A small group of members take it in turn to write the Reflection and Intercessions for the month. These are distributed by email and in paper form to over 1600 members each month. All members throughout the diocese are encouraged to hold up to

God those named, for his healing

PEACE, LORD

The media is full of grim news: 2 more soldiers killed in Afghanistan, 13 people shot dead in Cumbria, the oil-leak in America, stories of feral teenagers, and threats of swingeing financial cuts to come.   Lord, there is so much pain in the world.   It is all too much.   My sense of peace is being shattered.   I’ve always treasured the words your beloved Son said to his first disciples and have clung to the hope that he is saying those same words to me: “Peace be with you.”   If only, if only!   But how can I expect to find peace when the world is in so much turmoil?

Maybe my idea of peace is flawed.   Maybe I’m wanting the comfort of an armchair by unpleasant happenings.   If so, I need to think again.  Jesus taught me to pray ‘Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’.   Jesus knew that there was an ongoing battle between good & bad, between God & anti-god.   Lord, help me to recognise that the day of perfection has not yet arrived & that, along with all present day disciples, I am caught up in the conflict.   I am a foot soldier in God’s purpose.   Although I am bound to feel pain when the forces of evil & wrongdoing are doing their worst, I am called to face life fair & square, pain & all, & pray for, & work for, the coming of your Kingdom.   It’s hard, God.   I need your deep peace within me as I try to do your will.

Help me to understand that when Jesus says “Peace be with you” he is offering me a peace that assures me that You hold the whole world in your hands & that nothing can separate it from your love.   The whole creation may creak & groan, but your healing love goes on drawing it to yourself.   Lord, thank you for the peace of soul this certainly gives me.   Keep me active in praying for the world as it is & for the day when your loving Kingdom comes on earth – the day when peace, perfect vibrant peace encompasses the whole world.   Amen

Inez has certainly hit the nail on the head!   It is hard to realise God’s promise for us & His Kingdom when all around is gloom, devastation & shocking news.

“Pour into the hearts of all people the peace which they sometimes seek so desperately & which You alone can give them.  Join them together in Your love, & give us all your heavenly peace”   Amen   (Pope John XX111)

  So we continue to pray for those troubled areas of the world – Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan. Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Thailand, the Congo & the Sudan.   We pray for the safe keeping of our MU members & their families living in war torn areas; & for our troops stationed there   We remember our new coalition government & its peace keeping mission

“God of the nations, whose kingdom rules over all, have mercy on our broken & divided world.   Shed abroad Your peace in the hearts of all people & banish from them the spirit that makes for war; that all races & peoples may learn to live as members of one family, & in obedience to your laws”  (Frank Colquhoun)

This month we celebrate the lives of the Apostles Thomas & James,  Mary Magdalene, & Jesus’ dear friends, Mary, Martha & Lazarus.

“Speak to OUR hearts Lord as you spoke to your disciples, that we, too, may follow you in faith & with conviction to share your good news with those whom we meet.”   Amen

So we continue to pray for the sick, their families & all carers.   We name Tim, Jeannie & family, Deirdre, Ivy & Bill, Audrey & John, Grieg & Joan, David & Marjorie, Maxine, Gabriel, Margaret, Jean, Janet, Rose, Jay. Kathleen, Sheila, Patricia & Judith.

RIP:

We remember those who have died & and ask that those who mourn them may experience the peace of God which passes all understanding.

Kath Winship, Lily May, Ivy Haynes, Minnie May, Edna Rhind-Tutt

“Drop thy still dews of quietness

Till all our strivings cease.

Take from our hearts the strain & stress

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of thy Peace.”

                                                                                                                                                                               With my love & prayers, Val

Contact Salisbury Diocese Mothers' Union at:

Mothers' Union

The Diocese of Salisbury

Mothers' Union Office

Church House

Salisbury

SP1 2QB

Tel: 01722 333402

Registered Charity No. 249696

Original web site design by S.M.Mansfield of The Dotcom Design Studio

Site updated by the Diocese of  Salisbury Mothers' Union

                                              [Top]