PRAYER MOMENT
Thursday
7 August 2014, Today, 200 years ago, the Society of Jesus
(Jesuits) was restored by Pope Pius VII after having been suppressed by Pope Clement
XIV forty years earlier.
DEEP
WITHIN THEM
Pause. Be still in God’s presence.
Reading: “Deep within them I will
plant my law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they
will be my people.” (Jer 31:31-34)
Reflection. This text from Jeremiah can
be seen as one of the high points in the Old Testament. It expresses the relationship
God wants to have with each person, allowing each one to respond to him as, for
instance, Peter did (in today’s gospel, Matt 16:13-23) where he recognises
Jesus as he really is, “the Son of the living God.” It is thrilling what Rosetta
is discovering about a comet millions of miles away in space. It is even more
thrilling to know the One who is the origin and maker of space. But there is a
shadow side. No sooner has Peter expressed his belief in who Jesus is than he
falls into seeing Jesus’ future in his, Peter’s, terms, prompting one of the most
severe rebukes in the gospels: “Get behind me, Satan. You are an obstacle in my
path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.”
Prayer. Lord Jesus, you invite us to
know you, the source of life, and you long to fill us with your life. But we
stagger about drawn this way and that. Give us steadiness of purpose and love
for what you propose. Amen
David Harold-Barry SJ
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