Day 58 – Be radical!
Prayer for the week
Start you day with this prayer
Symbol: Dove
Prayer
Spirit of God, during Pentecost we celebrate the glorious blessing of your presence in the world: an event we call the birth of the church. By this life-altering blessing You made it possible for everyone who believes to acknowledge and proclaim that Jesus is Lord.
We confess that we often do not see or acknowledge the work of your Holy Spirit in our lives, and that we sometimes even resist it on purpose. We want to follow our own heads, rather than trusting your guidance. We make our own plans, rather than following your plans. We prefer the familiarity of our comfort, rather than diving into the adventure of your encouragement.
Show us, graceful God, where we can listen better, see more clearly and be much more aware – so that we may live in the rhythm of the breathing of your Spirit. Blow us to where You want us, Lord, so that we will be faithful to our calling as witnesses: to proclaim the Good News everywhere we go, so that in the end every tongue will acknowledge that You are the King of Creation.
Amen.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” – Mark 2:3-5.
We can learn so much from this story in Mark 2. The friends of the paralyzed man realized they had to grab hold of this Godly opportunity immediately. Therefore, they made an opening in the roof of Peter’s house to lower their paralyzed friend right in front of Jesus’ feet. Now this is radical! But these friends realized, tomorrow Jesus might be gone, and then they would have let this unique day slip through their fingers. That is why they made a desperate plan to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus.
This is radical faith. And that is what happens when you only have one day at a time to change the world, or to help other people. You should choose to break open roofs and throw all conventions overboard. In situations like this dignity and good manners count less than the lives that could be changed by Christ.
Jesus himself never waited for the next day. When He encountered sick people on the sabbath, He healed them. Even though it signed his death penalty, Jesus could never ignore people in need. Broken people were his guidelines through life.
You were chosen to make a visible difference in the world today, at God’s speed. Let your light shine today. Let your presence make a difference. Make an impact. Stop planning so desperately for the future. Just for today, do a few times what is right. And enjoy it, without worrying about what tomorrow might bring.
Even if you live only one single day of your life in this radical way so that the angels in heaven will take note of it, you have done more than most people in a thousand days. Even if you dance to the right tune only for today, it will be so much more than people plodding along their whole lives on the wrong rhythm.
Is there a roof waiting for you today?
Lord Jesus, give me the wisdom to see those unique opportunities and the courage to grab onto them with both hands, even if I will have to break through a roof. Amen.
Liturgy for life
A new habit to end your day
Here is a suggestion for a new habit to make part of your life and to end each day in this way:
– Think back on the blessings of God you experienced through the day. How did the Lord bless you with heavenly manna? What daily bread was on your menu? Were you blessed with even more than bread? How did the Lord provide in your needs and the needs of your loved ones? When were you aware of the hand of the Lord in your life? How did God renew you? What impact did your words and deeds have on others? How were their lives changed because God placed you near them today?
– Thank the Lord for today and for his manna. Praise Him for today, for every abundance and for every need. Be rich at God’s feet tonight, even though you are very poor. Be poor at God’s feet tonight, even though you are rich. Be humble but abundant with your gratefulness. Sing a song of praise about what happened to you,, with you, around you and with others today that reflected God’s honour.
– Say you are sorry about every opportunity that slipped through your fingers, every word you did not say that could have glorified God, every chance you missed to serve and love others. Say you are sorry for every time you were selfish and claimed the glory for yourself. Accept God’s forgiveness and put all these things behind you. Do not go to sleep with guilty feelings or negative emotions in your mind.
– Ask the Lord for his heavenly manna for the night ahead. Pray the love and care of the Lord over yourself, your loved ones and the people around you and those far away from you.
May you sleep peacefully tonight!
Children’s activity
Play with your children.
Wow! 21 Days of isolation. 21 Days in which we’re only allowed to be in our homes (or gardens) and can only go out for the most essential things like food and medicine. It can be a little rough! All the things we usually do during the day, like school, sport, church … are not happening anymore. It can really confuse you and maybe even bore you a little. These daily readings will help you to spend some time with Jesus every day in a creative and fun way. You can do these readings and activities by yourself, with your siblings, or with your entire family. Ask one of the grownups to post your activity on Facebook so that others can enjoy it with you. Tag it with #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
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I wonder what you would do if you heard that Jesus is in your town today. Maybe you will make plans to see Him, or you will let all your friends know that Jesus will arrive. In today’s Bible verses we read about three friends who heard that Jesus is in their town. Immediately they made plans to see Him, but they did not only want to see Jesus. They knew Jesus could heal their paralysed friend, and they wanted to take their friend to Jesus. They knew that for Jesus anything is possible.
– If you could ask Jesus anything now, what would you ask? Why?
– Did you know that you could ask Jesus anything? Go sit somewhere quiet today and ask Jesus in your prayer what you really want to ask Him.
Activity
Do you know someone who is not well or who is in need? Phone them and pray for them over the phone. Or send them a prayer over WhatsApp.
Picture this
Look at this week’s illustration.
Talk to the people in your home or with your friends on WhatsApp about the illustration.
– What stands out to you?
– Take note of the things you see, but also of the things that aren’t present in the illustration.
– What would you like to add?
– How does this illustration connect with today’s Scripture, and how not?
Create your own interpretation of the illustration through any medium: dance, photography, videography, music, poetry, drawing, painting or short stories.
Record it and share it with us on social media with the hashtag #countdowndoodles