One Minute Reflection – 28 May – ‘… Your treasure hidden within us…’

One Minute Reflection – 28 May – “Mary’s Month” – Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings:  Acts 22:30; 23:6-11, Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11, John 17:20-26 and The Memorial of Blessed Lanfranc of Canterbury (c 1005-1089)

“And I have given them the glory you gave me …” … John 17:22

REFLECTION – “… Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of Your day that is not measured by the sun. … In Your sacrament we daily embrace You and receive You into our bodies;  make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope.   We have had Your treasure hidden within us, ever since we received baptismal grace, it grows ever richer at Your sacramental table.   Teach us to find our joy in Your favour!   Lord, we have within us Your memorial, received at Your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new.

We glimpse the beauty that is laid up for us, when we gaze upon the spiritual beauty Your immortal will, now creates within our mortal selves.   Saviour, Your Crucifixion marked the end of Your mortal life;  teach us to crucify ourselves and make way for our life in the Spirit.   May Your Resurrection, Jesus, bring true greatness to our spiritual self and may Your sacraments be the mirror, wherein we may know that self.   Saviour, Your divine plan for the world is a mirror for the spiritual world – teach us to walk in that world as spiritual men.

Lord, do not deprive our souls, of the spiritual vision of You, nor our bodies of Your warmth and sweetness.   The mortality lurking in our bodies spreads corruption through us;  may the spiritual waters of Your love cleanse the effects of mortality from our hearts. Grant, Lord, that we may hasten to our true city and, like Moses on the mountaintop, possess it now in vision.” … St Ephrem (306-373) Father and Doctor of the Church – (Sermo 3, De fine et admonitione 2. 4-5)

PRAYER – God of mercy, You have filled us with the hope of resurrection by restoring man to his original dignity.   May we who relive this mystery each year come to share it in perpetual love.   May the Mother of Our Lord stand with us as we gaze upward to her Son and may the prayer of Bl Lanfranc, be a support in our troubles.   Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.