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16/03/2020
Reflection and prayer with Sister Geraldine Smyth OP
Last on
Prayer for the Day, Mon 16th March 2020
Good morning There is an old Irish saying - Ar sc谩th a cheile a mharainn na daoine: we live in each other鈥檚 shelter 鈥 or shadow. Irish or not we all recognise how we live by such gestures of daily exchange and mutual care.听 Mothering Sunday yesterday is surely a time for affirming this reality with gifts or gratitude for the particular bond between mothers and children 鈥 whatever their time of life. In Lent the Church calls us to return to the shelter of God鈥檚 motherly, fatherly love, and to extend the same compassion to those in most need, in prayer and in practical expressions of care. The Psalms and Gospels are a constant assure us that 听even in our forgetfulness, fatigue and failure, we can cast our cares onto the Lord and the Lord will support us, guard us a shepherd his flock gather us under the shelter of her wings like a Mother bird.
Typically, Pope John XXIII, at the end of a demanding day, in finishing off his night prayer for God鈥檚 help in all his worries and impossible burdens of concern, would rise from his knees and set God right with a last word: 鈥淥K, Lord, it鈥檚 your Church, your People too 鈥 it鈥檚 over to you; I鈥檓 going to bed!鈥
Padraig J Daly, an Irish poet and priest, echoes these sentiments confidently reminding 听God of His responsibilities:
I have been comforting your people,
But their agony is so great.
听
Their need so clamorous
(And I am so empty)
听
That I have come back
To ask you to tend them yourself.鈥
听
Dear God, when we have no more to give to those who are in agony today, may we be held secure in the sure comfort of your merciful love and safe in the shelter of one another, Amen.
Broadcast
- Mon 16 Mar 2020 05:43成人快手 Radio 4