St Peters RC Church Hamilton

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to
give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29 v 11
Love promised,
Faith guided,
Hope harboured,
Peace delivered,
Divinity harnessed,
God worshipped,
Harmony established.
For this is the truth Jesus teaches us,
God’s Word as witnessed :

“When we cease to worship God we do not worship nothing but we worship everything.”
G.K. Chesterton

“Therefore my dear friends flee from idolatry.” 1 Corinthians 10 v 14

Lord, holy Father, forgive all our strains of idolatry. We mistakenly worship money, possession, position, status,
celebrity, fame, all placing us in some sort of danger of misinterpretation of what life is about.
Forgive us too, when we look in the wrong directions for answers to life’s meaning, some philosophy as astrology,
horoscopes, clairvoyance, Ouija boards and the like, giving into superstitions.
How very much we get wrong when we do not place ourselves in Your loving safety, security, provision,
protection, holy Father. Let us cling more closely to You, ever now with us in Jesus.
Forgive too, all strains of atheism and agnosticism, for not only can they not reveal Your true nature to us,
they are dangerously misleading. Jesus proves Your existence to us, thank You for this.
You satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart, holy aspiration and dedication wonderfully, growing when we
call on the Spirit, and we place our spiritual efforts in getting to know Jesus more fully.
Jesus shows us that You are the living, forgiving, ever love giving Creator and Re-Creator. Be then the Father of
every community. Teach us to live in warm harmony.
May our faith always develop more fully as we look to Jesus, come as Saviour, come to reveal the harmony of love
between the Trinity.
What better time than during the Christmas season, to share the joy we experience. May the Spirit enable us to
give ample witness to this glorious situation of being within the compass of the living God.
As God of history, You are the God of real mystery, an intriguing, all exciting, gripping journey of discovery. I ask
that we strive to find You, recognise You, adhere to You in the Person of Jesus, His and Your Spirit with us,
within us, around us, surrounding us.
The Spirit, through Jesus, convinces us that we, in spite of our infidelity, gross iniquity, we can receive mercy.
The Spirit shows us how to break out of sins’ captivity.
What a yoke of burden is released in Jesus, by the Spirit. Where does this leave us? We have to shoulder our
responsibilities, but these are never too heavy if we work together with Jesus.
Perhaps if the Christmas season was to teach us one thing only – and fortunately the time is not limited to this – I
would choose for mankind to have freedom from searching incorrectly, looking in the wrong direction.