Friday 21 June 2024

Today is Friday 21 June, the feast of St Aloysius Gonzaga SJ, in the 11th week of Ordinary Time. David Thomas with the Taverner Players, sings Ich Habe Genug from Bach’s Cantata number 82, echoing the words of Simeon: ‘I have enough. I have taken the Saviour, the hope of the Gentiles, into my arms.’ Often when we pray, we ask God for this and for that. And fair enough, we have needs and it is right to bring them before the Lord. But there is something rather beautiful – there is something very beautiful – about this prayer, which just says, ‘I have you, Lord. I have enough.’ (Lyrics currently unavailable) Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 6:19-23 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Think for a moment: what possessions do you really value at this moment in your life? Now ask yourself this: in five years’ time, which of these possessions do I think will still hold the same importance for me? Beyond your valued possessions, what is really important in your life that you would like to continue, to last? As the passage is read again, imagine yourself in the group listening to Jesus. Imagine him looking directly at you as he says these things. Jesus says to us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Can you open your heart and speak to Jesus for a moment about your innermost thoughts and feelings? 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.