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

Lord, I let go of the worries, resentments and fears
that I can sometimes hold on to so tightly.
Let me open my hands and my heart to receive freely
all the gifts that I need at this time.

Consciousness

Lord You have called me the “light of the world”.
Let me be always conscious of those You want me to serve:
the hungry and the homeless,
the sick and the destitute,
the stranger and the refugee.

The Word of God

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” ¹⁸He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. ¹⁹Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

²¹At that very hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.^{, 22}All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Inspiration

The disciples return from their missionary endeavours filled with joy at their success. Jesus, too, rejoices with them and in the Holy Spirit, he gives thanks to his Father. Here, we have an example of Jesus’ own prayer as he simply speaks to his Father out of the situation in which he finds himself. Let us learn from his example.

The choices of God are always mysterious to us. Only Jesus knows who the Father is, and he came to reveal this to those who were open to his gift. ‘I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known’ (John 17:26).

Conversation

To communicate, we don’t always need to talk.
Can I imagine myself sitting quietly with Jesus?
I, looking silently at Him, and He at me.
How do I feel?

Conclusion

I thank God for these few moments we have spent alone together and for any insights I may have been given concerning the text.

Amen