Weekly Reflection: Blessed - Week 3

Practicing the awareness of God's presence is central to spiritual formation and to understanding God and his vision for the world. The witness of God is at the heart of the blessings that Jesus pronounces over the crowds in the Gospel According to Matthew, chapter 5.
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Transcript

As a spiritual care provider at a long-term care center,

My role is to care for the spiritual,

Religious,

And emotional needs of the residents,

Their families,

The staff,

And volunteers.

Practically,

This is by being a compassionate presence.

This is most often expressed in heartfelt conversations,

And so my days are often full of sitting down with residents and reading a scripture or a prayer or a reflection and then talking about it.

The other day I was reading the prayer of St.

Patrick,

An adaptation of the prayer,

To a resident who has dementia.

And as I began to pray and read through the prayer,

Something began to swell up within her and it expressed itself in tears.

And as we began to talk through what she was feeling,

She didn't have lofty words or theological concepts to express what was happening.

All she said was,

It can be really lonely,

It can be really lonely in here,

And this prayer is reminding me that God is with me.

Isn't that beautiful?

This prayer is reminding me that God is with me.

Withness.

Withness is so important to regularly remind ourselves of the withness of God is at the heart of spiritual formation.

We need it.

It is good for our soul and we then operate and exist out of that profound truth that God is with us.

So for the next few moments,

As I read through this adaptation of the prayer of St.

Patrick,

Would you sit in a posture that is open to being aware of the withness of God?

Being open to marvel and wonder at the presence of God that is closer than the air that you breathe?

Christ be with you,

Christ within you,

Christ behind you and before you,

Christ beside you,

Christ to win you,

Christ to comfort and restore,

Christ beneath you,

Christ above you,

Christ in hearts of all who know you,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger,

Christ in quiet and in roar,

Power to guide you,

Might to hold you,

Wisdom teach you,

Watching over you,

Ear to hear you,

Hand to guard you,

Love to conquer every fear.

Amen.

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