Presence

I pause for a moment and think of the love
and the grace that God showers on me:
I am created in the image and likeness of God;
I am God’s dwelling-place.

Freedom

Lord, I pray for Your gift of freedom.
May Your Holy Spirit
guide those in power to work for
true justice for all Your people.

Consciousness

To be conscious of something is to be aware of it. Dear Lord, help me to remember that You gave me life. Thank You for the gift of life. Teach me to slow down, to be still and to enjoy the pleasures created for me, to be aware of the beauty that surrounds me: the marvel of mountains, the calmness of lakes, the fragility of a flower petal. I need to remember that all these things come from You.

The Word of God

¹⁸Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

²¹“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²²Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins, but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

Inspiration

For everything under heaven there is a time, a time to fast and a time to refrain from fasting. The path of our Christian journey is never a continuously smooth one, but has its ups and downs. We pray for the grace to persevere in the bad times and the good times, always trusting in the infinite love of our God.

New wine skins are needed for new wine and the wine of the kingdom of God is indeed new. St John Henry Newman wrote, ‘To live is to change and to live well is to change often.’ Let us ask to discern the will of God in changing times and to worship him in ways that are authentic.

Conversation

I sit quietly with my God who knows my every thought, every need and every desire, and I allow Him to minister to me in this moment. I receive whatever nourishment I need for the journey.

Conclusion

Filled with the loving presence of God,
I ask Him to bless me and guide my steps
as I go to do His work in my daily life.

Amen