DO NOT DISTURB

PRAYER MOMENT  

Wednesday 5 February 2014

DO NOT DISTURB

Pause. Be present as Jesus visits his home town.

Reading. “This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary.” And they would not accept him.  (Mark 6:1-6).

Reflection. This is the setting for the saying, ‘a prophet is not accepted in his own country.’ Jesus visited his own people in Nazareth but they could not accept that someone they knew so well was now so famous. Jealousy came into it but perhaps even more a refusal to be disturbed. “I just do not want to know.” People make up their minds, for example, about climate change or about politics, and nothing you can say will change them. When Pope Francis arrived in Rio de Janeiro last July, one of his messages to the young people was, “create disturbance!” It was an unusual message for a pope to say but all the time he wants to stir people up, have them reflect and change their way of thinking.

Prayer. Lord, let me not become too comfortable in my thinking and in my ways. Keep me open to your surprises and ready to welcome disturbance sometimes for it often brings new life. Amen.