Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
John 15:9-11 How did Jesus love his disciples? He woke up early in the morning and went to the hills before dawn to pray for them. He asked them to follow him, and hung out with them at weddings, at the temple and synagogues and at special dinners and feasts. He went fishing with his friends and even on occasion made breakfast for them. He taught his disciples everything he knew and begged God to form in them the deep communion he had with his Abba, Father God. And he willingly gave up his life for his friends –and for all of humanity. Am I willing to ‘commune’ with my friends as Jesus did and to give up my life for them - my time, treasure, talents and all of ‘my’ plans and projects, for the good of those who join me in the journey of Life? Christ Jesus, teach me to love others as you have loved us. This is my commandment: Love one another as I love you. (John 15:12) To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance. Jean Vanier www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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John 15:9-11 Following in the commandments, the instructions, of Jesus is the first step of abiding in the love of Jesus. Only when I am in step with Jesus through prayer, humility and obedience can I discover how to abide in the love of Christ. Then the joy of Christ can reside in the liveliness and the stillness of my heart, the same joy that was at work in Christ through his Passion and Resurrection, the same joy that is complete faith, complete hope and complete love founded and grounded on the mercy of God. Am I completely committed to abiding in the love of Christ? Am I committed to the joy of Jesus? Christ Jesus, teach me how to abide in your love to find complete joy. This is my commandment: Love one another as I love you. (John 15:12) Joy is prayer; joy is strength; joy is love; joy is the net of love by which you can catch souls. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei John 15:1-8 After a windy day, it is clear which branches have disengaged themselves from the tree through disease or dysfunction– they are strewn on the ground in various states of brokenness. Being connected into the family of God through birth as a human being and the sacrament of Baptism, we do, like a tree branch, bear the same spiritual DNA as Jesus, and experience, at least as a child, the ‘sap’ of his truth and love flowing through us. As I suck up the character of Jesus, I learn to live by the instructions he gave to us [to me] during his ministry on earth, and through the working of the Holy Spirit in Scripture and in humanity through the ages. As much as I latch onto His Holy Spirit present in my inner core, then his liveliness, light and love are able to keep me flexible and not brittle, alive and not dead, and transform my thoughts, words, and actions into hearty, disease resistant fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. Am I receiving life from the Holy Spirit of Jesus within me – or will I fall to the ground with the first gust of the winds of change? Christ Jesus, help me abide in you as you abide in me. This is my commandment: Love one another as I love you. (John 15:12) When I trust deeply that today God is truly with me and holds me safe in a divine embrace, guiding every one of my thoughts... I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God's love within me and around me. Henri Nouwen www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei John 10:1-10 It seems foolish if not laughable for a sheep to follow an imposter shepherd, who is a thief or a bandit ‘in sheep’s clothing’. Yet I can so easily be swayed by the thieves and thugs of this world to merrily turn my back on Jesus, ‘just for a bit’, and to follow them, with all their time-stamped and empty promises of fame, fortune and success, not to mention comfort, security and stimulation. Who am I following today? Am I traipsing after this wolf, that thief or those ‘Flatterers’, or will I follow Jesus into true and abundant life? Holy Spirit of God, help me follow not thieves and bandits, but the Good Shepherd. O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me. (Ps 43:3) When I trust deeply that today God is truly with me and holds me safe in a divine embrace, guiding every one of my ... I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God's love within me and around me. Henri Nouwen www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Acts 13, 14-52 Although the public crowded into the synagogue to hear their Gospel message, Paul and Barnabas were profiled by the jealous ‘authorities’ of Antioch, and with faulty and deceit-full arguments incited devout women and leading men to pitch the Apostles out of town. Paul and Barnabas were certainly entitled to malicious talk if not retaliation ‘for the cause’ of the Gospel! But instead they chose to shake the dust of Antioch off their feet and to continue on their journey to a community where they were welcomed –and they chose to be filled, instead of with ire, with joy and the Holy Spirit of God. When I am rejected, will I fill myself with bitterness and resentment or joy and the Holy Spirit of Jesus? Christ Jesus fill me with joy and the Holy Spirit. Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us and we are his. (Ps 100: 3) Joy is the serious business of heaven. C.S. Lewis 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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