It is on Sunday afternoons when my longing feels the strongest, when I feel exiled from all around me, when my heart cries out for its eternal home.
It is on Sunday afternoon when the cries and sadness of the week settle into tears that the world is not as it should be.
It is on Sunday afternoons when darkness comes quicker, and I scurry to light candles and turn on lamps eager to chase the darkness away.
It is on Sunday afternoons when my soul settles in to one long cry of longing and exile.
It is on Sunday afternoons when the Divine Liturgy, only hours past feels far, and I have to cling to the 'heaven meets earth in Divine Liturgy' truth of my faith.
God be with us on Sunday afternoons.Be with us in our deep longing for earthly family and eternal home.
Comfort our hearts with the knowledge that just as we urgently long for something nameless, you urgently long for us who are named.
When we feel the deep sadness of those who are not with us, soothe our souls with the balm of your presence.
May our bodies relax in you, the one who has created us for your glory.
Give rest to our minds so we do not overthink our restless longing.
Allow us to accept our feelings without shame, instead with a knowledge that you have gifted us with them.
May your ever present voice of love birth in us holy desire in the lonely places of a Sunday afternoon.
In our longing, give us rest and peace.
This we pray on a Sunday afternoon in November.
May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.
May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.
John O'Donohue in To Bless the Space Between Us