Presence

Dear Jesus, I come to You today, longing for Your presence. I desire to love You as You love me. May nothing ever separate me from You.

Freedom

Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Lord,
so that I may have inner freedom.
Let Your Spirit instil in my heart
a desire to know and love You more each day.

Consciousness

God, may I rest in Your radiant presence, just as a flower basks in the light and warmth of the sun. Thank You for bringing light and warmth to my life through other people, through nature, and through Your Word.

The Word of God

¹⁴Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

¹⁷On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ” ¹⁹So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve disciples, ²¹and while they were eating he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” ²²And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” ²⁵Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

Inspiration

We are told that Judas used to steal from the common purse.  Now his greed has increased and he wants even more money.  It is frightening, especially for those consecrated to God in religious life or the priesthood, that despite his privileged call  Judas could still sin so grievously.  St Paul in Philippians 2 tells his converts, ‘to work out your salvation in fear and trembling’.  We are all sinners, always in need of God’s mercy and grace. 

Conversation

Jesus often asked questions of those who came to Him.
Let me sense Him close to me now,
listening to my prayer and asking
“How can I help you?”
“What can I give you?”
“What do you need?”

Conclusion

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

Amen