Father Rory writes:
On Our Way He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.You will not fear the terror of night,nor the arrow that flies by day,nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,nor the plague that destroys at midday.
Psalm 91 continued…..
Recently we hear a lot about signs and disturbances. Some churches give them a lot of attention and with lots of events, plagues of locusts in Africa, our own Corona Virus, with oceans of evidence of global warming, it is important to stay focused.
God is my safe place; God is our safe place.
Yes, it is important that we take care of our health. To this end, trips to the gym and any array of medicine and other activities can be conducive to good health. So many other activities add to the cares of our lives, that we can lose sight of what is most important. In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24, even with all the signs Jesus councils us: the end is not so soon and that no one knows, only The Father in heaven, when this will come to pass.
It is for us to remain focused upon Jesus. The more we come to rely upon Him this will influence our response to this crisis.
Isolation will bring a lot of suffering, and a very special place in our prayers must be for those in very difficult situations,with mental health, and other social issues. Prayers also for families with small children, confined to very small and inadequate space forhomes.
Pray constantly and never lose heart, and because I am speaking to the converted, grace and peace be with you at this time:
But the last words belong to the distressed and those greatly afflicted, Jesus be with them in their hour of need. As you were consoled in the Garden of Gethsemane, send your Holy Angels to watch over them that none may be lost and all will be saved
Previous words:
Following on from last week about the various life choices available to us the first one is that of the single life. The state of being single is what we’re all born into. For some people, the single state is their lifelong and stable response to the call of Christ. Many men and women choose to remain single in order to make themselves available for prayer and apostolic work of the Church.
The next is that of living a consecrated life. Consecrated life is the Church’s way of referring to the wide range of opportunities for individuals to dedicate themselves to a life of prayer and service, often as sisters, nuns, brothers and monks.
The third choice is marriage: Jesus calls many women and men to the vocation of marriage and being parents. Married couples promise to serve each other with love and to serve the whole Church. They enter into a life-long covenant of love. When marriage is between a Christian man and woman, it is sacramental in nature, and the natural vocation to marriage becomes something much deeper – a joyful call to follow Christ and a total giving of one’s life in love to a spouse and children.