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

I try to let go of any prejudices and narrow-mindedness
that may be clouding my vision at this present moment.
I hand them over to God’s merciful care, so I can pray in freedom, truth and clarity.

Consciousness

Jesus, thank You for this moment where I am conscious of Your presence with me. Help me to be more and more aware of Your presence in my daily life, and in everyone I meet.

The Word of God

¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Inspiration

‘Enough! The Resurrection. A heart’s clarion!  Away grief’s gasping joyless days, dejection.  Across my foundering deck shone a beacon, an eternal beam.’  So wrote the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ about the comfort of the resurrection. The darkness of sin and death is forever shattered by the ‘eternal beam’ of Easter morning.  We open our hearts to the joy of Christ’s victory, and we give immense thanks to God.

Jesus had foretold his rising from the dead and now everything has changed.  He is vindicated in his triumph over those who opposed him.  We all share in the victory of Jesus, our Brother, and all the graces that we could ever need have been won for us.  Like the apostles who ran to the tomb, let us allow the enormity of this event seep into our souls as we now meet our Saviour in prayer.

Conversation

May Your Holy Spirit guide me
in all my dealings with others.
May I use the gift of speech with kindness.

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