In this masterpiece of simplicity, Macrina Wiederkehr offers a series of meditations to bring us closer to a "God for all seasons," revised and expanded into this new edition.

Designed for daily use as well as for retreats, Seasons of Your Heart is an eloquent and lyrical invitation to journey through the spiritual seasons of wonder, hope, love, mystery, and faith.

Macrina Weiderkehr shares her "seasonal struggle with God" and encourages us to reconize those same peaks and valleys in our own spiritual life. Using biblical passages, poetry, and excerpts from her journal, Wiederkehr provides meditative ideas and prayers as "postures" for realizing and approaching the holy in our daily lives.

In this masterpiece of simplicity, Macrina Wiederkehr offers a series of meditations to bring us closer to a "God for all seasons," revised and expanded into this new edition.

Designed for daily use as well as for retreats, Seasons of Your Heart is an eloquent and lyrical invitation to journey through the spiritual seasons of wonder, hope, love, mystery, and faith.

Macrina Weiderkehr shares her "seasonal struggle with God" and encourages us to reconize those same peaks and valleys in our own spiritual life. Using biblical passages, poetry, and excerpts from her journal, Wiederkehr provides meditative ideas and prayers as "postures" for realizing and approaching the holy in our daily lives.

From the bestselling author of Seasons of Your Heart and A Tree Full of Angels, a lyric, loving, and inspiring approach to communion with God based on Benetictine spirituality.

The Benedictine tradition and practice of divine reading made accessible for everyone.

The Benedictine tradition and practice of divine reading made accessible for everyone.

In the Gospel of John Jesus directs us, Abide in me, as I abide in you. This book is an invitation to make the Word of God your home through the practice of lectio divina .Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, encourages you to turn the words of Scripture over in your heart as a plough turns over the soil to welcome the seed.

In these scriptural meditations, the piercing reflective questions and personal prayers lead the reader into a deeper relationship with the Divine. Aware that drawing near the Word of God requires a special kind of presence, the author invites you to breathe in the Word, wait before the Word, walk through the pages of Scripture as a pilgrim, and, finally, abide in an intimate and transforming communion with God.

The format of the book lends itself not only to daily personal prayer and reflection, but to group faith sharing as well.

Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, (1939-2020), author of the popular A Tree Full of Angels (HarperCollins) and Seven Sacred Pauses (Ave Maria), was well known for her creative spiritual writings and retreat ministry. She was also a regular columnist for Stepping Stones, the Little Rock Scripture Study newsletter. She lived a monastic life for fifty years and made her home with the Sisters of St. Scholastica, a Benedictine monastery in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Writing and retreat ministry were a part of her evolving call. Visit her personal blog at http://macrina-underthesycamoretree.blogspot.com/.

Winner of a 2020 Excellence in Publishing Award from the Association for Catholic Publishers (second place, prayer). For more than twenty-five years, Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr has authored such bestselling books on Catholic spirituality as Seven Sacred Pauses and A Tree Full of Angels. In The Flowing Grace of Now—her first book in almost a decade—Wiederkehr offers weekly reflections that reveal the spiritual teachers at work in your life, inviting you to listen to these teachers and learn from their wisdom.

“There is an old proverb that says, ‘When the student is ready the teacher will arrive.’ I think I have been ready for a long time, yet perhaps I have spent too much time looking for the perfect teacher rather than seeing the teachers that arrive in unexpected ways.” With these words, retreat guide and author Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr begins The Flowing Grace of Now, a year-long companion that ushers you into the presence of teachers already at work in your life—teachers intent on helping you deepen your faith.

These teachers are not necessarily saints, writers, or theologians, but rather ordinary people, events, and experiences whose presence already permeates your life. These include:

These, Wiederkehr suggests, are the kind of teachers who are the result of the flow of grace in your life. She encourages you to become aware of how they are at work in you and what you might learn from them.

Each reflection begins with a scripture text leading you into the spirit of the week. A brief meditation on this scripture serves as a catalyst for the Word to take root in your heart and a closing prayer sums up the week. A teacher is suggested for you. The final quotation from a spiritual writer contains the spirit of your teacher and can assist you in embracing the wisdom of that teacher.

Using this book as a year-long weekly guide can be an enriching opportunity to deepen and transform your faith life.

Just before she died of brain cancer in April 2020, Macrina Wiederkehr gifted her friend and coauthor Joyce Rupp with one of the many journals she kept over the years where she reflected on scripture and her own spirituality. Rupp writes in the foreword for Open Wide My Heart, “I observed certain currents of yearning and faithfulness that remained throughout the decades: a thirst for an ever-fuller relationship with the Holy One; a tremendous respect for scripture as an incentive for spiritual transformation; a recognition of not being all she hoped to be regarding her inner growth; and a continual return to a belief in her essential goodness.”

That is the essence of Open Wide My Heart, which pulls together two years of personal reflections by Wiederkehr, a beloved spiritual author, popular retreat leader, and Benedictine sister. These brief yet poignant writings serve as guideposts as you begin or deepen your scripture study and offer gentle direction for your faith and a better understanding of daily life.

Wiederkehr also shares nuggets of spiritual wisdom she gained in her reading, including

Open Wide My Heart is an invitation to learn from a bestselling spiritual writer’s practice and witness her deeply meditative approach to scripture and life. In the process, you can grow in confidence in your own scripture reading.

In this masterpiece of simplicity, Macrina Wiederkehr offers a series of meditations to bring us closer to a "God for all seasons," revised and expanded into this new edition.

Designed for daily use as well as for retreats, Seasons of Your Heart is an eloquent and lyrical invitation to journey through the spiritual seasons of wonder, hope, love, mystery, and faith.

Macrina Weiderkehr shares her "seasonal struggle with God" and encourages us to reconize those same peaks and valleys in our own spiritual life. Using biblical passages, poetry, and excerpts from her journal, Wiederkehr provides meditative ideas and prayers as "postures" for realizing and approaching the holy in our daily lives.

In this masterpiece of simplicity, Macrina Wiederkehr offers a series of meditations to bring us closer to a "God for all seasons," revised and expanded into this new edition.

Designed for daily use as well as for retreats, Seasons of Your Heart is an eloquent and lyrical invitation to journey through the spiritual seasons of wonder, hope, love, mystery, and faith.

Macrina Weiderkehr shares her "seasonal struggle with God" and encourages us to reconize those same peaks and valleys in our own spiritual life. Using biblical passages, poetry, and excerpts from her journal, Wiederkehr provides meditative ideas and prayers as "postures" for realizing and approaching the holy in our daily lives.

From the bestselling author of Seasons of Your Heart and A Tree Full of Angels, a lyric, loving, and inspiring approach to communion with God based on Benetictine spirituality.

The Benedictine tradition and practice of divine reading made accessible for everyone.

The Benedictine tradition and practice of divine reading made accessible for everyone.

In the Gospel of John Jesus directs us, Abide in me, as I abide in you. This book is an invitation to make the Word of God your home through the practice of lectio divina .Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, encourages you to turn the words of Scripture over in your heart as a plough turns over the soil to welcome the seed.

In these scriptural meditations, the piercing reflective questions and personal prayers lead the reader into a deeper relationship with the Divine. Aware that drawing near the Word of God requires a special kind of presence, the author invites you to breathe in the Word, wait before the Word, walk through the pages of Scripture as a pilgrim, and, finally, abide in an intimate and transforming communion with God.

The format of the book lends itself not only to daily personal prayer and reflection, but to group faith sharing as well.

Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, (1939-2020), author of the popular A Tree Full of Angels (HarperCollins) and Seven Sacred Pauses (Ave Maria), was well known for her creative spiritual writings and retreat ministry. She was also a regular columnist for Stepping Stones, the Little Rock Scripture Study newsletter. She lived a monastic life for fifty years and made her home with the Sisters of St. Scholastica, a Benedictine monastery in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Writing and retreat ministry were a part of her evolving call. Visit her personal blog at http://macrina-underthesycamoretree.blogspot.com/.

Winner of a 2020 Excellence in Publishing Award from the Association for Catholic Publishers (second place, prayer). For more than twenty-five years, Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr has authored such bestselling books on Catholic spirituality as Seven Sacred Pauses and A Tree Full of Angels. In The Flowing Grace of Now—her first book in almost a decade—Wiederkehr offers weekly reflections that reveal the spiritual teachers at work in your life, inviting you to listen to these teachers and learn from their wisdom.

“There is an old proverb that says, ‘When the student is ready the teacher will arrive.’ I think I have been ready for a long time, yet perhaps I have spent too much time looking for the perfect teacher rather than seeing the teachers that arrive in unexpected ways.” With these words, retreat guide and author Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr begins The Flowing Grace of Now, a year-long companion that ushers you into the presence of teachers already at work in your life—teachers intent on helping you deepen your faith.

These teachers are not necessarily saints, writers, or theologians, but rather ordinary people, events, and experiences whose presence already permeates your life. These include:

These, Wiederkehr suggests, are the kind of teachers who are the result of the flow of grace in your life. She encourages you to become aware of how they are at work in you and what you might learn from them.

Each reflection begins with a scripture text leading you into the spirit of the week. A brief meditation on this scripture serves as a catalyst for the Word to take root in your heart and a closing prayer sums up the week. A teacher is suggested for you. The final quotation from a spiritual writer contains the spirit of your teacher and can assist you in embracing the wisdom of that teacher.

Using this book as a year-long weekly guide can be an enriching opportunity to deepen and transform your faith life.

Just before she died of brain cancer in April 2020, Macrina Wiederkehr gifted her friend and coauthor Joyce Rupp with one of the many journals she kept over the years where she reflected on scripture and her own spirituality. Rupp writes in the foreword for Open Wide My Heart, “I observed certain currents of yearning and faithfulness that remained throughout the decades: a thirst for an ever-fuller relationship with the Holy One; a tremendous respect for scripture as an incentive for spiritual transformation; a recognition of not being all she hoped to be regarding her inner growth; and a continual return to a belief in her essential goodness.”

That is the essence of Open Wide My Heart, which pulls together two years of personal reflections by Wiederkehr, a beloved spiritual author, popular retreat leader, and Benedictine sister. These brief yet poignant writings serve as guideposts as you begin or deepen your scripture study and offer gentle direction for your faith and a better understanding of daily life.

Wiederkehr also shares nuggets of spiritual wisdom she gained in her reading, including

Open Wide My Heart is an invitation to learn from a bestselling spiritual writer’s practice and witness her deeply meditative approach to scripture and life. In the process, you can grow in confidence in your own scripture reading.