Presence

I remind myself that I am in your presence, O Lord.

I will take refuge in your loving heart.

You are my strength in times of weakness.

You are my comforter in times of sorrow.

Freedom

I try to let go of concerns and worries that may be dragging me down at this present moment. I place any concerns I have in God’s hands - at least for these few minutes of prayer.

Consciousness

Lord Jesus, may I always be aware of your presence, your power and your love, all the days of my life.

The Word of God    Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Some thoughts on today's scripture

• Jesus’ first healing in Mark’s Gospel is of a woman.  He overrides the purity laws by touching her, a woman, who was perhaps not far from death – corpses were judged to be unclean.  As health returns to her, she chooses to serve Jesus and his group by cooking a meal for them. Simple service characterises the true disciple.
• This scene also brings up the importance for us of availability. We do need to be available to all those who are in genuine need. At the same time, there is what we might call the ‘poverty of availability’. No matter how generous and self-giving we are we can only give so much. We need to find a balance between people’s needs and our limited resources. We do not help people by working ourselves to the point of ‘burnout’. We also need ‘quality time’ to be with God, to pray and to reflect on our priorities. Jesus gives us an excellent example here.

Conversation

Lord, help me to be always aware of the important things in life; to care for those around me and to seek your presence in all I meet.

Conclusion

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.