Presence

Jesus waits, silent and unseen, to come into my heart.
I will respond to His call.
He comes with His infinite power and love.
May I be filled with joy in His presence.

Freedom

“There are very few people
who realise what God would make of them
if they abandoned themselves into his hands,
and let themselves be formed by his grace.” (Saint Ignatius)
I ask for the grace to trust myself totally to God’s love.

Consciousness

Help me, Lord, to be more conscious of Your presence.
Teach me to recognise Your presence in others.
Fill my heart with gratitude for the times Your Love has been shown to me through the care of others.

The Word of God

³¹Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are descendants of Abraham, yet you look for an opportunity to kill me because there is no place in you for my word. ³⁸I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”^,

³⁹They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God himself.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.

Inspiration

In their blindness and pride the Jews could not see their own wrongdoing and lack of compassion. Despite the witness of his deeds they refused to accept the words of Jesus when he told them he had been sent by the Father. Our faith is a commitment we make to God without having all the answers to our many questions. We grow in this faith by using it and, especially, by spending time in real prayer from our hearts.  ‘Lord, we believe.  Help Thou our unbelief.’

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

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Amen