BRACE YOURSELF FOR ACTION

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Friday 29 August 2014, St John the Baptiser

BRACE YOURSELF FOR ACTION

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Brace yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you … I will make you into a fortified city.” (Jer. 1:17-19)

Reflection. Today we remember the passion and death of John the Baptist with this reading from Jeremiah which continues, “They will fight against you and not overcome you for I am with you.” Herodias though she had overcome him, at last, when she managed to get Herod to behead him. Many of the prophets were ‘overcome’ just as Jesus too ended up crushed by the authorities of his day. So we are seeing here a central message from the scriptures - old and new – about persecution, oppression and injustice. True, they are rampant on the big screen of the news and the little screen of my own experience. But God is active in all these events as he was in the death of John. We Christian put crucifixes on our walls and round our necks. The cross remains the key to understanding our life, our struggle and our joy.

  

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach us to implant in our lives your words; ‘take up your cross daily and follow me.’ Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ