Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Sheila Briody
How Great is our God; How Wonderfully to be Praised!
Opening Prayer
Loving God, You have called us as followers of Joseph to stand open, receptive and expectant before You, to know our dependence upon You, to wait for Your grace in the Holy Spirit. Liberate us to a radical sense of mission through the rhythm of contemplation and courageous action, to be a healing presence in any and all situations. Amen.
(SSJ Federation Research Team, adapted)
Reading
Psalm 85
O Beloved, how gracious You are to Your people; You restore their souls time and time again. You forgive their iniquity when they wander far from You; You give them new Life.
Yes, You bless them and raise up new hope; You awaken their hearts to love.
Restore us again, O Spirit of Truth; burn us with the refining Fire of Love! We cannot live separately from You; cast out the demons of fear, doubt, and illusion. Revive us again, we pray, that Your people may rejoice in You! Have compassion on your people, O Holy One, and grant us your salvation.
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will embrace one another. Wisdom will spring up from the ground and truth will look down from the sky.
Yes, the Eternal Giver will grant what is good, and the lands will yield abundantly. Mercy and compassion are Love’s way, and will guide our footsteps upon the path of peace.
Reflection
Now take some time for personal reflection.
Summer offers us times for hospitality and relaxation. Name the ways you are called to offer that to others? What action steps can you commit to this summertime?
Closing Prayer
Gracious and Loving God, Jesus models for us how to be faithful to Your call in our daily lives. May we be faithful to the grace and invitation You offer to us in our daily lives to live full of Your love. In You we live, pray, and work for a more just and peaceful world. Amen
Reminder
“Our work is simply to be standing open and willing. God will do the emptying and the filling and God is very good at God’s work.”
(Cathy Nerney)
