Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Isaiah 49:1-6 & Psalm 139
It is always both comforting and exciting to converse with someone who knows me. When I spend time with that person, I am reminded of who I really am and that I am worthy of their love not because of what I do, but because of who I am. I can spend my life seeking out ‘kindred spirits’ and ‘soul-mates’ among fallible humans, or I can spend time with the Lord, allowing him to search me, and know me. Being known in heart, mind, soul and strength by God in this way, I no longer need to ‘play the field’ to find true intimacy. God does not shrink from any waves of grief I bring to him. Nor does he stress over any of my overwhelming fears. I can even express my rage to him in no uncertain terms – and he still holds onto me, no matter where he finds me, and how much he knows about me. How much do I nurture my intimacy with God? Search me and know me, O Lord. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:3) ‘You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’ St. Augustine of Hippo www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Soli gloriam dei .
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2 Kings 24:8-17
I am always ‘doing’ things, whether thinking, speaking, listening or performing actions. Sometimes I minimize obvious diversions from the ways of God. They always starts out as just small things, just this once, just for a minutes. Sure that God will understand, I give myself license to do my own thing – to do that which is evil in God’s sight. Do I know enough about God’s ‘good’ to constantly choose good over evil? Am I really convinced and prepared to be taught the thoughts, words and deeds that are good in God’s sight? Lord God, let me do what is good, not evil, in your sight. Deliver us and forgive us our sins for your names’ sake. (Psalm 79:9) Tend within your hearts the sacred fire that the Holy Spirit lights there. St. Eugene de Mazenod. Soli gloriam dei . 2 Kings 22:8-23:3
All kinds of paths open up to me in any given circumstances of my life, ways taken by others, and ways not taken by anyone else. But there is always an option to follow the way of God. It is not the way of vanities or passions or self-centred grasping. It is the way of Jesus, the way that gently produces good fruit in due season in life and it is the way of righteousness. In the ways of God, I shall surely find fullness of life. Lord God, give me life in your ways. You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11) Tend within your hearts the sacred fire that the Holy Spirit lights there. St. Eugene de Mazenod. Soli gloriam dei . 2 Kings 19: 9-36
Lord God, trusting in your salvation I spread out my anxieties before you ... King Hezekiah had everything to lose. An overwhelming Assyrian army was ready to attack and utterly destroy his city state. Did Hezekiah go and talk to everyone about the reputation of their foes and about his fears for their safety? Did he sit up all night scheming and laying plans for a long siege? No, the King went to the temple, spread out his anxieties before the Lord and asked God to save him and his people from what seemed to be inevitable evil. God’s response? The Lord defended and saved the city of Jerusalem in an unexpected way – 185,000 enemy troopers mysteriously died through the night, forcing the Assyrian king to flee the scene. What anxieties do I need to spread out before the Lord? Lord God, trusting in your salvation I spread out my anxieties before you. We ponder your steadfast love, O Lord, in the midst of your temple. (Psalm 48:9) Have you lit your Christ candle in your heart? The answer to our darkness of today is this faith that we interiorize by prayer. Catherine Doherty Soli gloriam dei . 2 Kings 17:5-18
In reality, we have many foes that attempt to compromise our well-being, and even our lives - wild weather, ‘polluted’ people, and societal sink holes like addictions or racism, to name a few. But perhaps the greatest foes we face are the same ones that the Israelites faced when anticipating invasions from other groups, the inner foes of fear, grief and rage. The Lord urged the Israelites to ‘Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments.’ When I turn my gaze away from my foes, and focus on face of Christ, and the ways of the Lord, then I can trust him to extend his mercy to me and my circumstances. What foes am I noticing in my life today? Is my gaze fixed on my enemies or on my deliverer? Lord God, deliver me from my foes, deliver my children from their foes, deliver our society from our common foes. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (Psalm 16:8) I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind. St. Bernard of Clairvaux 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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