Reflection for the First Sunday of Lent, from Henri Nouwen Society

On this first Sunday of Lent, I share another reflection by one of my faith heroes, Henri Nouwen...

“O my God, in you I trust.” ~ Psalm 25:2

Living Lent Attentively and Gently

 ~ By Henri J.M. Nouwen

Lent is the most important time of the year to nurture our inner life. It is the time during which we not only prepare ourselves to celebrate the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also the death and resurrection that constantly takes place within us. Life is a continuing process of the death of the old and the familiar, and being reborn again into a new hope, a new trust, and a new love. The death and resurrection of Jesus therefore is not just an historical event that took place a long time ago, but an inner event that takes place in our heart when we are willing to be attentive to it.

Lent offers a beautiful opportunity to discover the mystery of Christ within us. It is a gentle but also demanding time. It is a time of solitude but also community, it is a time of listening to the voice within, but also a time of paying attention to other people's needs. It is a time to continuously make the passage to new inner life as well as to life with those around us.

When we live Lent attentively and gently, then Easter can truly be a celebration during which the full proclamation of the risen Christ will reverberate into the deepest place of our being.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reminder: Let’s pray together!  Please click on the Share a Prayer? tab and send me your prayer intention. 

Have a wonderful day!

Hope     מקווה     أمل

The Wonder of God's Creation...

   How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.
There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.
~ Psalm 104:24-30

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reminder: Let’s pray together!  Please click on the Share a Prayer? tab and send me your prayer intention. 

Have a wonderful day!

Peace     שלום     سلام

Mercy Me...

They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. ~ Jude 1:18-23 (NIV)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reminder: Let’s pray together!  Please click on the Share a Prayer? tab and send me your prayer intention. 

Have a wonderful day!

Mercy     רחמים     رحمة

The Fruits Our Faith Can Bear...

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

~ Galatians 5:19-26 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (New International Version)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reminder: Let’s pray together!  Please click on the Share a Prayer? tab and send me your prayer intention. 

Have a wonderful day!

Love     אנגלית     الإنجليزية

God’s Unconditional Love (Shared from the Henri Nouwen Society blog)

As I contemplated what to write about today, I read the Daily Meditation from the Henri Nouwen Society.  As I have written previously, Fr. Nouwen has long been one of my intellectual faith heroes.  I hope it touches you as it did me...

Daily Meditation: February 5, 2015

Posted on February 5, 2015 by daily meditation

God’s Unconditional Love

What can we say about God’s love? We can say that God’s love is unconditional. God does not say, “I love you, if …” There are no ifs in God’s heart. God’s love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity. God’s love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. God’s love is from eternity to eternity and is not bound to any time-related events or circumstances. Does that mean that God does not care what we do or say? No, because God’s love wouldn’t be real if God didn’t care. To love without condition does not mean to love without concern. God desires to enter into relationship with us and wants us to love God in return.

Let’s dare to enter into an intimate relationship with God without fear, trusting that we will receive love and always more love.

Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen , © 1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson. Scripture chosen by L. Yeskoo.

For further reflection …

“Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. – Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reminder: Let’s pray together!  Please click on the Share a Prayer? tab and send me your prayer intention. 

Have a wonderful day!

Love     אנגלית     الإنجليزية

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made...

My nephew Brendan Roy,
born January 5, 2015

For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

    How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

    they would outnumber the grains of sand—

    when I awake, I am still with you.

~ Psalm 139:13-18

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reminder: Let’s pray together!  Please click on the Share a Prayer? tab and send me your prayer intention. 

Have a wonderful day!

Hope     מקווה     أمل