From misery to mercy
The first guided retreat of 2026 at Ampleforth Abbey brought seventeen retreat guests to North Yorkshire to reflect together on the ever-challenging parable of The Prodigal Son. The guests from different faith backgrounds and locations, and some visiting Ampleforth for the first time, were guided by Fr Bede to reflect on the three main characters in the parable from Luke’s Gospel: the father and his two sons.
Fr Bede encouraged participants to reflect on their own hopes, disappointments and New Year resolutions, responding to Christ’s invitation to “Come as you are”.
Key themes of the retreat were return, mercy and renewal, and as the weekend progressed the guests recognised facets of the Prodigal Son story in their own lives.
Emerging from lectio with the group was the observation that the elder son was a “rebel and non-conformist”, but is not a “write-off”. The father is “being a good master to his servants, which encouraged the son to go back in hope of being accepted as one”. The father, of course, “still has enough love for the elder son”, “how quick he forgave”, and “how fully he restored his son…the signet ring, the mark of authority and trust, and the cloak of affirmation and re-inclusion”.
In Luke’s Gospel, the parable ends with the father explaining to the older son that “we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (15:32). Fr Bede invited those on retreat to return home and compile their own personal ending to the gospel story.
If you are interested in the guided retreats at Ampleforth Abbey;
