The Gratitude Tree

Come and stand at the shore of the Father's love, and allow it to soak over and through you. Wherever you need His love in your life today, take some time to let Him meet you there. "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful enkindle in them the fire, the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth." Traditional Catholic Prayer from Roman Missal, Pentecost Sequence.

Spend some time with Jesus reflecting on the blessings of life, your life, and give your heart a chance to bloom in gratitude.

We all long for life. Life is pure gift, and the kind of life Jesus offers us is made accessible only through Him, only through and on account of the Sacred Heart, pierced open in love for the world. To help us deepen in this week's feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this meditation includes the second reading from the Office of Readings for the feast from St Bonaventure (Opusculum 3, Lignum vitae, 29-30. 47: Opera omnia 8, 79), as well as a song that Kathryn has written reflecting on this passage. 

Be ministered to by the Holy Spirit as you open up your heart and call on Him to dwell in and with you in this meditation helping us to enter into Pentecost. Love, peace, joy, guidance, healing, whatever you need, spend some time calling on the Spirit.

Enter Luke 19:1-10, allowing the story of Zacchaeus to become a place of encounter in your own story with Jesus. Things about or in us, as well as things outside us can stand between us and Jesus. But if you seek Jesus, he will find you.

"Man is the priest of all creation; he speaks in its name, but only insofar as he is guided by the Spirit...[the initiative of God] restores in us our true humanity; it restores in us our unique dignity. Yes, we are brought into the higher dignity of the children of God, the children of God who are the hope of all creation." In a book containing a series of answered interview questions, Pope St John Paul II reminds us that when we pray it is not in isolation by or for ourselves. Responding the initiative of God as we step into our role as those in creation giving voice to God's glory, we find restoration.

Sometimes we just need to "have it out with God". In the Old Testament we see examples such as the entire book of Job, or Jacob's wrestling with an angel (Genesis 32). And in the New Testament we see examples both where as a result of fierce determination someone receives what they want (Mark 7) and where they don't but God still meets them (2 Corinthians 12). Whether it is grief, pain, anger, confusion, or any number of other things that might rise up, this is an episode you can return to again and again when you need to "have it out with God".

We are called to align the sacrifices of our lives with the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. In doing so, we are able to rise with Him to new life. During the Last Supper, Jesus gives us the model for how we can do this: take, bless, break, give. "While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." (Mark 14:22-24)

The Cross is the central symbol of Christianity. It is the pinnacle expression of God's love for us. Yet often we can wrestle or struggle with it. This meditation opens up a space to sit with the mystery of the Cross.

Lent is a time for stripping back other things in our lives so that we can see our relationship with God more clearly. As we allow the light of God's love to enter our hearts, it's natural that we might start to see areas of darkness; bitterness, hurt, pain, unforgiveness.  This meditation is an opportunity to open those areas to the power of God's love. Corrie ten Boom is our companion here, as we look at an excerpt from her own experiences from her book The Hiding Place. Excerpt read from: https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/positive-living/guideposts-classics-corrie-ten-boom-forgiveness