Thursday 16 July 2020

Today is Thursday the 16 July in the 15th week of Ordinary Time.

The community of Taizé sing Fiez-vous en lui:  “Trust in Him and do not fear.  The peace of God will protect your hearts. Alleluia.”

Today’s reading is from the Prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19

The way of the righteous is level;
   O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous.
In the path of your judgements,
   O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and your renown
   are the soul’s desire.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
   my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgements are in the earth,
   the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness….
O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
   for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us….
O Lord, in distress they sought you,
   they poured out a prayer
   when your chastening was on them.
Like a woman with child,
   who writhes and cries out in her pangs
   when she is near her time,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
   we were with child, we writhed,
   but we gave birth only to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
   and no one is born to inhabit the world.
Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise.
   O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a radiant dew,
   and the earth will give birth to those long dead.

Today’s passage was written during a time of transition when people were struggling in the gap between what had happened and what was yet to come. The people cry out a lament as they seek God – holding onto faith and trusting that God’s promises will be fulfilled, even though the present time is difficult. In what ways are you yearning for God to be revealed?

Where are you seeing the Spirit working in our world? This time of pandemic has been - and still is - very challenging for many. What do you long to see change in your life? What do you hope the future will look like? Speak to God about these hopes now. ‘

The way of the righteous is level’. As you listen again think about what a level path looks like and feels like, in your life.

In these final moments ask the Lord Jesus for strength and courage to let go of the past, and journey with you as you move into God’s future.

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