RENEWAL

This week, Holy Week, is a good time for renewal.  

Many changes happen in our lives and it's good to be prepared to face the challenges whatever they might be.

As a child we are anxious to learn, to know, to do.  The world is an adventure, inviting us to reach out and become a part of all that surrounds us.

As we become older and perhaps a little wiser, we begin to learn a different way of life.

We are invited to go inward and renew ourselves in a more spiritual way.

The Passion of Christ is a time for looking at ourselves in relation to Love.  Here we have the Life of Christ, our Saviour, willing to give ALL that He is for us.

This kind of love is almost beyond our understanding. To love that much, knowing that we cannot and perhaps will not respond to God's love for us, teaches us what love is all about.

St. Therese put it in a very simple way...

     'To receive so much and to give so little is the martyrdom to which I succumb.'

She understood how much God loved her and did her best to respond to that Love.

We are invited to do the same and renew our lives, according to the Standard of Love.

TIME WELL SPENT

We know the value of time and often find ourselves trying to 'make' time for urgent jobs etc.

It's as if the hours slip away and we are nowhere near our projects end.

Perhaps it doesn't matter. 

The main interest in relation to time is knowing that we are putting love into who we are and what we do etc.

Sometimes playing a game of cards with a friend can mean more than working on a project that seems so important to us. 

The saints would remind us that what we do is meant to please God.

Time well spent is where God is present, guiding us in all we hope to do.

SUNSHINE and SHOWERS

Seems strange when one is in Gran Canary where sunshine can be taken for granted, to mention showers.

Yet there is an analogy attached to linking sunshine and showers.

Sunshine we love / Shower we may not love.

As in life, we love all the good things that spoil us and make us feel special.

Then a little pain of sorts comes our way and we may feel our world has crumbled to pieces.

Its great to be happy, yet also good to have things happen that make us sad.

This way we learn to balance our lives and our acceptance of life in general.

We become a more rounded person, able and also willing to carry our daily cross; small or big.

With Christian thinking we learn to see that the Cross is a sign of Hope.