Columban Fr Malachy Hanratty, who spent most of his missionary life in Japan, has kindly made the first two parts of his three-part series Discoveries in Praying Scripture available for free online.
He explains:
Here are a series of ‘Guided Meditations’ that I used with groups. They are examples of what can happen in a ‘praying Scripture’ period. But remember much is based on my experience. So please be careful to understand that these are only examples of what one might meet.
They give reassurance that, if you find them coming into your pondering, you are not being distracted by memories or imaginations about the event but being led on to recognise God acting in your own life. You take out of your pondering what vibes with your experience and build on that.
Think of this input as ‘hints’, a ‘demonstration’, a ‘springboard’. Gradually you will find different and deeper insights from yourself or from others but hopefully these examples of mine help you to begin a fruitful ‘praying scripture’.
The series has two objectives:
- To give examples of one way of praying Scripture that I have found fruitful over many years – personally and with parishioners. It is a series of guided imagination exercises following Luke’s order.
- It uses these episodes from Luke to lead towards a particular goal, namely, a new level of companionship with Jesus and a greater awareness of the Gift of Pentecost.
Download Volume One here: Fr Malachy Prayer Booklet Volume 1
Download Volume Two here: Fr Malachy Prayer Booklet Volume 2
Fr Malachy Hanratty SSC