成人快手

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Sarah Teather, Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service UK

Good morning .

As the first lockdown began in the spring, many wrote wistfully about it as a period of conscious uncoupling from activity, of slowing down, a retreat even. I know I am not alone in finding quite the opposite was true 鈥� this year has been one of the most intense periods of my professional life.

I work in a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers. COVID intensified their exclusion, as it did for many whose ordinary lives were already a struggle. The closure of community centres and face-to-face services generated hunger and despair, and with it a situation of emergency the like I have not encountered before.

We had to radically reorient our service model, turning our operation inside out to take help onto the road.

What was disorientating for a faith-based organisation was that this period of intense activity arrived concurrently with the ordinary structures of faith practice being suspended. Churches were closed. Public mass was off. Worse, in my own case, I found it wasn鈥檛 only the sacraments and common worship that felt unreachable. My daily habit of silent prayer was for a while too: for I could not sit still.

鈥淭each us to pray Lord鈥�, said the disciples to Jesus. And teach in my case He did. But not through words, silence, or liturgy. Instead, He taught me by example, as people from different backgrounds and faiths responded to our call for help, and poured themselves out in love, generosity and care.

Lord Jesus, you emptied yourself in love for us. Teach us to recognise you in the people we meet and let our work and lives be an offering of prayer and service.

Amen.

Show less