Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Micah 6:1-8 Instead of lazily minding my own business, God asks me to do justice, that is, to be actively and constantly engaged in bringing myself and my community, my communities, into line with God’s truth and mercy. Instead of giving up great sacrifices and offering fancy gifts (10 rosaries! lots of my money! hours of my time to the church!) God calls me to love kindness so much that it becomes my default attitude, and to enter into his great mercy for humanity, in all of its wrinkled, soiled and raw forms. Instead of bowing down and cow-towing before society’s famous and successful heroes, the church’s hierarchy, or those who say they have power and control over me, God beckons me to walk humbly with him along all the byways and highways of my life’s journey. Will I actively seek to do the will of God in this way? Holy Spirit, help me to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with my God. Restore us again, O God of our salvation. (Psalm 85:4) Take God for your [father] and friend and walk with him continually, and you will not sin and will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you. St. John of the Cross www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam De
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Isaiah 38, 1-8 King Hezekiah reminded God that he had walked faithfully in God’s sight, ‘with a whole heart’, and was able to avert the early death that the prophet Isaiah had announced to him. When one walks faithfully in God’s sight, it means that he/ she keeps up a lively pace, living steadily and deliberately, not wandering on the misty flats of passion and hungers, not being paralyzed by despair and doubt, not hiding away in sins, away from the truth of God’s gaze, but open-heartedly and knowingly staying within the light and the acceptance of God’s love. Furthermore, walking with a whole heart, indicates a life of undivided loyalties. In all and through all actions, ideas, thoughts, and words [my] heart is fixed on the face of our Father God, looking to him for approval and for guidance, before all other agendas and all other relationships. Can I honestly say that I walk faithfully in God’s sight, with a whole heart ? Holy Sprit of God, help me walk faithfully in all circumstances, no matter how challenging, in your sight, with a whole heart. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul (Psalm 86:4) Take God for your [father] and friend and walk with him continually, and you will not sin and will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you. St. John of the Cross www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam De Isaiah 10:5-16 Those who oppress others often have a deficit of faith, hope and love – the only real riches of human life, and as a result work from a false sense of their own power and control to use and abuse others. It is easy when I am under such domination, whether at home, at work, or in our wider community, to fold under such strident pressure and believe that the bullies and despots are indeed ultimately in control. That is not true! As God spoke to his people through Isaiah 3,000 years ago, the truth is that God uses anyone, or any people, friend or foe, to bring about his salvation in me, in my family and friends and in the world at large. Friends directly serve up the kindness and wise help of God through their own mouths, hands, feet and resources, while foes become tools to chip off, and a fire to burn away, all that separates us from the love and mercy of our Father God. Will I trust God’s boundless power to bring me back to him, despite the power and purposes of would-be oppressors? God, help me realize your power in all, over all, and through all. I said, “I am falling”, but your constant love, O Lord, held me up. (Psalm 94: 18) We shall steer safely through every storm so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast and our trust fixed on God. St. Francis de Sales www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Isaiah 7:1-9 Walking up a stream bed on the side of a mountain in the Arctic years ago with my four year old and ten year old daughters, I suddenly noticed stones beginning to race past us. “Stand up!” I yelled to my 10 year old, as I grabbed my youngest and held her up high. When the land slide had finished running its course, I was shin deep in small rocks and stones and my 10 year was buried up over her knees. With prayers and concerted effort we were able to dig ourselves out and gingerly move to a patch of heather off to the side and finish our climb up to a safe plateau. Stand firm in faith indeed! It is the only way to not only survive, but to thrive, as the landslides of life come and go. When relationships shift, torrents of challenges big and small come my way, or my world seems to be changing too rapidly, will I lie down in despair, or stand firm in faith to continue on my journey, following in the footsteps of Jesus and all the saints before me? Holy Spirit, help me stand firm in faith so that I can remain standing. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul (Psalm 86:4) Take God for your [father] and friend and walk with him continually, and you will not sin and will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you. St. John of the Cross www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Isaiah 1, 10-17 & Psalm 50 The right path often consists of ‘ceasing to do evil and learning to do good’. Discipline and perseverance, love and mercy, repentance and belief are required each step of the journey. At any given moment I have a choice to go the right way or not, to choose selfless love over self reliance and to find the salvation of God rather than lean on my own understanding of the challenges and joys of my life. Viewed in a context of survival challenges or joys can seem to be both the be-all and the end-all of my life. Then fame and fortune, comfort and fun take precedence and eternity becomes just another challenge. But when viewed longitudinally as a story unfolding over a span of several decades, my life has a plot of redemption – and discipline, open humility, and faithfulness are the currencies that reveal this greater plot in real time. Then no choice, no challenge, no trauma will be the end of my story. Rather, the salvation of God that changes darkness into light, despair into hope and death into life everlasting will be the tale told by my life’s journey. Will I simply react to life’s events or deliberately live into them to find the salvation of God? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me go the right way to find the salvation of God. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart… (Psalm 19:8) Take God for your spouse and friend and walk with him continually, and you will not sin and will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you. St. John of the Cross 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
March 2024
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