Sr Miriam McNulty

If Christ is our pattern for life, love and glory, then joy and sorrow will always be woven through this.

How do you hear Christ’s promise?

(John 16:2-23, Friday, Sixth Week of Eastertide)

Though I have chosen a picture today of a girl jumping, my own experience of joy is much quieter. It has something to do with integration, with all the parts of my life fitting together. It’s not the absence of suffering. It’s more a feeling that joy and suffering can stand side by side.

I have certainly imagined certain situations to be much worse than they actually were. It’s a lot more subtle when people talk to us about our hearts being filled with joy. Real joy is something very personal.

They have already shared together the ‘bread of affliction’ and Jesus now asks them to imagine a time when their hearts will be full of joy. I imagine the disciples in a haze that night.

Often when people warn us that something it going to be really hard it can be difficult for us hear them.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (H)
HEARTS

When Jesus speaks to the disciples and tells them that their ‘hearts will be full of joy’, I wonder how they understood it. John sets this lengthy discourse around the table of their last meal together.

How is God calling you to manifest his glory?

(John 17:20-26, Thursday, Eastertide, Week 7)

What Christ prays to the Father in these words ‘so that they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.‘ can be our prayer too. Eastertide gives us the opportunity to stay with these words.

Kavod and shekinah then are both ways of talking about the felt presence of a loving, saving and guiding God.

In baptism we are sealed with Chrism and caught up in God’s glory too.

Glory is perhaps the most difficult to quantify and understand.

For the Hebrew mind the word glory (kavod) has a range of meanings which include ‘importance’, ‘honour’ and ‘weight’. Related to kavod is another Hebrew word ‘shekinah’ which is a way of talking about the divine presence.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (G)
GLORY

The opening of John’s Gospel weaves together in poetic prose the major theological themes that we will encounter in its pages: life, light, love and glory. It’s hard to explore one without exploring all three.

Where in your life do you most need the power of the Holy Spirit?

(Acts 7:51-8:1, Sunday, Eastertide, Week 3)

The early disciples faced persecution, yet they did not shrink back in fear. Instead, they prayed, received strength, and spoke boldly. Today, we are called to do the same—to stand firm in faith, seek the Spirit’s guidance, and share the gospel with confidence.

When they spoke, it was in the Spirit that they spoke. When they healed it was in the Spirit that they were healed.

In our own lives, this verse challenges us to ask: Are we praying with expectation? Are we open to being filled and used by the Spirit?

Nothing than change that.

In Acts 4 we are told that Peter and John are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’. This filling was not merely an emotional experience—it empowered them to proclaim the word of God boldly. Peter and John allowed the Spirit to guide them completely.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (F)
FILLED

When our parents and godparents presented us for Baptism they did so in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. As the water was poured over of heads and the chrism anointed our foreheads the Holy Spirit made a home in us.

Yes, the glorified body is a physical body, but somehow different. I find this a very exciting prospect.

How can you be open to encountering Christ this Eastertide?

(Luke 24:13-35, Easter Wednesday)

As the weeks of Eastertide unfold, we too are invited to be open to those moments when someone comes and walks alongside us. We are invited to be attentive to the times when by chance we are invited to share a meal with others. There will be times when our hearts too will burn.

Scholars have speculated as to where Emmaus might be. In a sense it doesn’t really matter. The disciples set out on a physical journey and find through an encounter with a stranger that they have made a life-changing inner journey.

As the disciples walk towards Emmaus, I imagine that they are experiencing a knot of grief and confusion as they try to hold together the events of the Upper Room, Gethsemane and Calvary.

There is something about the rhythm of walking and being alongside another person that helps knots to unravel and allows a new perspective to open up.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (E)
EMMAUS

I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing the Emmaus story. I almost know the text by heart. I’m struck today as I sit to write this reflection just how healing a long walk with a friend can be.

Where is Christ calling you to show care and attention this Eastertide?

(Acts 9: 31-42, Saturday, Third Week of Eastertide)

It’s likely that my tunic and scapular would only fit me. When I hear this story I am reminded of the care and attention that is needed when you make a garment for someone else.

The detail of the widows showing Peter the clothes she had made always strikes me. We live in an age where handmade clothes are a rarity. As a monastic I have the privilege of every part of my habit being handmade, including my leather belt. It’s not just handmade, it’s made to measure.

To be remembered as one who ‘never tired of doing good or giving in charity’ is a significant accolade in the language of the Early Church. She has spent her life embodying Christ’s self-less service.

Acts records just a handful of details about Dorcas. We have become accustomed to listening to the silences in our biblical texts. That she is named already marks her out as someone significant.

EASTERTIDE ALPHABET (D)
DORCAS

'Peter went back with them immediately, and on his arrival they took him to the upper room, where all the widows stood round him in tears, showing him tunics and other clothes DORCAS had made when she was with them.'

How does Luke’s vision inspire you today?

(Acts 4:32-37, Tuesday, Second Week of Eastertide)

Benedict understands human weakness and knows that ‘one size fits all’ will not work in monastic living. I take heart from this. Accepting where you fall on this spectrum is an important part of the inner journey in monastic life.