Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Acts 3:1-10 Whether living 2,000 years ago in Roman occupied Judea or in Canada in 2019, or in any civilization in between, men, women and children of every cultural flavour could find salvation from the confusion and corruption surrounding them in the Mercy of God, through Christ Jesus. Every age of humanity has had its own highlights of magnificence and it own hallmarks of corruption and darkness. Today, because of global communications and a cumulative mass of information and stories, the ‘magnificence’ and the darkness of humankind are even more starkly evident than twenty years ago –even five years ago. Only the glory of Christ Jesus raised from the dead, lived out in the obedient lives of the faithful of the Church, the Body of Christ, can cut a swath of Love grounded in Truth and Truth grounded in Love through the burned out rubble of the ages that have marched across the stage of human time. Peter’s exhortation to the crowds at Pentecost, just 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ, sums up the saving strategy of God for each man, woman and child who has ever lived. God calls us to turn or repent, to be baptised or to be saved, and to receive the Holy Spirit who continues to teach, guide, comfort and heal our very beings. Only in this way will I be able to find life amidst the deceits and destructive forces of the trying times in which we are living, no matter what the generation. Do I choose to be saved by Christ Jesus? Holy Spirit of Jesus, save me from the confusion and corruption of this generation. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. (Psalm 33:22) Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent and self-sustained. St. Augustine of Hippo See Singer/Songwriter/ Writer, Mark Mallett’s blog on the “Signs of our Times” at https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2019/04/19/the-signs-of-our-times/ www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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The Resurrection of our Lord
Colossians 3:1-4 Jesus set his heart on heaven and the mercy of God and was able to live abundantly through his Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection. When my heart is fixed on things of earth –fame, fortune, success and all their trappings - self-centredness, losses, survival, vengeance or other issues become the focus of my life. But when my heart is set on faith, hope and love, then faithfulness, forgiveness and joy are the products of my life, and align my being with the Risen Life of Christ. Where will my heart be set? Holy Spirit Jesus, help me keep my heart set on things above. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (Psalm 16) I have found heaven on earth, since heaven is God, and God is in my soul. Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity Alleluia! Christ is risen indeed! Many ‘lively’ blessings be upon you and your family throught these 50 days of the Easter Season! www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Hebrews 4:14-5:9 Suffering is an element of human life, whether by pain, rejection, abandonment, or loss of any kind. The difference between the suffering of Jesus and my own suffering is its intensity over a 36 hour period, and his obedience to the mercy of God at every turn. Jesus suffered the pain of torture inflicted by the henchmen of first Annas, then Caiaphas, and then King Herod, and finally by the sadistic soldiers of the Roman governor. Jesus was rejected by his own people, many of whom had family members he had healed. He was abandoned not only by the general populace who chose the release of the murderer, Barabas, over Jesus and called together for his crucifixion, but also by 11 out of the 12 men in his close circle of disciples. His losses included not only property and friends and family members but also his own dignity, bodily function and in the end, his life. But the deepest difference between Jesus’ suffering and my own suffering is his obedience to the Mercy of God through what he suffered. Throughout his unjust trial and judgments he did not retaliate but let injustice take its empty course. In his pain he did not wail and complain but continued to heal others and to bear witness to God’s grace. In his rejection and abandonment he did not plead his cause or hurl insults, but rather prayed for his persecutors, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Even nailed to a cross and praying through the searing pain of breathing Jesus kept his focus on God’s opera of the ‘Salvation of Humankind’ and commended all of his Spirit to God, choosing to carry out God’s will to the end, until “It is finished”. In my suffering will I, like Jesus, have the courage and the love for God and for humanity to be obedient to God’s way of Mercy no matter what I suffer? Christ Jesus, teach me obedience through what I suffer. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. (Psalm 31:24 ) Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent and self-sustained. St. Augustine of Hippo www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei John 13:1-15 Jesus left one clear obligation for all of his disciples to follow: ‘So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another’s feet.’ This means that anyone I meet, particularly anyone who has been baptized (whether I am aware of it or not), is a one or another, and significantly someone whose feet I ought to be washing. How do I ‘wash another person’s feet’? First I will bring to them the water of the grace I have received from my own Baptism that is the Holy Spirit of God flowing through me. Then I will stoop down at their feet in the humility of recognizing them as a Child of God. I do this by listening with a ‘heart with ears’ - without complaint and without judgement and with empathy and connection, mostly in silence - to their stories of pain, rejection, infidelity and maltreatment of any kind. Then I will ‘rub their feet’ with the towel of patience, kindness and faithfulness that God has extended to me and send them on their way. I wash the feet of another person in this way not just to ‘make them feel good’. Nor do I try to take their grime off analytically, speck by speck, or wipe it off with my own clothing. Rather I wash the feet of another with God’s grace and rub their feet (walking parts) with the towel of compassion and kindness to clean and purify their hearts, preparing them to receive Jesus anew in the Sacraments of life. Simply by bringing the cleansing water of divine connection to them, and patting and padding their feet with God’s mercy, they are refreshed for the continuation of their journey through life. Will I take time to wash the feet of first one and then, of another? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me wash the feet of others. O Lord, I am your servant. I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. (Psalm 116:14 ) Come, adore this wondrous presence; Bow to Christ, the source of grace! Thomas Acquinas. Pange Lingua www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei John 12:1-11 Mary’s brother Lazarus had been raised from being four-days-dead by Jesus, just a short time before. It is no wonder then that when Jesus came to dinner, Mary who had sat at the feet of Jesus weeks before, totally transfixed by his teaching, was prepared to present a wholesome gift of body, soul and spirit to her beloved Master! Using what soulful substance she had, Mary purchased a full pound of costly perfume made from pure nard. During the meal Mary came again to the feet of Jesus, but this time she offered this costly and sacrificial gift of soul by lavishing the two most precious gifts of spirit, her love and her thanksgiving, on her beloved Teacher and Healer. Finally Mary used her own hair, the crowning physical beauty of her body, to wipe the feet of Jesus. Preconfiguring the washing of the feet that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper just days away, this gift of Mary’s soul, spirit and body stands forever in our collective memory as the perfect gift for Christ Jesus, living, and dead, and living again. As with any gift, any life, wholly presented to Jesus, this perfect gift was judged and found foolish by Judas, a worldly-wise ‘disciple’ of Jesus. So I need to be prepared for my own gifts of body, soul and spirit to be judged and found wanting by other. Despite the judgements of the world, how will I present my whole being to Christ Jesus today? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me present myself, my soul and body to you. May this song make your name for ever remembered. May the peoples praise you from age to age. (Psalm 45: 17) And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee. Prayer After Communion. The Book of Common Prayer, 1959 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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