Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Matthew 18:1-14 I can become so inured to the idea of ‘loving’ others, that I lose sight of the love God has for each human being and then treat others with words and deeds that are less than loving and more damaging than kind. The two images of divine love from Matthew’s gospel in the reading today must inform, not only my own perception of how God loves me, but also how I am to love others, whether family, friends, acquaintances or strangers. With a child beside him, Jesus proclaims that children - no matter what their color, race, size, shape, or affiliation; attitude, character, personality or state in life - are greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus states clearly that when I welcome a child, or by extension an adult who is carrying their “Inner Child” within, I am welcoming Jesus himself. When I am ‘lost’ through my own wilfulness and wanderings, Jesus, who is himself a good Shepherd, goes to great lengths to bring me back into the folds of his nearer presence, where I belong. Will I join Jesus in cherishing others so much that I don’t just passively ‘love’ them, but actively seek out their lovely, whole, unique and complete beings by thought, word and action? Christ Jesus, teach me how you love each person. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4:21) Every child, every person needs to know that they are a source of joy; every child, every person, needs to be celebrated. Only when all of our weaknesses are accepted as part of our humanity can our negative, broken self-images be transformed. Jean Vanier, Becoming Human www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei h
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Matthew 15:21-28 Sometimes, like the Canaanite woman in the Tyre and Sidon region, I have family members, friends, situations or projects that seem to be ‘tormented by a demon’. Where to turn for mercy and healing? Priests, doctors, and self-help programs can give spiritual direction, prescribe drugs or treatments, or give me information, but it is none of these who will heal me. When I seek goodness, treatments or information I align myself with God’s healing ways, but real ‘demonization’ can be dealt with in only one way: with the sacrificial blood of Christ Jesus that renders evil inoperable and gives new life. Will I stay at home in my head and my heart, or run around seeking other ‘band aid solutions’ in order to resolve the recognizable strongholds of darkness[i]? Or will I, like the Canaanite woman seek out Christ, made present in my life through liturgy, lectio divina, and the sacraments, to cast out the demons that threaten life and limb? Christ Jesus, I come to you for grace and healing. You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples. (Psalm 77:14) There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still. Corrie Ten Boom i See Neil Anderson author of the Bondage Breaker speaking about Spiritual interference in our lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FBC4G1hU90 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei [i] Deuteronomy 4:32-40 It is so simple; and yet it is so complex that it can take a life-time –or eight generations of desert ‘discipline’ (that is, ‘learning to follow’) as it did for the Israelites –to truly integrate belief in God into our human lives. As they were heading into the Promised Land, Moses counselled the Israelites, “Acknowledge today, and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and earth beneath. There is no other! Keep his statues and the commandments I am commanding your today for your own well-being.” Do I take God for granted and slip along through life consumed only in my own flesh, my own world, and my own appetites? Or do I continually, no matter what pain or distress I am in, take to heart Creator-God’s principles and guidelines for living well the life I have been given? Holy Spirit, help me take to heart that the Lord is God or heaven and earth. I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:11,12) If you seek the presence of God, you will see the glory of God. Lailah Gifty Akita www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Colossians 3:1-11 It is all too easy to become entangled in the minutiae of daily living. How many cobs of corn to buy, utility bills and keeping tabs on emails and messages, are but a few of the things that can eat up my time and swallow my mind-full-ness. St. Paul encouraged the early Christians to actively seek the things that are above – over and above all other details of existence. When I continually look for the vestiges of the faithfulness and mercy of God and his over-arching Truth, as expressed in the life, ministry and death of Christ Jesus, then the minutiae of earthly existence take their proper place in my life. They become not ends in themselves, but rather small tasks to be used to return thanks to God, and to extend compassion to others, whether it be a cashier at the store, a weary worker on a phone line, or a friend in a face book post. Any circumstances of life can manifest the eternal grace of God, when I consider God’s perspective. Am I simply running the race or tracing the grace? Holy Spirit of God, help me seek the things that are above. Teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. (Psalm 90:12) Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see. Corrie Ten Boom www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Exodus 40:16-38 The Israelites were eager to get on with it and head into the Promised Land. Enough of these rambles in the desert! I, too, am often impatient to get on with the good and abundant life promised by Christ to his followers, and complain about the time I perceive it takes God to rest his hand over my life. But in reality it was the sins of the Israelites that kept them stumbling in the desert. Similarly, it is my own short comings and impatience that ultimately keep me waiting for God to ‘take up the cloud’ and lead me further along my life’s journey to the depths of his heart. The impatient Israelites were in no way ready to live in and care for the Promised Land of Israel until God had disciplined and guided them by his commandments. Like them, perhaps I too require God’s discipline and nurture to be ready to enter the next phase of my life. Am I ready to be still, to face God, and to wait for his guiding hand in my life? Holy Spirit of God, help me wait for your timing. Happy are those whose strength is in you, they go from strength to strength. (Psalm 84: 5) This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see. Corrie Ten Boom 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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