Opening Prayer

During this time of prayer, help me to become aware of your presence and find rest and peace in your loving embrace.

Scripture

Luke 10:21-24

At 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. 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.”

Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For 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.”

Reflection

When my son was very young, about five years of age, he asked me one day if he could go to his little friend’s house, who lived in a disadvantaged area. They were in the same class in the infant school. The arrangement was that he would go home with this little boy on a school bus. I felt a little apprehensive, but I didn’t like to refuse. I had a good number of children, and one of them off my hands for that afternoon would help. It was before mobile phones were common, and I had no time to organise play dates as they do now. My son came home safely and arrived back in a black taxi, as the little boy’s dad drove one. My son was so happy and felt very special being driven home in such style. The next day, he asked me if his friend could come home with him, and of course, I said yes; however, he said I was to make sure the house was clean and tidy. I laughed at myself and my small-mindedness.  I gave thanks for my son’s innocence, ministering to me by opening my eyes to what is truly important in life. A prayer arose from me there and then that he would always be like that in life – see beyond materialism and judgment, and now, as a middle-aged man, I can say he has.

Reflection Prayer

Lord, open my eyes to see you in each person I meet.
Free my heart from judgment and fear.
Teach me to love with the simplicity of a child – to notice goodness, to see beyond appearances and to delight in others.

Concluding Prayer  

All beings are words of God, His music, His art.
Sacred books we are, for the infinite camps in our souls.
Every act reveals God and expands His being. I know that may be hard to comprehend.
All creatures are doing their best to help God in His birth of Himself.
Enough talk for the night. He is labouring in me;
I need to be silent for a while, worlds are forming in my heart.

– Attributed to Meister Eckhart (Expands His Being)