THE PROMISE

PRAYER PAUSE

Tuesday 17 January 2017, Anthony of Egypt

THE PROMISE

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “When God made a promise to Abraham … (He gave) us this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered.” (Hebrews 6:10-20)

Reflection. Promises kept give joy, promises broken really hurt. We live on promises, declarations of what will happen. They keep us focused and energised. We long to have politicians who make promises they intend to keep and, if they fail, explain why. There is great anger about because the world is littered with broken promises. “Blessed are you who believed in the promise made to you,” Elizabeth says to Mary and our faith is founded, as Abraham’s was, on a promise. Faith assures us, but we still have to hold on to the promise. That can be tough going. The task is to nourish that promise and keep it alive.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to stretch out our weary harts and limbs to hold on to the promise you make to us. Amen

IN TEARS

PRAYER PAUSE

Monday 16 January 2017

IN TEARS

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Hebrews :5:1-10)

Reflection. This is the most astonishing statement in the bible. Nowhere else do we get such a raw description of the human Jesus, struggling against the evil that rose up to meet him. Taken together with Mark’s description of the agony Jesus endured in the garden it gives us a picture of Jesus who touched the deepest suffering of human beings. His total offering of himself with us and for us is breath taking.  He has plumbed the deepest recesses of human suffering.

Prayer. Lord, you entered so fully into our human condition. May we draw courage  and endurance from your communion with us. Amen

HE HAS GONE THROUGH

PRAYER PAUSE

Saturday 14 January 2017

HE HAS GONE THROUGH

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “He has gone through to the highest heaven … He felt our weaknesses and was tempted in every way that we are.” (Hebrews :4:12-16)

Reflection. “What he (she) went through!” How often we say it. We know people who have had a hard time and we read or hear of others in the media. Jesus went through it all. Hebrews is remarkably down to earth is describing the human Jesus. When we unpack the phrase “he saved us” we basically come down to his entering our human condition and living all the consequences. We can each elaborate what that “all” means, But it means all. He saved us because he was the “way” of living totally in the truth, no matter what the consequences. He did not even flinch from death.

Prayer. Lord, you are the way, which is truth and life. Help us to follow in your way. Amen

A PLACE OF REST

PRAYER PAUSE

Friday 13 January 2017

A PLACE OF REST

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “We must therefore do everything we can to reach this place of rest.” (Hebrews :1…11)

Reflection. The author of Hebrews continues to use Psalm 94 (95) and this time to speak of “the place of rest.” He refers, it seems to me, first of all to the final rest when we pass from this life to the next. There will be no time limit to our “vacation.” In fact time itself won’t exist. But also he is referring to the taste of this final rest that we can enjoy even now. There is much stress in people’s lives today but, and I know thi is easy to say, there is really no need for us to give in to stress. We may get tired and driven by the demands of our work. But it is still possible, or am I dreaming, to develop an attitude of “rest” in which we have times of standing back from it all snd pausing for some moments “in the Lord.”.

Prayer. Lord, teach us what it is to “rest” even now, in you. Amen

IF ONLY YOU WOULD LISTEN TODAY!

PRAYER PAUSE

Thursday 12 January 2017

IF ONLY YOU WOULD LISTEN TODAY!

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “If only you would listen to him today; do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 3:7 -14)

Reflection. Each day the Church opens its prayer with these words from Psalm 94 (95). It is a prayer for freshness; that we would approach each day as a new gift, something given to us to use, to create, to enjoy. We know how easy it is to “harden” our hearts, that is, to live each day in an unreflective routine, where we just react to people and events. We become “non-starters”, people who wait for others to start and then we follow in a predictable way. God invites us to be “creators” with him in building a “new heaven and a new earth.” We can do that in our own way each day.

Prayer. Lord, help us to see the “deep down freshness” in all things and find you waiting for us there. Amen

COMPLETELY LIKE HIS BROTHERS

PRAYER PAUSE

Wednesday 11 January 2017

COMPLETELY LIKE HIS BROTHERS

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he should in this way become a compassionate and trustworthy high priest.” (Hebrews 2:14-18)

Reflection. Christmas is already slipping from our memory but its powerful message never ceases to awe us. God became one of us, “completely like us”, so that he could share in our daily life, work, joys, frustrations, relationships, friendships, betrayals and all the human experiences we know. He lived all this  but always with complete integrity and truth. The author of Hebrews will tell us “he went ahead of us into the sanctuary” meaning he endured all life presented to him and broke a way through for us. His suffering and death was our way to life. We are to become “completely like” him and so attain or goal.

Prayer. Lord, we desire to follow along the way you walked. Send us your Spirit each day to show us how. Amen

WHAT IS MAN?

PRAYER PAUSE

Tuesday 10 January 2017

WHAT IS MAN?

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “What is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him?” (Hebrews 2:5-12)

Reflection. The letter to the Hebrews ponders the dignity of human beings. They (we) are placed at the head of creation “in command of everything.” The earth is the tool of every woman and man to mould and make into a new creation that reflects the plan and glory of God, who gave it to us that we might rejoice in it and through it find our way to him. And the author of the letter sees Jesus as the one who comes to lead the way “into the sanctuary”, that is, into the way of making the whole of creation reflect the love and compassion of the Father. He is excited as he sees us succeeding through the coming of Jesus who is with us and marks out the way forward.

Prayer. Lord, you are “the Way” and we rejoice as we enter this new year, trusting that you will guide us through your Spirit to choose wisely. Amen