Prayer of the Day

Daily Prayer

January 23rd, 2016

In today’s short Gospel,  we hear that each member of Jesus’ family think he is crazy.  It would be easy to brush over this Gospel,  but if we stop and reflect,  we can see that it challenges us in two ways.  Firstly,  we can ponder the life of Jesus,  and try to realise how he was misunderstood.  Secondly,  we can reflect on the personal cost of following Jesus.

The Gospels reveal how Jesus had an effect on those he met,  whether they marvelled at him,  knelt before him,  were puzzled by him or plotted to kill him.  He taught people to love their enemies and to do good to those who hurt them.   He healed the sick,  forgave sinners,  associated with the outcasts,  and often spent the night in prayer.  As we seek to follow Jesus,  he calls us to love and serve others even when this involves personal sacrifice.  In many of his Readings,  Paul,  writes about the new mind of the Christian.  He says;  “your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revelation,  so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way,  in the goodness and holiness of the truth.”  (Ephesians 4 : 23)