Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
1 John 5:5-13 When I am care-less, unkind, driven by my ‘obligations’ and passions past others, not acknowledging them, or even seeing them, but treating them like objects, then I am not conquering the world. Indeed, the world has conquered me, using my time, treasures and talents to promote and project worth-while and good ‘things’ but not redeeming and enlivening men, women and children from the black hole of self-referenced business and entertainment. Rather, as a beloved child of God I am meant to be an instrument of God’s mercy. Sometimes this means that I manage projects and write papers, but more often when I am truly in synch with the love of God, I keep in touch with the Holy Spirit by prayer and then I speak life-giving and care-full words heart to heart to others – by devices when necessary, and face to face when possible, and do things in this world that are kind, true and mercy-full. Today will I be conquered by the world or will I, like Jesus, work with God to conquer the time, treasure and talents of humanity with, and for, love? Holy Spirit of Jesus, teach me how to conquer the world by love. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1John 5:5 ) Prayer and praising, all men (and women) raising... ‘Alleluia!’ earth to the heavens replies. J. H. Hopkins, We Three Kings, v. 3 A Blessed, Happy and Joyful New Year, the 2021st Year of Grace, to you and your family! www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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1 John 4: 7- 5:4 When I live beyond the attachments of the world, I find the freedom and the joy of living God’s will. This requires that my first love, above all else, be the Grace and Mercy, the Truth and Justice, the love and the Love of God. This means that any attachment to the good, the bad, the ugly or the beautiful, of the people, the plans, and the projects of this life be minimal and secondary to the work that God desires to do through my living and my being in my family, my community, and the world at large. Will I ponder God’s love and God’s will? Will I take time to know God by loving God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at work in me and in all his beloved men, women and children on earth? Will I allow myself to be loved by God through Christ Jesus, the Son of God who was the Son of Man, who remains with us, with me, whether I acknowledge it or not, whether or not I allow him to remove my darkness from me and be my Light? Holy Spirit of God, help me live your will, that is love. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. (1 John 5:2) Prayer and praising, all men (and women) raising... ‘Alleluia!’ earth to the heavens replies. J. H. Hopkins, We Three Kings, v. 3 A Blessed, Happy and Joyful New Year, the 2021st Year of Grace, to you and your family! www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei 1 John 4: 7-10 When I live beyond the attachments of the world, I find the freedom and the joy of living God’s will. This requires that my first love, above all else, be the Grace and Mercy, the Truth and Justice, the Love and the love of God. This means that any attachment to the good, the bad, the ugly or the beautiful, of the people, the plans, and the projects of this life be minimal and secondary to the work that God desires to do through my living and my being in my family, my community and the world at large. Will I ponder God’s love and God’s will? Will I take time to know God by loving God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at work in me and in all his beloved men, women and children on earth? Will I allow myself to be loved by God through Christ Jesus, the Son of God who was the Son of Man, who remains with us, with me, whether I acknowledge it or not, whether or not I allow him to remove my darkness from me and be my Light? Holy Spirit of God, help me live your will, that is love. In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more. (Psalm 72:7 ) Prayer and praising, all men (and women) raising... ‘Alleluia!’ earth to the heavens replies. J. H. Hopkins, We Three Kings, v. 3 A Blessed, Happy and Joyful New Year, the 2021st Year of Grace, to you and your family! www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei John 1: 19 – 28 John the Baptist was painfully aware of the ‘same old, same old’ situation facing the world. The majority of Jewish people were living under the oppression of the Roman empire, attending synagogue rarely, gossiping about all the latest “conspiracies” , and generally turning away from the richness of their faith in God. Things are not so different in our day, and we, like John the Baptist are called the same way, to simply point people back to God. John, was a cousin of Jesus who had grown up in an ascetical desert lifestyle, living beyond the trappings of the world into the will of God. Certainly this youngish ‘wild-man’ was someone to be reckoned with! The Jewish leaders sent priest and Levites from Jerusalem to feel him out. “Who are you?”, they asked, just as I, too, as a devoted follower of God, am being questioned by my social milieu. ‘I am not the Messiah!’ John told them with certainty. If John the Baptist whom Jesus said later was ‘the greatest of all’ knew he wasn’t the saviour of the world, how can I so often try to rush in and ‘save the day’? ‘Are you Elijah, (aka, someone special )?’ they asked him. “I am not Elijah!” John replied, even though after John’s death, his cousin, Jesus, indicated in that Elijah had already come and pointed to John the Baptist. Will I as easily as John relinquish my desire to be God’s gift to humanity? “Are you a prophet?” “No,” was John’s response, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’, as the prophet Isaiah said.” In fulfilling his simple role in the kingdom of God in this way, John the Baptist prepared the crowds of Judea to tune into Jesus’ teachings. Who am I? By baptism, through the Holy Spirit, I am someone who can point others to God. Am I willing like John the Baptist to be above all a voice crying with humility in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord!” Within my family, our community, and the day to day proceedings of the world, will I simply point others to an encounter with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me be content with simply being the voice of one proclaiming God with us. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth: break forth into joyous song and sing praises. (Psalm 98: 4 ) A Blessed, Happy and Joyful New Year, the 2021st Year of Grace, to you and your family! www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei John 1: 19 – 28 John the Baptist was painfully aware of the ‘same old, same old’ situation facing the world. The majority of Jewish people were living under the oppression of the Roman empire, attending synagogue rarely, gossiping about all the latest “conspiracies” , and generally turning away from the richness of their faith in God. Things are not so different in our day. So who was John, this cousin of Jesus who had been forced to flee to the desert to eke out a living with his elderly mother, Elisabeth, following his father, Zachariah’s murder shortly after his birth? He had been tutored fully by the desert mystics who studied scriptures day and night and had himself grown up in an ascetical lifestyle, praying and fasting day in and day out. Certainly this wild-man young prophet was a man to be reckoned with! The Jewish leaders sent priest and Levites from Jerusalem to feel him out. “Who are you?”, they asked, just as I, too, as a devoted follower of God, am being questioned by my social milieu. ‘I am not the Messiah!’ John told them with certainty. Will I let go of my drive to be the Messiah of my own marginalized group? ‘Are you Elijah, aka, someone special ?’ “I am not Elijah!” John replied, although his cousin, Jesus, would later proclaim John as the holiest one who had ever lived. Will I as easily relinquish my desire and my ‘right’ to be God’s gift to humanity? “Are you a prophet?” “No,” was John’s response, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’, as the prophet Isaiah said.” Am I willing, like John the Baptist, to be simply “A (an unspecified) voice (that is whole, unique, and complete) crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord!” – into my family, our community, the day to day proceedings of the world? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me be content with being the voice of one proclaiming your gift of New Life. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth: break forth into joyous song and sing praises. (Psalm 98: 4 ) Prayer and praising, all men (and women) raising... ‘Alleluia!’ earth to the heavens replies. J. H. Hopkins, We Three Kings, v. 3 A Blessed, Happy and Joyful New Year, the 2021st Year of Grace, to you and your family! www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei |
AuthorBeverly Illauq lives in Kemptville, Ontario, where she greets each morning by seeking the Gospel Mystery of the Day - the Word of the Lord for direct and practical application to the specific challenges & joys of the day. Archives
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