Presence

My soul longs for Your presence, Lord. When I turn my thoughts to You, I find peace and contentment.

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 entrust myself totally to God’s love.

Consciousness

Lord, grant that I may always desire
to spend time in Your presence.
May I not forget Your goodness to me.
Guide me to share Your blessings with others.

The Word of God

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” ²⁰Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”

²¹He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, ²²saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Inspiration

After Peter acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus foretells his own passion and death and resurrection. This would be next to impossible for his apostles to grasp and accept. But Jesus had to carry alone the burden of knowing about his coming suffering. In Luke’s Gospel we read, ‘I have a baptism that I must undergo and how I wish it were already over’ (12:50). In our own lives many of us have to carry burdens within us that we cannot share with others. But there is one Friend with whom we can always share these burdens.

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

Filled with the loving presence of God,
I ask Him to bless me and guide my steps
as I go to do His work in my daily life.

Amen