Our tight schedules and the inevitable pressure of daily living have a way of disconnecting our periphery with our 'centre'. Today's Gospel talks about being connected to God at our centre, to be 'fruitful', to "remain", in Jesus.

Jesus reminds us of a treasure we already possess. Glimpses of this mystical presence of God at our 'centre' are the antidote to the alienation that is frequent in our lives.

If our lives are compared to a wheel our activities would be at the periphery and our centres would be at the axle. They would be connected by spokes, our activities and prayer forms. But, if our axle was not still, centred, properly placed the wheel could not move properly. So too, if our lives do not have a mystical centre there will not be a healthy relationship with our active lives. There will be alienation.

In our prayers today let us: 'Look back and thank God, Look forward and trust God, Look around and serve God, Look within and find God!'