Presence

God is Immanuel, God-with-me. His presence enfolds me in His radiant love. He knows precisely what I need from moment to moment. I place all my trust in Him.

Freedom

Lord, like Saint Ignatius, I offer you my memory, understanding,
my entire will. All I ask for in return is Your love and Your grace – that’s enough for me.

Consciousness

Knowing that God loves me unconditionally,
I look honestly over the last day, its events and my feelings.
Do I have something to be grateful for? Then I give thanks.
Is there something I am sorry for? Then I ask forgiveness.

The Word of God

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Inspiration

New skins for the new wine of the kingdom of God. There is a time for everything under heaven, a time to be joyful, a time to mourn, a time to fast and a time to refrain from fasting. In the Church’s liturgical year there are times marked out for rejoicing and times for doing penance.

Fasting can not only be helpful to our bodies but can also train us to be more disciplined in how we live our Christian lives. A prayer life requires fidelity, perseverance and discipline. Unless we take up our cross daily, we cannot be Christ’s disciples. 

Conversation

Jesus, You speak to me through the words of the Gospels.
May I respond to Your call today.
Teach me to recognise Your hand at work in my daily life.

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