Opening Prayer Series: Third Sunday of Eastertide Year A

The Opening Prayer for the Third Sunday of Eastertide reads as follows:

Let us pray,

( that Christ will give us a share in the glory of His unending life)

God our Father,

may we look forward with hope to our resurrection,

for You have made us for Your sons and daughters,

and restored the joy of our youth.

In making this prayer tangible for this coming week, the following reflection questions emerged.

1. Why do I want to have a share in God's glory?
2. How can I contribute to sharing God's glory to others in my work, home and parish?
3. Why is it important to look forward with hope to my own resurrection?
4. What does it mean to me to be a son/daughter of God?
5. What does it mean for God to have restored the joy of my youth?
6. How can I become the person God wants me to be this coming week?
7. What is my spiritual plan/agenda for this coming week to love and know God better?

Today's Gospel is the familiar story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus.  In it, Jesus allows the disciples to share their disappointment, sadness and their own personal hope before He gave them some teaching about Himself through the Scriptures. It was not until they were at table that He revealed Himself to them, and then the 'light bulb' experience occurred ' Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him' and 'did not our hearts burn within us as He talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us'..

So what about us? Do we spend time with Christ to be able to share our disappointment and sadness of our lives and our personal hope. Like the disciples in our gospel, He listens to us uninterrupted. God is God, and yet humble enough and respectful of us to listen to us uninterrupted. God is amazing.  Then we too need to pass Him the same courtesy- be silent before Him as He teaches us what we need to know.  We too can have a 'light bulb' experience when our eyes are opened by Him and we recognize Him. We too long for our hearts to burn within us as He talks to us.  

In spending time with Jesus, we must remember that we have two ears and one tongue- let us use both ears to listen to Him speak to us and our tongue to share the intricacies of our lives. God is ready to listen to us, but are we ready this coming week to listen to Him and have a 'light bulb' experience.

Let our hearts burn within us this coming week, not with indigestion of life, but with the love and companionship of God.

Reflection and Prayer Series: Leaning on His love.

My reflection and prayer series is about sharing reflections and Prayers which have impacted upon me and have provided food for thought. I hope that they will also nurture your soul and spirit.

My post is called:

LEANING OF HIS LOVE  

Strength is often found within the silence
While resting in the presence of the Lord.
Abiding in His peace we feel His power, 
While leaning on His love, we are restored.

May you continue to feel the presence of the risen Lord during Eastertide.

Eastertide Prayer Series:Eucharistic Adoration

During Lent, the Church asks us to turn towards God by Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.  During Eastertide, we are to rejoice that the Lord is truly risen. However, any progress that we may have made during our Lenten effort should not be abandoned. Eastertide is a great time to consolidate our Lenten effort, but with joy filled attitude.

In this series 'Eastertide Prayer Series', I wish to focus on 6 different types of prayer, all of which we can use during the year, but may concentrate upon during this time of rejoicing. My second post in this series focuses upon Eucharistic Adoration.

Tests conducted have shown, from a psychological perspective, that to spend time in meditation helps  us emotionally, as well as it having innumerable physical health benefits.  Psychologists often recommend having 'me time' or 'time out' to their clients.  Eucharistic adoration is one way we can have that time out, but with our greatest friend, Jesus.   Eucharistic Adoration, that is adoring Jesus in the tabernacle and/or in a Monstrance, is a grace-filled time for those who avail themselves of the opportunity.  Eucharistic Adoration is a powerful and faith-filled way to obtain the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits and blessings that Jesus wishes to offer to us.

Eucharistic adoration is a beautiful form of prayer. It is a time to be silent before Jesus truly present in the Eucharistic host in the monstrance or in the tabernacle.  It is a time to receive the physical, emotional and spiritual blessings that Jesus has to offer us and to be able to get on with our busy lives renewed.  It is a time to love Jesus and to tell Him all that is in our hearts and minds. Jesus knows, but He listens with respect to us when we need to offload. It is a time to sit, de-clutter and be still before Him.

Some parishes have Eucharistic devotions on a scheduled basis. Some parishes sadly do not, since it is considered 'old hat' or 'pre- Vatican 2'.  During Lent, the Church encourages us to spend time in prayer.  Now that we are in Eastertide, we can try to consolidate our desire to spend time in prayer  by exploring  further what we have commenced in that penitential season or choosing another form of prayer from the rich ocean of possibilities that the Church offers to us.

Why not explore what your parish or neigbouring parish has to offer with regard to Eucharistic adoration ?  Make a date with Jesus by marking  off some dates in your diary, whether it be a community based Eucharistic Adoration, or calling in to visit Him in the tabernacle to or from school or work.  

Let us be like the disciples to enjoy the company of the risen Christ during this Eastertide season.

Compendium Series: Why affirm God created the heavens and earth

51. What is the importance of affirming ‘in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Genesis 2:1)? (CCC 279-289)

Compendium states:

The significance is that creation is the foundation of all God’s saving plans. It shows forth the almighty and wise love of God and it is the first step toward the covenant of the one God with his people.  It is the beginning of the history of salvation which culminates in Christ and it is the first answer to our fundamental questions regarding our very origin and destiny.

What does this mean for me?

1. I can praise Father God for creation and for His wise love.
2. I can praise God for my origin and destiny brought about by creation as the beginning of the history of salvation.

Questions to consider:

1. Why is creation the first step toward the covenant of the one God with His people?

2. What is my personal salvation history?

3. What do I consider to be my origin and destiny?

About the Mass Series: Communion Rite Part 2: Our Father

The Communion Rite begins with the ‘Our Father’ (the Lord’s Prayer). This prayer praises God, asks for our ‘daily bread’ and forgiveness of our sins, and reminds us that we need to be united and at peace with our neighbour through forgiving those ‘who trespass against us’.  In asking for our ‘daily bread’ we recognise that it is God who feeds us with himself –Christ- under the form of Bread, as well as providing for all our daily needs.  Because the Our Father leads into the Deliverance Prayer there is no Amen at this point.

Our body posture is important here. We as a congregation are no longer kneeling as we were in the Eucharistic Prayer, but are standing. We are standing to praise God, standing to acknowledge our daily needs, standing to ask forgiveness, standing in unity with our neighbour.  In this posture, Jesus invites us to be whole just like he invited many of those who were healed by him. He invites us to stand- not to be afraid and to be whole.  We are adopted sons and daughters of God and so call Him Father. We are co-heirs with Christ. Somehow in this posture, we claim that for ourselves once again.

Of course, we know the prayer by heart and say it often. It is perhaps the best-known prayer in the world, and it is precious because it comes to us from Jesus himself.  It is timely to remind ourselves the context that Jesus gave this prayer: Luke records: ‘Lord, teach us to pray like John taught his disciples’. (Lk 11:1)

Perhaps on our spiritual journey, our prayer life becomes dry, or perhaps we have short times or even extended periods when we feel overwhelmed with our life.

Perhaps, like the disciples, we too can have a fresh start with the words ‘Lord, teach us to pray’.

May is the month of Mary

Today is the beginning of May-it is a month often dedicated to Mary.  It is an opportunity to consider the role of Mary in our lives and to appreciate her as our spiritual mother. Why not try to say a decade of the rosary during the month of May. Obviously the 5 decades would be wonderful, but if time does not permit, then once decade said with reverence and concentration would indeed be powerful.

When I was a child, my family lived in UK.  I remember the processions that we had and learnt something more about Mary as my mother during that month particularly.  I remember all these many years later a hymn that we learnt:  It is as follows.

May is the month of Mary

month that we love so well

Mary is God's own mother

gladly her praises we tell

Refrain

Mary is beautiful

Mary is fair

Gladly we praise her 

in love and in prayer.

I have to say there were probably other verses, but you might like to think about Mary means to you and what you could do to appreciate her more in your life during this special month.

What will YOU do?

Opening Prayer Series: 2nd Sunday of Easter Year A

The Opening Prayer for the Second Sunday of Easter reads as follows:

Let us pray

(for a deeper awareness of our Christian Baptism)

God of mercy,

You wash away our sins in water,

You give us a new birth in the Spirit,

and redeem us in the blood of Christ.

As we celebrate Christ's resurrection,

increase our awareness of these blessings 

and renew Your gift of life within us.

In making this prayer tangible for this coming week, the following reflection questions emerged:

1. Why is it necessary to have a deeper awareness of my Christian Baptism?
2.  What difference does today's feast of Mercy Sunday make in my life?
3. What is my relationship with the sacrament of Reconciliation-am I a regular frequenter of this sacrament or a Christmas and Easter penitent?
4. How does God's new birth in the Spirit make a difference to me?
5. What does Christ's resurrection mean to me and how might it change my life this coming week?
6. What blessings and graces do I wish to receive during Eastertide?
7. How might I continue/change my Lenten effort during Eastertide to Pentecost?

On this second Sunday of Easter- Mercy Sunday, the gospel gives a clear description of the institution of the  sacrament of Reconciliation- Jesus giving His disciples to forgive sins in His name. Obviously every priest who hears confession gives the sign and the words of absolution, but it is Christ Himself hidden in the priest who hears our sins and gives us absolution.

We are also confronted with doubting Thomas- a persona we can all take on at some point in our spiritual lives. However, like St Thomas we need to be able to say from our hearts ' My Lord and My God'.

On this Mercy Sunday, let us take the opportunity given us by the Church to receive a plenary indulgence by receiving communion at Mass, receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation ( ideally on the day, but can be within a week before or after the feast) and say the prayers for the Holy Father.  

Mercy Sunday is a beautiful feast to contemplate- it is not magic as some may think, but a chance for those who have been away from the church to find their way back, for those who have let the sacrament of Reconciliation slip from their spiritual lives to be renewed, and for all Catholics to receive the wonderful graces God is offering. 

Remember to RSVP to Christ's invitation to Mercy Sunday in your parish or area.