Easter Sunday Resources
CHRIST IS RISEN! HALLELUJAH!
Don’t miss today’s key JOINING IN with a livestream from Holy Island at 12.30pm for the renewal of vows – available afterwards as a video, using the same link.
JUST ADDED – A link to a special service of Holy Communion for Easter Day, recorded at our hybrid Easter workshop, at Nether Springs (our Mother House), Northumberland.
Gather Round
Talk 4: Glimpses of Glory to Sustain Me
Today, Martin Neil brings some stories of how glimpses of God’s glory can bring joy and sustain life…
Going deeper: Question prompts from today’s teaching:
What ‘Suddenly God ‘ moments have you experienced recently?
1 What ‘ I just wanted to be with you’ Jesus moments can you recall?
2 How can you intentionally live in the eager expectation of suddenly moments?
Dear Father, Son and Spirit
I wholeheartedly thank you that You do not love me because I try to change, you love me so that I can change.
Unfold me Jesus, to live in suddenly moments, help me realise “you just want to be with me”, for no other reason than you like me and love me.
Thank you Holy Spirit for your help, please continue to change me so I can live in eager expectation of the unexpected.
Jesus, turn me tender, to have ‘soft eyes’ to be relaxed but powerfully alert and in tune with the world in front of me without trying too hard.
Please God pull my focus outward, away from the sometimes incessant mind chatter. So I am more present in the moment.
I choose to join in creations chorus, i choose to be sustained in expecting the ‘sudden glimpses of your glory’.
Amen
Join in
Midday Prayer, followed by today’s Selah activity – an intentional pause in the middle of the day
Midday Prayer with the Pillars
Celebrating Glimpses of God’s Glory across the world, alone together
Please remember, if you are a Companion, Novice or Friend (and on our database) you can contribute to this map by sending short pieces of creativity which communicate what you have observed to glimpsesofglory@northumbriacommunity.org.
These could be writing (250 words max), an image, a photograph along with a general location point (eg nearest town) and your first name of the contributor (or an anonymised entry eg Companion).
We will be adding to the map during and after Easter and a link will be included in our next edition of Encompass.
JOIN IN WITH TODAY’S SELAH ACTIVITY
From the Eata liturgy: Lord, I am here, pausing in the middle of the work that is yet to do.
This is a series of creative meditation exercises reflecting upon the experience ‘Selah’, of Pause in our daily lives. Selah appears in the psalms and whilst its meaning is something of an enigma it holds a sense of pause, of stepping back from our activity so that we might meet with God. We will take inspiration from Lynda Owen-Hussey’s series of paintings, which have become a Visio Divina for her. She offers these as an invitation to create our own Visio Divina – a window into God and into our lives.
Selah:
Today, our focus is Sustenance.
‘When days seem dark, and I feel lonely and discouraged, the give me glimpses of Your glory to sustain me.’ We ask God to show us how we might be sustained and sustain others with the glimpses of Glory which impart hope and courage.
Selah: Mini Book of Hours
And as a special gift for today, Lynda Owen-Hussey has compiled a mini Book of Hours, made up of her Selah pause button art, to reflect the four Offices of the Day that make up the Monastic Rhythm of the Northumbria Community, for you to download and keep.
Renewal of Vows 2022
This year, there are two ways in which Companions can engage with the the Renewal of Vows.
You can join in with a livestream of the 2022 vows at 12.30pm, live from the beach opposite St Cuthbert’s island, on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Or you can engage with a video of the vows which we released last year. Please note that there is no change in the liturgy for 2022. You can download a version of it below the videos.
2022 LIVESTREAM – from 12.30pm – Holy Island
VOWS VIDEO (please note that the 2021 and 2022 vows are the same)
The words will appear on the video, so you can speak them alongside other Companions, ‘in every place where we are’. If you are not a Companion in Community, you are still welcome to stand with us. You can also download a copy of the words below.
A special Holy Communion Service for Easter Day
We are pleased to be able to share with you a special Holy Communion service, which was recorded at Nether Springs, as part of our hybrid Easter workshop. You can download the liturgy from the link below the video.
Share
Alongside these activities, we would ask: where has God brought glimpses of glory in your lives during these troubled days and we would invite you to share your stories, photographs or other creative expressions with us – either on our private Facebook Group (a link to which was sent out to everyone on our database within a mailing about Easter 2022) or by emailing your contributions to monasticliving@northumbriacommunity.org. It would be wonderful to feature some of these in a post-Easter edition of Encompass magazine.
Supporting the Life and Work of the Northumbria Community
Northumbria Community does not ask for a fee to cover the costs of providing resources, such as these Easter materials. However, we are a registered charity and are always grateful for donations that support the life and work of the wider Community as a whole. If you would like to encourage us in this way, you can follow the link below to make a donation.
Thank you and we pray your Easter journey is marked with ‘glimpses of God’s glory!’