Anytime Grace
As I was trying to think of something that would be interested to blog, I remembered this:
Four weeks ago, on a Sunday, I was absolutely EXHAUSTED as I was kneeling and trying to pray before Mass. I crossed myself and automatically started to pray Grace. "Bless us oh Lord and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen." I don't remember whether I realized I was praying the meal prayer during the prayer or after I was done, but I do know I finished it. And I thought, this is a prayer for anytime. It's not just at mealtime that our Lord gives us gifts from His bounty; He gives to us at all times, whether we realize it our not. And before Mass is the perfect time to pray that prayer - before being read His Scriptures and before being fed His Body.
So I was meditating on that as much as my exhausted mind and my two children would let me. THEN, we got to the Gospel - John 21. [Simon Peter, Thomas..., Nathanael..., the sons of Zebedee, and two others] went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?... Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he... jumped into the sea.
Talk about bounty! I know He was trying to tell me something. He does give to us, unselfishly. He so very much to us - and gives and gives. And too often we don't recognize Him in His giving or thank Him for His gifts. Like the disciples after Jesus' death, we feel afraid, helpless, alone. We go on with our daily lives, acting as if He is not here with us. But He is! He is alive and here with us every day, coming quietly into our lives; He does not shout, "Here I am!" There are times He gives us a proverbial net full of fish, and other times He sends only one small fish our way. And He hopes that we turn His way with a word of love and gratitude and even that we run to Him.
So then, Lord, this is my prayer: Bless us oh Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Four weeks ago, on a Sunday, I was absolutely EXHAUSTED as I was kneeling and trying to pray before Mass. I crossed myself and automatically started to pray Grace. "Bless us oh Lord and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen." I don't remember whether I realized I was praying the meal prayer during the prayer or after I was done, but I do know I finished it. And I thought, this is a prayer for anytime. It's not just at mealtime that our Lord gives us gifts from His bounty; He gives to us at all times, whether we realize it our not. And before Mass is the perfect time to pray that prayer - before being read His Scriptures and before being fed His Body.
So I was meditating on that as much as my exhausted mind and my two children would let me. THEN, we got to the Gospel - John 21. [Simon Peter, Thomas..., Nathanael..., the sons of Zebedee, and two others] went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?... Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he... jumped into the sea.
Talk about bounty! I know He was trying to tell me something. He does give to us, unselfishly. He so very much to us - and gives and gives. And too often we don't recognize Him in His giving or thank Him for His gifts. Like the disciples after Jesus' death, we feel afraid, helpless, alone. We go on with our daily lives, acting as if He is not here with us. But He is! He is alive and here with us every day, coming quietly into our lives; He does not shout, "Here I am!" There are times He gives us a proverbial net full of fish, and other times He sends only one small fish our way. And He hopes that we turn His way with a word of love and gratitude and even that we run to Him.
So then, Lord, this is my prayer: Bless us oh Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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