Weekly Reflections
Current Reflection
Archived Reflections

Hello everyone,

Today, Sunday 4th January we have 1836 people from all over the world and from many Christian and some non-Christian denominations joining together in prayer. This is the first Reflection for 2004 and I wish all of you a very happy New Year, all that is good and holy, and all that God wishes for you too.

I thought we'd start off the year in thanks for last year. For some of us it might have been a good year, for others a mediocre year, and for some a dreadful year. Illness and death, marriage breakdown, financial burdens, worries about family members, all may have contributed towards a year many would rather forget, but despite it all we should give thanks to God. Here we are again, on the Threshold of Hope, as Pope John Paul II says.

Our reflections this week look at both thanks and resolutions and come from Bob and Debbie Gass of The Word for Today

There is something about the beginning of January that brings fresh hope with it. Just over a week ago we celebrated Hope Personified in the Birth of the Christ Child. His Incarnation as God Made Man was to carry our sins, our worries, our fears, our disappointments. His coming brought hope to a world lost in darkness and despair and the sure knowledge that if we follow Him in all things we are
assured of salvation and our final rest with Him in Paradise.

January is that time of year when the winter is turning and spring awaits, when we sit down and make out a list of the changes we hope to make - new year resolutions, and when the days start to
get longer and brighter, for those of us living in the Northern hemisphere, at any rate. It's like a kind of hope-filled newness.

Hope is the middle bit of Saint Paul's first letter to the young Church in Corinth where he speaks all about love:

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”. 1 Corinthians 13:13.

Father Solanus Casey, a humble and very holy Cappucian Friar, once said:" Authentic faith is expressed in appreciation, authentic hope is expressed in confidence and authentic charity is expressed through a love of God and Neighbor." And so, by our Faith, we know that God only wishes what is good for us, though sometimes it can be a very painful journey through life. Can we have enough Faith to carry the painful bits too and know that they are part of God's plan for us? If we have the confidence of Hope, then we will make it, and better still, if we have that love that Paul tells us about, then we have it made! Why? Because authentic Charity means we love to the exclusion of
envy, anger, revenge, hate, greed, laziness and all the other negative parts of the human psyche.

The greatest problem in the world today is a Crisis of Faith - the loss of the Three Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity in the minds and hearts of man. Here's a lovely website telling us about the life of
Father Solanus. He could be a man on which to model our own lives:

http://www.rc.net/events/breakfast/solano.htm

January too is the time we make resolutions, often broken within hours, days or weeks of having made them! Well, if we were to make just one resolution for the coming year I think a great one to aim for is an increase in the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. Does that sound a bit too airy-fairy and like trying to scale the lofty heights? Well, let's look at what virtues mean, taken from my faithful 1950 version of the Family Bible, Douay Version, Challenor Translation:

Virtue:

"1. An acquired habit making it easier for one to perform good actions (natural virtue) ; a principle of action which God infuses into the soul and which enables it to perform supernatural actions (infused virtue).
2. As a rule the Bible uses virtue in the sense of moral excellence: the virtues of faith, hope, charity, justice, fortitude, patience, humility. These virtues or moral powers are opposed to the moral weaknesses called vices. Saint Paul draws a striking example of the weaknesses of men without Christ (Rom. 1 :26 if.) as compared with the strength of men in Christ (Rom. 12).. One of his most striking passages on the virtues is Phil. 4 :8 if. The whole Christian life is characterised as a progressive growth in virtue by Saint Peter (2 Pet. 1 :5 if.). Solomon was an exemplar of the virtues in the Old Testament (2 Paral. 9 :5 ). Ruth was a virtuous woman (3:11)."

Theological Virtues:

"Three virtues infused into the soul by God, which are called theological, because they have God Himself for their immediate object. Saint Paul spoke of these three virtues. In 1 Thess. 1 :3 he said he was mindful of his readers' faith, hope, and charity; in 1 Thess. 1 5:8 he urged them to put on the breastplate of faith and charity and the helmet of hope.

The theological virtues unite the soul to God through Christ. Faith inclines and empowers the intellect (and the will) to accept the word of God and to adhere to His authority revealing it. Hope inclines and
empowers the will to have confidence that God will give eternal life and the grace to merit it. Charity inclines and empowers the will to love God in Himself and to love oneself and one's neighbor for the sake of God. It gives meritorious value to acts of all other virtues, and unites man to God most perfectly. Moreover, only charity will remain in heaven; with the beatific vision faith and hope will cease (1 Cor. 13 :1-13).

Charity is infused into the soul with grace and lost with grace through sin. Faith and hope on the other hand may remain in the sinner who lacks charity and grace. Faith and hope are lost by the sins opposed to the virtues."

So, how do we attain these virtues? Through prayer, through obedience to the Word of God, through the Teachings of Christ and through Grace in the Sacraments of the Church handed down to Peter and the Apostles by Christ Himself and found within Scripture. But we are not left to our own devices. Christ promised us the Holy Spirit as our guide and comforter and through the Spirit we can reach these lofty heights. All it takes is that New Year Resolution to pray a bit, focus a bit more on the
spiritual instead of the temporal (worldly), and a return to more frequent reception of the Sacraments.

**************************************************
Give thanks

"IN EVERY THING GIVE THANKS" 1 THESSALONIANS 5:18

Gratitude works like a vaccine: it keeps you from getting infected with a spirit of ‘grumpiness’. It’s the antitoxin that counteracts the poisonous effects of ingratitude.

Have you noticed that we live in a thankless society? Paul said, '... in the last days... people will be... ungrateful... l' (2 Timothy 3:1 Amp). This generation lacks godly principles; they’ve learned to pray neither at home nor in school. Because they’ve witnessed the fall of high-profile church leaders, they’ve concluded that ‘religion’ doesn’t work.

But thanklessness is a problem among Christians too. We ask God for things, then when we get them, we complain about having to take care of them! Ever do that?

If you want to know God’s will, listen: '... in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God...for you' (1 Thessolonians 5:18 NKJ). We’re supposed to demonstrate thankfulness!

Paul says, '... with thanksgiving let your requests be made known... ' (Philippians 4:6). Why? Because thanksgiving moves them through God’s approval process. It also demonstrates that you’re mature enough to handle whatever He sends. After all, why would He send more, if you don’t appreciate what you already have?

Sometimes thanksgiving is a sacrifice. It’s easy to give thanks when you feel good. It’s when you don’t that it becomes a sacrifice. David said, 'I will offer... the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and... call on the... Lord' (Psalm 116:17 Amp). Notice: he called on God only after he’d offered the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Your flesh will always find reasons to be dissatisfied. Your spirit will always search for reasons to be thankful. So today - be thankful!

**************************************************
Wings of worship

"THOU SHALT MAKE TWO CHERUBIMS OF BEATEN WORK IN THE TWO ENDS OF THE MERCY SEAT" EXODUS 25:18

God intends for the hammer blows of life to bend our wings upward into a position of constant praise. He wants to bring us to the place where our fixed attitude to each challenge is, 'In every thing give thanks…' (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

When Paul wrote, 'For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain' (Philippians 1:21), he was under house arrest waiting to be sentenced to death. He was saying, 'Every time you hit me, all it does is move me closer to God.' His visit to heaven happened while he was being stoned at Lystra. Anybody want to go there?

If you’re looking for an easy 3-step formula for experiencing God’s power, forget it! Wings of worship can be created one way – by being beaten into proper position and image. The hammer blows of life will always bend us Godward, if our responses are right.

Though battered, bloody and locked in jail, when Paul and Silas brought together their beaten wings of praise, God suddenly came down and altered everything – doors opened, chains broke, circumstances changed overnight.

Feel as if you’re ‘in jail’ today? Have circumstances locked you up and thrown away the key? You can soar above anything on the wings of prayer. You can worship your way through them to a new day! Praise is not denial, nor is it refusing responsibility. No, it’s harnessing the power of a higher law: one that either lifts you above your situation or sustains you through it. Either way, praise is the key!

**************************************************
Make Time For Him Today!

"...I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS..." Matthew 28:20 (NIV)

Hello there. When you wakened this morning, I thought perhaps you'd talk to Me and involve Me in your day, but you were preoccupied finding something to wear for work. When you'd time to spare, I thought we'd have a few moments together, but you got on the phone and started talking to somebody else. I noticed that before you ate lunch at work, you looked around and seemed embarrassed to talk to Me. Maybe that's why you didn't bow your head and give thanks, even though some of your friends did. Later at home, I waited while you watched television, ate dinner, and did paperwork. At bedtime I guess you were just too tired, because you dropped into bed and fell fast asleep. Do you know I'm always here for you? I love you so much that I wait every day for a prayer, a thought, or just a chance to speak with you. The problem as I see it is - it's hard to have a one-sided conversation. Signed, Your Friend, Jesus'.

When did you last talk with the Lord? Or take time to listen to Him? There's never a time when He's not speaking; no room so dark, no lounge so crowded, or no office so busy that He's not there. Never mistake your insensitivity for His absence. Among life's fleeting promises of pleasure is this timeless assurance, '...I am with you always...' (Matt 28:20 NIV). Make time for Him today!

**************************************************
Two little reminders again for this week - Eucharistic Adoration for Vocations - let's keep this up now that Christmas is over, it could be a New Year's resolution. The group in the US organising Eucharistic Adoration for Vocations exceeded their 100,000 hours target by logging over 120,000 hours in the six months. Let's try and make it 1,000,000 in 2004! You can log in your houirs online at their own website below or do as we did here in our Perpetusl Adoration Chapel, print off the poster and the forms and leave them in your own Chapel of Adoration, sending in the numbers every week via the website below.

http://www.circleofprayer.com/vocations-poster.html
http://www.circleofprayer.com/vocations-form.html

Here's the Vocations website:

http://www.vocation.com

And don't forget those prayers for the Holy Souls, there are some below. Please keep your deceased relatives, friends, neighbours and especially those who have no one to pray for them, in your prayers and at Masses you attend.

Here's the Holy Souls Crusade website:

And below is a great little morning prayer to start the day off and help us to keep focused on the Lord.

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary Mullins in Galway, Ireland

**************************************************
Morning Offering

Lord Jesus, I give You my hands to do Your work
I give You my feet to go Your way.
I give You my eyes to see as You do.
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, Your Father, and all mankind.
I give You my whole self that You may grow in me, so that it is You, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me. Amen.

Chaplet of the Holy Souls

This Chaplet can be prayed on a set of Rosary Beads.

Begin with: The Creed, then 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be for the Pope’s intentions.

On Large Beads Pray: 

O holy souls draw the fire of God’s Love into my soul to reveal Jesus crucified in me, here on earth, rather than hereafter in Purgatory.

On Small Beads Pray:

Crucified Lord Jesus have mercy on the souls in Purgatory

End with: Glory Be three times

Cardinal Newman’s Prayer for the Holy Souls

O most gentle heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the souls of Your servants. Bring them from the shadows of exile to Your bright home in Heaven, where we trust You and Your Blessed Mother have woven for them a crown of unfolding bliss. Amen.

Prayer of St. Gertrude for the Holy Souls

Eternal Father, I offer you the Most Precious Blood of your Divine Son, 
Jesus, in union with all the masses said throughout the world today for 
all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the 
Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

Prayer for Your Family

"O Dear Jesus, I humbly implore You to grant Your special graces to our family this day. In Your Divine Mercy make our home a shrine of peace, love and faith. I beg You, Dear Jesus, to protect and bless all of us and our families absent and present, living and dead. O Mary loving Mother of Jesus and our Mother, pray to Jesus the Divine Mercy for our family, and for all the families of the world. Ask Him to guard the tiny infant in the womb, the cradle of the newborn, the young in the schools and those about to start their vocations in life. Amen"

Prayer for Your Adult Children

"Heavenly Mother, keep us always in mind of Your Son's great mercy and understanding as we pray for our children. They are grown up now and have left us and are living their own lives according to their own ideals. We feel anxious and worried because they do not seem to feel the need for Christ. to understand the wisdom of His ways, or to be fully at ease with us or themselves. Intervene, dearest Mother, in their lives at the moment You know to be right and help them to understand the things that lead to their peace. Help them to see the need of Christ and to experience the greatness of His love, so that we may all proclaim as You did, that His mercy truly is from generation to generation. Amen"

Prayer to Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Families

"Good Saint Joseph, Your life and love protected and nourished the Mother of God and Jesus Christ, her son. Your fatherly care led to maturity He through whom all creation began. Through your
intercession, may God guide and protect all human life from conception to natural death, and lead our nation in the ways of truth and love. Pray for us, good Saint Joseph, that joined with Christ Jesus, we might give praise to God forever.  Amen"

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS & THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, I consecrate myself and my whole family to You. We consecrate to You our very being and all our life, all that we are, all that we have and all that we love. To you we give our bodies, our hearts and our souls. To You we dedicate our home and our country.

Mindful of this consecration we now promise you to live the Christian way by the practice of Christian virtues without regard for human respect. O most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary accept our humble confidence and this act of consecration by which we entrust ourselves and our family to you. In you we put all our hope, we shall never be confounded. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us.

Prayer for the World

"JESUS of NAZARETH has triumphed over Death. His Reign is Eternal. He is coming to conquer the
world and the time.

"Mercy, my God on those who blaspheme You,
Forgive them, they know not what they do.

"Mercy, my God, for the scandal in the world,
Deliver them from the spirit of Satan.

"Mercy, my God, on those who run away from You
Give them an appreciation for the Holy Eucharist.

"Mercy, my God, on those who come to repent at the foot of the Glorious Cross. May they find Peace and Joy in God our Saviour.

"Mercy, my God, so that Your Kingdom may come, but save souls, there is still time; for the time is near, behold, I am coming. Amen

Come, Lord Jesus."

Recite one decade of the Rosary

"Lord, pour out on the whole world the treasures of Your Infinite Mercy."

"Through the Mystery of Your Holy Incarnation,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Nativity,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Baptism and Holy Fasting,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Cross and Passion,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Death and Burial,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Holy Resurrection,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Admirable Ascension,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Him whose Name reigns eternal,
deliver us from all evil, Lord."

Prayer of Protection

Blessed Michael the Archangel, protect us in the hour of conflict. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God restrain him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Oh Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the Power of God, thrust satan down to hell and with him all the wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen

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

All of the Reflections to date are available to read in the Archives on the website for anyone who's interested.

The Weekly Intentions are available on a plain page to be able to print off and kept to hand for your own prayer time. The list has become too long now to include each week but please say the
two wee prayers below. The Loving Father knows the heart of each person requesting prayer.

"Father, bless all those who have requested prayers in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! Father, we ask You to heal the broken bodies, broken minds, broken spirits, broken hearts and broken marriages and may all their lives be full of Your peace, prosperity, and power as they seek to have a close relationship with You. Amen."

"Thank You Jesus for answering our prayers because we know You hear every prayer and never refuse to answer. You are providing answers and healings from the prayers of all these wonderful people. Praise God!"

"Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy;
Act in me O Holy Spirit that my work, too, may be holy;
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit to defend all that is holy;
Guard me then O Holy Spirit that I always may be holy."

"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"

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless and guide you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary in Galway

'The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.'