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Sunday |
Mar-15 |
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'Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.' ~Mother Teresa
Once there was a young man who wanted to find God, so he went into a large, beautiful cathedral. He thought that under the spacious domes, in the light of the stained glass windows, and in the presence of the glittering mosaics he might experience God. Filled with feelings of God's closeness, he put his head down on the back of the pew in front of him. A few minutes later he felt a tapping on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw an old woman. "Are you hungry?" she asked. "I could give you a few euros to get something to eat." Realizing the risk the woman had taken and the simple love that prompted it, the man thanked her but said that he was all right. A few minutes later he left the church, knowing that he had found God in more ways than one.
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Saturday |
Mar-07 |
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'All the goodness, love, value and tenderness we experience in life fall short precisely because we already know something deeper. When we feel frustrated, angry, betrayed, violated or enraged, it is in fact because our outside experience is so different from what we already hold dear inside.' ~Ronald Rolheiser
Life as we know has a unique ability to uplift and energise us. But just as quick it can shatter and bring us back down to reality in the blink of an eye. Our expectations in life are often not met, particularly values that are precious to us such as love, trust, honesty, goodness and so on. What we hold dear and precious to us is not always reflected back to us in how people relate to us. We need to begin to understand that this is not our fault. No one can take away our own sense of worth, our identity, our fingerprint, our energy, our gifts and talents and all those things that are precious to us. Others may not understand us but we are assured that God understands us, loves us and will always stand by our side. During Holy Week we get a glimpse on just how special this relationship is. |
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Thursday |
Mar-05 |
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Thought For The Week
'Prayer begins with you. Start where you are and stay with it. God is with you as you are and does not expect you to be any other than you are.' ~Mary Luke Tobin
Last Saturday was Feb 29th and this year we mark a leap year. A leap year is added to our calendar to keep it working properly. The earth travels around the sun in one year but in fact it takes a little longer, 365 1/4 days. The Leap year every four years corrects this. The chances of being born in a Leap year are 1 in 1500. Any year that can be divided by 4 is a Leap Year.
Of course for anyone whose birthday is on Feg 29th, it is indeed a special day.
For all of us we too need to correct ourselves on occasions. We steer off course, we lose focus, we drift and particularly when it comes to spiritual matters. It is good to recheck and get going again. Thankfully with God we don't have to wait every four years!
Every time we set aside a moment of prayer is our chance to reconnect spiritually. The journey of Lent which we have just begun, is a chance to create more space in our busy lives for some quiet moments of prayer. We sometimes feel such moments of prayer must be long and extended to have any value. This is not the case and often shorter is so much better.
Prayer is when we connect to the energy of God that is all around us. Sometimes we are very much aware of the presence of God in our lives and sometimes it just doesn't happen. The best starting point is to know that God is with us where we are right now. Whatever is going on for us right now is the most important moment to start with and stay with.
This calls for honesty. It pulls in a whole range of feelings of where we might be right now, from content, upset, angry, anxious, unsure, scared, happy, sad, fulfilled, stressed, hopeful or whatever. Honesty in prayer and saying what's going on for us right now is so precious. Having shared the honest moment means that the prayer has not been a waste of time. What a pity if this only happened every four years. But when we can weave these short little moments of prayer into our daily routine, we are connecting to the energy or presence of God all around us. This is a good place to be. |
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