3/7/05

Sanctity of Life

Human life is a precious gift
to be loved and defended in all its stages.
The commandment "You shall not kill",
always requires respecting and promoting human life,
from its beginning to its natural end.
It is a command that applies
even in the presence of illness
and when physical weakness
reduces the person’s ability to be self-reliant.

Pope John Paul ll.

10/7/05

Receiving the word

The word of God is to the human heart
what a seed is to the earth.
However, just as a seed needs soil,
so the word needs a receptive heart.
The earth responds to the rain and sun
so that even the desert blooms.
But the arid human heart has the power to resist
so that it remains barren.
Lord, soften our hearts with your grace,
open them with your gentle love,
so that the precious seed of your word
may take root in our hearts,
and bear fruit in our lives.

17/7/05

The Divided Heart

"I learnt one great lesson from my years in prison camps.
I learnt how a person becomes evil and how he becomes good.
Gradually I came to realise
that the line which separates good from evil
passes not between states,
or between classes, or between political parties,
but right through every human heart.
Even in hearts that are overwhelmed by evil,
one small bridgehead of good is retained.
And in the best of all hearts,
there remains an un-uprooted small corner of evil".

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

24/7/05

At the end of the day

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a net cast into the sea
which catches all kinds of fish.
When it is full, the fisherman hauls it ashore.
Then he sits down and sorts out the good fish from the bad.
The good he keeps, the worthless he throws away.
In a sense, all of us are fishers.
Each day we cast our net into the sea of life.
And at the end of the day we have a catch,
sometimes small, sometimes large.
May we take time to sift through that catch.
And may you, Lord, give us the wisdom to know
what to keep and what to throw away.

31/7/05

Feeding the Hungry

The multiplication of the loaves happens in our fields
every year between sowing the harvest time.
Like the miracle of Jesus, this miracle too
is brought about by the power of God.
And just as Jesus needed the hands of the apostles
to distribute the bread to the people,
so God now needs human hands to make
this abundance available to the hungry.
In some countries today the problem is over-eating.
In other countries the problem is getting anything to eat at all.
Today we don’t need anyone to multiply the loaves for us.
The food is there.
What is not always there is the will to share it.

7/8/05

Do Not be Afraid

Like Peter we too have often set out confidently across the waters of life.
However, as soon as the winds of trouble rise against us,
and the waves of adversity begin to buffet us,
we lose our nerve and begin to sink.
Lord, when our faith falters, and it often does,
may we hear your gentle voice saying to us,
"Courage! Do not be afraid."
In that moment, Lord,
may your divine power uphold us,
calm our fears, steady our nerves,
and enable us to steer our little boat
to a place of safety and peace,
beyond the wind and the waves.

14/8/05

Mary was a humble person.
Humble people care nothing for acclaim.
They receive praise and honour the way a
clean window receives the light of the sun.
The brighter and more intense the light is,
the less you see the glass.
It retains nothing of the light for itself
but lets it all shine through.
Mary attributed everything to God:
‘The Almighty has done great things for me;
holy is his name.’
Mary will help us to be humble,
open and trusting before God.
Then God will enrich us,
and we too will sing his praises.

21/8/05

An Irish Blessing

God be good to you in all your days,
God be kind to you in all your ways.
God give strength to you when crosses lean,
God send light to you, the clouds between.
God give peace to you in times of strife,
God bless everything that fills your life.
God send joy to you when grief is o’er,
God make way for you at heaven’s door.

(Brian O’Higgins)

28/8/05

Gaining and Losing

There is a way of losing by gaining.
You can win an argument but lose a friend.
Through competition and promotion
I may advance in my profession,
but in terms of relationships I am impoverished.
My energies are so focused on efficiency and success
that I haven’t time to grow emotionally
and to develop my capacity for relationships.
In one’s drive to attain power,
a person may sacrifice friendship and loyalty,
so much so that one ends up alone.
Lord, let me never forget your haunting words:
"What good will it do you to gain the whole world
if you lose your soul?"

4/9/05

Harden not your heart

From a spiritual point of view, hardness of heart
is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone.
To adopt a hard-hearted attitude is to maim oneself.
A hard heart can’t feel, can’t respond, can’t love.
A hard heart can’t experience joy.
A hard heart is a closed heart.
A hard heart is a barren heart.
A soft heart, on the other hand, is a blessing.
A soft heart can receive and can respond.
It can be saddened but it can also be very happy.
Softened by the rain of God’s grace,
and warmed by the sun of his love,
the human heart can be turned from a desert into a garden.

11/9/05

Forgiveness

When we forgive, we free ourselves of the burden of bitterness,
and we free the other person of the burden of guilt.
But our forgiveness must come from the heart,
which means it must be true, sincere and warm.
A cold forgiveness is not much use.
Forgiveness should start now.
Putting it off only deepens the wound,
prolongs bitterness, and postpones happiness.
Life is short, time is fleeting.
Today is the day to forgive.
Lord, deliver us from the poison of bitterness,
and give us the grace to forgive from the heart
those who have offended us.

18/9/05

Prayer for Home Mission Sunday

God Our Father,
Thank you for your Word.
Your Word teaches us your truth.
Your Word helps us grow.
Your Word fills us with your love.
Help us to listen well to your Word
Today and Always
And make us strong in acting on your Word.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord,
Who is the Word made flesh.

Amen

25/9/05

Conversion

Conversion means being willing to change;
to change a faulty decision;
to change your priorities about what should be remembered
and what is best forgotten.
This applies especially to the decisions we tend to make in anger.
There is a lot of wisdom in the old advice that
before you post that angry letter, sleep on it.

2/10/05

Thank You Prayer

I thank you Lord for all the things
I take for granted every day.
Please help me show my gratitude
in everything I do and say.
The very air I’m breathing now,
The flowers, birds and trees –
the beauty that surrounds us all,
I thank you, Lord, for these.
For all the friends and loved ones
I meet on life’s pathway,
and especially for your endless love,
I thank you every day.

9/10/05

God’s call

God’s call comes to us in many ways
and at many different levels.
However, his call is not so much a voice
as a tug at our hearts, which we feel
at quiet and reflective moments in our lives.
He is calling us to a deeper and more authentic life.
He is calling us into intimacy with himself.
He is calling us into community with others.
And at death he will call us into eternal life.

16/10/05

God and Caesar

We all have religious and political affiliations.
We have a duty to God and to our country.
We have a duty to church and state.
All duties are to be taken seriously.
If there is a conflict between two authorities,
we must defer to the higher authority.
In the words of St Thomas More:
"I am the King’s good servant, but God’s first."

23/10/05

The Total Gospel

To separate the two great commandments
is a tragedy and goes clean contrary to the Gospel.
Yet unfortunately this often happens.
Those who have faith often have no love,
and those who love often have no faith.
Thus the Gospel has been torn in two.
Jesus spoke of two great commandments.
The first – that we should love God.
The second – that we should love our neighbour.
He didn’t say that they were the same thing,
but that they are like two sides of the one coin.
If we want the total Gospel we must have both.
He himself showed us how to do this.

30/10/05

Saints

Saints are like windows.
Through them the light of God’s wisdom
streams into the world,
banishing the darkness,
and brightening the load for uncertain travellers,
Through them the warmth of God’s love
radiates through the world,
banishing the coldness,
and warming the hearts
of even the most forlorn of his creatures.
And through them we catch a glimpse of another world,
a world that lies not just beyond the walls of our earthly home,
but even beyond the stars.

6/11/05

Waiting for His coming

The foolish have no oil in their lamps
They burn themselves out
Through a life of self-seeking
And dedication to worldly cares and vanities.
They do not even think of the Lord
Much less wait for his coming
The wise, on the other hand, have oil in their lamps.
They are detached from themselves
And from the cares of the world,
And are full of charity.
They are waiting for the Lord,
And desire nothing else but His coming
Let us keep our mind alight with faith
Our souls alight with hope,
Our hearts alight with love,
As we wait in joyful hope
For the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

13/11/05

To do the work of Christ is really quite simple.
It means to be faithful in little things,
for to be faithful in little things is a big thing.
It means to do one’s task, no matter how humble,
not only thoroughly but joyfully.
It means to make oneself available,
yet never seek the limelight.
It means to make oneself useful,
without seeking to push oneself.
It means to carry one’s own burden, without
as far as possible, becoming a burden on others.
In a word, it means to be at one’s post,
helpful and faithful, loyal and constant.
Lord, make me an instrument
for the building of your kingdom.

20/11/05

27/11/05

Advent: a time of hope

It is said that while there is life there is hope.
This has an even deeper meaning in reverse:
while there is hope there is life.
Hope is strength.
Hope sheds light into despairing hearts.
It inspires the will to live.
It is the doctor’s most powerful ally.
It is a shield against defeat and failure.
It revives ideals and renews dreams.
As long as there is hope, no situation is impossible.
Advent summons us to wait in joyful hope
for the coming of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
In the final analysis, he is our hope.

4/12/05

Lonely Voices

The voice of John the Baptist was a lonely voice
which many of his contemporaries ignored.
There are many lonely voices in our world.
Somewhere at this moment a child is crying –
crying for love or maybe simply for bread.
Somewhere a young person is crying –
crying for a listening ear or an understanding heart.
Somewhere an old person is crying –
crying for a visit or a word from his/her children.
There are a thousand unheard cries in our world,
coming from the victims of injustice and neglect.
Lord, help us to listen to these voices.
Above all, help us to listen to your voice,
whispering to us in the wilderness of our hearts,
telling us that we are loved by you,
and that we are to love one another.

11/12/05

Joy and Pleasure

There is a world of difference between joy and pleasure.
Pleasure can be planned: joy can’t be planned.
It comes unexpectedly, and is all the sweeter for that.
Pleasure is immediate. Joy often comes later,
And the sweetest joy of all is that which follows pain.
Pleasure comes from saying "yes" to ourselves
Joy comes from saying "no" to ourselves
Pleasure is like a flare in the night:
It brightens things up for a while, but when it’s over
We fell darker and emptier than ever.
Joy, on the other hand, is like a bright fire in the hearth:
Even when it dies down, it leaves a warm glow behind it.

18/12/05

Lonely at Christmas

You sometimes hear people say,
"I always find Christmas day a lonely day."
I think what they are really saying is:
"I always feel lonely on Christmas Day."
Loneliness is caused chiefly by two things:
absence and emptiness.
Let us spare a thought, a prayer, and maybe a visit
for someone who will spend Christmas alone.
And if, while spending Christmas in the midst of others,
we still feel lonely, let us not be alarmed.
Our hearts are always longing for something more,
or rather, for someone else.
In every human heart, there is an empty chamber
waiting for a guest.
That guest is God.

25/12/05

Christmas

In our times Christmas has becomevery commercialised and very pagan.
Many people are lured into overspending
and excessive eating and drinking.
However, these abuses must not blind us
to the true meaning of Christmas.
When thick smoke rises up,
catches in your throat, and brings tears to your eyes,
it is because a fire has been lit.
Ever since the coming of Christ
a bright fire has been burning on our earth,
a fire that will never die.
At this fire we experience the warmth of God’s love,
and the glow of human fellowship.
Let us not be afraid to come in out of the cold
and warm ourselves at this fire.

Happy Christmas everyone!