A Moment To Pause: Tuesday 12th May 2026

Good morning. Thank you for joining all of the Oblate family today for a time of reflection and prayer. We join Frankie MacDonald in Glasgow this week.

Let's begin. In the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And let's remember Pope Leo’s request for us all to pray this month for peace, especially peace in our families as we asked Our Lady: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Our Lady Queen of peace pray for us.
Today's gospel is taken from Saint John's Gospel, chapter 16, and the reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 16 two and they remind us of the challenges faced by Saint Paul and his disciples.
And the gospel reaffirms how Jesus will send the Holy Spirit and describes, in Acts, the conversion and how the conversion came to Saint Paul's jailer.
I'm just back from Hungary, and I'm reminded how the church leaders in Hungary were imprisoned for living the Christian vocations 80 years ago.
And moreover, they were still oppressed in their  Christianity up until 36 years ago.
That is, until the fall of the totalitarian regimes repressing religious belief.
And in some countries, this is still going on.
Can we be as strong in our faith, as the clergy were in 1946 through to 1990?
Can we too defy the norms of an increasingly secular society that subtly attacks religion by indifference?
Can we express our religion and ignore the slights or exclusion from the rest of the herd because we are openly followers of Jesus?
Can we support our brothers and sisters and keep them in our daily prayers, particularly those who are expressing their views of the gospel in the face of oppression?
Can we challenge society's stance that the birth of Jesus is celebrated for a maximum of a week
in December?
And all things Christian should just be put away until the following year?
You know, Jesus didn't say celebrate my birthday and then have the rest of the year off!

He's asking us this in the gospel: He's asking us to speak the truth, to stand up for him to declare the truth of the gospel.
He's asking us to stand up and be counted, to live our lives in a way that reflects his teaching, so that others may know Jesus not only through our words, but through our actions too.
It's very easy to think that the clergy has this task of spreading the gospel, but so do we.
This is especially true given the falling numbers of active clergy at home and throughout Europe.
It's up to us to take up this challenge and do what we can to be the arms, the legs, the voice, and the presence of Jesus in society today.
And as we remember that as Pentecost approaches, let's ask the Holy Spirit today 
for the help to live as God's children and to follow his teaching.

And again, as we say: Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

And now, as we end our time of reflection today, let's not forget our brothers and sisters who are infirm and housebound at this time:
Our  Lady of Lourdes, Help of the sick. Pray for them.

Thanks again for joining us in reflection and prayer today.