PRAYER MOMENT                      

Monday 14 July 2014, St Camillus. (Note. I may not succeed in accessing the internet tomorrow)

TO BRING A SWORD

Pause. Recall that you are in the presence of God.

Reading: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth; it is not peace I have come to bring, but the sword.” (Matt 10:34-11:1)

Reflection. We would like things to go well. We want a secure predictable life with some comforts and maybe status. This is the sort of “peace” that Jesus says he has NOT come to bring! Camillus (born 1550), whose feast we celebrate today, tried to find peace in a dissolute life and ended up in hospital. We can only imagine what hospitals were like in the sixteenth century. Let’s just say they were not nice places. His lowest moment was also the moment when his eyes were opened and he went on to devote his whole life to the care of the sick. Is that not the sort of sword of which Jesus speaks? He wants us to go deep into our being and make choices that lead us to engage in the suffering of the world. .

Prayer. Lord, do not let us pass by. Open our eyes to see where you call us each day to be attentive to others and to our own spirit within where you dwell. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ