Presence

Every moment is alive with the glorious presence of God. As I give myself more and more to intimate communion with the One who created me, I find that I simply have no time to worry.

Freedom

I try to let go of concerns and worries
that may be dragging me down at this present moment.
I place any concerns I have in God’s hands
– at least for these few minutes of prayer.

Consciousness

Conscious of Your presence, Lord,
I look over my recent past.
Let me be honest with myself about how I’ve been
and what I’ve done,
because I know You love truth in the heart
and accept me just as I am.

The Word of God

³⁴He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

¹And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

Inspiration

A disciple cannot be above their Master. Christ is always the headline for us in how to live our lives. As he took up his cross and accepted whatever life threw at him, so must we. There is always a need for us to practise some self-denial if the false self in us is to die. In this way, with his grace at work in us, we save our real lives. We live to die, and we die to live. This is the true life, both now and for eternity. ‘Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it’ ( Matthew 10:39).

By reminding him of this question, ’What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose his/her soul?’, St Ignatius of Loyola inspired St Francis Xavier to give his life completely to Christ as a missionary in the Far East.

Conversation

What graces does God want to bestow on me in this time of prayer? If I listen deep inside, in the quiet of my heart, what is the Lord saying to me there?

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