|
The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an unknown author in the 14th century, is an outstanding guide to contemplation, solidly grounded in the Western Christian mystical tradition. Click here for a series of excellent 10-minute talks on The Cloud by the Revd Graeme Watson, Anglican priest and author.
Christian Meditation Ireland (CMI) is part of The World Community for Christian Meditation, which continues the work initiated 40 years ago by the Benedictine monk, John Main, in renewing and sharing the ancient path of contemplative prayer. This ecumenical movement - the "monastery without walls" - is today present in 114 countries, with 100,000 people in 2,000 meditation groups meeting weekly. The CMI website will help you find an Irish meditation group near you.
Lovely, contemplative choral music from St Frances de Sales Church in Ajax, Ontario: "We are a Catholic Choir that strives to sing beautiful, sacred choral music of all types (from Chant, Hymns, Taize and SATB anthems, to Contemporary, Gospel and Spiritual), all for the glory of the Lord."
Matthew Fox is an American Episcopal priest, a spiritual author and an activist for gender justice and eco-justice. He believes that “by reinventing work, education and worship we can bring about a non-violent revolution on our planet” and has committed himself to this vision for many years. His concept of ‘Creation Spirituality’ is a ‘green’ theology, emphasising a holy relationship between humanity and nature. Click here to sign up for his daily meditations.
For Trappist monk Thomas Merton, the “deeply spiritual life” meant the “experience” of God’s presence and love at all times, combining that with action in everyday life. This PBS programme provides an introduction to Merton.
Extensive archive of columns by author and journalist Dr Ron Rolheiser, president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. His popular weekly column is carried by almost 100 newspapers worldwide.
John the Baptist features prominently in Advent liturgical readings, as the Forerunner of the Messiah. This gigantic figure stands at the crossroads of salvation history. He represents both continuity and change. On one hand, he looks back to the tradition of the great prophets of the Old Testament. On the other, he is the harbinger of a new creation. Ten 8-minute films explore the life of this pivotal Scriptural figure through masterpieces in the National Gallery of London and beyond. To see John the Baptist through the prism of art, from birth to beheading, offers extraordinary insights into Christ's cousin and precursor.
Resources for those interested in pursuing a Benedictine way of living in ordinary life.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor who was executed by the Nazis for resisting Hitler's totalitarian regime, left a rich theological legacy. One of his books, The Cost of Discipleship, is considered a classic of Christian thought. In it, he distinguishes between “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” “Cheap grace,” he wrote, “is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again.... It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.” Click here to access a short and beautiful visual distillation of this teaching.