Isaiah 5:4-7

Jesus was highly teachable – by God, by his Father. During his ministry on earth, and especially during the week before his difficult walk along the ‘Way of the Cross’, we observe Jesus praying – on a hill before dawn, walking through the country side, weighing the timing of his entry into Jerusalem, visiting his friends in Bethany, sharing a Passover meal with his disciples, in the garden of Gesthemane, and then prayerfully listening and responding to his Father’s voice echoing through his trials and tortures and the agony of his crucifixion. It was by being taught by his Father, by God, that Jesus was able to redeem the world by his obedience, through death and resurrection. Am I as teachable as Jesus was? Do I keep my ears and spirit-eyes open to hear and perceive what God’s way is through my life?  Will I receive God’s instruction as Jesus did  - not with a rebellious, backward-looking view, but with an open, forward-facing heart, so confident in God’s love that I do not shrink from the derision, persecution and tribulations that come – and go – from the world around me?  Holy Spirit of God, teach me to be teachable like Jesus .     
  
The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?  (Psalm 27:1)
 
We become what we love, and who we love shapes what we become. 
St. Clare of Assisi
 
Soli ad gloriam
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Luke 1:26-38
 
Yesterday Christendom marked the Annunciation of the Lord to Mary, and to the world, exactly nine months before the birth day of Christ.  We each can celebrate an ‘annunciation of the Lord’ each day of our lives by receiving Je-sus, the Word, that is ‘God saves’.  Mother Mary received Jesus as a seed that she nurtured and fed for nine months before birthing Him to be Saviour of the world, on the night in Bethlehem when the angels sang. I can receive Jesus, the Word of God, day by day, even hour by hour, by prayer, reading scripture, singing songs of praise, beholding the rhythm and reason of creation, and by living into the love and truth of his teachings.  For Mary, it was a choice with a worldly price; she exposed herself to possible exile or even death as a woman becoming pregnant before marriage, and signed on to a life that included fleeing Israel by night with her infant son to Egypt and watching her divine son being rejected, and then tortured and crucified, with only two friends and Jesus’ youngest disciple accompanying her. For me, receiving Jesus also has a worldly price. Fame, success, wealth, comfort, busy-ness and so called ‘security’ become secondary, if not non-existent entities of life, as I walk the path of life with Mother Mary, following her Son, on a journey that is often uncertain and painful, although it is life-, light-, and love-giving.  Will I, carry on with life in a temporal sense, largely indifferent to Jesus, or will I, like Mother Mary, be attentive and welcoming to the Word of God and say with her fiat  - let it be done to me according to your Word? Holy Spirit of God, help me receive your Word into my life.   
  
If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.   (John 8:31)
 
We become what we love, and who we love shapes what we become. 
St. Clare of Assisi
 
Soli ad gloriam
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Daniel 3 & Daniel 13

The prophet Daniel faced certain death at least twice during his exile in Babylon – first by being shoved into a fiery furnace, and then by being thrust into a pit of lions; Susanna, a virtuous Jewish woman faced the treachery of two “elders” who devised her death sentence; and Christ Jesus faced torture and finally death by crucifixion. All three of these individuals showed us how to face up to serious threats to life and limb. All three turned their eyes to heaven because they trusted in the saving Grace of God. Although I may never face such extreme offences against my person, it is good to remind myself that when push comes to shove, I can always turn my gaze heavenward and trust in God’s salvation – whether that salvation comes in the form of a cool moist wind in the midst of a fire, the mouths of lions being closed, a young prophet who is moved by the Holy Spirit to speak up on my behalf, or resurrection three days after death. Will I stare at the atrocities that swirl around me, or will I turn my eyes to heaven to look for God’s  salvation?  Holy Spirit, help me turn my eyes to look to heaven, because I trust in God.    
  
If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.   (John 8:31)
 
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face,
And the things of this world will grow strangely dim,
In the light of his goodness and grace.
Helen Howarth Lemmel, 1918  (During the Spanish flu pandemic)
 
Soli ad gloriam
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John 5: 31-47
 
The worldly glories of wealth, power and fame can so easily lure me away from the glory – the light and liveliness, mercy and the wisdom – of God. When I flex my own glory stories, or search for the stories of the glories of other people, then I am selling myself short and can end up butting into many dead-end paths.  But when I focus my heart, mind, soul and strength on seeking the glory of God, I will find God’s Holy Spirit undergirding all that is truly ‘good’ on earth and in other women, men and children, and I will be able to live despite the turns and rocks in my life’s journey and even enjoy the vigorous workout that Jesus devises for me as I follow Him.  Then God’s holy river of life and healing – and glory – will naturally flow out from my prayers, my words and my actions into the world around me. Today will I seek the glories of this world, or will I seek the glory of God? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me seek the glory of God, our Father, not the glory of this world. 
  
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.  (Psalm 105:4)
 
Jesus Christ, in His infinite love, has become what we are, in order that He may make us entirely what He is… The glory of God is the human person fully alive….
St. Iraeneus of Lyons
 
Soli ad gloriam
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John 5: 16-30

Jesus sought to do his Father’s will.  Not even the Son of God, who was the Son of Man found his own will to be superior. As an ordinary woman in my sixth decade, I have no lack of self will!  With lots of ideas, problem solving techniques and resources at my disposal I am in a prime position to do my will, no matter what! I am used to surviving with hard work and a healthy helping of SMART goal getting.  But the Holy Spirit of God calls me to a different way of doing things. – the way of surrender and trust, faithfulness and prayer. Challenges, otherwise known as ‘crosses’, abound in our lives. They are not meant to make us more brilliant, more independent, and more resilient.  They are meant to draw us more deeply into the life and light of God’s mercy that we are designed for, with surrender displacing will power, trust relegating projects to Creative exercises (accompanied by our Creator), faithfulness replacing success and planning giving way to prayer in a constant heart to heart conversation with God.  Will I spend my time, energy and talents doing my own will, or will I lean into my relationship with Father God and learn to do his will with all that I am and all that I have?  Holy Spirit, help me do, not my own will, but Your will, O God. 
  
The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.  (Psalm 145:13b)
 
It is a lesson we all need—to let alone the things that do not concern us. He has other ways for others to follow Him; all do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him, and to follow Him in that path.
— St. Katharine Drexel
Pray like St. Patrick!!! 
 
Soli ad gloriam
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