Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Acts 4:1-12
Peter and John recognized the sick in their midst as well as the value of good deeds done in the name of the Lord. I can enact all kinds of good deeds with those around me who are suffering from physical or emotional infirmity, but if I have not the unconditional love of God at heart, and do such things out of obligation, there is little good effect, either for giver or receiver. Better than resentfully ‘being nice’, are deliberate and generous actions and words that are born of a prayerful inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Who are the sick around me today? What good deeds am I called to extend to them in the name of the Lord? Holy Spirit of God, help me do good deeds in your name to those who are ill. I shall not die but I shall live, and proclaim what the Lord has done.(Psalm 118:17) “We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. ” Jean Vanier www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei.
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Acts 3:11-26 & Psalm 8 With the touch of a key, I refresh the words and programs on my computer screen. Similarly each time I turn my face to the Lord and take in holy things –a glance of loving recognition, the beauty of a sunset stretched across the sky, or the riches of a spoken passage of scripture –I refresh my spirit and re-establish the thoughts and ‘programs’ I need to continue on in life. Where will the ‘times of refreshing that come from the presence of the Lord’ be in my journey today? Will I find them? Holy Spirit of God, help me find times of refreshing in your presence. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.(Psalm 118:24) “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it. “. Brother Lawrence. The Practise of the Presence of God www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei. Acts 3:1-10 & Psalm 105 Money, possessions and even fame are commodities that easily come and go in our lives; they are in no way lasting or truly healing. The early Christians, fleeing house and home, quickly learned that it is the strength and presence of God that are the only worthwhile and truly portable possessions. Sometime after the resurrection of Jesus and the subsequent out pouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter, who had finally learned to live into the strength and continuous presence of God in their lives, ran across a lame man begging for earthly currency. The apostle’s answer to this man rings through all ages and conditions of humankind: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” Peter’s true wealth, of continually seeking the strength and presence of God, not only gave the disciples of Jesus abundant life in the shadow of impending persecution, but it also blessed others with the priceless gift of wholeness. Today will I seek the true wealth of practising the presence of God? Holy Spirit of God, help me seek your strength and your presence continually. Glory in his name; let the hearts of those who see the Lord rejoice. (Psalm 105) “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it. “. Brother Lawrence. The Practise of the Presence of God www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei. Acts 2:14-33 & Psalm 16 Once and for all Christ Jesus showed us the way of life through his ministry, passion and resurrection. But as I ‘do’ life moment by moment, day by day, can I recognize Jesus’ way of life? As one unexciting day gives birth to the next, do I mark the themes of downward mobility (a.k.a. humility) and laying down one’s life (a.k.a sacrifice) ? In the midst of trauma drama do I notice that this is the part that is the way of the cross? Witnessing the warm smile of a loved one, do I welcome the joy of new life, birthed in each soul to soul encounter? Christ Jesus, show me the way of life so that ‘my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure’. You show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16: 11) The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life. Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward Mobility and the Spiritual Life www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei. Exodus 12:1-14 It is what is taken away or missing that gives a piece of flint its edge. Similarly, it was the Egyptians’ lack of respect for the Jewish people that prompted Moses to lead the people of Israel to their promised land. Giving up their history in Egypt made it possible for the people to begin the arduous journey of faith and foot that in the end took forty long years. And it was in chipping off his mortal substance in the crucifixion that Christ Jesus hit the mark of the Mercy of his Resurrection, cutting away evil from good, darkness from light and death from life. Am I willing to have pieces of my life taken away, so that I can move into the new and abundant life that Jesus proclaimed, both here on earth and in the life to come? Holy Spirit, help me be ready at any hour to move on into life with you. I offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. (Psalm 116: 17) I walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”. King David, Psalm 116,9&10 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli 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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