A LONELY PLACE

PRAYER MOMENT  

Saturday 8 February 2014.

A LONELY PLACE

Pause. Be still with the Lord “in a lonely place.”

Reading. “You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while.”  (Mark 6:30-34).

Reflection. The energy and urgency in Mark’s gospel continues to build. “There were so many coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat.” So they plan a break. But no sooner do they do that than the people “guessed” – correctly as it turned out – where they were going. So the plan for a break was abandoned and Jesus “set himself to teach them at some length.” What are we to make of this? They will be stressed out. They will reach “burn out”. It is like what we see on TV when there is a catastrophe. Rescuers work through the night. It is the same urgency – to respond to the people’s deepest longing for light, truth, wisdom and freedom.  

Prayer. Lord, did you ever rest? So absorbing was your desire to feed the people with the Father’s good news that you. Help us to share in that same joyful urgency. Amen.

HE LIKED TO LISTEN TO HIM … THEN HE BEHEADED HIM

PRAYER MOMENT  

Friday 7 February 2014.

HE LIKED TO LISTEN TO HIM … THEN HE BEHEADED HIM

Pause. Be still in the presence of the Lord.

Reading. “He knew him as a good and holy man and gave him his protection. When he heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.”  (Mark 6:14-29.

Reflection. Perhaps we are appalled by the frivolous way Herod dealt with John the Baptiser. He was clearly impressed by him and even welcomed what John had to say. But, like the seed that fell on the path, John’s words did not really change him and when his way of life as threatened he acted predictably. Herod added his name to the sorry list of those of official Israel who “did not recognise the moment of your visitation” (Luke 19:44). But we would not be wise to ignore that the spirit of compromise lingers also in us. With Jesus you are either for him or against him. The clearer we can be aware of that distinction in our own response to him the nearer we will be to a whole hearted engagement in his great project.  

Prayer. Lord, we can see the compromise so clearly in Herod. Help us too to see the ways we compromise with your gospel in our own response. Amen.

TAKE NOTHING FOR THE JOURNEY

PRAYER MOMENT  

Thursday 6 February 2014, a day when we remember the martyrs of Japan at the end of the 16^th century and those killed in Musami, Zimbabwe, on 6 February 1977.

TAKE NOTHING FOR THE JOURNEY

Pause. Be present as Jesus takes a tour through the villages.

Reading. “He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purse.”  (Mark 6:7-13).

Reflection. It is hard for us to hear these words of Jesus, “take nothing for the journey.” We prepares so carefully for our own journeys. And if it is metaphorical and he is speaking of the journey of life, the work we are to do, we take years to prepare. So what is his meaning? It seems to me Jesus is pointing to our constant habit of relying on accepted ways and expected words. We do things in tried ways. We use well-worn phrases, what we call clichés. Basically we rely on ourselves. But the call here is to move from reliance on self to total reliance on God. That too is easily said. Yet it is something that has to be reflected on and lived if we are to allow God to work in us and allow his kingdom to break in on us. Otherwise we are just doing our own thing and we are calling it God’s will.

Prayer. Lord, what does it mean, “take nothing for the journey.” You seemed so insistent and I am so resistant. Teach me what it means, to rely on you.. Amen.

DO NOT DISTURB

PRAYER MOMENT  

Wednesday 5 February 2014

DO NOT DISTURB

Pause. Be present as Jesus visits his home town.

Reading. “This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary.” And they would not accept him.  (Mark 6:1-6).

Reflection. This is the setting for the saying, ‘a prophet is not accepted in his own country.’ Jesus visited his own people in Nazareth but they could not accept that someone they knew so well was now so famous. Jealousy came into it but perhaps even more a refusal to be disturbed. “I just do not want to know.” People make up their minds, for example, about climate change or about politics, and nothing you can say will change them. When Pope Francis arrived in Rio de Janeiro last July, one of his messages to the young people was, “create disturbance!” It was an unusual message for a pope to say but all the time he wants to stir people up, have them reflect and change their way of thinking.

Prayer. Lord, let me not become too comfortable in my thinking and in my ways. Keep me open to your surprises and ready to welcome disturbance sometimes for it often brings new life. Amen.

WHO TOUCHED ME?

PRAYER MOMENT  

Tuesday 4 February 2014

WHO TOUCHED ME?

Pause. Be present as Jesus moves with the crowds.

Reading. “If I can touch even his clothes,” she had told herself, “I will be well again.”  (Mark 5:21-43).

Reflection. At the heart of Mark’s gospel there is great activity and energy. Huge crowds are moving with Jesus, all hoping to gain something from his presence. One woman, who had suffered a great deal, had a great desire to get close to him so that she could find an answer to her great distress. She might not be able to speak to him because of the crowds but she could at least touch his clothes. That would be enough. She had to overcome great fear because of her condition and it was a huge move for her to push through the people to reach him. Many people were “touching” Jesus in the crowd, as the disciples observed, but only this woman touched him with a great desire and faith.

Prayer. Lord, we are sometimes like the crowds, moving along, getting used to being with you, but perhaps not really “touching” you. What is it to touch you? Help us to do that. Help us to allow you to touch us. Amen.

THEY IMPLORED HIM TO LEAVE

PRAYER MOMENT  

Monday 3 February 2014

THEY IMPLORED HIM TO LEAVE

Pause. Be still in the presence of the Lord surrounded by agitated people.

Reading. “Those who witnessed it reported what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood.”  (Mark 5:1-20).

Reflection. The change Jesus brought to the land of the Gerasenes was just too much for them. He had driven out the evil spirits from this wild possessed man, but at the cost of a whole herd of pigs. He had brought calm and peace to the district but at a price. He had disturbed everything and left them feeling highly uncomfortable. So they asked him to leave and he did. He never forces his presence on anyone. But we read the account with a sense of sadness that these people could not welcome the moment of new life they were offered. Someone once wrote, “human beings cannot bear too much reality.” Freedom sometimes hurts too much and we prefer to stay in our half world; partly free, partly enslaved. At least our half world is familiar.

Prayer. Lord, help us to have the courage to welcome your coming even if it is uncomfortable and disturbing. You are a good Father who knows what he is doing.  Amen.

Light of the Nations

Light of the Nations

There were two “official” occasions when Jesus appeared before key institutions of Israel. One was on the last day of his life when he was arraigned before Caiaphas and the whole Sanhedrin which represented the highest authority for the Jews. He was asked formally who he really was and when he told them they condemned him to death.

The other occasion was forty days after his birth when he was presented in the temple by his parents and was received into the arms of Simeon, a representative of the best of the tradition that stretched back to Abraham, with joy as the “glory of Israel” and the “light of the nations.” 

These two responses – by Caiaphas and Simeon – represent the two stances towards Jesus taken by people through the ages. With Jesus you either welcome him or you reject him. We welcome him in all sorts of ways. Anyone who is moved by compassion to serve others is automatically welcoming Jesus whether they acknowledge him or not (Matt 25:31-46). I often think of this when I see the efforts of journalists going to dangerous places to alert us about what is happening, as in the Central African Republic. The information they provide is the first step in finding a solution to the problems. Or we can think of peacemakers who are prepared to sit for hours with both sides of a conflict to search for common ground as a basis for peace, as in the talks on Syria. They may not be baptised. They may not go to church. But they are real followers of the Jesus who knelt before his disciples and washed their feet. It seems the only qualification is that we serve one another.

How desperately sad, then, are those others who use their free will and energy in block the noble plans of the international community to make the world a better place. They shamelessly traffic human beings or promote drugs that ruin the lives of young people or plunder the world’s resources without a thought for the sustainability of the planet. Poor Caiaphas! He gets the blame, as does Cain, for representing all those who “prefer the darkness” (John 3:19). But if, with Simeon, we welcome the light it means we strive each day to bring that light into the lives of people. There are so many - parents, teachers, civil servants, professionals and so many others – who do just this. The light is shining in the world and “the darkness cannot overpower it” (John 1:5).    

2 February 2014          The Presentation of the Lord in the temple

Malachi 3:1-4              Hebrews 2:14-18                     Luke2:22-40