Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
2 Chronicles 24:17-25
Christ Jesus, help me keep your commands, so I can prosper in your ways... Prosperity in our Creator’s view is a life rich in love and mercy. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit am I able to comprehend -and do – that love which is the root of all the commands of God, and notice, receive and extend the mercy of God as Jesus did. Christ Jesus, help me understand and stand under God’s love and mercy, and so keep your commands, so I can prosper in your ways. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed the man who seeks refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8) Mercy – Fully Receiving God’s mercy fully. Thinking God’s mercy fully. Speaking God’s mercy fully. Deliberately reaching out to others with God’s mercy fully. Carrying out God’s mercy fully. Proclaiming God’s mercy fully. Trusting fully in God’s mercy. bhi June 2016 Soli gloriam dei .
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2 Kings 11:1-20
Just one action –like Ahaziah’s sister hiding her baby nephew and his nurse in her home –can be used by God to overcome seemingly overwhelming forces of evil. In good season (7 years) Ahaziah’s sister was joined by the priest of the temple to renew the resolve of the Israelites to be the Lord’s people and overthrow the idolatry of an evil ruler. In reality, evil has no force at all in the force of loving obedience to the Lord. What quiet action of loving obedience is the Lord calling me to today? What kind of redemption is the Lord preparing in secret to be revealed in good season? Lord God, help me trust your redemption by quietly overpowering evil with loving obedience. I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one (Psalm 132) 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 . Sirach 48:1-14
The word of the Lord burned within Elijah and Elisha and through them to others. The evidence of this are their proclamations as prophets to the people of Israel, proclamations of God’s righteousness, faithfulness –and love. Like the pilot light in a fireplace, the word of God remained present in their hearts and was ready to enflame the fuel when they ‘turned up the heat’ to faithfully do wondrous deeds and pronounce the Lord’s messages to his people. Do I keep the pilot light of the word of God lit in my soul by reading and meditating on scripture? When I turn up the heat for the benefit of bringing life to my own journey and to the lives of others, do I have enough of the word in my soul to catch on fire with the Holy Spirit of God? Lord God, let your word burn within me and through me. The Lord is the strength of his people, a saving refuge for the one he has anointed. (Psalm 28:8) I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind. St. Bernard of Clairvaux www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Sirach+48%3A1-14&version=RSVCE Soli gloriam dei . 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-16
Fear that is triggered by the ill-will of others can drive [me], like Elijah, into a cave of despair, where paralysis of soul prevents me from even peeking out the doorway. As God called Elijah out of his cave of fear, so Christ calls to [me] today: “Do not be afraid! I am with you!”. “Go”, the Lord says to Elijah and to [me] “return on your way…” Am I hanging back in the shadows of my cave of fear, or am I willing to walk out into the presence of the Lord? Do I have the courage to face the winds, the earthquakes and the fires, all the while listening for the sheer silence of his voice that leads me on along my designated path in life with faith, hope and infinite love? Lord God, help me go out and return on my way before the Lord. “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. (Psalm 27) Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. St. John Paul II Soli gloriam dei . 1 Kings 18:41-46
During a major drought, Elijah sent his servant seven times to look over the ocean to the horizon, to check for signs of rain. Finally the servant came back with the news that he had noticed a cloud, ‘no bigger than a person’s hand.’ This was sign enough for Elijah to throw the switch and proclaim to the king that the rains were coming. In a similar way, I look for signs of God’s righteousness in the clouds and calamities of life. Sometimes I have to look more than seven times to spot the one small sliver of mercy, of God’s righteousness, approaching. But always, in the end, God’s righteousness does appear, gains volume and soon washes over my life, and the lives of others with me, blessing us immensely, and yet again, flooding our lives with love, life and his light in spite of darkness and drought. Lord God, help me watch for, and welcome, each sign of righteousness. To you shall vows be performed, you who answer prayer. To you all flesh shall come, when deed of iniquity overwhelm us. (Psalm 65:1-3) Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises us to Heaven. St. Ephrem 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
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