20 November 2024
Lent Talks
The word Lent comes from the Old English word for Spring, which points us towards a way of understanding Lent as a Springtime with God, a time of awakening, emerging and transformation in response to the warmth of God’s love. This series of four Lent talks will pick up on strands of this theme.
Each talk will be held on Zoom and will include time for reflection and conversation. Speakers and topics as follows:
13th March – Paul Golightly on Turning the Parables Upside Down
Have you ever felt the injustice of the labourers in the vineyard who get paid for twelve hours the money same as those who work one hour? Do you feel for the man with one talent who buries it in the ground who is cast into outer darkness by his demanding master.
In this Lent talk and discussion we will up-end the traditional interpretations of these parables of Jesus, in their first and twenty century context and see how they might speak to us today.
20th March – Tess Ward on Rewilding the Heart
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart” – Rainer Maria Rilke
We will be meeting on the Spring Equinox when light and dark are equal across the globe. We will be tending to green shoots in a world still waiting for “a great and common tenderness” (Pablo Neruda) and considering a simple practice to carry us through the second half of Lent. We will be doing this with poetry, pictures, pauses, enquiry and shared blessing. You are invited to bring a candle and something from outside.
“I want to worship at the shrine of everywhere, want to know every inch of this earth as an altar – every walk, a pilgrimage, every step a step from holy to holy to holy” – Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.
27th March – Donna Worthington:
Into the Wilderness of Discernment with Christ
Mining rich traditions, we explore ideas from the guidance of Saint Ignatius to Rilke’s words and the fairy tale of Cinderella. A journey into this crucial world of discernment.
3rd April – Liz Crichton:
Mythical Voyages: The Call to Risky Living
The fifth century story or myth of Saint Brendan’s voyage is a thrological allegory that conveys the salvation journey with a focu on its ascetic values. St Brendan goes in search of the “Promised Land of the Saints.” The place of promise and paradise. As we discover more about the story you will be invited to identify yoru own deepest desires and encouraged to set sail in a sea of faith.
Dates and Bookings
Online on Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8pm on the dates below. Please contact us to pay for individual sessions (£5 each).
- 13 March 2025
- 20 March 2025
- 27 March 2025
- 3 April 2025