Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Wisdom 2:1-22 & John 7, 1-30
Holy Spirit of God, help me understand the secret purposes of God … Several months before his passion, Jesus proclaimed his special (and secret) relationship to God openly in the temple. “The one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” Instead of inviting him to speak further, sitting at his feet and listening, or offering Jesus support for his work here on earth, the people of his day shut out this opportunity to better understand the secret purposes of God and looked for an opportunity to kill him. Yet God’s secret purposes were at work; it was not yet Passover, not yet the fitting time for the ‘Lamb of God’ to be sacrificed for the sins of the whole world, and so, they found no way to arrest him. Do I seek opportunity to similarly turn against the Lord, or do I embrace the Good News of Christ? Holy Spirit of God, help me understand and embrace the secret purposes of God. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all. (Psalm 34) Soli ad gloriam dei
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Isaiah 49:8-15 & Matthew 1:16-24
When he realized that his finacé was pregnant, Joseph at first retreated into a ‘prison’ formed by social custom and planned to dismiss Mary privately. But when he responded to the call of the Holy Spirit to leave his prison of fear and apprehension and to openly step up to show himself to God and take to heart the Lord’s guidelines for his life, Joseph ‘did as the Angel of the Lord commanded him; he took Mary as his wife,” - with amazing and eternal results. What are the prisons I am being called to leave behind? Holy Spirit of God, call me out of my prisons to show myself to you, willing and open to following your ways. Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your Master’s joy. Matt 25:21 Soli ad gloriam dei Isaiah 49:8-15
I construct prisons in my life, prisons of resentments or bitterness, pride grasping at fame and fortune, and passions for ideals and pleasures. The Holy Spirit invites me as a beloved daughter to leave these dark prisons behind, to approach our Father, and show myself to him, for who I am: a child made in his image with unique gifts to be shared with the world. Holy Spirit of God, help me come out of my prisons and show myself to you. Create a clean heart in me, O God; give back to me the joy of your salvation. (Psalm 5) Soli ad gloriam dei Ezekiel 47:3-12
Ezekiel’s vision tells us that when the rivers flowing from the sanctuary of the Temple flowed into the stagnant waters of the sea, the water was made fresh. And along the banks of these rivers of life trees grew up with fruitful branches and healing leaves. Similarly, when I welcome the Holy Spirit into the thirst of my heart, mind and circumstances, stagnant, self-centred and toxic thoughts, words and deeds are purified, and my life becomes quietly fruitful, and healing in ways I can not even predict. Holy Spirit, bring fruitfulness and healing into [my] life. Create a clean heart in me, O God; give back to me the joy of your salvation. (Psalm 5) Soli ad gloriam dei St. Patrick’s Breastplate (see: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/t/stpatric.htm Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. I bind unto myself today The strong Name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same The Three in One and One in Three. Isaiah 65: 17-21
When I am open and docile (teachable) to the Holy Spirit of God, I notice how all things –the good, bad, ugly and beautiful – are useful lessons in faith, hope and love. The wonders of nature remind us how complex and yet simple, how varied and yet how congruent, and how awe-inspiring are all creations of God. What is God creating in me, in you, and in others around us today? Lord God, help me be glad and rejoice forever in what you are creating. Seek good and not evil so you my live, and the Lord will be with you. (Amos 5:14) 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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