April 2024: Thought for the Day
Thought for the Day
Second Sunday of Easter
7 April 2024 • Divine Mercy Sunday
When we are all despairing;
when the world is full of grief;
When we see no way ahead,
and hope has gone away.
Roll back the stone.
Although we fear change;
although we are not ready;
Although we’d rather weep and run away.
Roll back the stone.
Because we’re coming with the women;
Because we hope where hope is vain;
Because you call us from the grave and show the way.
Roll back the stone.
Janet Morley
Bread of Tommorrow:
Praying with the World’s Poor (SPCK)
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Third Sunday of Easter
14 April 2024
Risen Jesus,
We thank you for your greeting, ‘Peace be with you.’
The shalom of God, deep lasting peace; peace that brings inner calm.
That keeps a person steady in the storm;
That faces the persecutor without fear and proclaims the Good News with courage and with joy.
This is the peace that reconciles sister to brother, black to white, rich and poor, young and old.
But not a peace that is quiet in the face of oppression and injustice.
This is peace with God, the peace that passes understanding.
John Johansen-Berg
Bread of Tommorrow:
Praying with the World’s Poor (SPCK)
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Fourth Sunday of Easter
21 April 2024 • Day of Prayer for Vocations
‘God doesn’t call the qualified, but He qualifies the called.’ God knows us and He calls us by name. As we are looking at different saints or clergy to learn from them, others look at us and learn from us. And as our struggles become real even as others turn to us for guidance, we also have a shepherd to turn to for help. Most of us sometimes forget this, but we are leaders in our own way. The church of tomorrow depends on how we set the foundation for the church of today. There will be crisis and there will be need, but there will always be good people standing behind us.
Teresa Tu Tran
thetorchproject.com
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Fifth Sunday of Easter
28 April 2024
Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Joyce Kilmer
www.abranchinthevine.com
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