Love Made Visible

For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Rms.8:38,39

Saint Paul teaches how believers are more than conquerors, that the all sufficient love of God is with us no matter where we find ourselves, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

I sung this scripture over my atheist and terminally ill mother. She then opened her eyes and told me she believed. The power of the love of God broke through all her years of unbelief. She died a baptised believer not long afterwards.

Praise be to the love of God made visible through Jesus Christ our Lord. Here is reason enough to enter this day with great joy.

Thank you Jesus for making manifest for me the love of God. I will be a barer of this love and joy today.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

The Narrow Door

‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.Lk.13:23,2 

Jesus is asked if many will be saved at the end of time. Jesus answers by saying many will be lost.

A popular gospel is one that says the door to heaven is wide open and everyone is going to enter. Jesus disagrees. He says the gate to heaven is narrow and many will not pass through it. This heightens the need to evangelise, starting with myself and my family.

Try your best, Jesus says. The inference is that passively drifting into heaven is not the way to get there. I need to make an effort daily, hourly, right at this moment to enter the narrow door. The alternative is not pretty, weeping and grinding of teeth... forever.

Jesus, sometimes I’m asleep at the wheel, just drifting. Holy Spirit, remind me today that the door to paradise is narrow and requires my best efforts to pass through it.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Remember I'm Human

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Rms.7:25

Saint Paul declares the weakness of his humanity. His spirit is willing but his flesh is weak.

A recent scandal in the local Church resulted in a Bishop resigning because of a sexual relationship being made public.  It is said church leaders fall through sexual sin not because they forget they are Christian but because they forget they are human.

All men, including the great Apostle Saint Paul by his own admission, are susceptible to weakness of the flesh in all its permutations. Saint Paul points to the antidote. Remember we are human. The accountability group of men I meet with fortnightly is a big part of my remembering. I must thank them for this today....

Lord Jesus, thank you for my maleness. Help me keep my humanity before me and my sexual integrity beside it.
Saint Augustine, please pray for me.

Division

‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three;
Lk12:51,52

Jesus is telling his disciples there is a cost to following him, that cost being the hatred of the world that can even be experienced within a family.

Jesus warned that the world would hate Christians not that Christians would hate the world. There are places where this warning is obvious, where choosing Christ can cost your life. Even within my own family my Christian faith puts me at arms length from some.

What's my response to this division? Love and prayer. Love of the hater of Christ and prayer for unity.

Jesus, you experienced  hatred to the point of death. Give me compassion to be an agent of unity, especially within my own family.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

A Free Slave

You were once slaves of sin, but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become ‘slaves’ of righteousness.
Rms.6:17,18

The Church of Rome is exhorted to die to the sins of the flesh and and become the slave of righteous living.

I've been on both sides of this divide, a slave to sin and a slave of righteousness. This battle within still continues. When sin rules I'm chained in shackles and it feels that way. But strangely, when I'm a slave to righteousness I actually feel free. That's because I have been set free. I'm a free slave.

Today I choose the slavery of righteousness and freedom will be mine.

Thank you Jesus for your death on the cross that lets me die to sin and rise to freedom. I place my trust in you.
Saint Augustine, please pray for me.

I've come to do your will.

Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready.
Lk.12:37,38

Great crowds are gathering to hear Jesus. Jesus gives both warning and encouragement to stay awake and be ready for his return.

It's said that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. Living life "asleep at the wheel" is being indifferent to God, the giver of life in the first place.

It's so easy to be asleep to the presence, to the grace of God in my day. An antidote is to have a servant's heart. This makes me take my focus off myself and onto others. They're made in God's image and are a reminder of who it is I'm serving. When Jesus returns let him find me serving, even today.

Here I am Lord. I've come to do your will.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Gift of Faith

That is why what fulfills the promise depends on faith, so that it may be a free gift and be available to all of Abraham’s descendants, not only those who belong to the Law but also those who belong to the faith of Abraham who is the father of all of us.
Rms.4:16

Paul writes to the Church in Rome, explaining that the promise of God is for all peoples who have faith enough to receive it. Faith is the only essential requirement.

My conversion was delayed for years because I was trying to understand everything about Christianity before making a commitment. Coercion from loving friends to "Just jump!" finally had me do just that... jump. To my amazement, it was after jumping that I finally understood.

A mystery stops being mysterious when it is completely understood and so much of God is mystery, thank goodness. If God could fit inside my puny brain what a small god he would be. This gift of faith is truly that, a wonderful, priceless gift. Today I am grateful for my beautiful gift of faith.

Thank you Jesus for your patience all those years as you held out to me the gift of faith, waiting for me to finally receive it. I treasure this gift from you.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Lord of the Harvest

He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.
Lk.10:2 

Jesus is commissioning the seventy-two for their mission trip. His practical instruction includes an appeal to pray for more labourers, more missionaries to join them.

I would have thought seventy-two was a respectable number for a missionary team. Jesus obviously didn't think so. I'm hoping to start another Alpha Course in our parish. For this to happen the host team needs to be at least eight. At the moment I've got the commitment of one.

The harvest in my home city is rich. I'm looking at this harvest with a team of one and I have every hope. Why? Because the Lord of the harvest is waiting for me to simply ask and he will send labourers.

Jesus. In your name I ask God our Father to send me people excited about avangelisation and convinced of the power of Alpha lead people to you.
Saint Luke, please pray for us.

Belong Called Receive

You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace. 

Rms.1:6,7

Paul starts his epistle to the Church in Rome by establishing that they are chosen, called and recipients of grace and peace.

Sometimes I have days where I'm wondering, "Now, who am I? Remind me again why I'm here? What is it again that I'm meant to be doing?" Well, here's the answer. I belong to Jesus and I'm beloved. I am called to be a saint and I receive grace and peace. I belong, I'm called and I receive.

Thank you Jesus for choosing me, loving me, believing in me, blessing me. I give my day to you.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Rest

Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.  

Mt.11:28

Jesus is telling how the Father is revealed through the Son when he adds this invitation. Come to me and you will find rest for your souls.

This is such a compelling invitation. In a period of history where life is meant to be the most easy, we are more exhausted than our forebears. People labour and are overburdened. Jesus says this is not meant to be our condition. In fact it is the product of slavery, slavery to the demands of the world.

What causes me to labour and be overburdened? Certainly not working for Jesus, for example running Alpha at the moment. That is so easy and life giving, not life taking. Worries can burden me. Worries about family, worries about finances, worries about what other people think.

That's a few things to place on Jesus' shoulders. Now to take on his yoke which is easy and light...

Jesus, thank you for taking my burdens. I release them all to you as you have invited me. 
Saint Francis, please pray for me.

Like a Child

I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Mt.18:3

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin, Doctor

Jesus is asked who is the greatest in God's Kingdom. His reply surprises the disciples. The lowest, the most humble, the most powerless, little children are great in God's Kingdom.

Jesus goes a step further and challenges me to change, to step down from my self aggrandisement. I look for ways to appear great before man. Jesus says stop, turn away from my puffed up self and look to others as greater than myself.

Today is the memorial of Saint Therese of Lisieux. She made herself small and in so doing became a saint and doctor of the Church. I have much to learn from her...

Jesus, you know how I crave man's adulation. Help me become like a child that I may enter your Kingdom.
Little Flower, please pray for me.