Morning Message: May 19

Daily prayer is a habit essential to our spiritual lives.  In prayer we find friendship with God, food for our souls, and great comfort.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:  “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”

Think about this silently in your heart.  How can you make God the center of your life and the ruler of your heart?

In today’s reading, Jesus prays for his disciples and for all who will come to believe in him through the teachings of his disciples.  He prays for us.  We believe in Jesus through the teachings and traditions handed down through the Church and through the Sacred Scripture given to us by God.  We did not walk with Jesus while he lived on earth.  But we can walk closely with him every day by praying, reading the Scriptures, going to Mass, and reaching out to help others.

In the Bible it tells us that Jesus prayed for all of us to be one, to love each another and accept each other as God does so that we would have unity – or be one.  So, what does this mean?  I think it means that God created one world.  He didn’t create different worlds for different people.  He created one world for lots of different people and Jesus prayed that we would act like one.  How can we do that?  Well, one of the most important things we can do is to love everyone.  God wants us to love everyone all over the world…just like God does.

Heavenly Father, make us mindful this day that you are with us in everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do.  Help us to show our love for you in ways big and small.  Help us to love one another just like you do, and thank you for making our incredible world.  Help us to be one in Christ.   In Your name we pray, Amen.