Friday 2 June 2023

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Today is Friday the 2nd of June, in the eighth week of Ordinary time.

One Hope Project sings, ‘Good Work in Me’.

Everything I have within

And all that is before me

Meet me in this broken place

Transform it for Your glory

I lay this life downfall into You now

A sacrifice of praise

Surrender to You, my loving Savior

I trust in Your great name

You will meet me in my hurting, Jesus

You are all I need

Your love will satisfy

I trust the plans You have for me

I will stand upon the promise

You've not forsaken me

You walk beside me in the waiting

You are doing a good work in me

(A good work in me)

Now when I'm faced with trials

I will choose your joy each morning

I trust You, though I'm terrified

So use me for Your glory

I lay this life downfall into You now

A sacrifice of praise

Surrender to You, my loving Savior

I trust in Your great name

You will meet me in my hurting, Jesus

You are all I need

Your love will satisfy

I trust the plans You have for me

I will stand upon the promise

You've not forsaken me

You walk beside me in the waiting

You are doing a good work in me

(Oh-oh oh-oh oh, a good work in me)

(Oh-oh oh-oh oh, a good work in me)

(Oh-oh oh-oh oh, a good work in me)

You are a God of transformation

Your presence carries restoration

You deserve my praise

There's power in Your name

You are a God of transformation

Your presence carries restoration

You deserve my praise

There's power in Your name

(Oh-oh oh-oh oh)

(Oh-oh oh-oh oh)

(Oh-oh oh-oh oh)

(Oh-oh oh-oh oh

You'll meet me in my hurting, Jesus

You are all I need

Your love will satisfy

I trust the plans You have for me

I will stand upon the promise

You've not forsaken me

You walk beside me in the waiting

You are doing a good work in me

Today’s reading is from the book of Ecclesiasticus.

Ecclus 44:1, 9-13

Let us now sing the praises of famous men,

our ancestors in their generations.

But of others there is no memory;

they have perished as though they had never existed;

they have become as though they had never been born,

they and their children after them.

But these also were godly men,

whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;

their wealth will remain with their descendants,

and their inheritance with their children’s children.

Their descendants stand by the covenants;

their children also, for their sake.

Their offspring will continue for ever,

and their glory will never be blotted out.

“But of others there is no memory…But these also were Godly men”. Take a moment to reflect on the ways in which people come into being and what happens to their stories over time…

“Whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten…Their glory will never be blotted out”. How do these words sit with you? Do these words bring you any comfort?

Now listen as the passage is read once more. Is there one line here, or one word, that leaps off the page at you?

Your story will eventually become history. How does your story sit under the gaze of God? Talk with God about this now… Notice the response you receive…

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.