1/1/06

Mother

A mother is a constant source of blessing and protection.
She is our strength in weakness,
our consolation in sorrow, and our hope in misery.
Everything in nature speaks of a mother.
The sun is the mother of the earth,
nourishing it with light and heat.
It never leaves at night until it has put everything to sleep,
to the songs of the birds and the brooks.
The earth, in its turn, is mother to the trees and flowers.
And the trees in their turn become mothers
of the fruits and seeds.
And Mary is our spiritual mother.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now
And at the hour of our passing from this world to the Father.

8/1/06

Prayer for the New Year

Amen.

15/1/06

God’s Call

God’s call is mysterious;
it comes in the darkness of faith.
It is so fine, so subtle,
that it is only with the deepest silence within us
that we can hear it.
And yet nothing is surer or stronger,
nothing is so decisive and overpowering,
as that call.
This call is uninterrupted:
God is always calling us.

Carlo Carretto

22/1/06

Good news for sinners

Today we are in danger of being drowned in bad news
Jesus began his ministry by announcing good news
What was this good news?
That the kingdom of heaven had come.
That kingdom stands for the fulfilment of the promises,
The fullness of God’s blessings
In short, the new order of things.
Forgiveness is available. Recovery is possible.
God’s love is unconditional
And is still available to us in Christ.
All we have to do is recognise our need,
And seek his help with humility and sincerity
Unless we repent we can’t hear the good news

29/1/06

Speaking with Authority

Ideally words should always be preceded by deeds
When people who have done something
begin to speak, people listen.
Their words carry enormous weight.
They have real authority.
The weakness of a lot of words arises from the fact
that they are not preceded, or accompanied,
or even followed by deeds.
At the root of innumerable wrongs in our world
is the discrepancy between word and deed.
It is the weakness of Churches, parties and individuals.
It gives people and institutions split personalities.
Lord, grant that what we have said with our lips,
we may believe with our hearts,
and practice with our lives.

5/2/06

A Lonely Place

Jesus often went off to a lonely place to pray.
Yet the same Jesus who prayed in lonely places said,
"When you pray, go into your room,
and pray to your father in secret".
This means that the lonely place
is not necessarily a place far away,
or that by the room he means four walls
that separate us physically from others.
The room is the room of our innermost heart.
This room is with us at all times.
We should make it a place to which we can go
to find rest and spiritual recovery
when the world is too much with us.
Then we will discover that the inner room
is not empty after all, but is occupied
by the God of love who dwells in us all.

12/2/06

Healing Touch

Many of us are afraid to touch other people.
We give a few coins to a beggar,
but make sure there is no contact between us,
not even eye contact.
Jesus didn’t stand off or keep his distance.
He touched lepers, sinners, sick people,
and even the dead.
Physical contact is precisely what gives people,
Especially sick and wounded people
a sense of warmth and joy.
By the very act of touching another person,
we accept that person exactly as he or she is.
Lord; give a warm heart and kind hands

19/2/06

Forgiveness  

Forgiveness is like the child’s dream of a miracle.
Through forgiveness what is broken is made whole again,
what is soiled is made clean,
and what is lost is found.
Nothing greater can happen to a human being
than that he or she is forgiven.
Those who are forgiven are no longer trapped in the past.
They are set free – free to move forward again.
The Lord not only forgives our sins,
but helps us to learn from them.
We learn about our own weakness.
We learn about the goodness of God.
And we learn to be compassionate towards others who sin.

26/2/06

Newness

Jesus spoke about new times.
Those who want to belong to these times
must put aside the old garment and put on a new one;
they must cast aside the old wineskin and get a new one.
Yet he was not really taking about new clothes,
but about new attitudes;
for he condemned the Scribes and the Pharisees
who went around in fine robes,
but whose hearts were full of mould and decay.
Lord, touch our minds with your grace,
so that they will always be open to the truth.
And touch our hearts with your love,
so that they will always be open to others

5/03/06

Grace and Repentance

Repentance of itself is not enough –
Grace must be available.
But if grace is offered and not accepted,
Then nothing comes of that either.
There is no point in putting up a sail
If there is no wind.
There is no point in planting a seed
If the ground is frozen.
There is no point in pruning the tree
If spring does not come.
It is not enough to cut into peoples’ hearts
In order to save them-
They must be touched by grace.
Lord, touch our hearts with your grace,
So that we may produce the fruits of repentance.

12/3/06

Mountains

Jesus often went into the hills to pray.
He preached his most famous sermon from a hilltop.
He was transfigured on Mount Tabor,
died on Mount Calvary,
and ascended to Heaven from Mount Olive.
It seems that he loved hills and mountains.
Why was this?
Was it because he grew up among the hills of Galilee?
Or was it because heights enlarge our vision
and cause our spirit to soar?
Lord Jesus, lift us up that we may see further.
Strengthen our faith that we may see beyond the horizon.
And when the valley closes us in,
help us to remember the view from the hilltop.

19/3/06

The House of God

The following prayer was found written
over ther door of a church:
"Lord, make the door of this house
wide enough to receive
all who need human love and fellowship,
narrow enough to shut out
all envy, pride and strife.
Make its threshold smooth enough
to be no stumbling block to children,
nor to straying feet.
Make this house a house of prayer
and a gateway to your kingdom."

26/3/06

The Light of Christ

In Christ there is no trace of darkness
His light shows up the darkness in us.
His truth shows up our lies.
His integrity shows up our falseness.
His generosity shows up our selfishness.
His peace shows up our conflicts.
His openness to others shows up how closed we are.
However, we should not be afraid of his light.
Rather, we should rejoice in it.
Compared to his light other lights
are mere flares in the night or candles in the wind.
Christ, radiant light of the world,
guide our steps in the way of truth and goodness,
and lead us through the gloom of this world
to the kingdom of unfailing light.

2/4/06

A grain of wheat.

Each of us is like a grain of wheat planted by God.
Just as a grain of wheat must die so as to produce a harvest,
so we must die to self in order to bear the fruits of love.
This dying to self is a gradual process
and happens in little ways.
Every act of humility involves dying to pride.
Every act of courage involves dying to cowardice.
Every act of kindness involves dying to cruelty.
Every act of love involves dying to selfishness.
Thus the false self dies, and the true self,
made in God’s image, is born and nurtured.
It is by giving that we receive;
it is by forgiving that we are forgiven;
it is by dying that we are born to eternal life.

9/4/06

Death of the Good Shepherd

Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd;
the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep."
Jesus did not have to suffer and die.
He had a choice.
He chose to suffer and die because he cared
about the flock God had entrusted to him.
What Jesus wants from us is not our suffering,
but a life of love and service.
Such a life will inevitably bring suffering.
But Jesus supports all those who follow him
down the road of faithful love and generous service.

16/4/06

Moments of death and resurrection

As we go through life we all experience little deaths.
We get a foretaste of death when we live
in bitterness, loneliness, sadness and despair.
In times like these the world closes in on us,
and we seem to have one foot in the grave.
But we also experience little resurrections.
When we know love, acceptance and forgiveness;
when we open our hearts to others and to life,
the world opens up and we emerge from the tomb.
Lord, may the splendour of your resurrection
scatter the shadows of death,
and enable us to walk in radiant hope
towards the kingdom where there are
no more shattered hopes or broken dreams.

23/4/06

The First Christians

Defending the Christians before the Emperor Hadrian,
Aristides, a non-Christian said of them:
"These Christians love one another
They never fail to help widows
They save orphans from those who would hurt them.
If a man has something,
He gives freely to the man who has nothing.
If they see a stranger, Christians take him into their homes
And treat him as a brother.
And if they hear that one of them is in jail,
Or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer,
They all give him what he needs.
If it is possible, they bail him out.
If one of them is poor and there isn’t enough food to go around,
They fast several days to give him the food he needs
We are dealing with a new kind of person
There is something divine in them.

30/4/06

The Wounds of Love

Those who care about others pick up a lot of wounds.
There may be no great wounds,
only a multiplicity of little ones –
a host of scratches, wrinkles and welts.
But there can also be a lot of invisible wounds:
the furrows left on the mind and the heart
by hardship, worry and anxiety,
disappointments, ingratitude and betrayal.
These wounds are not things to be ashamed of.
They are badges of honour.
They are proof of our love.
Jesus didn’t hide his wounds.
Neither should we.
By his wounds we are healed.

7/5/06

Prayer for Vocations

Jesus, Son of God,
in whom the fullness of Divinity dwells,
you call all the baptised to "put out into the deep"
taking the path that leads to holiness.
Waken in the hearts of young people the desire to be witnesses
in the world of today to the power of your love.
Fill them with your spirit of fortitude and prudence,
so that they may be able to discover the full truth
about themselves and their vocation.

14/5/06

Vine and branches

Lord, you said:
"I am the vine, you are the branches.
Separated from me you can do nothing,
but united with me you will bear much fruit."
Thank you, Lord, for the bond you formed with us.
And thank you for the bond that exists among us
because of our union with you.
Thanks to this bond we have invisible riches
to share with one another.
Grant that we may never be separated from you,
so that we may produce in the world
the fruits of faith, hope and love.

21/5/06

Instruments of the Lord

"Go, preach the Gospel to all nations."
This was the farewell command of Christ.
He has no body now on earth but ours.
He has no hands but ours to raise up the fallen.
No feet but ours to seek out the lost.
No eyes but ours to see the silent tears of the suffering.
No ears but ours to listen to the lonely.
No tongue but ours to speak a word of comfort to the sad.
No heart but ours to love the unloved;
Lord, take pity on us, your timid and fearful disciples;
give us the courage to witness to you in the world,
and so the Gospel will be preached,
and people will find their way into your kingdom.

28/5/06

The Wounded Heart

If only the heart was right
We could give so much more.
But, alas, the heart is often empty.
It is often cold and unwelcoming.
It is often hard and unyielding.
It is often weighed down with worry.
It is often sad and lonely.
It is often in darkness.
It is often wounded
And it is sometimes broken
We have to heal the wounds of the heart
In order to be able to love
Lord, touch our hearts and heal them,
So that we may be able to bear the fruits of love

Amen

4/6/06

Guided by the Spirit of God

Do not let yourselves be guided
by the spirit of self-indulgence.
Look at the legacy self-indulgence produces:
bad temper, fighting jealousy, cruelty, meanness,
revenge, fornication, idolatry, and drunkenness.
These are ugly things, and make life miserable.
Rather, let yourself be guided by the Spirit of God.
Look at the legacy the Spirit brings:
love, joy peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
These are beautiful things, and make it joyful.
They are a foretaste of the joy of heaven.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.

11/6/06

God watches over us.

Nowadays, thanks to the security camera,
we are often being watched,
watched by a cold dispassionate eye,
intent only on catching us in wrong-doing.
The feeling that someone is watching us
is not a pleasant feeling.
But the feeling that someone is watching over us
is a lovely feeling.
God is not watching us.
God is watching over us.
The conviction that God is watching over us
gives us comfort in times of sadness,
strength in times of weakness,
and hope in times of despair.

18/6/06

Prayer of Forgiveness

O Lord, remember not only the men
and women of good will
but also those of evil will.
But do not remember all the suffering
they have inflicted upon us;
remember the fruits we have borne
thanks to this suffering
our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility,
our courage, our generosity,
the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this;
and when they come to judgement,
let all the fruits that we have borne
be their forgiveness.

25/6/06

Prayers for Vocations

Oh, Jesus, send labourers into your fields,
which are awaiting holy apostles, saintly priests,
heroic missionaries, gentle and tireless sisters.
Enkindle, in the hearts of young men
and young women, the spark of vocation.
Grant that Christian families may desire
to be distinguished by giving to your church
helpers in the work of tomorrow. Amen.

Lord Jesus, the ministry of priests
is a sign of your unfailing care.
Call from among us the priests needed for the
church of today and tomorrow.
Bless all students for the priesthood.
Grant them joy, wisdom, courage and a generous spirit.
Sustain priests with a real sense of your love
and the support of those they are called to serve.
Keep them faithful to their calling. Amen.