Presence

Lord, God, my Creator,
Be close to me now.
My soul yearns for Your presence.

Freedom

“In these days, God taught me
as a schoolteacher teaches a pupil.” (Saint Ignatius).
I remind myself that there are things God has yet to teach me,
and I ask for the grace to hear them and let them change me.

Consciousness

At this moment, Lord, I turn my thoughts to You.
I will leave aside my chores and preoccupations.
I will take rest and refreshment in Your presence.

The Word of God

¹while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. ³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and, making her stand before all of them, ⁴they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]]^,

Inspiration

During this last week of his life, when his hearers went home to their houses, Jesus spent his nights at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the garden of Gethsemane, praying and sleeping.  Early each morning he set out for the temple for his day’s work of preaching and teaching, at daily risk of arrest.  In our meeting with him now in prayer we can dialogue with him about what this last week was like.

Jesus always loved the sinner and not the sin.  ‘Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’  Jesus said elsewhere, ‘I came not to condemn the world but to save it.’  Let us pray to imitate him in his great mercy.

Conversation

Sometimes I wonder what I might say if I were to meet You in person, Lord.
I think I might say “Thank You, Lord” for always being there for me.
I know with certainty there were times when You carried me, Lord,
when it was through Your strength that I got through the dark times in my life.

Conclusion

I thank God for His gift of love
as I go forth with joy and hope
to serve His people.

Amen