Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Mark 6:7-13 As I go through life proclaiming the Good News of Jesus by walk and word, I encounter three kinds of responses. When I speak about Gospel mysteries to brothers and sisters in Christ we enjoy a time of joyful communion. Perhaps the majority of those I encounter dismiss any reference to God or to mercy, as they busily chase new comforts and passions, new accolades or possessions. A handful of people react aggressively against stories of faith, diminishing both the messengers and the message of God’s mercy. What does Jesus recommend his followers to do when their teachings and testimonies are rejected? He didn’t recommend that his followers announce the people’s disbelief and shame them publicly. Nor did he counsel his disciples to call down fire and brimstone on their households. Jesus didn’t even tell his disciples to try harder to convert other people. Instead, he simply told those he sent out to proclaim the good news that “When any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” When any one or any locale does not welcome the good news of God’s mercy, it is up to me to simply depart and leave behind anything that would hinder my leaving or soil my ‘shoes of peace’. Have I had the grace to leave behind aggression and indifference and to shake off the ‘dust on my feet’ of malingerings, misunderstandings or resentments? Christ Jesus, teach me how to shake off the dust from my feet. What shall I return to the Lord for his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. (Psalm 116:1) Persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard... St. Paul to the Christians in Colossae www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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2 Samuel 15:13-16:13 & Mark 5:1-20 The mercy of God is always good for us and healing - but not always nice and comfortable - and often changes or cleans up our lives. David recognized the chastening mercy of the Lord in Shemei’s taunts and curses, receiving the information with a humble and repentant heart, and preventing his companions from lashing out in fear and anger against Shemei and his, albeit offensive, truth. The people of Jesus’ day did not so readily embrace the mercy of God. In the wake of the marvellous exorcism and healing of a local scapegoat, a ‘demoniac’, the towns people chased Jesus away, fearing his ‘power’ and being shocked by his sudden disruption of their daily lives. The mercy of God comes to me also in many disruptive and unassuming guises. Losses and stresses as well as healings and radical changes can all be God’s mercy at work, when I open my heart to the Grace and Love of God. Will I dismiss God’s mercy in all of its strange and sometimes disturbing forms and simply continue on my merry way, or will I embrace the mercy of God no matter how it comes to me and allow it to transform my being into His likeness? Holy Spirit, help me not dismiss but receive mercy. But you, O lOrd, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. (Psalm 3:2) One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak. G.K. Chesterton. www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Mark 4:35-41 When the disciples awakened Jesus from a sound sleep in the bow of their boat, he chastised them –not because they had awakened him, but because they were panicking. Had the disciples called out to Jesus before their boat was being swamped, when the storm first arose, “Teacher, help us! Calm the storm!”, the results would have been different. The storm would similarly have been calmed immediately, it is true, but Jesus would have not had had to discipline his followers and they would have saved themselves the wear and tear of frenzied actions and blaming (God) for their troubles: “Don’t you care that we (I) am perishing?” When I face the storms of my life -obligations, legal proceedings, or heavy responsibilities of several kinds – will I let the breakers of panic overtake me and lash out in blame, or will I early-on go to Christ Jesus, and ask him to calm the winds of change and waves of stress that threaten to swamp my heart, mind, soul and strength? Holy Spirit, help me ask Christ Jesus to calm the storms in my life. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing (and a trusting) spirit. (Psalm 51:12) If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest. Corrie Ten Boom 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
March 2024
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