A REFRESHING RETREAT AT AMPLEFORTH ABBEY, YORKSHIRE, UK.
(“Christ in you” – your hope of future glory)
PART ONE:
Ampleforth Monastery in North Yorkshire towers in the middle of nowhere.
Ampleforth Abbey is as renowned as Monte Casino or St Benedict or Abbot Basil Hume.
The vast and outer space invites and refreshes just as the inner architecture and liturgy.
A monastery is always kinder and more appealing than the desert with or without an oasis – and life presents both every now and then.
The only thing that can stop the world from complete collapse is a spiritual revolution! (The Ascent to Truth, Thomas Merton)
The best retreat ever – in today’s hyperbole!
It was Come as you are – the clergy of the diocese.
It was prebooked, prepared and ready welcome!
The turnout was fewer as most invitations turn out!
There was no theme, no protocol – just hospitality and space to pray!
Silent prayer is good – it stirs up the mess inside us and instead of running away, we stay and not hide or mask our sufferings, anger, confusion or sins…
To live is to suffer and to survive is to find meaning in suffering (Man’s Search For Meaning, Victor Frankl)
A time and place to rediscover God’s love for you, your call and mission, your inescapable crosses, your worst enemy and the miracles you can perform in His name!
A time to rediscover my identity, my dignity and my destiny!
The right place, the right space and probably the right rhytm!
A time to refresh oneself with the permeating Love of God and the reason we exist!
What about the great hunger in the world and in our hearts?
If you haven’t met God in your own story, then you simply haven’t met God!
Stop, look, listen! When and where have I met God in the story of my life?
What reality or suffering am I running away from or avoiding
Jesus heals, delivers, saves!
Be where Jesus desired his followers to be – close to the Father’s heart.
A time to H.O.P.E – to heal our perspective eternally!
A time to feed oneself with the Word of God and to pray for one’s community, family and fellow clergy.
A time to bring the hopeless, helpless and dire situations in our world, church and community that has lost direction too prayer – to the liturgy in chant at its best.
A time to dare not fall into the dismal trap of despair but hope.
All the answers the secular world is giving to people are not enough.
No matter the chaos in the world and in our lives, the bees are working –
Christ is working, the Church is attracting and people are searching
For meaning and belonging, for dignity, identity and destiny.
A monastery is always kinder than the desert with or without an oasis – and life presents both, every now and then.
Thanks to the Abbot for deep wealth, wisdom, inspiration, passion and depth.
Emmanuel Mbeh, July 2025.
