Wednesday 23 October 2024

Today is Wednesday the 23rd of October in the 29th week of Ordinary Time. The Kyiv Chamber Choir, sing the Creed: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” As you start this prayer today, can you take a moment to renew your own sense of belief? Can you begin by declaring your faith in God, your creator, your heavenly Father? Today’s reading is from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians 3:2-12 For surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given to me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. The followers of Jesus believe in revelation, in other words that God has chosen to make God known to us. What is the most important thing about God that God is showing you at this stage of your life? St Paul is confident that he is called to pass on to others what he has come to know about God. If you share that call, how might you best pass on to others something of what you have come to know of God? Paul speaks of doing this with “boldness and confidence. Are these gifts that you find in yourself when it comes to matters of faith? Are they gifts that you want? Listen out, as the passage is read again, for the ways in which Paul understands his own place here. You might want to talk with Jesus, or with God the Father, in these last few moments of prayer, about how you have come to know them, and what that knowledge means to you. 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.