A Moment To Pause: Thursday 2nd July 2026

You are welcome to the reflection today with Mary O'Brien from our Lourdes Team in Dublin. Good morning and welcome to our Oblate time of Reflection.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Today’s gospel from Matthew 9:1-8, is the story of people bringing a paralysed man to Jesus … Jesus first tells the man his sins and forgiven, and then , despite the challenges of the scribes, tells him to ‘get up and walk’  For me the comfort here is those words ‘seeing their faith’  - the faith of the people who brought the sick man to Jesus.   It wasn’t the man himself who asked to be saved, it was his friends.  .I go to Lourdes each September with the Oblates, and a lot of those who go there are praying for others at home.  For us, there are times when we can be lost, doubting, dispirited ..then when things turn around we wonder how.   They’rethe times that the prayers of others for us have worked miracles.  We pray:  Lord, increase our faith, with all our hearts may we always follow you.  Teach us to pray – always.  Amen.