Tricia Bølle
 
Jesus is calling YOU.
 
“I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord.” – Jeremiah 29:11
 
That’s great that God knows those plans, but what about me? How am I supposed to know God’s plan for my life?
 

Tricia Bølle
 
“Christ is Risen!” 
“He is truly risen!”
 
So goes the (hopefully enthusiastic) call and response of the Christian faithful as we celebrate this truly joyous occasion when our salvation was won and new life given to us through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing the attacks and burning of their villages in Myanmar are walking hundreds of kilometres across mountains and through jungles in the rain to escape the slaughter by the Myanmar armed forces. 

A 60-year-old father of an autistic teenager chopped his son to death after he fought with his schoolmates in June 2014. The father was sentenced to four years imprisonment on August 11 after admitting to voluntary manslaughter.

His brutal and uncontrolled response to pressure highlights the high incidence rate of deep depression suffered by parents or the carers of such children, which is often ignored by others, even the parents themselves.

The Philippines is moving away from its former ear of compassion and justice to one where the innocent are targets for assassination and imprisonment on false charges.

In recent weeks, dozens of bodies have been found, shot dead, with signs pinned on them, declaring them criminals deserving to die.

But there was no trial, no justice. The killers have contempt for the process of justice. 

Our prayer, especially our private prayer, should contain intervals in which we do not say anything or express any thought or feeling in words, but simply remain still and silent in the presence of God, open and receptive like a flower turning towards the light.

Prayer should be refreshment, not hard labour. What matters is not whether our periods of listening are long or short, many or few, but that they exist, because prayer is a dialogue with God, not a monologue by us.

The Rule of St. Benedict opens with the word listen. A monk should be above all a listener, so indeed should every Christian.

But who, or what, are we to listen to? The Rule says it is to the master and our primary and ultimate master is God.

The whole spiritual life of the Christian is a process of listening to God, inclining the ear of the heart.

W

ho am I?” It is a question that is fundamental to us all. Authors and screenwriters have tried to elaborate on it.

I recall a film from 1998 called, Who am I? staring Jackie Chan as a guy that sustained head injuries in a serious accident and could not remember things.

What a great joy to be with God!

To be in the presence of the Triune God

Jesus Christ is just a prayer away

Make haste, and do not delay.

Dear friends, what are you waiting for?

Come down and meet your loving saviour

He is ever present in the holy tabernacle