Topic: Faithfulness

Staying true to the disciplines of ordinary faithfulness is part of our calling as we follow the way of Jesus Christ; and engaging in them eases our burdens considerably.

It often feels as though faithfulness is going to cost us everything, but God is a God of wonderful surprises.

When fidelity to Christ’s call is failing to bear the expected fruit, but is bearing good fruit, however humble, the call may be to persevere in hope.

The life Christ call us to is not found by seeking to recover the past or escape from the past, but by opening ourselves to the new things God will do.

A growing incidence of cataclysmic violence is not a sign of God’s activity, but it does call us to hold on to our hope and look for God’s action in small signs of life coming from death.

When things are desperate, God calls us only to be faithful and committed, because the outcomes are in God’s hands, not ours.

The wilderness can seem harsh and threatening, but God is there, ready to nourish us with the bread of heaven.

Living the beatitudes is far to lightly dismissed as being “only for saints”, but Christ calls us all to live as saints.

Goodness and mercy are with us now – and we have to learn to accept them.

God’s new culture of forgiveness is entered by faith, and sometimes it is even vicarious faith.

In the encounter with Jesus, our self-delusion and our scapegoating are painfully exposed, but with the possibility of forgiveness and freedom.

After the big event of Christmas, it is faithfulness in our everyday living that produces growth and godliness.