Jesus, gate for the sheep

https://sacredspace.com/daily-prayer/

Sacred Space is inspired by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a sixteenth-century Basque native, whose insights into God’s working with the human heart have been of great assistance to countless people over the centuries and are found more helpful than ever today.

Sacred Space is a ministry of the Irish Jesuits. The site originated in the offices of the Jesuit Communication Centre in Ireland in 1999. It has grown into a global online apostolate for daily prayer since that time, and now offers prayer in approximately 15 other languages.

It might seem strange to pray at your computer, in front of a screen or using your smartphone, especially if there are other people around you, or distracting noises. But God is everywhere, all around us, constantly reaching out to us, even in the most unlikely situations. When we know this, and with a bit of practice, we can pray anywhere!

We offer daily prayer on our site to guide you through a session of prayer, in six stages, including preparing your body and mind, and culminating in reflection on the Gospel of the day according to the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. The stages are:

- The Presence of God

- Freedom

- Consciousness

- The Word

- Conversation

- Conclusion

It is worth noting that we follow the Irish liturgical calendar which may at times differ from liturgical calendars used in other countries. We hope in the future to provide a choice of liturgical calendars depending on your location and preference.

Another resource that you may like to use is our Living Space page. Here you will find commentaries on both the daily readings and the Sunday readings throughout the Church year. Originally, this was the work of Fr. Frank Doyle, SJ who passed away in 2011. The existing commentaries continue to be edited and updated, but new commentaries are not currently being posted, and every once in a while, there is a day with no commentary available. It is possible to search the Living Space collection for commentaries on particular scripture readings and saints. The collection is also searchable by Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), by Sunday of the Year or by Saint by Month. Please note that the site is undergoing updating and revisions for functionality.

Faith and Doubt

Devotion by Graeme Harrison)

PRAYER:

I place my hands in yours Lord

I place my hands in yours.

I place my will in yours Lord

I place my will in yours

I place my thoughts in yours Lord

I place my thoughts in yours

I place my days in yours Lord

I place my days in yours

I place my heart in yours Lord

I place my heart in yours

I place my life in yours Lord

I place my life in yours

Amen.

David Adam in The Book of a Thousand Prayers

Read:

Luke 1:5-20. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.

5In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

8Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

(Luke 1:5-20 NIV)

Thought for the Day:

What a strange scene. An angel appears and Zechariah knows it is an angel judging by his reaction. The angel brings astonishing good news that he and his wife are to have a miraculous birth in old age. And Zechariah asks the miraculous angel standing right in front of him in plain sight, how he can be sure?

And yet is Zechariah so different from us. His problem was the clash of world views that was taking place in his life. Life experience and social norms say that old people can’t have babies whereas God was assuring him that when God is involved other alternatives open up in life. Does that not sound like your experience and mine? Isn’t it true that God asks us to do abnormal things like loving the ‘unlovable’, and sharing Good News that changes lives. Don’t we believe in a loving personal God when the world appears as secular?

And yet sometimes, when we are called to defy the norms of society by Christ do we not hesitate and say “How can I be sure?”

Doubt and hesitation are not dealt with by denial and suppression but by accepting the feelings and bringing them before God. Sitting with God and praying with the father of so long ago, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief”.

Epilogue. God gave Zechariah the proof he asked for; miraculous muteness. Strangely his silence communicated God’s message to the community better than his spoken words.

Photo by Tachina Lee on Unsplash

Titus. A Waste of Time

Devotion by Graeme Harrison)

PRAYER:

Almighty God, Creator;

The morning is yours, rising into fullness

The summer is yours, dipping into Autumn, eternity is yours, dipping into time.

The vibrant grasses, the sent of flowers, the lichen on the rock, the tang of seaweed,

All are yours.

Gladly we live in this garden of your creating.

Amen.

From George MacLeod’s poem “The whole earth shall cry Glory”

Read:

Titus 3:9. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.

9But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. (Titus 3:9 NIV)

Thought for the Day:

I have had discussions with people who aren’t Christian who throw countless arguments at you to show why Christianity is nonsense. Inside me I have known that the whole discussion was pointless because no one was going to change their mind. Was it body language, or facial expression or just how things were said that gave it away? I’m not sure but I knew.

I have had the same experience with Christians arguing over things too. Why do we do it?

Paul urges us to avoid this type of thing. The best way to do so is to ask yourself, “How do I recognise a pointless controversy?” What do you think?