You are loved and I will be with you always: Pentecost 2019

-

The promise of the Holy Spirit that we hear about today highlights two ideas first of all that Jesus is always with us and that we are loved. On Friday I had an unexpected moment in front of the Blessed sacrament so here is my meditation on two of the Pentecost themes that I will be with you and you are loved:


I will be with you through darkness and light through pain and joy through the trials of life when you go to work when you eat when you sleep when you go for a run when there are difficulties in relationship. When you are looking after those who are sick and old. Because you are loved. 

I will be with you always when you drink your first cup of coffee when you are out with your friends when there is laughter and joy with being with them Because you are loved. 

I will be there when you have no way to turn when life seems to implode in on you when your stressed about exams or your children I will be with you because you are loved. 

I will be there on the bus as you journey to work,  when you are tired from the business of the day, when you just feel like crying for no reason. I will be with you always put your trust your hope your everything in me because you are loved.

When I formed you in the womb I knew you: you were named and I know your name. I  have given you an abundance of gifts no one else has been given I broke the mold when I created you because you are my work of art and I look on it with love:  because you are loved.


But you say "I did not see you I doubted you I hid from you I held my hands out and asked for help but felt you were very far from me. My prayers seem waisted no one listens not even God. 

 Did you promise that you will be with me? So where are you? 

Then we remember. your promise:  I will be with you always I will send my Spirit I died on the cross I formed you and know you I named you because you are loved. I walk with you wherever you go I will be right by your side do not be afraid trust in me because you are loved 

I will send you people to help you be your saints and angels sometimes with dirty faces others may be hidden from your sight to help you on this journey: because you are loved. 

I have set you free I have breathed my spirit anointed you made you my new creation: because you are loved 

By me 


Now because you are loved and because you have the Holy Spirit in you and flowing through you  Tell others of that love. Use those gifts that I have given you in abundance learn how to use them go deeper into this love relationship. And  know the I am with you for when you speak my name to others I am with you because I have promised I would when you find the words hard to say when you are afraid I am with you put your trust in me. And this promise is not just for those you may judge as better than yourself. It is for you too.  Because we are all loved equally we are all held in great esteem by Jesus. 


So on this birthday of the Church let us receive again this gift of the Holy Spirit let us pray for his presence always with us let us renew our selves open our hearts to receive his presence deeper into our hearts and our being. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Year of Service

-
Image
  This last weekend I was able to look back with friends at the wonderful year I had with the Vincentian Volunteers. Looking back I can see that there are many elements to this year that have remained always with me. These I can now see and after reflection have shaped my life since this most formative year. From this year I went on to train for the priesthood and became a priest. After 16 years I left ministry and now try my best to live my Christian values and life in the world. In a recent upgrade to my CV I realised that my whole adult life has been in some sort of service to others and usually to the most vulnerable and those on the fringes of society. From working in Top Shop to ministry to the Hospital to the work I now do in education. This all stems from this year I had with the community and putting Love in action. Yes I have made mistakes on the way and my human frailty has been evident but this life was never going to easy and straight forward.  When I look back on that yea
Read more

Easter

-
Image
  Over the last few years I have had major issues with the Catholic Church. I think that my issue is the authority of the Church and how many clergy, not all, use and abuse their power and class the laity as stupid idiots. I can say this as for 16 years I was a priest and caught up in the system. When you're in the middle of it you can't aways see what is going on around you. I could not see what the Church as a structure was doing to peoples lives. Until I was out I realised that the Church and Im talking about the Catholic Church here is full up of repressed men who are scared of change scared of themselves and scared of the laity. Those who speak out especially clergy who want significant change are laughed at by others and classed as trouble makers. This includes Pope Francis himself who wants change but sometimes can't get it because of what he has inherited. It is an issue that has gone on your centuries.  This does not allow for a healthy functioning Church. There ne
Read more

What have we learnt? Covid and the last year.

-
Image
Over the last year since the start of the Covid pandemic there has been much in the press about the affects on society. We have seen that there are many people who are anxious, feel alone and worried about the future. So I looked on the Internet for the Christian response to the Pandemic. I was not surprised to see that there were many articles to suggest that the Christian Church as a whole has failed in this time.  In the first Lockdown the Churches were asked to close and there was no public worship. As the infection rate went down the Churches could open for private prayer. In the recent lockdown many places of worship have remained open although the infection rate being a lot higher. I have maybe been a thorn in peoples sides by asking why. I even wrote to the Cardinal  to ask him why. I argued that they should be left shut because of the demographic that tend to go. I got a standard reply back. When I looked in newsletters I read many times about how to give your collection and t
Read more