Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Gospel Mystery of the Day Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Good Morning! Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119) Matthew 9:32-38 As baptized Christians we are designed to proclaim the mercy of God with our whole being either verbally or silently. When our beings are mute on the subject of mercy, either received, remarked upon, or given, it is often because of unresolved bitterness or sin of some kind. The demons of unforgiveness, resentment, judgement, envy, vanity and etcetera imprison our good hearts, or pure spirits and our clear minds and hold us captive and unresponsive to the mercy of God. Like the mute demoniac healed by Jesus in Judea, we can become incommunicado with the Holy Spirit of God ourselves and need someone to bring us into Christ’s presence. What demons are muting my heart, my mind or my spirit? Whom do I need to bring to Jesus –myself or perhaps others –that the voice of my being might be ‘unmuted’ or released? Christ Jesus, release the voice of my being to proclaim your mercy. They have hands but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them. (Psalm 115:7) God speaks in the silence of the heart, and we listen. And then we speak to God from the fullness of our heart, and God listens. And this listening and this speaking is what prayer is meant to be. Saint Mother Teresa www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Matthew 9:18 - 26 Our greatest needs are often so overwhelming that we lose sight of God’s mercy that is being held out to us 24-7, 365 days each year. Unfortunately, no matter how much we know that the mercy is there, we seldom ask to receive it. But as the leader of the synagogue and the haemhorraging woman found out, at the point that we ‘urgently’ kneel in unshakeable faith before or behind the Lord, and ask for his healing, divine Grace begins to transform our needs into events for receiving the mercy of God. In the end, the mercy of God heals our diseases and raises up what appears to be dead, but is meant by God’s will to be alive. Do I have the conviction and the courage to bring my overwhelming needs to the Lord? Christ Jesus, teach me to bring my greatest needs to you. You show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, O Lord. (Psalm 15:11) With God, every moment is the moment of beginning again... Catherine Doherty www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
Matthew 9:1-8 Adoration: I arise to follow you, Christ Jesus... Petition: Holy Spirit, help me arise and follow Jesus... Matthew (Levi) was sitting at his tax booth wheeling and dealing figures and coins when Jesus came by. Where am I sitting and what am I doing as my Redeemer comes by to see me? Matthew got up and followed Jesus. He went on to become one of the twelve, an Apostle, a missionary and the recorder of the first Gospel. When Jesus catches my eye, do I get up and follow him? What special work does the future hold for me, as his disciple? Holy Spirit, help me arise and follow Jesus. I arise to follow you, Christ Jesus. My soul is consumed with longing for your precepts at all times. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your ordinances before me. (Psalm 119) With God, every moment is the moment of beginning again... Faith walks simply, childlike, between the darkness of human life and the hope of what is to come. Catherine Doherty www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day Thursday, July 6, 2018
Good Morning! Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119) Matthew 9:1-8 Like the men who carried their paralyzed friend on a bed to Jesus for healing, I carry others to Jesus in prayer. And I, too, have expectations about the way Jesus will heal those I pray for, and with. In [my] audacity and short-sightedness , I can limit my prayers to physical and temporal things, and simply hope for the fulfillment of [my] perception of wholeness. The story of the paralytic, however, indicates that the primary kind of healing Jesus does is inner healing, in order to deliver the spirit of a person from infirmity, disease and demons. Only co-incidentally does Jesus heal bodies and circumstances in order to serve the healing of a person’s heart, mind, soul and strength. Do I trust Jesus’ perception of healing? Holy Spirit help me trust the healing of Jesus. Christ Jesus, I trust your healing. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes. (Psalm 19:8) Love is larger than the walls which shut it in. Corrie Ten Boom www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Good Morning! Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119) John 20:24-29 Although I might believe the facts of Jesus’ death and resurrection I can still hold onto circumstances and moments of unbelief. When I prefer to lean on my own understanding and dismiss the mercy of Jesus –when I choose resentment over humility, impatience over kindness or frantic planning over trust -like doubting Thomas, I am practising unbelief in the redeeming work of Christ. Thomas boldly stated that ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe’. My statements of unbelief are similar to Thomas’: “Unless I am healed from cancer,” or “Until I see a real miracle,” or “Only when Jesus really makes things better....then I’ll believe and fully commit my life to him.” Within one week, Jesus addressed Thomas’ doubts by simply appearing to the group of disciples. Thomas’ unbelief evaporated in the real presence of the Lord and he fell at his Jesus’ feet in exclamation and contrition: “My Lord and my God!” He then went on to become a zealous Apostle and a Martyr, evangelizing the whole of the near east. How will Jesus address my unbelief, so that in all ways I acknowledge and trust him as my Lord and my God, and live into the work he has for me to do? Christ Jesus, address my unbelief. You have turned my mourning into dancing. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever. (Psalm 30:11) Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair. G.K.Chesterton 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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