Presence

What I pay attention to has a hold on my becoming.
I reflect on the presence of God always there in love,
amidst the many things that have a hold on me.
I pause and pray that I may let God
affect my becoming in this precise moment.

Freedom

Lord God, I thank you for the gift of freedom.
Help me to use this gift with integrity.
I am free to make choices.
Help me to choose to follow You,
to live in a Christian way by caring for others.
Remind me to consider always those less fortunate than myself:
the oppressed, the prisoner, those who are not free to worship in public.
Guide me always to seek Your holy will in all the events of my life.

Consciousness

How am I really feeling? Lighthearted? Heavy-hearted?
I may be very much at peace, happy to be here.
Equally, I may be frustrated, worried or angry.
I acknowledge how I really am. It is the real me that the Lord loves.

The Word of God

²⁶He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground ²⁷and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”

³⁰He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; ³⁴he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

Inspiration

A farmer sows tiny seeds in the ground and leaves them to grow silently at their own pace. In John 5 Jesus has told us that both he and his Father are at work in us. Often it is only when we look back at our lives that we see the fruit of his silent working in us. We give him thanks and entrust ourselves more and more to his loving care.

In his parables about the kingdom Jesus often uses images of natural growth. For our God size does not seem to matter. He often uses the little things and little ones to accomplish great things. Our faith, although tiny, can grow by our frequently using it in prayer.

Conversation

To communicate, we don’t always need to talk.
Can I imagine myself sitting quietly with Jesus?
I, looking silently at Him, and He at me.
How do I feel?

Conclusion

I thank God for these few moments we have spent alone together and for any insights I may have been given concerning the text.

Amen