Week Two (Day 1) - Walking Forward with Memory  

Week Two (Day 1) - Walking Forward with Memory  
May the grace and peace of God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!  
Let’s begin by listening to some words from Luke’s Gospel in the second chapter, a reading which transports us to the stable in Bethlehem and into the presence of the infant Jesus.  
When the angels had left (the shepherds) and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.   “Mary” we are told, “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart”. (Luke 2:15-20)
For Pope Francis, “remembering” is of great importance in the life of a disciple of Jesus: it’s what gives us the strength to move forward. The importance of remembering is one of his favourite themes which he returns to again and again in what he writes and in the talks he gives.  
Memory, the Pope writes, is essential for faith as water is for a plant. Faith needs to drink deeply of the memory of all the Lord had done for us. Disciples who remember with gratitude their encounters with Jesus, and with those people who populate their own faith stories, are the people who have what it takes to walk forward. Memory and faith, memory and hope go hand in hand.  
Remembering with gratitude strengthens our faith, helps us move forward in hope and encourages us to pass on love.  In this way, “remembering” becomes the heartbeat of our lives as followers of Jesus. This is how it was for Mary who, as Luke tells us in his Gospel, “treasured up these things in her heart”. We can do likewise.  
Pope Francis says that our remembering with gratitude should focus on two sets of experience in particular. 
Firstly, he encourages us to look back over and to store up all those occasions when we encountered Jesus in our lives. “Think back”, he has said, “on those early days when you first learned about Christ … do not forget these moments because they are moments of inspiration … We all have these moments in our hearts”, he writes, “let us treasure them”.   For a moment, pause, be still and think back to one of those moments when you first learned about Jesus and treasure it ……  
Secondly, he asks us to look back and be grateful for all those people who shared their faith in Jesus with us. “We have not received faith by mail!”, he says. “Look back on your own people”. Their example gives us the courage we often need to share our faith with others too.   For another moment, pause, be still, and thank God for one or two people who taught you about what it means to have faith and follow Jesus ……  
What of those memories of hurt of rejection or of unjust treatment which are still too sore to touch? He invites us to revisit them, but in the company of Jesus, the one who brings to them peace, mercy, reconciliation and forgiveness. For one more moment, pause, be still, and take Jesus to a hurtful memory and ask him to breath on it his peace, his mercy, his reconciliation and his forgiveness ….  
Finally, let’s pray for those who are sick and those who care for them …. For those who have died and those who mourn for them …. For those who are anxious, that the Lord may walk with them …. For those who are lonely, that the Lord may be with them.  
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.  

Week Two (Day 1) - Walking Forward with Memory  

Week Two (Day 1) - Walking Forward with Memory  
May the grace and peace of God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!  
Let’s begin by listening to some words from Luke’s Gospel in the second chapter, a reading which transports us to the stable in Bethlehem and into the presence of the infant Jesus.  
When the angels had left (the shepherds) and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.   “Mary” we are told, “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart”. (Luke 2:15-20)
For Pope Francis, “remembering” is of great importance in the life of a disciple of Jesus: it’s what gives us the strength to move forward. The importance of remembering is one of his favourite themes which he returns to again and again in what he writes and in the talks he gives.  
Memory, the Pope writes, is essential for faith as water is for a plant. Faith needs to drink deeply of the memory of all the Lord had done for us. Disciples who remember with gratitude their encounters with Jesus, and with those people who populate their own faith stories, are the people who have what it takes to walk forward. Memory and faith, memory and hope go hand in hand.  
Remembering with gratitude strengthens our faith, helps us move forward in hope and encourages us to pass on love.  In this way, “remembering” becomes the heartbeat of our lives as followers of Jesus. This is how it was for Mary who, as Luke tells us in his Gospel, “treasured up these things in her heart”. We can do likewise.  
Pope Francis says that our remembering with gratitude should focus on two sets of experience in particular. 
Firstly, he encourages us to look back over and to store up all those occasions when we encountered Jesus in our lives. “Think back”, he has said, “on those early days when you first learned about Christ … do not forget these moments because they are moments of inspiration … We all have these moments in our hearts”, he writes, “let us treasure them”.   For a moment, pause, be still and think back to one of those moments when you first learned about Jesus and treasure it ……  
Secondly, he asks us to look back and be grateful for all those people who shared their faith in Jesus with us. “We have not received faith by mail!”, he says. “Look back on your own people”. Their example gives us the courage we often need to share our faith with others too.   For another moment, pause, be still, and thank God for one or two people who taught you about what it means to have faith and follow Jesus ……  
What of those memories of hurt of rejection or of unjust treatment which are still too sore to touch? He invites us to revisit them, but in the company of Jesus, the one who brings to them peace, mercy, reconciliation and forgiveness. For one more moment, pause, be still, and take Jesus to a hurtful memory and ask him to breath on it his peace, his mercy, his reconciliation and his forgiveness ….  
Finally, let’s pray for those who are sick and those who care for them …. For those who have died and those who mourn for them …. For those who are anxious, that the Lord may walk with them …. For those who are lonely, that the Lord may be with them.  
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.  

Week Two (Day 1) - Walking Forward with Memory  

Week Two (Day 1) - Walking Forward with Memory  
May the grace and peace of God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!  
Let’s begin by listening to some words from Luke’s Gospel in the second chapter, a reading which transports us to the stable in Bethlehem and into the presence of the infant Jesus.  
When the angels had left (the shepherds) and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.   “Mary” we are told, “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart”. (Luke 2:15-20)
For Pope Francis, “remembering” is of great importance in the life of a disciple of Jesus: it’s what gives us the strength to move forward. The importance of remembering is one of his favourite themes which he returns to again and again in what he writes and in the talks he gives.  
Memory, the Pope writes, is essential for faith as water is for a plant. Faith needs to drink deeply of the memory of all the Lord had done for us. Disciples who remember with gratitude their encounters with Jesus, and with those people who populate their own faith stories, are the people who have what it takes to walk forward. Memory and faith, memory and hope go hand in hand.  
Remembering with gratitude strengthens our faith, helps us move forward in hope and encourages us to pass on love.  In this way, “remembering” becomes the heartbeat of our lives as followers of Jesus. This is how it was for Mary who, as Luke tells us in his Gospel, “treasured up these things in her heart”. We can do likewise.  
Pope Francis says that our remembering with gratitude should focus on two sets of experience in particular. 
Firstly, he encourages us to look back over and to store up all those occasions when we encountered Jesus in our lives. “Think back”, he has said, “on those early days when you first learned about Christ … do not forget these moments because they are moments of inspiration … We all have these moments in our hearts”, he writes, “let us treasure them”.   For a moment, pause, be still and think back to one of those moments when you first learned about Jesus and treasure it ……  
Secondly, he asks us to look back and be grateful for all those people who shared their faith in Jesus with us. “We have not received faith by mail!”, he says. “Look back on your own people”. Their example gives us the courage we often need to share our faith with others too.   For another moment, pause, be still, and thank God for one or two people who taught you about what it means to have faith and follow Jesus ……  
What of those memories of hurt of rejection or of unjust treatment which are still too sore to touch? He invites us to revisit them, but in the company of Jesus, the one who brings to them peace, mercy, reconciliation and forgiveness. For one more moment, pause, be still, and take Jesus to a hurtful memory and ask him to breath on it his peace, his mercy, his reconciliation and his forgiveness ….  
Finally, let’s pray for those who are sick and those who care for them …. For those who have died and those who mourn for them …. For those who are anxious, that the Lord may walk with them …. For those who are lonely, that the Lord may be with them.  
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.  

Day 1: Walking forward with memory
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