SCATTERING AND GATHERING

PRAYER MOMENT                          

Monday 2 June 2014

SCATTERING AND GATHERING

Pause. Be still at the last supper of Jesus and his friends

Reading: “The time has come when you will all be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone.” (John 16:29-33)

Reflection. During the Passion all the disciples scattered. It had happened before in Israel when the people were exiled to Babylon. The people of Syria today are scattered and their children are in trauma. We, each of us, have been “scattered” in our thoughts and way of living and working. Which of the poets was it who said, ‘Human kind cannot take too much reality’? Total engagement in our life tasks, a whole hearted living of the message of the gospel, seems beyond us. Yet Jesus has come to gather the lost sheep of the House of Israel, to gather together the scattered people of God. It is the work of His promised Spirit; to gather the disciples with Mary in the upper room at Pentecost and to gather us, in our thoughts and our scatteredness, into the focused vision of the reign of God.

Am I building relationships in my family? In my community?  Or am I scattering people by my unfocused energy?    

Prayer. Lord, I so easily scatter myself all over the place without focus, without purpose. Help me to gather my thoughts and my energies into creative work for your kingdom. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ