Readings and Reflections for Wednesday 20 May 2020

Acts 17 : 15, 22-18:8        Psalm 148         John 16:12 – 20 

Let us begin our morning reflections by praying together the Lord’s Prayer :

Our Father in heaven

hallowed be your Name

your kingdom come

your will be done

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

            as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and forever.

Amen 

Finding God. We often spend a lot of energy in our days “looking for God”, almost as if God were playing “hide and seek” with us in the midst of our lives. 

“They were to seek God, in the hope that, groping after Him, they might find Him; though indeed He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and in Him we exist”.    Acts 17: 27-28 

In our first reading, Paul is speaking to the men of Athens telling them that the God he proclaims to them is a God who is really not far. 

Jesus later tells us that ” . . . the Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth, for he will not speak of his own authority.”  (John 16 : 13) 

The God of Love who created us has placed within our very beings, His very being. This indwelling Spirit is promised to guide us along the path of life. The promise is given; we are called to listen. How do we listen to God? 

All these reflections lead to the truth that God has given us the Holy Spirit to dwell within the deepest desires of our hearts. The good that we want for those we love, is in fact, God’s desires within us; the evil that we hate in war and senseless suffering, is our sharing in God’s agony; and the yearnings that we have for God alone, are God’s yearnings, a place deep within each of us. 

How do we find God? The map/GPS has been given in our own hearts. It calls us to take time regularly for prayer – prayer that includes honest conversations with God about our desires and our inner groanings. It calls us to conversations with someone who will be honest with us and challenge us. It calls us to times of silence with God, to listen and hear God.  It calls us to the sacraments, to be in the midst of other Christians in this journey together, seeking after and finding God. It call us to recognise God in others and ourselves. It calls us to ask for the grace, that our desires be God’s desires. 

We take time now through music to hear God speak, and to know God in our lives as God moulds us and changes us through the work of the Holy Spirit, to be the people he God called us to be.

Let us Pray

Lord God,
You are not far away from any of us,
for in You we live and move and exist
and You live in us
through Your Holy Spirit.
Send us Your Holy Spirit of truth
and through your Spirit deepen our understanding
of the life and message of Your Son.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen