Tag Archive for ‘mother’
Helping Children Make Sense of Unanswered Prayer
A child hears her parents arguing loudly. One threatens divorce. The other begins to cry. Before sleeping that night, the child prays asking God to keep her mother and father together. A month later they separate. A single mother of two early school children is financially strapped. She is concerned about being downsized from her […]
When a Friend Grieves
Seven Ways to Help I was heartbroken. I was beyond devastation. I wanted to die, pack it in, call it a day, call it quits, stop in my tracks. My son, Clark, was the light of my life, the bright, beautiful, creative boy who had survived so much, and been such a solace and beauty. […]
Friday 27 December
St John the Apostle and Evangelist (F) 1 John 1:1-4; Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12; John 20:2-8 God’s friend If we were to put it in everyday language, we could say John and Jesus were best mates. John was the only one of the apostles that really ‘got it’ about Jesus. They had confidential chats. John […]
Friday 18 October
St Luke, Evangelist (F) 2 Timothy 4:10-17; Psalm 145; Luke 10:1-9 I am sending you out St Luke – author of the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles – was a gentile, a convert and companion of St Paul on his missionary journeys. Luke’s account of the Annunciation suggests he may have known Mary, mother […]
Saturday 12 October
Joel 4:12-21; Psalm 97; Luke 11:27-28 Give glory to his holy name A woman in the crowd listening to Jesus, spontaneously praised him by praising his mother: “Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!” Jesus replied that, in God’s eyes, his mother’s relationship of Spirit-filled obedience in faith is greater because […]
Mary is taken up to heaven …
Manihiki is a coral atoll almost 1,300 km north of Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands. It has two villages, Tukao and Tauhunu. The Solemnity of the Assumption is celebrated each year with nothing short of great gusto in one or other of the villages. If there is a priest available, the Eucharist is […]
Thursday 30 May
Acts 18:1-8; Psalm 98; John 16:16-20 Evangelising the world Jesus’ followers were puzzled by the many references to time away. “A little time”, and “going away”. He was preparing them for when he returned to heaven. Their real work would then begin. To evangelise the world. They had received three years of intense training from […]
Tuesday 28 May
Acts 16:22-34; Psalm 138; John 16:5-11 Darkness into light When everything seems darkest, God shows his hand. Paul and Silas had been stripped, flogged, shackled, imprisoned. They prayed and sang hymns. They were alone. No earthly help was forthcoming. A massive earthquake wrecked the prison. The warder was converted, and his family. He took them […]
Saturday 20 April
Easter Vigil Genesis 1:1-2:2; Psalm 118; Romans 6:3-11; Luke 24:1-12 They remembered his words… This day begins in the barrenness of a cold and empty grave. The trauma is raw and the hopelessness pulsates. We reach the end of the possible, and it is now, as it is always, entirely over to God. In the […]
Wednesday 20 March
Jeremiah 18:18-20; Psalm 31; Matthew 20:17-28 A servant of all Jealousy and pride can easily creep into our lives and undermine the good intentions we have. The mother of Zebedee’s sons was wanting honour and status for them in the kingdom of heaven. But she misunderstood what this kingdom is about. It is a place […]
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