Todays thoughts and prayers

Something to think and pray about this week:


The death and resurrection of Jesus push us back to our own experiences of death and resurrection. Perhaps it was the serious illness of a child, and her subsequent recovery. Perhaps it was a failure in some enterprise, a failure that left us disheartened and hopeless – until with a friend’s help we gradually worked back confidence and enthusiasm. Perhaps it was the breakdown of a friendship, with some sense of betrayal. We felt it was all over, until a moment of mutual forgiveness, and the friendship lived again as though it had never died. When we tasted healthy living again, there was a particular joy, of having loved and lost and found again. There are countless such dips and surges in my life. Ignatius Loyola urges us to remember during the dips that this will pass, and that it is a bad time to make decisions.
Monday 8th May


The Presence of God

I pause for a moment
and reflect on God's life-giving presence
in every part of my body, in everything around me,
in the whole of my life.


Freedom

I ask for the grace
to let go of my own concerns
and be open to what God is asking of me,
to let myself be guided and formed by my loving Creator.


Consciousness

How do I find myself today?
Where am I with God? With others?
Do I have something to be grateful for? Then I give thanks.
Is there something I am sorry for? Then I ask forgiveness.


The Word

Lord you became human to communicate with me.
You walked and worked on this earth.
You endured the heat and struggled with the cold.
All your time on this earth was spent in caring for humanity.
You healed the sick, you raised the dead.
Most important of all, you saved me from death.


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John 10:9-10


Jesus said to the Pharisees, "I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."


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What are you saying to me, Lord?



Some thoughts on today's scripture:


This is a seminal saying: Jesus has come that we may have abundant life. The signs of his presence are love, joy, growth, change and activity, which varies at different ages. Not necessarily health -- we cannot control that -- but love and growth as the years pass. I wonder, have I more abundant life today than yesterday?




Conversation

Begin to talk to Jesus about the piece of scripture you have just read.
What part of it strikes a chord in you?
Perhaps the words of a friend - or some story you have heard recently
- will slowly rise to the surface of your consciousness.
If so, does the story throw light on what the scripture passage may be trying to say to you?


Conclusion

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.