Saturday 19 March 2011

Lent Day Ten & St Joseph

Here at Aylesford we are greatly blessed with the presence of beautiful pieces of sculpture and ceramics that adorn our chapels and help reflect on lives dedicated to beauty and creativity. All of the art here is a gift to God and when we are amazed by them we can marvel at God’s creativity and goodness. If human beings are capable of such beauty, then we can merely marvel at the wonders of the creator. One of my favourite sculptures is that of St Joseph, which is in the St Joseph’s chapel. On his feast we gaze at one person’s reflection on Joseph, on his gentleness and solidity.

Father,
you entrusted our Saviour to the care of Saint Joseph.
By the help of his prayers
may your Church continue to serve its Lord, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Lent Day Ten.

“Friendship can never be forced. We have the awesome power of putting limits on God. When we think of God we should think BIG. God wants to do so much more for us than we could ever ask for or even imagine. So how can we respond to this invitation? We can learn from the way we relate to people. There are people we meet only rarely and never think much about them. We can hardly call them friends. Then there are people with whom we are quite friendly but who do not really impinge on our lives. Then there are others who really know us and love and accept us for what we are. These are our friends. How do we relate to them? Do we always batter their eardrums with words or are we also prepared to listen to them? We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak.”
Fr Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm


The First Week of Lent ~ Saturday
Loving God,
Sometimes my heart
turns in every direction
except towards you.
Please help me
to turn my heart toward you,
to gaze upon you in trust
and to seek your kingdom with all of my heart.
Soften my hardened heart
so that I might love others
as a way to glorify and worship you.
Grant me this
with the ever-present guidance of your spirit.

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