All Saints of the Society of Jesus | Thursday 5 November 2020

Today is Thursday the 5 November, the feast of All Saints of the Society of Jesus.

The community of Taizé sing Behüte mich, Gott : “Keep me God, for I trust in you. You show me the path of life.  With you there is fulness of joy.”

Today’s reading is from the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 30:9b-14  

The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.   Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.  

St Ignatius, founder of the Jesuit order, described the order as a “pathway to God”. Today’s feast remembers all those who have walked that particular pathway. Who are the people who have most helped you on your own “pathway to God”?  

We’re told here that God takes delight in making us prosper. Can you recognise the God who takes delight in all that you do well?  

We don’t need to travel up to heaven or far across the seas, to discover what God wants of us. How would you describe what it is that God wants of you in whatever you’re doing today?  

The word of God is neither in heaven or across the sea. Notice where it is to be found, as the passage is read again.  

Speak to God now that word that you discover in your heart.  

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.