The Christian faith, like the Word of God, is something alive and active. (Heb 4:12a) Christ has set our hearts on fire. (Lk 24:32.) Like so many in the gospel stories, we too have heard Jesus Christ calling us. He continues to reach out, drawing near to us in our own particular places. He is conscious of each person in their need and addresses us personally. This is his way. He has come among us in our humanity and he remains with us always. Of the sick man in Bethzatha he asks with intent: ‘Do you want to be well again?’ (John 5:6). He surprises the Samaritan woman at the well, and upsets his companions, when he makes a request of her: ‘Give me a drink’ (John 4:7).And to the rich young man, on whom he looked lovingly, he offered an unanswered challenge: ‘Come follow me’ (Mark 10:21). Despite our weakness and the inadequacies of our efforts, we too have felt his closeness and his care.He has touched our very being. As in Galilee two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ offer us, now, healing and forgiveness, comfort and challenge, the tenderness and pain of all-embracing love, and a peace in God’s presence rooted in commitment to one another and to a whole-hearted service of our neighbour. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, we seek to live our faith in Jesus Christ and become the supportive and unified disciples that he calls us to be. We are convinced that knowing Christ’s love for us can change our lives, convert our hearts and transform our world. As members of the Church, we trust in the power of Chris’s love to prevail over our human limitations and, even in confusing and turbulent times, we reach out to Christ Jesus to serve the world and one another. True Christian faith can renew all things and lead us to livein love with Chris now and forever. (‘Share the Good News’ –Irish Episcopal Conference pg. 1).

It is good to start any day with meditation, even more so a day of prayer and reflection. Just a few words about meditation befo re we begin; From the earliest times in the church, meditation was part of the way of prayer. Many of the saints spent hours in meditation communing with their God. Meditation brings us into the present moment. It quietens the mind, relaxes the body and opens the heart to experience the presence of God within soul of your being. Your body is the gift of God given to you to live in this world. It is through your body you experience God in time. It is through your body you share God’s love with others and receive God’s love. Through your senses you hear, see, smell and touch the beauty of creation. It is said that our physical body is the Gate way to God.

Creation is the first scripture. Creation is the first word of God (Jn1:1ff). Everything in creation is imbued with that spirit of God. We are told, ‘Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and God’s Spirit hovered over the water’. Gen 1:1-2. In the prolog of St. John’s Gospel,we are read:"Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”