Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Acts 15:7-21 . It is an awareness of God’s saving grace, made so very clear by the life, the death and the living again of Christ Jesus, that makes living this side of heaven bearable. A man struggling with addictions and concurrent mental disorders finally finds a room to live in, but three months in, his OW payment is delayed; the police are called to oust him and his cat into the streets. All of his possessions other than the change of clothes in his pack sack are thrown out. What is his only hope? His only hope is to fast from despair and become even more aware of, and feast on, God’s saving grace in any given moment, any given day. He knows how to do this; he has lived into this scenario before. As I struggle with a vitriolic co-worker or a door that doesn’t close properly, am I looking for whom to blame, or the redemption of God made known in Christ Jesus? Make your saving grace known to me, O Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song...Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations. (Psalm 96) Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with you. Anonymous www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei.
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Acts 13:26-33 ‘Pray for me’, someone asks. But do I really know how to entrust others to God, without imposing my own projections and plans on their lives? Do I actually know how uphold a person in prayer as they wrestle with the magnetic powers of evil? The Apostles, following the counsel of Jesus, always coupled serious prayer with fasting. What is ‘fasting’ all about? Only with prayer and fasting were the early disciples of Jesus able to truly entrust others and the circumstances of their lives to God. Are you wrongly incarcerated? Am I in conflict with family members? Is anyone sick or sinking in the depths of despair? Entrust everyone involved to God... with prayer and fasting. Holy Spirit teach me to entrust others, and all situations, to God with prayer and fasting. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27) God asks little but he gives much. St. John Chrysostom www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei. Acts 14:5-18 Like the people of Lycaonia, I too can become absorbed by the ‘goods’ of today’s society – whether they be ideas, ideals, or items. Like the Lycaonians, I sometimes get caught up in idolizing and my own best attempts to immortalize some or all of the ‘goods’ I am privileged to discover along my life’s journey. Any and all of the ‘goods’ of life can be useful, but only insofar as they enrich my life, by pointing me to the living God. Am I expending my life’s resources for worthless things that lead me away from God, or am I using my time, treasure and talents to walk with the living God, whom I know through Jesus and the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the quiet places of my heart and mind? Holy Spirit, help me turn away from worthless things to the living God. Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. (Psalm 115: 1) In order to live more deeply this friendship with God, other desires that have taken up too much room in our hearts and lives may have to be pruned or cut away. but their loss can be the prelude to being filled in an new and deep way with God. Jean Vanier in Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus P. 254 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei. Acts 13:26-33 Following Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension, each time the Apostles addressed the crowds they noted that the crime of Jesus’ crucifixion occurred because the people in Jerusalem at the time did not recognize Christ in their midst, largely because they did not understand holy scripture. Perhaps, like us today, they had not taken time to prayerfully meditate on the Torah, the Psalms of David, and the words of the prophets; and they had not open their hearts to the messages of God’s word for them as individuals. Jesus understood this lack of understanding and of mindfulness. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, he prayed from the cross. Am I, like the people of Jerusalem in 33AD, ignoring the message of the Bible and so mistaking Jesus’ identity as he appears to me day by day, beckoning me to follow him into the heart of God’s mercy? Holy Spirit, help me understand holy scripture and so always recognize Jesus. I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord. (John 14) Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society. St. Francis of Assisi www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei. Acts 13:13-25 Slowly, day by day, year by year I shape my being by the choices I make. Choices born of pride, self-centredness or fear chip away at the holiness – the whole-ness – of God’s design for me. But choices born of faith, hope and mercy nurture, restore, and align my being to the heart of the One in whose image I am created. At any given moment of my life, will I be found to be a woman [a man] after God’s own heart? Holy Spirit of God, help me be found to be a woman [man] after your heart. My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him; and in my name his Name shall be exalted. (Psalm 89) Saints are always ready to exchange the quiet of contemplation for works of mercy as soon as they perceive in their heart the invitation of Christ. St. Anthony of Padua 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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