Presence

Dear Lord, help me to be open to You
for this time, as I put aside the cares of the world.
Fill my thoughts with Your peace, Your love.

Freedom

Lord, I pray for Your gift of freedom.
May Your Holy Spirit
guide those in power to work for
true justice for all Your people.

Consciousness

We are all pilgrims on a journey to You, Lord.
May we contemplate Your time on earth,
and, with Your help, follow in Your footsteps.

The Word of God

³⁸Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him.^{, 39}She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me.” ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, ⁴²but few things are needed—indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Inspiration

We all have the gift of free will, for without it, we cannot love. Even in the Nazi prison camps, it was the one thing that could never be taken away. But our choices have consequences that we must live with. Mary in Bethany, as a model of the contemplative, chose to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to him.

Conversation

Lord, You have engraved my name
on the palm of Your hand.
Even if others forget me,
You never will.

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