Presence

I slow myself down for a moment, and try to realise that God is present,
To me, here and now. He is present in what I do,
in the people that I meet, and the situations I find myself in daily.
I become present to the One who is always present to me.

Freedom

Lord, too often I think I am the one in control of my life.
Help me to see that I am powerless over so much.
I ask for the grace to be able to hand over my life to You
and experience the joy of that freedom.

Consciousness

Lord, You are present in all things
and when I take time to simply sit and be with You,
my mind rests
and I feel Your peace.

The Word of God

¹²Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” ¹³Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” ¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge by human standards; I judge no one. ¹⁶Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid, for it is not I alone who judge but I and the Father who sent me. ¹⁷In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. ¹⁸I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” ¹⁹Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Inspiration

‘You know neither me nor my Father.’  We cannot love someone we do not know.  Our God wants us to come to know him, and knowing him will inevitably lead us to love him who is infinitely loveable.  ‘What I want is mercy, not sacrifices, knowledge of God, not holocausts’ (Hosea 6:6).  Let us pray to be open to our God revealing himself to us as Jesus promised that he would in John 14:21.

Conversation

May Your Holy Spirit guide me
in all my dealings with others.
May I use the gift of speech with kindness.

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