Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you? 1 Corinthians 6:19
May I remember that, whatever our differences may be, we each house God’s Spirit of goodness and love.
May I honor the temple of the Holy Spirit— mine or others’—with respect, kindness, peace, forbearance, patience, forgiveness, and compassion.
Turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
Isaiah 55:7b-8
The week has been full of stress. Today I feel in great need of God’s gentle comfort, mercy, and compassion.
May I also remember to imitate God’s kindness and forgiveness and to follow the Way of care for all of God’s creation, especially the people I find difficult to love.
We are called by our baptism to remember each member of our human family is beloved of God.
It is our lifework to offer compassion to the suffering, forgiveness to those who have hurt us, and comfort to those who are grieving and burdened with the stresses that arise in life.
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Isaiah 40:1
![Jesus MAFA. John baptizes Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48290 [retrieved January 10, 2016].](https://maryannmcsweeny.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/mafa021-medium.jpg?w=300)
Jesus MAFA. John baptizes Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved January 10, 2016].
And, by his example, Jesus encourages us to develop the experience of prayer, of communion with God, of entwinement with God.
When we practice conscious awareness of God’s presence for a few moments… a few minutes… a few hours… suddenly our whole life will be illumined by the discovery that God is pleased with us too.
After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”… Luke 3:21-22.
Mary Ann McSweeny 