24 April 2026 Spring Renewal
- quietspacesplymout
- Apr 21
- 9 min read
Welcome
Opening Prayer
Thank you dear Lord for this season of Spring. A season of renewal of life within all your creation. Longer, warmer and brighter days, growth and life. Let us wonder at this miracle you have given us and renew our world; let us use this time for good, for peace, for compassion and to love of one another. We pray dear Lord for peace. Amen
Reflection
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 states: ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.’ So in winter we waited – a time of such hard work with all of life’s activities and the resurgence occurring out of sight.
Henri Nouwen taught that waiting is not a passive, wasted time, but an active, hopeful, and patient discipline. He taught that true waiting means living in the present moment while believing that "something hidden there will manifest itself". And if we look out of the window we can see all of creation coming to life
I really love the following poem by Ann Lewin which seems to sum up the patience and faith we need when waiting for Spring.
Prayer is like watching for the kingfisher Prayer is like watching for The kingfisher. All you can do is Be there where he is like to appear, and Wait. Often nothing much happens; There is space, silence and Expectancy. No visible signs, only the | Knowledge that he’s been there And may come again. Seeing or not seeing cease to matter, You have been prepared. But when you’ve almost stopped Expecting it, a flash of brightness Gives encouragement. Ann Lewin
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‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now we are in the midst of Spring. We celebrate renewal, the divinity in nature, and the resurrection of life after winter's slumber. We see God’s grace reflecting in blooming flowers and singing birds. Of course we cannot forget St Francis of Assisi who saw God reflected in all of nature, and his writing of the Canticle of the Creatures which we will read now.
Canticle of the Creatures
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,
through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon
for Your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.
St Francis of Assisi
And we see Richard Rohr using the word spring in another context. He emphasises that the "spring" is an internal, ever-flowing source of grace and life, as Jesus described to the Samaritan woman (John 4:14) Rohr states a:
‘mutual vulnerability is revealed as Jesus invites the woman to be both the receiver and also the “source” and giver of the gift of living water. In an almost Trinitarian kind of flow, Jesus describes this transfer as a “water that I shall give which will be a spring of water within you—welling up unto infinite life” (John 4:14).’
He continues ‘Jesus’ most wonderful metaphor for this inner experience of grace is “a spring within you.” This spring is not outside us, it’s within us, and it’s bubbling up unto eternal life.
Richard Rohr, A Spring within Us, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-spring-within-us/
What does Spring mean to you?
Is it the delight in warmer weather, brighter days and more hours of life?
Is it time for Spiritual renewal?
Introduction to Silence
Blessing
John O'Donohue: "For the Senses" May the touch of your skin Register the beauty Of the otherness That surrounds you.
May your listening be attuned To the deeper silence Where sound is honed To bring distance home.
May the fragrance Of a breathing meadow Refresh your heart And remind you you are A child of the earth.
And when you partake | Of food and drink, May your taste quicken To the gift and sweetness That flows from the earth.
May your inner eye See through the surfaces And glean the real presence Of everything that meets you.
May your soul beautify The desire of your eyes That you might glimpse The infinity that hides In the simple sights That seem worn To your usual eyes. John O’Donohue, Benedictus, p53 |
Thoughts to Ponder
Song of Solomon 2:11-12 - Song of Songs See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
Hosea 6:3 …He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth
Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating 'round the perfect trees. | And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love, To which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfill. Robert Frost |
"Spring" by Gerard Manley Hopkins:
Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning. Gerard Manley Hopkins
"The Blessings of Spring" by Deborah Ann
There are many blessings, that each new Spring brings you can see it bloom about and hear the song it sings.
With winters bleakness over, and brighter days ahead comes promises of new life Springtime loves to spread.
As God unfolds the flowers, and their buds begin to show He gives to us the assurance grace in our hearts will grow. | He sends us the robin’s song, with the promise to provide a shelter under His mighty wing where in His love we can abide.
He melts the snowy covers, and sends the refreshing rain sprinkling us with His mercies to heal winter’s ache and pain.
God’s given to all His Son, to shed upon us a new light and the real blessing of Spring . . . is keeping Jesus in our sight! |
Spring by Christina Rossetti Frost-locked all the winter, Seeds, and roots, and stones of fruits, What shall make their sap ascend That they may put forth shoots, Tips of tender green, Leaf, or blade, or sheath; Telling of the hidden life That breaks forth underneath, Life nursed in its grave by Death.
Blows the thaw-wind pleasantly, Drips the soaking rain, By fits looks down the waking sun: Young grass springs on the plain; Young leaves clothe early hedgerow trees; Seeds, and roots, and stones of fruits, Swollen with sap, put forth their shoots; Curled-headed ferns sprout in the lane; Birds sing and pair again.
There is no time like Spring, | When life's alive in everything, Before new nestlings sing, Before cleft swallows speed their journey back Along the trackless track, — God guides their wing, He spreads their table that they nothing lack, Before the daisy grows a common flower, Before the sun has power To scorch the world up in his noontide hour.
There is no time like Spring, Like Spring that passes by; There is no life like Spring-life born to die, Piercing the sod, Clothing the uncouth clod, Hatched in the nest, Fledged on the windy bough, Strong on the wing: There is no time like Spring that passes by, Now newly born, and now Hastening to die. Christina Rossetti |
A Spring within Us
Richard Rohr understands the gospel story of the woman at the well as a story about God’s ever-flowing grace toward us:
In the Christian Scriptures, we read about Jesus encouraging a Samaritan woman to draw water from the public well and serve it to him (John 4:7). At this ancient well the expected roles are reversed. A mutual vulnerability is revealed as Jesus invites the woman to be both the receiver and also the “source” and giver of the gift of living water. In an almost Trinitarian kind of flow, Jesus describes this transfer as a “water that I shall give which will be a spring of water within you—welling up unto infinite life” (John 4:14).
In other words, the ancient spiritual well is fully transferred to the individual person; it is now an inside job and has a “welling-up effect,” which is exactly the image that sixteenth-century Spanish mystics Francisco de Osuna, Teresa of Ávila, and John of the Cross loved so much. This theme is also repeated when Jesus says that “from the heart shall flow streams of living water” (John 7:38). [1]
Jesus’ most wonderful metaphor for this inner experience of grace is “a spring within you.” This spring is not outside us, it’s within us, and it’s bubbling up unto eternal life. Spiritual knowing and spiritual cognition are always really re-cognition. It’s the realization that what we already know is true at some deep level. We’ve had an intuition or a suspicion that we might just be a beloved child of God, but we often think that it’s too good to imagine. Heaven is already given, and the gift is already handed over. To the woman at the well, Jesus says very directly, “If you but knew the gift of God … you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Jesus is telling her and us that we already have the gift of God! The Spirit has been poured into our hearts at the moment of our creation. We are already children of God. The water is bubbling up within us but we often don’t dare believe it.
Such good news is just too good, too impossible, too distant. We say, “Lord, I am not worthy.” Of course we’re not worthy, but the good news is that worthiness is not even the issue. Who among us is worthy? Am I worthy? Is the bishop worthy? Are the priests worthy? Are the Franciscans worthy? I don’t think so. We’re all just varying degrees of fallible and unworthy, but when we surrender to that reality/identity/knowing, the fountain of grace begins to flow. We stop seeking our own worthiness and we begin to know the gift of God. We begin to realize that it’s all gift, and it’s all free, and we already have it, and all we can do is learn to enjoy it, and that changes everything. Richard Rohr, A Spring within Us, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-spring-within-us/
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