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SOMETHING TO THINK AND PRAY ABOUT THIS WEEK
The Greater Good
In an individualist culture, perhaps more than ever, we need to learn from the lesson placed before us by Christ the King. We are our brothers and our sisters’ keepers. ’We live in each other’s shadow’, as one Irish saying puts it. While independence is all fine and well, inter-dependence is the greater good – a kind heart and open hand. The plight of war refugees has been well documented, but there were and are disquieting voices raising opposition. The Irish Rune on hospitality says:
We saw a stranger yesterday.
We put food in the eating place,
Drink in the drinking place,
Music in the listening place.
And with the sacred name of the triune God
We were blessed, and our house,
Our cattle and our dear ones.
As the lark says in her song:
Often, often, often goes the Christ
In the stranger’s guise.
It is not uniquely Irish, of course, for many cultures instinctively know that we need to honour the heart of the stranger; we need to recognise how much like us the person is; we need to remember the humanity of each and every person. Welcoming the stranger blesses us as well as it aids the recipient of our hospitality.
In God’s family, there are no strangers, only kin or clan, as we might say. Kinship is God’s dream come true. It’s about imagining a circle of compassion and then imagining no one standing outside that circle. For whatever you do with love has eternal value.
Today Christ the King says to us, ‘What you do for others, you do for me’.
Tom Cox, The Sacred Heart Messenger, November 2023
We remember at this time...
November is a month when we remember all those who have died – our loved ones, those who have touched our lives through the media, and those who have lost their lives through war, famine, or tragedy. In some countries, families gather in the graveyard for a picnic, celebrating the lives of those who have died, on All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. They share stories, laughter, and the favourite foods of their loved ones – a joyful remembrance that keeps their spirit alive.
Lord, give us the grace to remember with love and joy all who have died.
May we cherish their memory and honour their lives.
We also pray for those who have no one to remember them – that they may rest in your eternal peace. Amen.
Sacred Space – Daily Prayer for 25 Years
Sacred Space began in 1999 and has offered new content every day since then. You can learn more about Sacred Space on our About page, or if you are a regular, you can share your Sacred Space Story on our Feedback page. For our 25th anniversary, we are featuring stories from people for whom Sacred Space has played a special part in their lives. Please consider sharing your Sacred Space Story.
Sacred Space Feedback