Sunday 5 May 2024
Today is Sunday 5 May, beginning the 6th week of Eastertide.
Today we enter into prayer with Sanctus Dominus, by Margaret Rizza. As you enter into prayer today, take a moment to pause and slow down. Slow right down, noticing where you are… notice what is around you.
In all of this, God is present. Right here, right now. God’s presence sanctifies this ordinary place and makes it holy.
Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis. Sanctus.
Holy Lord God of hosts.
Thy glory fills all heaven and earth.
Hosanna in high heaven.
Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in high heaven.
Today’s reading is from the First Letter of John.
1 John 4:7-10
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
'No one has ever seen God,' John points out here. Yet he isn't saying we cannot sense or detect God's presence - God living in us - he's telling us we can. What sense do you have of God being present in you? What things would you like to recognise as signs of God living in you?
And when you look at other people, at people you know, or the people around you now, what things would you recognise as signs of God living in them?
As you hear the reading a second time, notice what John sees as signs of God's presence, and see how closely this corresponds with your experience.
'There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.' None of us is completely free of fear. What fears are there in my life that I want to overcome? Can I ask God - the God of perfect love - to help me overcome those fears?
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.