"Yes, always. I've noticed that you're joyful enough when the flowers bloom and the balmy breezes blow. But why no joy when you lost your job, when your wife left you, and when you had to take a second mortgage on your home? Maybe you thought I'd left you then, that I am with you only amidst the flower blossoms and the warm breezes. But when Paul wrote about rejoicing in me always, he was chained in a prison cell. He rejoiced even there. Paul knew that I lay next to him on that cold stone floor while the mice and roaches crawled over him. He rejoiced not because happy things were happening (they weren't), but because he knew I loved him. And I love you, too. In fact, I am closest to you when you are most debilitated, fearful, despondent, and helpless. It is then that I hold you most closely to my heart.

Feel my arms around you. After crucifixion comes resurrection. So it was with me and so it will be with you, for I am with you and you are mine. I claim you for my own. I love you and I always will, come what may. Rejoice in me. Always."

PRAY for the Diocese of Willochra (South Australia, Australia)

Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6); Zephaniah 3:14-20; Luke 3:7-18