Presence

What I pay attention to has a hold on my becoming.
I reflect on the presence of God always there in love,
amidst the many things that have a hold on me.
I pause and pray that I may let God
affect my becoming in this precise moment.

Freedom

Heavenly Father, make me conscious of whatever burden I am carrying today and give me the grace to place it at the foot of Your Cross and so enter freely into this time of prayer.

Consciousness

Conscious of Your presence, Lord,
I look over my recent past.
Let me be honest with myself about how I’ve been
And what I’ve done,
because I know You love truth in the heart
and accept me just as I am.

The Word of God

²⁷After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸And he got up, left everything, and followed him.

²⁹Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them. ³⁰The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; ³²I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Inspiration

Jesus gives his love to us, even before we try to change ourselves. It is as if he senses that we need all the encouragement we can get to put our best foot forward, so that his efforts on our behalf reinforce our own efforts to take steps in the right direction, enabling us to be the best models of ourselves we can be.

Conversation

Dear Jesus, I can open up my heart to You.
I can tell You everything that troubles me.
I know You care about all the concerns in my life.
Teach me to live in the knowledge
that You who care for me today,
will care for me tomorrow and all the days of my 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