Stay awake!

 First Sunday of Advent, Year A - 27th November 2022

Gospel: Matthew 24: 37–44

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing until the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes. Then of two people in the fields, one is taken, one left; of two at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left.

So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, they would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of their house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

'...At an hour you do not expect.’

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I come to my place of prayer. Perhaps I light a candle; maybe I have an Advent wreath, a sign of the Lord’s coming.

I relax into God’s loving presence, and ask the Lord to be with me as I settle to pray.

I read the text slowly and carefully.

The Lord will come unexpectedly and indiscriminately.

What does this mean to me as I go about my daily routine?

Jesus encourages us to ‘stay awake’ and to ‘stand ready’.

How can I be more alert and attentive to the present moment ...

to people and to events happening around me? ...

to the movement of the Spirit in my heart?

How am I conscious of the Lord, present in my daily life?

I speak to him about some of this.

As Christmas preparations are set in motion, maybe I can ask the Lord to show me how I can retain inner stillness at this time. What do I need to ask him for as I prepare to welcome Christ this Christmas?

I wait silently in his presence.

I end my prayer with a Glory be ...

Click here to read or listen to a One-Minute Homily on today's Gospel from the Jesuit Post

Today you will be with me in paradise

 Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Year C - 20th November 2022

Gospel Luke 23: 35–43

The people stayed there before the cross watching Jesus. As for the leaders, they jeered at him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him too, and when they approached to offer him vinegar, they said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’

One of the criminals hanging there abused him. ‘Are you not the Christ?’ he said. ‘Save yourself and us as well.’ But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all?’ he said. ‘You got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus,’ he said, ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ‘Indeed, I promise you,’ Jesus replied, ‘today you will be with me in paradise.’

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I take time to come to stillness in the way that is best for me, conscious of moving into this holy space before the Lord. I ask the Holy Spirit to help me respond today with openness and generosity.

I read these words from St Luke slowly, taking time to savour them, to notice the words or phrases that draw my attention.

Maybe it helps my prayer to place myself close to Jesus, watching as the scene unfolds. Perhaps I hear him talking to me, too. I sit quietly and listen.

I may like to stay with the differing reactions of the people before the cross of Jesus; the hostility, mockery, anger, rebuke or humble request.

I notice how these words touch me. I ponder; how do they relate to my life today? What does humility mean for me?

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

I spend a little time in silence before the mystery of the love of Christ crucified.

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 today's Gospel from the Jesuit Post.

He is God, not of the dead, but of the living

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C - 6th November 2022

Gospel Luke 20: 27–38 (shorter form)

Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and put this question to him.

Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons and daughters of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all people are in fact alive.’

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I consciously slow down, in preparation for my prayer time with the risen Christ. I become more aware of my life-giving breath, inviting Christ to breathe upon me ... to fill me with the Holy Spirit.

When ready, I read this profound passage slowly. It may help me connect to the meaning if I read Jesus’s words aloud.

I may ask again for the grace and inspiration of the Spirit, as I ponder Jesus’s teaching on the resurrection.

What does resurrec on mean for me ... whether Christ’s resurrection ... or my own resurrection? How does it feel to be a child of the resurrection?

What speaks now to my heart?

As I continue to meditate on the Gospel, I may be drawn to Jesus’ s wisdom and insight about God our Father: the God of the living ... the giver of life. I allow these words to sink into my whole being.

With the gentle and compassionate support of Jesus, I reflect on my own life. What is life-giving for me at the moment?

What drains me of life and hope, and of the sense of being a child of the Living God?

I share with the Lord whatever is in my heart, as with a dear and trusted friend.

I ask for the grace to yield to the Lord, to surrender my whole being to his presence and ac on in my life.

I close my prayer with a slow sign of the cross.

Click here to read or listen to a One-Minute Homily on today's Gospel from the Jesuit Post