麻豆社

Spiritual reflection with Ronnie Convery, Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow

Script:
Hello and good morning to you.
Yesterday, I went to the doctor鈥檚 for my annual flu vaccination. It鈥檚 a small ritual that only takes a few minutes 鈥� a quick appointment, a rolled-up sleeve, and a gentle sting in the arm. And the vaccine helps our bodies prepare for what might come 鈥� strengthening our defences before the infection arrives.
But as I sat there waiting for my turn, it struck that we take lots of simple, preventative steps to protect our physical health鈥� but do we do the same for our spiritual health?

We live in a world where so many subtle 鈥渋nfections鈥� circulate: the pressure to seem rather than to be, the constant hurry to achieve, the tendency to see difference as a threat rather than an enrichment ... And these things can slip quietly into our systems 鈥� unexamined attitudes, small irritations, judgements made too quickly. And before we know it, we鈥檙e caught up in the unhealthy fever of our times.

So maybe we need to top up our spiritual vaccination of values like patience, humility, kindness 鈥攖hose elements that help us resist the more corrosive moods of our age. And just as the flu jab isn鈥檛 always comfortable, neither is character formation. It can mean facing our weaknesses, accepting correction, learning to pause before reacting.

So today, as I feel that faint ache in my arm, I take it as a gentle reminder: take care not only of the body, but also of the heart. To stay well in spirit as well as in body.

Maybe our prayer today can be for the grace to find time and strength to look inwards. In the words of the great Scottish poet, Rabbie Burns, 鈥榯o see ourselves as others see us鈥�.

And if we don鈥檛 like what we see, give us the grace to do something about it! Amen.