This Lent, our Director Angus Ritchie is writing a weekly blog on silent prayer. His first blog describes one way of putting this into practice, while the second blog looks at some of its fruits in our life. This third blog explains how silent prayer differs from “mindfulness,” and why its value lies in more than its effects.

On Tuesday of Holy Week, an anonymous woman anoints Jesus feet with costly ointment, and Judas complains that the money could have been given to the poor (Mark 14.1-9). When she is criticised, Jesus defends her, just as he defends Mary of Bethany when Martha criticises her for sitting at his feet when there is work to be done (Luke 10.38-42).

In CTC’s 2013 Just Church report, we stressed the importance of “putting adoration before action.” This Lent, our Director Angus Ritchie is writing a weekly blog on silent prayer, describing one way of putting this into practice. His first blog, introducing the Jesus Prayer is here – and this second blog looks at some of the fruits of such prayer in our life and action.

I don’t know if you’ve ever stopped to watch any anglers fishing. They look both relaxed and alert. When you are fishing, you can’t allow your mind to drift off. You’ve got to be ready for when a fish is biting on the bait, and reel them in. But you can’t do anything to make the fish come. Once you have cast the rod in the water you simply have to wait attentively, often for a very long time.

In CTC’s 2013 Just Church report, we stressed the importance of “putting adoration before action.” This Lent, our Director Angus Ritchie is writing a weekly blog on silent prayer, describing one way of putting this into practice. This was the foundational practice for the renewal of parish life through community organising rooted in prayer at St George-in-the-East from 2015.

Silence was at the heart of Jesus’ life of prayer. At the start of his public ministry, he spent forty days and forty nights praying in the desert – and on many other occasions went away to pray to his heavenly Father.