Saturday 19 July 2025 - Dark and light

Saturday 19 July 2025

Welcome to the Saturday Examen. Wherever you are today, have a look around you...what do you notice? Notice the contrasts between dark and light in your space. Earlier this week, in one of our readings, we encountered God in the wilderness, as he spoke with Moses at the burning bush. Perhaps you can see this moment of prayer with the Lord as a burning bush encounter as you settle into prayer. If you are able, you might like to take off your shoes, to acknowledge this time to be ‘holy ground’. As you feel the floor or ground beneath your feet, recall with the Lord the darker moments this week such as times you felt most distant from God. Offer these dark moments to the Lord.... Now recall the times of light, when you have felt closest to God. Give thanks to the Lord for the times when you felt his presence with you... Now, a list of excerpts will be read from the readings during the week, with a little space for reflection between each reading. Try to listen with your heart, and notice what stirs within you as you hear these words: ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.’ Then Jesus began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent.  When the Lord saw that Moses had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’  God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ God said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.  At the burning bush today, notice what you hear from the Lord in the light of his presence and in the silence of your heart. You might like to stay here in the presence of the Lord for a little longer today, enjoying his light and his love for 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