Reading, Reflection and Prayer

We talk about forgiveness. Why it is so hard and why we're so easy to give each other a pass if we struggle with it. And yet, it is a key spiritual principle and has the power to unlock God's grace and forgiveness at work in our lives.

In the transfiguration the disciples get a glimpse of Jesus' glory that they had never experienced before. We reflect on how important it is to experience God at work in our lives and our world.

The gospel begins to look towards Jerusalem and the cross. The 'yeast' of the Pharisees and Saducees reminds Ruth of the temptation the Galatians faced to turn back to a works-based religion and she contrasts that to Peter's faith in Jesus.

We talk about Jesus taking, blessing, breaking and giving the bread and fish in the feeding of the 5,000. It has resonances of these actions in the Eucharist and also in our lives.

We think about Jesus' response to the news of his cousin's death and about his getting away on his own after the feeding of the 5,000.

We read a number of parables in Matthew. We think about the way that God brings new things as well as old out of our reading. With the parable of the wheat and tares we think about the way in which this encourages us to generosity of Spirit in the way that we live with people in the church who have differences from us.

We reflect on the parable of the sower. Particularly on the explanation of why it is that Jesus speaks in parables. Is it to make the message more clear or less clear?

We discuss the problems of maintaining a tidy house with many children at home. In the gospel passage, we reflect on accepting or rejecting God's Spirit and staying spiritually strong once God has saved us.

We think about the way in which Jesus prays to his Father, and the example and encouragement that is for us.

We read through the passage where Jesus reflects on the ministry of John the Baptist, and then on the state of towns that saw his miracles and refused to repent. Ruth wonders what it looks like for a 'town' to repent as opposed to an individual.