FLY OR DIE

PRAYER MOMENT  

Friday 21 February 2014.

FLY OR DIE

Pause. Be still in the presence of the Lord..

Reading. “Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:34 – 9:1)

Reflection. This paradox is at the heart of the gospel – and of all human life, perhaps of all life. I once saw gannets (sea birds) on the rocky islands off the west coast of Ireland and learnt that they are fed and fed by the mother and then abandoned. They have a choice: to cast themselves off the cliff and learn to fly and fish for themselves or to stay comfortably on the rocks and gradually starve to death. “Fly or die” is also our choice and in gospel terms it means a radical rejection of all that goes against our openness to God and instead finding Him in all the events of the day. And this means a rigorous attention to the working of the Spirit of God within and leads to an immense joy in discovering where that leads.    

Prayer. Lord, teach us to “lose our life” in all the events of the day. Teach us that central message of the gospel and lead us to the joy of finding you in all things. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ