Be Still
Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Get comfortable. Let your body relax and your mind quiet down. Take a few deep breaths and then ask God to make his presence known to you. Be still. Take some time to sit and soak up God’s presence.
Prayer of Approach
Our Lord, you prove that your witness is faithful and true. Help us discover in your example the determination we need so that our witness in public and in secret, will also be faithful and true—a clear word spoken and lived without compromise. In your faithful name. Amen.
Psalm 16
A miktam of David.
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Devotional Thought
I once had an opportunity to ask Mother Teresa a question that had been nagging at me. How could I, who am going through life well-fed and well-clothed, come to a genuine heartfelt identification with the poor and suffering? How could I come to her kind of generous and joyful sharing? She looked at me as though I had asked for a self-evident answer. She explained that it was very easy. I simply had to go to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. There I should discover that Jesus becomes bread for us. She said it with great relish, as though she were tasting the most exquisite dish. I, too, should become bread for the poor. For the past ten years I have pondered that mysterious answer. Mother Teresa's words continue to reveal treasures of wisdom from the heart of Jesus. Mother Teresa helped me, as she has helped so many others, to know the joy of life as Jesus knows it and to know it within the concrete circumstances of my own situation. Did I know anyone who had become bread for others? Anyone who was there every day, ready to be “eaten up," giving time, energy, service day after day for love, and enjoying it? I thought immediately of my own parents, of my father's long hours of work, especially during the hard times of the Depression in the 1930s, and of my mother's attention to the details of homemaking, day after day, year after year, for five children and my father. Surely my parents had become bread for us, even as they lovingly provided it.
— Mary Evelyn Jegen, SND
Philippians 1:12-18
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice…
Reflection
My Lord, thank you for this time together. Thank you for being my faithful companion and for your word of love spoken to my deepest need. I love you, my God, and pledge my allegiance to your kingdom, for today and forever. Amen.
Time for Prayer
God invites us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us. God is all-together good, already knows what we need, and is eager to give us good things. So we don’t need to pray out of anxiety or fear, but confident trust. Spend a few minutes making your requests known to God.
- For the church
- For others
- For myself
Closing Prayer
Thank you for these moments together, my Lord. Thank you for the deep inner presence of Your spirit. Stay with me all the day long, I pray. Amen.