SET OUT ON THE PILGRIMAGE
Welcome to the 2016 CTBI Lent course
The CTBI Lent Course 2016 represents a departure in style and format from that offered in previous years. Each week, we are invited to gather in groups for reflection and spiritual conversation around a series of themes drawn from the overarching title of Pilgrimage’. The idea is that we embark on a spiritual journey through Lent, both alone and in company, sharing with others our personal reflections, stories and insights.
The notion of ‘Pilgrimage’ is presented in the form of collections of sayings, images, wisdom and prayers from a variety of sources, which are gathered into a pack of seven conversation booklets suitable for personal and group use. Each member of a group will need their own copy of the pack, which will be used as a personal journal. However, the materials are also available online, particularly allowing listeners to BBC Radio 4 and Local Radio who might join the conversation on a more occasional basis.
DOWNLOAD INTRODUCTION
WEEK ONE
The Open Road
Where the invitation is to undertake a particular kind of journey, a sacred journey which involves both inner and outer dimensions. As we set out, what is our desire, or longing?
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WEEK TWO
Taking and Leaving
Focus on choice. How do we choose what to keep, what we require for inner vitality and balance, and what to leave behind, things which may once have helped us but we now find burdensome and obstructive?
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WEEK THREE
Becoming Present
Where the invitation is to become more attentive to our surroundings Where are the signs of God’s presence around us? How do we stay open to new insights?
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WEEK FOUR
Alone and Together
Focuses on our relationships with others. In our search for ‘unity in diversity’, how do we learn from ‘the other’? What does it mean to be separate yet ‘one’?
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WEEK FIVE
Living with Uncertainty
Where we think of times of alienation and separation that are common to us all. How do we live with unanswered questions? From where do we find hope?
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WEEK SIX
Sacred Encounter
Where we are invited to contemplate the mystery of God at the heart of the Christian experience. Each step on the journey illuminates more questions, for example: what is the nature of suffering?
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WEEK SEVEN
Pilgrim Living
When we contemplate the significance of our pilgrim journey for the future. What people, networks, ideas, insights have we discovered that will continue to inspire us?
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This week’s featured site
Coventry Cathedral is one of the world’s oldest religious-based centres for reconciliation. Following the destruction of the Cathedral in 1940, Provost Howard made a commitment not to revenge, but to forgiveness and reconciliation with those responsible.
The ruined shell of the medieval Cathedral has become a spiritual home for many, reminding us of our human capacity both to destroy and to reach out to our enemies in friendship and reconciliation. The ruins speak so powerfully of this message that they have become a place of pilgrimage for people of all cultures and faiths. As well as providing a tranquil space for reflection, they are the City’s most important landmark and symbolic of its own destruction and resurrection.
Explore Coventry Cathedral…
EDITIONS MAGAZINE
PILGRIMAGE
Prayer for the week
Affirmation
We believe in God
the maker and shaper of our pathways;
who sent Jesus to show us the narrow way,
and who is the beginning and end of our travelling.
We believe in Jesus Christ
the sharer of our flesh;
who entered and experienced the human journey,
and who walks beside us on the road.
We believe in the Holy Spirit
the midwife and nurturer of our potential;
who drove Jesus out into the desert,
and who calls us now to cast off from the shore.
We believe in Father, Son and Spirit
the shaper, sharer and stirrer of our journeys;
and we recommit ourselves
to following their Way.
Pat Bennett
‘Bare Feet and Buttercups’
Join us on the journey…
To purchase the pack