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

God is not foreign to my freedom.
Instead, the Spirit breathes life into my most intimate desires,
gently nudging me towards all that is good.
I ask for the grace to let myself be enfolded by the Spirit.

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

¹At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ²When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴How he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? ⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are guiltless? ⁶I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Inspiration

The temple is not greater than the One who is present there and for whom it was adorned. The Sabbath is not greater than the One who is worshipped on that day. Laws are meant to help lead us to God, not become an end in themselves or even an obstacle on our path to God. Jesus said, quoting Isaiah 29:13, ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’ Do we recite the words of prayers endlessly without engaging our hearts with the Person who is there with us in our prayer?

Conversation

How has God’s Word moved me?
Has it left me cold?
Has it consoled me or moved me to act in a new way?
I imagine Jesus standing or sitting beside me and
I turn and share my feelings with Him.

Conclusion

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

Amen