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Word of God the ‘seed which falls into our hearts’
'Arise: A 50-Day Journey into the Mystery of the Resurrection' delves into how the promise of Christianity's most glorious event, Jesus conquering death, was gradually through scripture, starting with the covenant God made with Abraham.
Image courtesy Sophia Institute Press
April 1, 2026
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Laura Bedingfeld, the author of the newly-released Arise: A 50-Day Journey into the Mystery of the Resurrection, never originally set out to write a book delving into Christianity’s most glorious event.
During the early COVID-19 lockdown, while studying the Bible, she became engrossed by Ephesians 1:19-20, where St. Paul writes: “and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power for us who believe, according to the working of His great power. God put this power to work in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.”
Bedingfeld, a U.K.-based editor specializing in Christian spirituality and theology, found herself deeply drawn to exploring the theme of resurrection — specifically, what it means for believers that the power of the Resurrection is active in their lives today.
“I set out to find an answer to that question in Scripture,” said Bedingfeld. “I just started from Genesis and read during the Easter season all the way through to Revelation, anything that concerns resurrection in any form, either symbolic, miraculous, theological teaching or prophecies, just to understand what the first Christians could have understood by what St. Paul was saying to them.”
Bedingfeld, who owns her own Christian, Catholic and academic editing company called Good Soil Editorial Services, concluded this specific journey of scriptural and spiritual discovery with a whole pile of transcribed verses, personal commentaries and questions in red ink.
She initially thought that she would just move on to another topic of interest, but then it felt incomplete to her not to bear “the fruits of that seed that has been planted in me.” She produced a 180-word summary of her learnings and shared it with her parents and a few priests.
“They were very enthusiastic about it and said that it had a freshness to it, a new perspective,” said Bedingfeld. “The idea of following one theme all the way through Scripture seemed new to them.”
A few years later, Sophia Institute Press became interested and suggested presenting the book in the form of a 50-day devotional for readers during Lent or during the Easter season. Bedingfeld did format the book into 50 meditations, but she felt called to retain her voice, which did not fit within one style of writing.
“Different people who have read this have commented on the fact that it doesn't really fall into a particular genre,” said Bedingfeld. “It's not devotional. It's not a work of dogmatic theology and it's not exegesis. For me, it's a living experience of what Jesus spoke of with the parable of the good soil, that the Word of God is the seed which falls into our hearts.”
The fruit cultivated through Bedingfeld’s work is an illumination of how the revelation and future hope of resurrection was revealed gradually through the promises God made throughout time to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Job and the first apostles of Christ, notably Mary and Martha in this context.
“Seeing the Scripture in this way and how all these holy men and women grew in their faith and hope in resurrection through their life experiences, confronted with the Word of God and the promises of God, I think has been the thing that has most impacted me and given me a lens to experience that resurrection in my life on a daily basis,” said Bedingfeld.
She takes specific care to elucidate Jesus’ promise to Mary and Martha — and all believers — in John 11, the passage chronicling the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
Christ made the following declaration in verse 25: “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
Bedingfeld explained that Jesus is affirming “both the eternal life of the soul and the eventual reunification with the glorified body” in one important statement. She added that one of the gifts of working on this book is approaching this formerly “enigmatic passage with greater theological precision.”
To learn more about Arise: A 50-Day Journey into the Mystery of the Resurrection, visit sophiainstitute.com.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the April 05, 2026, issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "Resurrection through life experience".
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Photo courtesy Passionist Sisters of St. Paul of the Cross
