Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Jeremiah 18, 18-20 & Matthew 20:17-28 “There’s abuse of power and terror all around...!” proclaimed the world to Jeremiah and to us in present day society. Yes, it is true according to the flesh and the devil that our present society is riddled with abuse and terror. but according to Christians and specifically St. Paul, ‘where sin increased, grace abounded all the more’ ( Romans 5:20). The worldly response to tyranny of any kind is to arrest or even kill the terrorists and to protest the status quo in order to bring about change. Given time and the fallen nature of human-kind, tyranny of all colours and varieties results, precipitating even more terror; and so the cycle self-perpetuates. But as Christians Jesus calls us to a different way: to base our community and societal actions not on power but on service, not on out-terrorizing each other but ultimately on mercy. In this way, no matter how much tyranny and terror are all around us, I am able to live my life humbly as a servant of Jesus reaching out with his mercy to humanity, one person at a time. Will I focus on the terror or the grace of life today? Christ Jesus, help me manifest not tyranny and terror, but service and salvation. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. . (Psalm 31:5) First keep peace within yourself, then you can bring peace to others. Thomas à Kempis www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Philippians 3:17 – 4:1 & Luke 9, 28-36 As a citizen of my home country no matter where I go I am grounded and shaped by my motherland, and my life continues to be impacted by its news and views. The story of the Transfiguration manifests Jesus having an intimate visit with two ‘elders’ from his own home country, from heaven. As such, the Transfiguration became a pivotal experience for the disciples whom Jesus ultimately restored to their own rightful place as citizens of heaven. Similarly, my citizenship in heaven, that I received by virtue of my baptism and my faith in Christ Jesus, continues to shape my life. As a true citizen of heaven, I have a heightened interest in all that I can find out about it; I hold its people in my heart and honor its elders and knowledge keepers; I continue to speak its language and to practice our particular customs; and my longing to return home fuels my faith, hope and love, giving me purpose and a reason to live. Will I be true to the dignity of my true identity as a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Holy Spirit, help me remember that I am a citizen of heaven. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!. (Psalm 27) He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory… St. Paul, Philippians 3:20 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
Deuteronomy 26:16-19 Just as traffic circles litter our roads so points of choice litter our spiritual journeys. When I approach ‘traffic circles’ in my life circumstances, I have choices to make. I can choose to continuously drive around about the circle of fulfilling my own definition of holiness. Alternatively, I can decide to follow a path of betterment prescribed by others, by veering off to the right or to the left. Better still, though, I can steer straight ahead through the roundabouts of life and stay on the path of becoming holy to the Lord. Becoming holy to the Lord requires that I enter into the holy covenant of God and ‘steer straight’ by loving God and being loved by God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength, and so allowing the Holy Spirit to pare away the deceits, self-centredness and false motives of my own somewhat broken navigation tools. Will I become holy to myself, or to the Lord? Holy Spirit, help me be a person holy to the Lord. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances. (Psalm 119) Strengthen within our hearts the faith you have given us. Let not temptation ever quench the fire that your love has kindled within us. Concluding Prayer, Morning Prayer, Friday, Week I, Liturgy of the Hours www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day Friday, March 15, 2019
Good Morning! Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119) Ezekiel 18:21-28 Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me turn away from sin to righteousness, and live... No matter how much I pray, when I ruminate on sin, whether it be my own or that of others, or ease up on virtuous living, I am sucked into a vortex of darkness and despondency (acedia) that is a path to hell. Judgments and complaints, self-centredness and envy are the thin edges of the wedges of hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage and all the other ‘transgressions’ Paul lists in his letter to the Galatians (5:19-21). If I simply attempt to turn away from sin, it is always easy to get sucked back into the greyness of not-knowing. But when I turn away from sin to righteousness, and trace the grace and mercy of God as it shows up in my own life, the lives of others then I become committed to deliberately practicing the virtues of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, which St. Paul lists as the Fruits of the Spirit. That is when I begin to live again. Am I aware how easily one sin leads to another? Am I aware of the discipline required to remain committed to righteousness? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me turn away from sin to righteousness, and live. Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me. (Psalm 51) Strengthen within our hearts the faith you have given us. Let not temptation ever quench the fire that your love has kindled within us. Concluding Prayer, Morning Prayer, Friday, Week I, Liturgy of the Hours www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Esther 14:1-14 Anxiety can indeed seize my thoughts, words and actions and become deadly to my being. When I am anxious out of desperation I am compelled to fight against the tide of life, to freeze my consciousness or submit to oppression through depression – or flee the situation. But where to flee? The world, the flesh and the devil entice me with various forms of temporal refuge: drugs or alcohol to numb the pain, hyper-acivity to keep paralysis at bay, human saviours to ‘fix’ me, or ‘vacations’ of comfort or ease that will allow me to check out of life. Any of these alternatives is only a stop-gap measure that provides a superficial and a quick solution that might jerk me into liveliness for a time, but in reality can drop me even deeper into an seizure of anxiety. The Holy Spirit on the other hand calls me to flee to God for divine wisdom and lasting help that is able to lead me through any situation. No matter how desperate or fear-full life seems to be, with God’s help I can find true faith, hope and love that untangle me from the chains of panic and fear. When I become anxious about any circumstance of life, will I flee just anywhere, or will I flee to God? Holy Spirit, when I am seized with deadly anxiety, help me flee to the Lord. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. (Psalm 138) If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same priceless love. Julian of Norwich 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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