There is all the difference in the world between lives that are merely conformed by moral effort to the shape of Christian ‘virtue’ and those that are transformed through responsiveness to God’s living reality. It is a commitment to the journey of transformation that shapes everything we do at Benedictus.
As part of this commitment, we offer a range of opportunities to reflect and grow in self-knowledge and to share the journey with others, including reflective and spiritual practice groups, reading, walking and fellowship groups. More details are below and inquiries about any of our Benedictus groups are welcome on info@benedictus.com.au
L’Chaim Group
What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.
‘L’Chaim’ is a Yiddish toast meaning ‘to life!’ The aim of this group is to enable participants to reflect on their everyday experience in order to discover more life-giving ways of being in the world.
L’Chaim involves a structured process of reflection with experienced facilitators. Participants have the opportunity to present an experience, conversation or life-pattern they’d like to explore. We support one another in this work of reflection – not offering advice or ‘fixing’ one another – but seeking to listen deeply and evoke insight. Over time, we learn to discern our experience in new ways and act with more freedom. This group meets fortnightly in-person.
Spiritual Practice Group
Daily meditation … a weekly walk around the lake …
mindful eating … fasting … spiritual reading …
an intentional Sabbath …
Do you have a regular spiritual practice … a rule of life? Or sense the need to develop one?
Would you like to be encouraged in your commitment to practise, explore and share its fruits?
Our Spiritual Practice Group meets monthly in-person to encourage one another in practices for intentionally opening ourselves more fully to God.
Contemplative Photography Group
Our group explores photography as a contemplative practice. It’s all about seeing and photographing the world in fresh ways, to reveal richness and beauty that is normally hidden from view. Instead of emphasizing subject matter or the technical aspects of photography, the contemplative approach teaches us to see clearly, and make images based on fresh perceptions.
We try to gather physically in Canberra each quarter (following a rough seasonal pattern). In-between times, we take on a different practice ‘topic’ each month, connecting via email and sharing the results in pictures and words on our blog. If you are interested to be part of the group, please let us know via email to benedictusphotography@gmail.com
Walking Group
Benedictus Walking Group meets from March to November, usually on the second Sunday of the month (or as advised), from 2-4pm. Our walks are “easy to moderate” to be as inclusive as possible and generally we are a small group of about 5-10 walkers. Recently, we have been returning to favourite walks along the Murrumbidgee River, in a desire to grow in loving, attentive relationship with this significant waterway in all its great beauty and suffering.
During each walk we acknowledge the First Custodians of this region and seek to deepen our own relationship with the land, water and sky around us. We naturally share in conversations as we walk and also stop half-way for a time to sit in intentional silence, to meditate, or simply look and listen in stillness. We usually allow about 20 minutes of companionable silence on our return walk to support another way of listening, seeking quiet attunement with the environment and each other.
Movement and stillness, conversation and silence. A time to walk gently on the earth, to listen deeply, and gaze softly upon the Sacred Ground of Being.
Music & Poetry Group
Music and Poetry Group is an on-line (Zoom) gathering for members to share and explore music and poetry selected by members of the group. The group runs between Easter and Advent, on the first and third Thursdays of the month, at 6:30pm Canberra time.
Authentic Selving Group
The Authentic Selving group takes its name from two major sources: Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Richard Schwartz and his Internal Family Systems Therapy. Hopkins, in his poem ‘As Kingfishers Catch Fire’, suggested that all created things are driven to express their innermost divine essence. Schwartz, along the same lines, posits that we are all implanted with the same qualities at birth – qualities such as curiosity, compassion, courage and connectedness – and that it is our ‘task’, should we accept it, to overcome the blocks and layers of protection accruing from adverse life experiences and inhabit our essential Self.
The Authentic Selving group examines the implications of these ideas. Each 90-minute evening involves tea, meditation, a thought-inducing contemplative reading, a member check in around the weekly theme and a big measure of caring holding of individuals’ experiences. While not a therapy group as such, there is a commitment to sharing personal material deeply and vulnerably with compassionate respect. The group meets fortnightly in-person.
Tuesday Lunch & Friday Zoom Sandwich
Tuesday BYO lunch follows 12.30pm meditation in St Ninian’s church each week. In warmer weather, we meet on the verandah, and a cuppa, lively conversation and a warm welcome are provided.
Friday Zoom Sandwich is a relaxed on-line gathering that meets weekly on Fridays at 12.30pm for conversation and company over lunch. Anyone is welcome – join by clicking on the Evening Meditation link on the Benedictus home page.
Canberra Southside Gathering
A group of Benedictus members who live on the Southside of Canberra meet monthly in-person on Sunday afternoons to meditate and connect. New members are always welcome.
Self-Organised Small Groups
Small groups offer a way to connect with other members of the community on a regular basis for conversation, sharing and support. Groups can develop in their own way and frequency of meeting, in accordance with the wishes of members. If you are interested to help initiate or to be part of a small group, either online or in person, please let us know.
Local Chapters
For members of Benedictus who live outside Canberra, it can be important to gather in the flesh with others who may live nearby. We currently have local chapters of Benedictus in Victoria and Hobart, and there are also occasional gatherings in Sydney and elsewhere. Members of local chapters participate with the wider Benedictus community for daily meditation and the main Saturday service, but gather from time to time in their local area for fellowship and conversation. If you are interested to meet with members of the community outside Canberra, we are keen to help facilitate these connections, so please be in touch.
Theology Reading Group – currently in recess
Our Theology Reading Group is committed to reading and discussing Christian theology in conversation with and in the light of our own experience and spiritual quest.
Topics and texts are chosen according to the interests of members, and we have explored themes such as God and suffering, the theology of prayer and theological method. The group meets fortnightly in term time and new members are welcome.
Kaleidoscope – Contemplative Kids
For almost ten years, our Kaleidoscope afternoons offered an opportunity for primary-aged children to step out of the busy worlds in which they too live, to spend time reflectively, restfully and creatively.
Children’s lives are enriched by experiences that nurture their souls, open their hearts and minds to the presence of love and hope, and offer opportunities for creative expression, sharing stories and even some silence. These experiences foster calmness, connectedness and joy. They equip children to live well in a busy, noisy world.
We are no longer able to offer these Kaleidoscope afternoons, but the Kaleidoscope blog gives a sense of the many wonderful afternoons we shared. We hope it may offer inspiration for others seeking to create contemplative spaces for children to enjoy.
Kalchaino
In ancient times divers plumbed the sea in search of a rare shellfish sought after for its rich purple dye. ‘Diving for the purple fish’ – Kalchaino – became the Greek expression for plumbing the depths of one’s own wisdom.
For several years, our Kalchaino group offered young adults an opportunity to learn to listen and know themselves more deeply, and so to engage the challenges and possibilities of their lives from a more aware and integrated place. Kalchaino is at present suspended, but the approach and themes explored can be discovered on our Kalchaino blog.
