Dear All,
March is here and hopefully we are all able to see signs of Spring around us & maybe feel a bit ‘Spring-like’ too!! We are into the 3rd Week in Lent already!
Time and seasons seem to pass by us so quickly and there is a danger of losing a sense of the importance of TODAY so we have found a few reflections on NOW! But also, our gospel this weekend is the Transfiguration so we will touch on that today. When they got up on the day of the Transfiguration, those apostles must have had no idea what their day would contain! Likewise often we don’t know what waits for us in our day.
Our blessing for this week is Rutter’s Clare blessing. We will pray it for us all but also for anyone whose heart is still feeling wintery & who needs a lift up into Spring.
With our love & prayer for you all
Look to this day for it is life.
The very life of life.
In its brief course,
lie all the realities and verities of existence.
For yesterday is but a dream,
and tomorrow is only a vision;
but today, well lived,
makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
Now is the Moment
Bishop Steven Charleston
Now is the moment for which a lifetime of faith has prepared you. All of those years of prayer and study, all of the worship services, all of the time devoted to a community of faith: it all comes down to this, this sorrowful moment when life seems chaotic and the anarchy of fear haunts the thin borders of reason. Your faith has prepared you for this. It has given you the tools you need to respond: to proclaim justice while standing for peace. Long ago the Spirit called you to commit your life to faith. Now you know why. You are a source of strength for those who have lost hope. You are a voice of calm in the midst of chaos. You are a steady light in days of darkness. The time has come to be what you believe.
Staying in the Present
Many of the good and important things that have happened to me in life were completely unexpected. And many things that I thought would happen to me did not occur. As I reflect on this reality, it is clear that God is present in the events of my life, yet I act and speak as if I am in control. But if the future is not in my hands, then I have all the more reason to stay in the present and give honor and glory to God from where I am, trusting that God is the God of life who makes everything new. Who knows where you or I will be next year on [this day]? So why worry about it? God will surprise us.
Henri Nouwen
Transfiguration – a blessing – John O’Donohue
May you be blessed in the holy names of those who carry
our pain up the mountain of transfiguration.
May you know tender shelter and healing blessing
when you are called to stand in the place of pain.
May the places of darkness within you be surprised by light.
May you be granted the wisdom to avoid false resistance
and when suffering knocks at the door of your life,
may you be able to glimpse its hidden gift.
May you be able to see the fruits of suffering.
May memory bless and shelter you
with the hard-earned light of past travail,
may this give you confidence and trust.
May a window of light always surprise you.
May the grace of transfiguration heal your wounds.
May you know that even though the storm might rage
not a hair of your head will be harmed.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
And another John O’Donahue Blessing
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden.
May dawn find you awake and alert,
approaching your new day
with dreams, possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed,
sheltered and protected
May your soul calm, console and renew you.