Word in the Hand

Sunday Gospel Luke 11:1-13  Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray: “Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.”’ He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all...

Gospel Matthew 6:7-15  Another Place - Anthony Gormley Jesus said to his disciples, ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one. ‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’  Tradition Three - The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking I had intended to edit this tradition to create an apppropriate spiritual comparison. After all, the many hundreds of addi...

Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Luke 23:46 Father, into Your hands Reflection Why? I remember, Lord, the ‘Come and See’. Remember, I came; following, listening, learning. Full of joy, full of hope – the New Day was going to dawn, the Kingdom of God was near. I did not come to ‘see’ this, Lord; standing ankle deep in the waste of the city, tears streaming silently down my face, my mouth full of blood as I bite down on my tongue to stop myself from crying out. For I do not want these others to know that I know you. I don’t know you. The fear, the demons, the hopelessness is back and you are not here to save me. The crowd shouts out to you ‘Save yourself’ and I truly believe that you could – even now, you could. But it seems you are taking yourself out of this world. Your light is too bright for them and they have closed their eyes against it. What sort of plan was this? You had driven me here with the message of love and forgiveness. But wh...

Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. John 14:28 You've heard me tell you, 'I'm going away, and I'm coming back.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I'm on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life. Reflection If you loved me… How often have we heard that one? Normally just before an unacceptable or unbelievable request that seeks to undermine our place in a relationship. If you loved me… How could anyone not know that we do love them? What more can we do than we do? If you loved me… Surely if we loved anyone we would want what was best? We would want that person to be happy, safe, protected, ours. But there is a love that is stronger than ours. That sees through our need for possession; our need to measure a person’s happiness in comparison to our own; a love that is both freedom and commitment in equal measure. The love of the disciples asked for reassurance; guidance; availability...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Romans 8:16 (The Message) We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. Reflection God’s desire is for us, all of us, to be with Him. The only thing we need to do is believe it too. We don’t have to listen to the man rules – we don’t have to make ourselves bad, guilty, ashamed – that is our judgement; not God’s. God knows we are human – we do human things – He made us – He loves us. With love, what parent has a child so perfect that they never make a mistake? With love, what parent disowns a child for a childish mistake? With love, what child does not learn from his mistakes? With love, what child does not expect to be forgiven? It is not making the mistake that is sinful, but the inability to admit our flaws or to ask for help. Because it is the helplessness, hopelessness of being in the wrong place that allows us to become that lost child who waits for God, our loving Fat...

We all have an image of God; it amazes me how we ever manage to believe in an almighty, all-powerful ever-living God, when that image is usually one of an old man with a white beard. But stranger yet is the image that Jesus give us in today's Gospel. Here we have a thirty-odd year old man, who knows he's the Second Person of the Trinity talking to God the Father, with love and trust, as a toddler would talk to his Daddy (as the word Abba really means) and inviting all of us to do the same. No ritualistic gestures or long words. A simple prayer - Dad, you are wonderful and I hope everything goes your way. Help me to care for others, even those I don't like. And look after me. Thanks And as that's the Father God I want to believe in, here is my prayer Lord, I am nothing, if I am not Yours Yours to love with a father’s pride, Yours to love with a mother’s care. And here I am, an adoring child Reckless in the security of that love. Confident that whenever I fall I can lift ...