Weekly Reflections
Current Reflection
Archived Reflections

Today, Sunday September 8th, we have 134 people from all over the world and from many Christian denominations joining together in prayer. Our reflection for the week is on 'Children Learn What They Live', taken from Reflections. This week we 'step back to' those childhood years up to puberty when we may have been hurt by abuse - verbal, mental, emotional, physical or sexual.

The weekly prayer intentions can be found at the bottom. I've got into the habit of printing off the prayer requests and having them by the bedside for morning and night prayer. I also left a copy in the Chapel of Adoration last Friday morning so that those who spend their hour before the Blessed Sacrament can include all the intentions too. I've set them up on a plain page in the website where you can print them off if you wish.

http://www.moytura.com/prayer/prayerbook.html
http://www.moytura.com/prayer/weekly-intentions.html

As we pray for each other perhaps we can visualise ourselves bringing each to rest at the foot of Jesus and see Him reaching out His loving hand comforting and healing broken and sick bodies and minds, pouring peace into troubled hearts and spirits and over broken relationships and removing all fears, pain and suffering from each one. Thank You Jesus because we know You hear every prayer and never refuse to answer.

We should continue to say the short prayer to the Holy Spirit morning, noon and night to enlighten and guide us through the week and the lovely little prayer to the Lord giving Him our whole selves every day.

This week we pick up again on the theme of healing and look at the hurts and pain we carry from the first 7 years of life, the formative years. I hope you make it to the end coz there's a bunch of people needs our prayers this week and their list is at the very bottom!

God Bless you all and thanks a million for being part of the Circle of Prayer - the Prayer Warriors, as one of the group calls us!

Mary Mullins in Galway, Ireland

****************************************************************

"O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me, tell me what I should do. Give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will. Amen"

****************************************************************

"Dear Lord, I give you may hands to do Your work; I give You my feet to go Your way; I give You my eyes to see as You see; I give You my tongue to speak Your words; I give You my mind that You may think in me; I give You my spirit that You may pray in me. Above all, I give You my heart that You may love in me - love the Father and love all humankind. I give You my whole self, Lord, that You may grow in me, so that it is You who lives, works and prays in me. Amen."

****************************************************************

Our Childhood Years

Childhood years can be loving and happy years, they can also be tragic and terrible years.
As children we are like sponges, absorbing everything around us. We see adults as role models and mould ourselves on what we see and hear and on the way we are treated. Children trust implicitly and when that trust is broken it leaves terrible damage and scars.

Abuse of little children comes in many shapes and forms and each hurtful episode is buried deep, often blocked out of the conscious mind entirely. Constant criticism of a child is abuse, bullying by an adult or another child is abuse, comparisons with other children's abilities is a form of abuse, physical beatings is abuse, parents fighting in front of their children is abuse, parent's neglect of, and indifference to, children is abuse, parent's lack of gentle discipline and guidance of children is abuse, one parent using the children as a 'weapon' against their spouse is abuse, and sexually interferring with a child has to be one of the greatest abuses.

This week we will ask the Lord to lead us gently through each year of our lives up to the time we reached our teens. We will ask him to remove the hurts, the pain and the anger associated with any kind of abuse we experienced during those years.

We should also ask the Lord to help us to forgive our abusers because when we can forgive and pray for that person or people we can truly say that we have forgiven and then the deep, deep healing can begin.

Short Prayer for Today

"Lord, I ask You to let Your Holy Spirit bring to the surface memories of hurt and pain from any situation in my childhood, to let me hand them all over to You and that You will fill every space with Your loving and Divine peace. Help me to know that I am a beautiful child of yours, loving in Your eyes and heart and completely loved by You. Help me to shed the feelings of worthlessness, nothingness, shame, guilt and anger and to experience only Your healing peace. Let me now see myself as Your most beautiful creation. Lord I hand all over to Your gentle and loving care, knowing You will hear me today and heal me forever."

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, He learns to be guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, He learns justice.
If a child lives with security, He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, He learns to find love in the world.