Father, may they be one in us

 Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C - 29th May 2022

Gospel John 17: 20–26

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

‘Holy Father, I pray not only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me.

May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and I have loved them as much as you love me.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you, but I have known you and these have known that you have sent me.

I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so I may be in them.

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

Aware that God desires my company, I begin my prayer time gently and slowly. I allow myself to become increasingly conscious of God’s loving presence in this moment ... of his living Spirit within me.

I read Jesus’s intimate, prayerful words, addressed to his Holy Father.

If I can, I read them aloud and let their mystery sink into my heart.

I notice if they find a welcoming home within me ... or if there is any resistance to them.

Do I thirst, like Jesus, for a sense of unity amongst all Christians?

In what ways could I acknowledge our differences, whilst celebrating what we have in common? I reflect ...

I read these profound words again. I listen to Jesus’s voice as he speaks to his Beloved Father... of his life in the Trinity... of his life in me ... of the Father’s love in me ...

Maybe I am able to sense the Christ’s presence within my body as I meditate on his words of relationship and love ... on his invitation to share in the mystical love of the Father.

I rest in Jesus’s prayer for all believers. When I am ready, I slowly end my prayer, perhaps saying ‘Come Lord Jesus, Maranatha!’

This is my gift to you

 Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C - 22nd May 2022

Gospel John 14: 23–29

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘If anyone loves me they will keep my word,

and my Father will love them,

and we shall come to them and make our home with them.

Those who do not love me do not keep my words.

And my word is not my own: it is the word of the one who sent me.

I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.

Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you,

a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say:

I am going away, and shall return.

If you loved me you would have been glad to know

that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

I have told you this now before it happens,

so that when it does happen you may believe.’

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

Finding a quiet space wherever I can, I notice how I am feeling, and get ready for my prayer.

I take as long as I need to become still, confident that the Lord always waits patiently for me to join him. He gazes on me tenderly, delighted I am here, loving me just as I am. Settling into stillness, I set aside anything that may be troubling me, entrusting it into God’s safe hands for now.

I read the Gospel slowly and carefully. I may like to picture Jesus speaking to me personally. I let his words soak in and ponder what they mean for me.

‘If anyone loves me, they will keep my word’. In what ways am I doing this? What might I want to say to Jesus?

I may find myself reflecting on the word ‘Advocate’ ... or perhaps other words come to mind: ‘lawyer’, ‘helper’, ‘teacher’, ‘guide’, ‘defender’, ‘comforter’, ‘counsellor’, ‘supporter’ ... ? I ponder their significance. Perhaps I think of other words for peace too ... ‘calmness’, ‘Shalom’, ‘freedom’, ‘harmony’, ‘wholeness’, ‘completeness’ ... What does peace look like for me in my life just now? Maybe I sense the comfort and reassurance that Christ’s peace brings.

In times when I may feel afraid or troubled, what do I do? To whom do I turn? Do I place my trust in the Lord, or try to rely on myself?

Maybe I associate the phrase ‘a peace the world cannot give’ with current conflicts throughout the world. I pray for all those affected in any way.

I speak to Jesus about any feelings that have arisen from my prayer, then close with a slow sign of the cross.

Click here  to read or listen to a One-Minute Homily on this Sunday's gospel

Love one another, just as I have loved you

 Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C - 15th May 2022

Gospel John 13: 31–5

When Judas had gone, Jesus said:

‘Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in him God has been glorified.

If God has been glorified in him,

God will in turn glorify him in himself,

and will glorify him very soon.

‘My little children,

I shall not be with you much longer.

I give you a new commandment:

love one another;

just as I have loved you,

you also must love one another.

By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.’

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

As I prepare to become still, I know that God is with me, gazing on me.

How am I, as I come to prayer today? I ask God to be the God of love and compassion to me and through me today.

I read these words from St John slowly, taking time to savour them.

Maybe it helps to place myself sitting with Jesus and his friends at supper, as he speaks these words. Perhaps I hear him talking to me, too, as one of his beloved ‘little children’. I sit quietly and listen.

Jesus calls his friends to love in a radical new way, with the same self-giving love that he himself has lived.

How do I feel to be entrusted with this? Inspired? ... challenged? ... privileged ... or ...?

How do I want to respond to Jesus?

Maybe I think of people whom I admire who seem able to radiate this radical love of Jesus. What does it mean to live my life so others can see me as a disciple of Jesus?

I share my deepest thoughts with the Lord as I would with a trusted friend, asking for whatever help or grace I need.

In time, I slowly end my prayer, perhaps with the words ‘Glory be to the Father ...’, as I ask the Lord to deepen his life within me.

Click here to read or listen to a One-Minute Homily on this Sunday's gospel

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice

 Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C - 8th May 2022

Gospel John 10: 27–30

Jesus said: ‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice;

I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, and no one can steal from the Father.

The Father and I are one.’

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I come to the place where I will pray today, and pause for a few moments to remind myself that the Lord is already here, patiently waiting for me, and is looking on me with such love. I take time to become still in whatever way works best for me – perhaps by paying attention to my breathing.

I don’t try to change it – I just focus on how the air flows in through my nose, and out through my mouth. Each breath in fills me with a sense of the Lord’s love and peace. With each breath out I let go of any cares or concerns I am carrying with me.

I read this short passage a number of times – slowly and deliberately, paying attention to each word, and pausing to allow them to sink in.

‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice.’

Where in my life am I truly listening to the voice of Jesus, my shepherd? Are there things I know the Lord is trying to get me to listen to – but which, for whatever reason, I am resisting?

‘I know them and they follow me.’

How does it feel to recall how completely God knows me?

How closely do I really follow? Have I always followed or are there times when I have drifted away or fallen behind?

‘No one will ever steal them from me.’

Are there temptations that still sometimes attract me? Am I at times persuaded to take other paths, fall in with other flocks?

Very gently, and without any hint of self-judgement, I ponder where these risks might be for me. I might want to share my sorrow for times past with the Lord – or I may want to ask for the grace to better recognise and resist the temptations that might separate me from the Lord.

As I bring my time with the Lord to a close, I pray for the grace:

To see him more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly, day by day by day.

Click here to read or listen to a One-Minute Homily on this Sunday's gospel