|
Food For Thought And Nourishment For The Soul
|
| Fr. Ray |
Thomas Merton's Prayer Dear Friends: This humble
prayer is for anyone on a journey of faith through life. (Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani
in Kentucky.) My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following
your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please
you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that
desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore
I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear for you are ever with
me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. In Christ, Amen. (Thomas Merton,
Thoughts in Solitude. Abbey of Gethsemani
All
Shall Be Well, Julian of Norwich: That which is impossible
for you is not impossible to me (say's our Lord): I will preserve my word in all things and I will make all things well.
This is the Great Deed that our Lord will do. Our faith is grounded in
God's word and we must let this faith be. How it will be done, we will not know until it is done because God wants us
to be at ease and at peace, not troubled or kept from enjoying God. The more we busy ourselves to know God's secrets,
the further away from knowledge we shall be. Let all your love be, my child. Turn to me. I am everything
you need. Enjoy me and your liberation. Be at peace, my child. And so our good Lord answered to all
the questions and doubt which I could raise, saying most comfortingly: I may make all things well, and I can make all
things well, and I shall make all things well, and I will make all things well; and you will see yourself that every kind
of thing will be well...And in these...words God wishes us to be enclosed in rest and in peace. From Julian or Norwich: Sowings, translated by Edmund College and James Walsh. New York: Paulist Press,
1978. Nothing Can Separate Us From
God's Love. This is Good News!!! St Paul writes: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For
I am convenced that neither death, nor life, nor angles, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord. (St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 8:35, 37-39)
Making Space For Our Lord Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear
my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. Revelation
3:20 Dear Friends in Christ, Fr. Henry Nouwen challenges
us: The waiting, watching and serving we are called to in our lives, demands that we become seers, people who discern
the coming of God into our midst and in our world. Is there a space in our life where the Spirit of God has a chance
to speak, act or show up? Being contemplative means peeling off the blindfold that keeps us from seeing
His coming in us and around us, and learning to listen in the space of quiet we leave for God. I once spent time
walking in New York City. I noticed most places were filled up, with much crowded into every corner! We
seem to have a fear of empty spaces. We want to fill up what is empty. Perhaps our fear is that an empty space means
that something may happen to us that we cannot predict, control, or may lead us to a place we might not want to go.
We might not want to hear what God has to say. (Daily Meditations, Paulus Press) +O God,
help us to nurture empty spaces in our lives so that we may be filled with your grace and peace, in Christ we pray.
Amen.
Blessed Thoughts From Blessed Teresa of Avila Christ has no body but ours, no hands, no feet on Earth
but ours. Ours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on the world, ours are
the feet with which he walks about doing good and ours are the hands with which he blesses the world. (copied)
Dear friends,
we are called to be the living Body of Christ in the World. I hope these thoughts and prayers nourish your soul. Come worship with us and receive the
Bread of Life that always satisfies our inner hunger and makes us one body with Christ Jesus our Lord.
Blessings
and Peace, Christ Episcopal Church Fr. Ray Hage
|
