Wednesday, 30 September 2015

LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

PRAYER MOMENT  


Thursday 1 October 2015, St Theresa of the Child Jesus


LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children … .” (Matthew 18:1-4)


Reflection. Perhaps we have got used to this phrase of Jesus about becoming “like little children” and it begins to lose its bite for us. Perhaps the person of Theresa of Lisieux loses her attraction for us. After all she spent her whole life in a convent behind walls, never going out and meeting people.. Yet her battle to be faithful to what it was to be human was as real, and more real, than that of anyone in the busy world. In her early years she felt God was close. Later she felt a great wall separated her from him. Everything was dark for her. Her complete trust in God at that time made her great so much so that a few years after her death she was honoured by the Church with title of Saint.


Prayer. Lord, help us to have that quality of trust at a deep level which Theresa of Lisieux lived in her short life. Amen.




















Tuesday, 29 September 2015

SO I SET A DATE

PRAYER MOMENT  


Wednesday 30 September 2015, St Jerome


SO I SET A DATE


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “So I set a date that seemed acceptable to the king and he gave me leave to go.” (Nehemiah 2:1-8)


Reflection. Ezra and Nehemiah were the two practical men who animated the rebuilding of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. We know Nehemiah was in the city from 445 to 433 encouraging and inspiring the builders. It was an exciting time of renewal and a sign of the energy and urgency that would mark the coming of the Messiah. “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” We are called to be part of that energy and “set dates” for our plans to participate in the great work of building the world. Jerome devoted thirty years to the mammoth work of translating the scriptures into the common language of the Roman world.   


Prayer. Lord, share with us today the great energy and enthusiasm of our ancestors in the faith. Amen.




















Monday, 28 September 2015

THOUSANDS WAITED ON HIM

PRAYER MOMENT  


Tuesday 29 September 2015, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael


THOUSANDS WAITED ON HIM


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “A thousand thousand waited on him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.” (Daniel 7:9-14)


Reflection. I always feel uncomfortable speaking of angels. They are hard to pin down. It would be crude and unhelpful to see them as a celestial civil service. So we fall back on the word itself: angel. It means messenger and these three, whose names we have, made specific interventions in the old and new testaments. They guided, they brought good news and they fought on our side – always fulfilling missions from God on our behalf. They are messengers constantly nudging, protecting and leading God’s people on their journey.


Prayer. Lord, may your holy angels guide us on our way and help us be aware of dangers and make us attentive to your word. Amen.




















Sunday, 27 September 2015

BOYS AND GIRLS PLAYING

PRAYER MOMENT  


Monday 28 September 2015


BOYS AND GIRLS PLAYING


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “And the squares of the city will be full of boys and girls playing.” (Zechariah 8:1-8)


Reflection. After the prophecies based on the rebuilding of the temple comes a cascade of Messianic promises about the new world God will create. Seemingly we can date these words to February 518 BC! So that makes them written a neat 2500 years ago. The promises take time because humankind learns slowly to receive the divine imprint. And so it is with us. We take time to open up our lives to the divine promise. But if we are faithful we will get there. And what applies to us applies also to the world about which Pope Francis has had so much to say over these last few days.

Prayer. Lord, we ask for your patience and that we be encouraged by the vision of the day of your coming. Amen.




















Saturday, 26 September 2015

US CAPITOL STUNNED

US CAPITOL STUNNED
It sounds like a newspaper headline after 9/11 but it actually refers to a comment by a friend in Washington DC on Pope Francis’ visit to the nation’s Congress. The Speaker of the House was, according to the BBC, “close to tears.” Why such commotion, such strong feelings, after the visit of a religious leader who represents no political force? It seems that Francis found his way past all the calculations of political speeches and appealed directly to the goodness that resides somewhere in every human heart. He did not rant. He did not blame. He did not judge. He simply appealed to people’s better nature and asked them to listen to their own heart.
He cited four star Americans, two who were not Catholic and two who were. They had different aims but they were all fired by a desire for justice and what is right. If the four (Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton) were in a room together they would have all sang the same tune. We are moving away all the time from what divides us – politics, religion, colour, gender – and finding strength and solidarity in what we share together. Francis appealed to that and those who struggled to label him as right or left, traditional or radical, had a hard time.
There is a tiny sound bite in the Book of Numbers where Joshua tried to silence two characters – Eldad and Medad – who were prophesying without permission. “Stop them!” he told Moses. But Moses simply said let them be; “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets!” And in the gospel John tried to stop someone casting out devils because, “he was not one of us.” “Let him be,” said Jesus, “whoever is not against us is for us.”
The migrant crisis in Europe, the tortoise pace Colombian peace negotiations, the non-violent and not so non-violent efforts to rise above tribe in Africa – all these movements illustrate the desire to break down the barriers between people. The Catholic Church is moving away from telling people what to do and how to live – as though she possesses an insider’s clarity about how to proceed in every detail – to a way of proclaiming the gospel which is closer to how Jesus used parables. In other words, she is moving towards announcing the good news in a way that evokes a response at the deepest level from people, so that from within their hearts they recognise the way to proceed without feeling lectured at from the outside. Francis told the Americans to see the border jumpers from Mexico as people with individual faces and names and not just numbers. This doesn’t solve the problem but it touches it from another angle and appeals to something deeper than efficiency and fear of others.  
27 September 2015                             Sunday 26 B

Numbers 11:25-29                              James 5:1-6                            Mark 9:38…48

Friday, 25 September 2015

FULL OF ADMIRATION

PRAYER MOMENT  


Saturday 26 September 2015


FULL OF ADMIRATION


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: Everyone was full of admiration for all he did but Jesus said to his disciples, “You must have these words constantly in your mind: The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.” (Luke 9:43-45)


Reflection. Watching Pope Francis address the United Nations yesterday gave rise to conflicting emotions. He was heard with great respect by a packed assembly and viewers around the world: a world leader addressing a world audience. But his mention of the world’s many injustices and his list of the all those who suffer left this viewer at least in deep confusion and sorrow. The pain of the world is overwhelming. The Son of Man has indeed been “handed over” and lives Calvary again and again in so many places. Yet that lone white clad figure was also one of the many signs of hope we have and he ended with words of encouragement.

Prayer. Lord, despite all that people suffer in our world today, we believe that you walk with us to Calvary. Give us courage each day as we take up our cross. Amen.




















Thursday, 24 September 2015

SURPASS THE OLD

PRAYER MOMENT  


Friday 25 September 2015


SURPASS THE OLD


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “The new gory of this temple will surpass the old, says the Lord of Hosts, and in this place I will give peace – it is the Lord of hosts who speaks.” (Haggai 1:15-2:9)


Reflection. For three days we have read about the rebuilding of the temple after the exile and in the gospel today Jesus speaks of his passion and being “raised up on the third day.” When Pope Francis addressed both houses of the US Congress yesterday the speaker “was almost in tears.” It seems it was such a new experience it affected him deeply. All three instances speak of God actively at work building up his people into something new and each of us in our own way is called to “surpass” what we receive from our family, our formation and our world and create something new.


Prayer. Lord, help us to reach out to the new life you call us to and build a better world than the one we found when we came into it. Amen.




















Wednesday, 23 September 2015

ANXIOUS TO SEE JESUS

PRAYER MOMENT  


Thursday 24 September 2015


ANXIOUS TO SEE JESUS


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “Who is this I hear such reports about? And Herod was anxious to see Jesus.” (Luke 9:7-9)


Reflection. What is that mysterious quality that draws us beyond curiosity to faith? Clearly Herod did not have it, He wanted to see Jesus – and he got his chance during the Passion – but it was just a desire to be entertained. There was no deep searching there, such as there was in the curiosity of Augustine. Many, who turn on their TV sets today in the US to see Pope Francis may be curious in this way. But unless they have that quality that draws them further it ends there. Newman encouraged us to be real inquirers, actively searching to know the presence of God in our lives and in our world.


Prayer. Lord, help us to be curious with a deep sense of awe before the mystery of your presence. Amen.




















Tuesday, 22 September 2015

I AM ASHAMED

PRAYER MOMENT  


Wednesday 23 September 2015


I AM ASHAMED


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “My God, I am ashamed; I blush to lift my face to you, my God. For our crimes have increased …” (Ezra 9:5-9)


Reflection. After the exile the Jews returned to Jerusalem in joy. But it was a joy laced with deep sorrow for all that had happened and a realisation of their responsibility for the catastrophe. We ponder their sorrow. Was it centred on themselves and the loss of all they had – “our kings were given into captivity and shame.” Or did it arise from a realisation that they had broken a relationship with God?  It is our question too. For our sorrow can often be a form of self-pity rather than on a broken relationship. In other words sorrow can be focused on ourselves rather than another or on God.


Prayer. Lord, teach us perfect sorrow and not the sort that has its focus on us. Amen.




















Monday, 21 September 2015

STANDING OUTSIDE

PRAYER MOMENT  


Tuesday 22 September 2015


STANDING OUTSIDE


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you” (Luke 8:19-21)


Reflection. We can sense the closeness of the relationship between Jesus and his mother, a relationship that would be transformed beyond our ability to grasp it after their deaths. Yet here we have a glimpse of the priority of the kingdom; those who “hear the word” are closer to me than any relationship of nature. And it is true for us that the demands of the gospel take precedence over any other call on us. I can’t spell his name but the Austrian soldier who refused to obey Hitler and went to his death despite the entreaties of his wife is one dramatic example. There are countless less extreme ones that come our way. They stand “outside” of what is essential.   

Prayer. Lord, may we be sensitive to your call in big things and in small. Amen.




















Sunday, 20 September 2015

WHY EAT WITH SINNERS?

PRAYER MOMENT  


Monday 21 September 2015, St Matthew


WHY EAT WITH SINNERS?


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:9-13)


Reflection. As we savour Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba and his appeal to the Colombians to make even greater efforts for peace, we see Jesus’ continual breakthroughs to the rejected of society continuing today. That ancient world was becoming stuck in its rejection of the “rabble”, the people with leprosy, the prostitutes, the tax collectors and so forth. Jesus breaks through all that and sees the heart. The pope’s motto – In mercy he chose him (referring to Matthew) – expresses his attitude of breaking down the barriers between people. We still have much to do and we can begin with our instinctive judgements of others.  


Prayer. Lord, help us to see people as you see them and help us to keep revising our judgements. Amen..




















Saturday, 19 September 2015

The President’s Speech

The President’s Speech
Much ado has been made of the President reading the wrong speech. It prompted me to recall the first time I heard him speak 41 years ago. You could “hear a pin drop” in the hall as he caught our attention with his crystal clear analysis of the situation then (1974). “If we have to go into detention again we will!” Ten years later, as Prime Minister, he landed by helicopter in a swirl of dust on the playing field at St Paul’s Musami and addressed the thousands at the Catholic Youth Congress. Again we had a clear and inspiring message about becoming involved in development.
But then, over the intervening years up to the present – though the speeches continued – my attention lapsed. The gulf between the spoken word and action of the ground widened. There are many reasons for this and I do not go into them here. Suffice it to ask how it is that our high ideals often get grounded in the sand. We run into obstacles and we do not know how to work through them. We either avoid them or bash our way through them. Either way leaves the roots of the obstacles intact.
If we turn to the gospels we see how Jesus dealt with obstacles. He never wavered but “set his face like flint.” He neither avoided them nor did he force his way through. He suffered them. The greatest obstacles he met were the leaders. They listened to him but only in order to trap him in his speech. They were not open to his message. So what did he do? Call down fire and brimstone from heaven? Not at all! He endured the consequences of their opposition. He showed that endurance, even if it meant death, would bring new life, new energy and a new vision.
In fact, a new person emerges from the “seed dying”. It is the central point of Christian faith that “losing one’s life leads to finding it” while those who “cling to life lose it.” If we have not understood that we have understood nothing. This has often been missing in our post-Independence history. People – far from being prepared to “lose their life” - have been intent on “enjoying the fruits” of that life. We have centred on ourselves, our relatives or our group and ignored the many at our door also hoping for a taste of the fruits. The result is we have lost the plot, lost the vision and we are swirling around like the water in the boiling pot at Victoria Falls.
The disciples didn’t like it when Jesus told them “the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men.” They couldn’t take it. But he never wavered. He went straight up to Jerusalem and faced all the implications.      
20 September 2015                 Sunday 25 B

Wisdom 2:12…20                  James 3:16-4:3                       Mark 9:30-37 

Friday, 18 September 2015

THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM

PRAYER MOMENT  


Saturday 19 September 2015


THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “The mysteries of the kingdom of God are revealed to you; for the rest there are only are only parables.” (Luke 8:4-15)


Reflection. The variety of response to the good news of the kingdom is a mystery. The parable of the sower points to these: it just touches the edge of consciousness of some and bounces off others completely. Some welcome it but soon tire of the message and get distracted by life’s demands. Why can people not see the attractiveness of Jesus’ message of compassion and love for one another? Well, many don’t and as the pope prepares to visit America many there think he is a communist because he says we are called to go beyond charity to justice. As we look at the sower and the seed we also think of our own varied response: sometimes we welcome the message, other times we ignore it.

Prayer. Lord, help us to welcome your word as good soil welcomes the seed. Amen..




















Thursday, 17 September 2015

CERTAIN WOMEN

PRAYER MOMENT  


Friday 18 September 2015


CERTAIN WOMEN


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “With him went the Twelve as welI as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments.” (Luke 81-3)


Reflection. Today we see every mention of women with different eyes from our grandparents. Some cultures make progress in their recognition that we are all equal while others still deny women the same opportunities with men. The efforts continue to understand and rejoice in our common humanity. Without labouring the obvious let us just recognise how Luke constantly mentions women in his gospel and, whether I am a woman or a man, give thanks for the way we live and work and rejoice together.


Prayer. Lord, as we read of the women in your life we rejoice in all those who journey with us in our life. Help us to accept and love one another.  Amen.




















Wednesday, 16 September 2015

SHOWN SUCH GREAT LOVE

PRAYER MOMENT  


Thursday 17 September 2015


SHOWN SUCH GREAT LOVE


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “I tell you her sins, her many sins,, must have been forgiven her or she would not have shown such great love.” (Luke 7:36-50)


Reflection. The woman who causes such a scene in Luke chapter 7 has experienced a deep change in herself and she cannot restrain her love and joy. She pours out tears over the feet of Jesus. Simon, the host, and no doubt all his guests, are embarrassed by the display. The incident captures in a moment the whole ministry of Jesus; to heal people of their deepest pain and share with them the joy of the gospel. The woman sums up humanity redeemed.


Prayer. Lord, as we contemplate the change you brought about in this woman, open our hearts to the joy you offer through the forgiveness of our sins.  Amen.




















Tuesday, 15 September 2015

YOU WOULDN’T DANCE

PRAYER MOMENT  


Wednesday 16 September 2015


YOU WOULDN’T DANCE


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “This generation is like children who cry, ‘We played pipes for you and you wouldn’t dance.” (Luke 7:31-35)


Reflection. Jesus notices everything going on and he sees children playing their game and other children not joining in. It is an image of God made visible in the flesh (1Timolthy 3:14-16) but people taking no notice. It is an image of the poorest always being those most vulnerable and neglected. There is no piped water for the poorest in Lusaka but for those with money there is no problem.


Prayer. Lord, you urge us to ‘be awake.’ Help us to be attentive to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable.  Amen.




















Monday, 14 September 2015

SUBMITTED SO HUMBLY

PRAYER MOMENT  


Tuesday 15 September 2015, Our Lady of Sorrows


SUBMITTED SO HUMBLY


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “He submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard.” (Hebrews 5:7-9)


Reflection. The day after the Triumph of the Cross we remember the cost in suffering to Mary, the one who was closest to Jesus in his whole life on earth. The words ‘submission’ and ‘surrender’ sound like words of weakness and defeat in our everyday speech. Yet when we look into our emotional history we sense that to hold onto bitterness and resentment - to fail to accept a situation – can itself be a defeat. When we think of the promises made to her we see that Mary had good grounds for feeling ‘let down’ and she could have become bitter at her fate. But she went against such thoughts. She submitted, surrendered. “Your will be done.” This was her victory.


Prayer. Lord, give us the courage to accept the sorrows and ‘defeats’ of life as Mary did and to come through them to our victory.  Amen.




















Sunday, 13 September 2015

LIFTED UP

PRAYER MOMENT  


Monday 14 September 2015, The Triumph of the Cross


LIFTED UP


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:13-17)


Reflection. Forty days after the Transfiguration, when the disciples were told to “tell no one,” we have the celebration of the Cross about which they were to tell everyone. We have to tread warily with words: ‘Jesus saved us through the cross.’ What do these familiar words mean? The cross fulfils us, completes us. A woman who cares for her increasingly diminishing husband in his final years knows all about it. After he dies and the relatives gather and discreetly thank her for her fidelity she says in her heart, “I could not have done otherwise. I am so glad I could be with him all those days of his suffering.” There is fulfilment and completion in laying our hand on the plough and looking ahead no matter what.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to follow you in your life and embrace whatever the cross will turn out to be in our life.  Amen.




















Saturday, 12 September 2015

The Boiling Pot

The Boiling Pot
I am in Livingstone and watching the furious Zambezi rage against the indignity of squeezing through narrow gorges and coming to a momentary halt before a wall of rock at a place given the name of “The Boiling Pot.” Some of the water recoils in anger and tries to flow back against the stream, but it doesn’t stand a chance against the thrust of a million years carrying it to the sea.
There is an inevitability about death and destiny. It we ignore it, put it out of our minds and never even think of it, we are like that water trying to find its way back to something that has gone for ever. Yet modern culture, by which I mean the optimism based on technology and science, while not denying death, cannot easily fit it into the scheme of things.
Modern people do not have an understanding of death beyond the physical and biological. The Christian understanding of death as the crowning point of life faithfully lived, when a person finally achieves his or her goal, sounds pure nonsense. This last week Pope Francis eased the process by which Catholics, in marriages that clearly are not working, can obtain an annulment – a judgement that states there never was a marriage there from the beginning because the mutual consent was impaired.
While Catholics welcomed this further sign of Francis wishing to remind us of the gospel message of compassion, nonreligious people on the internet simply cannot understand why it is even an issue. “I don’t need a church to tell me about my marriage,” raged one. “Do we still have religion trying to interfere in our lives?” said another. “I though all that antique business about religion had died out long ago, in the middle ages,” said a third.
What these and similar comments suggest to me is a lack of human horizon seems to mark modern life. People just live for the present. They cannot conceive of a future that is beyond what science can tell us and they have no curiosity as to what religion has to say about it. Theologians would say they have no idea of ‘transcendence’, that is, anything beyond what can be touched and measured.
Yet mankind has intuited for millennia that we cannot provide final answers and that the future will reveal our destiny to us once we die. For the Christian, absorbed in Jesus and his message, everything makes sense because we know that even he longed for, what he called, “my baptism”, that is, his death and glorification which he knew would be the fulfilment of his mission. For the Christian, who is one with Christ, this makes perfect sense as the fulfilment of all his or her longing and striving while living on this earth. Isaiah foretold his death and the gospels all repeatedly refer to it. The implication is: this all has to be There is sadness for the bereaved but for the person who dies it is the moment when everything makes sense beyond their wildest imagining.
September 13, 2015                            Sunday 24 B

Isiah 50:5-9                                         James 2:14-18                        Mark:8:27-35

Friday, 11 September 2015

KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS

PRAYER MOMENT  


Saturday 12 September 2015


KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:4349)


Reflection. Once a person has set their heart on a life of love and service they do not have to worry about how they appear or what is the right thing to say. Right responses and actions emerge naturally from their heart. But if they have no such foundation they are for ever worrying about doing or saying the “right” thing or what is expected or what will preserve my status before people. There are so many ways of wearing a “public” face which hides the real person. I fear public servants are particularly prone to this: appearances and saying the right thing. They give less priority to actually doing what they say.


Prayer. Lord, teach us to throw away our masks and pretences. Help us to be who we are but let that being be rooted on the gospel.  Amen.




















MERCY WAS SHOWN ME

PRAYER MOMENT  

Friday 11 September 2015


MERCY WAS SHOWN ME


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 1:1…14)


Reflection. This mention of mercy catches my eye for it is virtually the motto of Pope Francis, Chosen in Mercy – or words to that effect. Like St Paul he experienced the love of God touching him and choosing him. We know that he has made mercy a mark of his ministry and has now declared a Jubilee year of Mercy and kicked off the year with a sign: he has made it easier for people trapped in a marriage, that was not based on real mutual consent, to have their union annulled, that is, declared to have never existed from the beginning. The Lord knows us and loves us as we are and reaches out to us calling us to love and the serve.

Prayer. Lord, help us to know your love, tenderness and mercy towards us and give us courage to reach out to others as you do to us.  Amen.




















Wednesday, 9 September 2015

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

PRAYER MOMENT  


Thursday 10 September 2015


LOVE YOUR ENEMIES


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return.” (Luke 6:27-38)


Reflection. These words of Jesus go to the heart of the message he has for the world. How do we build a world in which we live as brothers and sisters? How do we break down barriers between migrants and settled people, between Irish Nationalists and Unionists, Nuer and Dinka, ISIS and Iraqis? We see flashes of success with the first two pairs and seemingly insurmountable barriers with second. It stretches the human heart to the limit to breach the walls of deep seated animosity. Yet we see it happening on the world stage and also on the domestic where families struggle to reconcile their differences and communities reach out to those on the margins. Slowly, we are heeding the words of Jesus   

Prayer. Lord, help us to open our hearts to one another and break down the barriers that divide us.  Amen.




















SLAVE AND FREE MAN

PRAYER MOMENT  


Wednesday 9 September 2015, Peter Claver

SLAVE AND FREE MAN

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “And in the image of God there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, slave and free. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.” (Colossians 3;1-11)


Reflection. As we read through the letter to the Colossians the broad sweep of Paul’s developed vision grows and grows. He is no longer saying slaves should be obedient to their masters but that they are totally equal in Christ, which is another way of saying there is no longer any room for slavery. Today we remember Peter Claver, a man who laboured as “a slave of slaves” in Cartagena (Colombia) in the seventeenth century to relieve the suffering of men and women caught up in the terrible slave trade. There was a programme on the BBC recently about bonded labour in Nepal today. Slavery is still with us. And when we read of migrants herded into ships and locked in the holds we again touch the enormity of crimes committed against the vulnerable. The gospel still cries out: break the yoke laid upon people.

Prayer. Lord, wherever we sense discrimination or stigma help us to be alert and sensitive to what goes on in our own hearts. May we rise to see all our brothers and sisters as you see them.  Amen.




















Monday, 7 September 2015

THE ONES HE CHOSE

PRAYER MOMENT  


Tuesday 8 September 2015, Mary’s Birthday


THE ONES HE CHOSE


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers.” (Romans 8:28-30)


Reflection. A thrill runs through this minor feast of Mary as we realise this is the first step in the process that will eventually lead to the Incarnation and the Paschal mystery. After aeons of preparation the time has come for the great events. Paul writes that it was a choice and a call that led to this young person becoming the mother of Jesus, God among us. We ponder this today as we see God acting decisively in our history to bring about the great raising of men and women to the dignity they were always destined for. That choice continues to fall on us and call us to rise to the task of bearing the likeness of the One in whose image we are made and giving witness to a world struggling to find its true way.  


Prayer. Lord, we rejoice in the birth of Mary, the humble young woman of Nazareth who became your Mother and our Mother. May we draw courage from her so that your will is done in us as it was in her. Amen.




















Sunday, 6 September 2015

SOMETHING AGAINST HIM

PRAYER MOMENT  


Monday 7 September 2015


SOMETHING AGAINST HIM


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him  to see if he would cure the man on the Sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him.” (Luke 6:6-11)


Reflection. Hardness of heart is a baffling condition but quite widespread. Jesus’ enemies were determined to find something against him. They could not open their hearts to what he was saying and doing. They made up their minds that he was a threat and that was that. He had to be got rid of. People have made up their minds about global warming  - that it is a false scare – or about GMOs – that they are a good thing - without really facing the facts, which are too much of a threat to them. It is odd in such a rational age as ours that people can be so irrational. That is why the shift in attitude in Europe towards migrants  - they are now being welcomed – is such a warming (another kind of warming) development. We can change!


Prayer. Lord, help us not to harden our hearts, as the people did at Meribah in the desert (Psalm 95). May we be truly open to your word coming to us in the people and events of each day. Amen.




















Saturday, 5 September 2015

ALAN

ALAN
The body of the three year old Syrian boy Alan, washed up on a Turkish beach, has touched our hearts. This one picture ignites more energy to act than volumes of written words. Tens of thousands have fled their homes in Arab lands and Africa to escape war and poverty and headed for Europe. But European countries feel overwhelmed by the demand and put up barriers while they search for long term solutions. There is resentment that the immigrants will “take our jobs” but there is also generosity in the struggle to find a solution.
Solving the problems in the countries of origin is an obvious solution but those who could do this don’t want to. It would mean reconciling differences among warring parties and preparing the way for massive aid to restructure their economies. There is no will to do these things. It is perceived as abandoning the struggle and giving up the hope that “our group” will win and enjoy the power. So they harden their heart and struggle on, no matter what the suffering of the weakest and most defenceless.  And the children go on dying. Both sides blame each other for the death of Alan but neither side is prepared to make the leap of faith needed to work with the other for peace. So, all the little Alans go on dying.
How then can we read the words of Isaiah in such a desperate situation? “Courage! Do not be afraid. Look your God is coming to save you.” What comfort is there in such words? They seem totally inappropriate and disconnected. But then, the words of the prophets have always sounded as though they belong to another planet. Until, that is, we see them come true! Isaiah did talk about the “lame leaping like a deer” and “springs of water in dry land.” When Jesus proclaimed the new world that was emerging he gave signs:, the healing of the blind and the lame and the promise of new water to the Samaritan woman.
These signs were not just his signs. They were signs of what the new people of God would do. Europe is poised on the threshold of some momentously generous decisions. But it is not only Europe. Wherever we are we are asked to draw on our heritage of faith and imagination and open eyes and help others stand up. We begin at home in our own yard. In reaching out to those who suffer and are lonely we reach out to Alan and all those like him. The situation is not desperate. It needs our courage and generosity. In our own way we can prevent the death of Alan.
6 September 2015                               Sunday 23 B

Isaiah 35:4-7                                       James 2:1-5                                        Mark 7:31-37

Friday, 4 September 2015

MASTER OF THE SABBATH

PRAYER MOMENT  


Saturday 5 September 2015, the anniversary of John Bradburne of Mutemwa’s death (1979)


MASTER OF THE SABBATH


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “The Son of Man is master of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5)


Reflection. We know that controversies over the Sabbath recur frequently in the gospel. The Sabbath was a well established tradition and its observance was a practical test of whether one was a good Jew. But for Jesus it was a sign of where a person’s heart was. The Sabbath had a purpose but outward conformity to it was never to take the place of its inner meaning. One version of this text, which was not accepted but till throws light on it, reads, “On the same day, seeing a man working on the Sabbath, Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, if you know what you are doing you are blessed, but if you do not know you are accursed as a breaker of the law.’”


Prayer. Lord, help us understand the meaning of the law and that it must never take the place of mercy. Assist all those who gather next month in Rome to discuss the family, to find their way to temper law with compassion. Amen.




















Thursday, 3 September 2015

THE IMAGE OF THE UNSEEN GOD

PRAYER MOMENT  


Friday 4 September 2015


THE IMAGE OF THE UNSEEN GOD


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God and the first born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth.” (Colossins 1:15-20)


Reflection. This is an astonishing statement for a community only a few decades old. It was not so long since they were saying, “Who is this?” “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” The gospels had described his humiliation and death as a criminal. And now he is seen as the centre, the pivot, the head, of all creation in the heavens – and we know a good deal more about them today – and the earth. For Fr Pedro Arrupe, Jesus meant “everything” and over the centuries Christian writers have seen him as the indispensable way to life. It is good to pause for a moment in wonder at the expansion of Paul’s thought about the place of Jesus of Nazareth in the whole evolution of the cosmos.


Prayer. Lord, may we see you in all things and all things in you, for you are the source and goal of all. Amen.




















Wednesday, 2 September 2015

COMPLETELY OVERCOME

PRAYER MOMENT  


Thursday 3 September 2015, Gregory the Great


COMPLETELY OVERCOME


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made.” (Luke 5:1-11)


Reflection. Luke likes to record breakthroughs. Elizabeth is over come by the visit of “the Mother of my Lord” and Zaccheus changes his extortionate way of life overnight just because Jesus looks at him. And Jesus also looks at Peter when the cock crows and Peter weeps bitterly for himself and for all of us in our lack of recognition at that look that nevers leaves us. And when he rises from the dead “they stand there dumbfounded” (Luke 24). Gregory, a Roman civil servant, experienced that look and it changed his life. He went on to leave a permanent mark on the Church through his writings, his liturgical prayers and his engagement with the politics of his time.



Prayer. Lord, may we be “overcome” by your love for us and lead us to share our faith in you with others. Amen.




















Tuesday, 1 September 2015

I MUST PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS TO OTHER TOWNS TOO

PRAYER MOMENT  


Wedesday 2 September 2015


I MUST PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS TO OTHER TOWNS TOO


Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.


Reading: “They wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’” (Luke 4:38-44)


Reflection. As Jesus starts his ministry in Luke we see this drive, this energy, to announce the good news from place to place. In contrast we see the reaction of the people who want to hold on to him, to enjoy his miracles , to control him and limit him. We immediately see in these personal and social impulses something that is still with us today. We can easily settle for “our church,” “my Jesus,” in the sense of domesticating and limiting the good news to “our people” and “my image of God,” forgetting the energy and desire of Jesus to go to “other towns.” Cosmically we live in an ever-expanding universe and theologically we live in a world where the good news “must” always reach out further and further to “people who live in darkness.”


Prayer. Lord, inspire us with your energy to reach out to others and share withthem the good news through our way of living and our words. Amen.