76. The Soul
There is a story of a young boy who played his first competitive soccer game at school.
After the game, the boy’s coach called his father. The father answered the call saying, “Hello?”
The coach replied, “Hello sir, it’s your son’s soccer coach. I just wanted to tell you how amazing your son was in the game today. He scored two goals, one of them a penalty kick. He was encouraging his teammates when they were becoming disheartened. He played for both halves and gave everything he had during the game. I was very impressed!”
The coach went on to share more about the game and the father’s heart was filled with pride.
After a while the young boy arrived home. The father raced out of the living room with a wide smile on his face to meet his son at the door. The father said, “Son, welcome home. How did the game go?” The son was sad as he looked up at his father. He said, “It doesn’t matter. Coach already called you and told you all about it.”
The father shook his head and embraced his son in a warm hug. He said to him, “It does matter, I want to hear about the game from you. Please, tell me everything.”
Are we sometimes like this with God? If God is omniscient and omnipresent, why do we need to tell him about our day? Doesn’t God already know what happened to me today?
Yes, He does. But He wants to hear it from us. He wants us to talk to him about our day even though He was there with us. He is the loving Father who wants us to share with Him our stresses, our joys, our hopes and our dreams, even though He already knows them all. Just like any conversation, talking to God builds our relationship, trust, and confidence in Him. We are given a glimpse into the heart of God, and we allow ourselves to be loved unconditionally like a father loves his child.
Here are some ways that we can recognise God’s presence, and share our hearts with Him.
- Simply speak: God wants our conversation, so simply take some time to tell Him how your day went or ask His advice when dealing with a difficult situation. It might only be 5 minutes, or maybe it’s an hour. Whatever you have, God would love to hear it.
- Read the Bible: This incredible book is filled with what God wants to say to us. Open up your bible and read a chapter or two, and find a verse that speaks to you. Consider what God might be saying through the scriptures in your life.
- Notice Him in the everyday: God can speak to us through beauty, whether it be a sunset, a flower, a piece of art or music. God can also speak to us through the goodness and kindness of those around us. Look out for those moments, and praise God when you see them.
- Attend Mass and the sacraments: Jesus is physically present every time we go to Mass! Jesus is also present in the sacrament of reconciliation, so we can seek forgiveness for those moments that we have failed, and give praise with the Angels and Saints in Mass for what God has done for us.
Just like the father wanting to hear all about the soccer game from his son, God wants to hear all about us! Let’s pray for each other, that we might recognise the presence of God waiting fervently to hear about our day from us, His sons and daughters.
- That's The Thing About Praise (Benjamin William Hastings, Blessing Offor) - “...You’ll never know what it’s gonna change but it’ll always leave a mark, that's the thing about praise…”
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Thank you Jesus’ (Jehova Shalom) - Jehova Shalom debuted in East Africa’s Got Talent in 2019 and they continue to create some of the most harmonious acapella renditions of Christian music. May we take the time out to thank Jesus for loving us.
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Psalm 116 (Mission House) - “For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 116:8-9
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Tantum Ergo Sacramentum (Francesa LaRosa) - Tantum Ergo is the incipit of the last two verses of Pange Lingua, a Mediaeval Latin hymn written by St Thomas Aquinas. Traditionally, singing this prayer coincides with being in the presence of the Lord through Holy Adoration.
Into Your Arms Reimagined (feat. Emmanuel Worship)
Like in the parable of the Prodigal Son, God the Father runs to welcome us home. Take a listen to this reimagined version of Into Your Arms by Wildfire featuring Emmanuel Worship and sing along with these simple, powerful lyrics of surrender.
Take the Mental Health Challenge!
HeadGear is an App for building your mental fitness. It guides you through an engaging 30-day challenge designed to improve your wellbeing and resilience. In fact, HeadGear has even been scientifically proven to prevent depression!
Based on recognised and evidence-based psychological approaches, including behavioural activation and mindfulness, Headgear can boost your mental fitness with simple, practical activities that only takes five to ten minutes per day. You’ll learn skills to better relax, reduce and manage stress, stay active, improve sleep, connect better with friends and deal with difficult situations.
HeadGear was designed and developed by the Black Dog Institute in partnership with beyondblue and funding support from the Movember Foundation.
Roby Curtis Ignite Interview: Emmanuel City Mission founder, Roby Curtis, shares about how young people can respond to their mission by reaching out and impacting the lives of those closest to them. Don’t miss a great opportunity to unpack this incredible short interview about selflessness with your students.
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Theology @ the Pub - Reigniting your faith after a pandemic: Dr Andy Mullins, who teaches formation of character at the University of Notre Dame Australia, discusses how we can reignite our faith after the pandemic.
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How to See God in Everything, Everyday (And How to Respond): How often do you acknowledge the works of God? How often do you recognize what He is doing in your life? In this passage from Tobit, the Archangel Raphael is encouraging us to pay attention to the works of God - not only in our lives, but in the lives of those around us. Fr. Mike Schmitz encourages us to acknowledge the presence of God in our lives through 3 steps: noticing, noting, and declaring.
- Abiding Together - Delight of the Trinity: Join Sr Miriam James Heidland, Michelle Benzinger and Heather Khym as they begin a four-part series on the identity of being a daughter of God. They speak about the building blocks of daughterhood: trusting the heart of God and receiving our identity from the Father.
- Pray As You Go: 'Pray As You Go' is a daily prayer session, designed to go with you wherever you go, to help you pray whenever you find time, but particularly whilst travelling to and from work, study, etc. A new prayer session is produced every day of the working week and one session for the weekend. Lasting between 10 and 13 minutes, it combines music, scripture and some questions for reflection.
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Three-Minute Retreat: Three-Minute Retreat invites you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
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