Some days all of us surely wonder if what we’re doing in our day-to-day life is really making a difference for the Kingdom of God. We have frustrations and difficulties and we wonder if we’re on the right track.

But this month, as I reflected on the foundations of the Society of the Divine Word, I was reminded yet again, that we don’t have to see the end goal of what we’re doing. It is enough to pray, to do our best, and to do our bit.

Jesus took her by the hand. We sometimes come to Mass poor, sick and troubled, much like the people who crowd around the door of Jesus in today’s gospel.

One of the faithful religious nuns who was present on my farewell day from a mission experience I took part in during 2010 dropped a card into my hands which is for me an all-time inspiration: “Life is a journey consisting of different steps of staircases.

Whenever you get to one set of stairs, there will always be a platform leading to another. Don’t get discouraged on the way. Take every step as a challenge and move forward”. These words of encouragement and zeal kept me going even when the going got tough.

“Lord, teach us to pray.” The request of the disciples is one that Christians have had down through the centuries.

The Janssen Spirituality Centre is known for its conferences and lectures and meditation sessions by means of which we try to promote interreligious dialogue. Often this can be rather “heady” or cerebral which is not what all dialogue is about. 

So a couple of months ago at one of our planning session we decided to have a look at prayer beads as used by the “lay” people and from the various faith traditions.

Words said through the windscreen and other closed windows in the car won’t be heard by those who you talk to some metres away. This is what I try to tell Anne, a special girl in our orphanage in Thailand. However, Anne does not bother about it and keeps shouting her ‘good byes’ and ‘I’ll miss you’, and she is convinced that her words are being heard.

This threw me back to something I do which may even be a bit similar. Sometimes I simply bless people silently so that they don’t even know, or notice.