retreat

Apr 8, 2012

In a few hours I begin a week of retreat.  

I am looking forward to these days. I know my need for these days of retreat.

I won’t pick up the computer in this week so this will be the last blog update until the retreat is complete.  

In the last couple of months the blog readership has more than doubled.  I am encouraged by the fact that so many of you return regularly to the blog, and a good number of you write expressing your gratitude. Thank you!

The statistics of the blog are interesting. While most of the readers are from NZ, a good number are from the USA, Australia, and Europe, with a few regulars in Asia as well.

After several hundred entries, I can see (from the statistics) that (generally) the more secular the title of an entry, the greater the number of readers. This is encouraging because it suggests that people who might have not consciously sought  online spiritual encouragement, are tripping upon the blog.  Maybe they are inspired?  Perhaps they return?  At least I hope that the burdens of their day are lifted a little by what they read here.

The most viewed entry (of all time) is “Orvieto: life on a volcano.”   This entry has over 2000 views more than the second place entry which is “Earthquake Memorial (Bishop Barry Jones)“.  The title “Cathedral photos” always brings a good number.

In this week without updates you might enjoy using the search button to search past entries.  Just type a word that interests you and the relevant entries will pop up.  The search space is just down a bit to the right of this (and every) entry.

Most of all don’t forget to pray for me this week.  I will pray for you too.  Every day I remember ‘my blog readers’ in my prayer.

He is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

my word your home

my word your home

The heart of the home in years past was the hearth.
It was at the hearth that the family gathered for the warmth and light of the flame and the food that was prepared there.
The fire was treated with respect since the same flame which provided energy for the home could just as easily destroy it.

stand up look up

stand up look up

The Israelites in their forty years in the desert were journeying from captivity to freedom, but the struggle of their desert years made them vulnerable to attack from every temptation as today’s first reading continues

confident in God

confident in God

I’m not sure if children today are told the great story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, but if not let’s make sure that the parable is taught at all schools of higher learning.

the teenagers

the teenagers

A few years ago I discovered the wonderful way that God uses my imagination in my prayer.
Such openness to imagination when seeking God does not take us away from reality into fantasy but instead brings me into what is most real and inescapably personal and intimate.

Annunciation

Annunciation

A couple of thousand years ago, a young Jewish woman was going about her normal morning routines, perhaps with a mixture of house and garden work, chatting with parents and neighbours, aware of the local drought, the sickness of a neighbour and annoyed by the neighbourhood’s lack of sleep caused by the Romans’ noisy party the night before, when God broke into her routine and entered her life in a new and powerful way.