Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
John 12:24-26 Two months ago I buried many kinds of seeds in our garden, and now we are eating their fruits – fresh tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, kale, sweet basil, etcetera. During his life time, Jesus demonstrated how a human being can fall into the earth and die –he was rejected scorned, tortured and even crucified. This day to day ‘dying’ in a psycho-social sense bore great fruit, not only in his day, but through two millennia since. His fruits were not those commonly lauded by society. He wrote no books, did not star in films or the news, was not a noted athlete or artist, and never headed up a corporation or even an institution. Yet the fruits of his life on earth continue to transform lives and communities, and as much as they follow his teachings they thrive and save human souls from eternal darkness. How am I being called to be buried, so that my life, like Jesus Christ’s life on earth, can produce much fruit? Holy Spirit of God, give me courage to be buried that I might bear much fruit. Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments. (Psalm 112:1) The glory of God is the human person fully alive. Irenaeus of Lyons www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
0 Comments
Mathew 14:22-33 Before stepping out of the boat in faith, Peter connected with Jesus, “If you really are the Lord, tell me to come to you.” Jesus did call Peter to step out in faith, and then when he doubted and began to sink, reached out with the same kind of connection to pull him to safety. Too often I like Peter forget to keep my eyes on Jesus. Then when I notice the waves and the wind around me, I try to grab at anything else for ‘flotation’ and sometimes even turn around and grab the boat I have stepped out of, upsetting it and everyone and everything in it. I am often so quick to blame the Lord for the results of my ‘too little faith’. When I step out in faith, will I try to reach for other buoyant devices or will I stay focused on the Lord and reach for his hand? Holy Spirit Jesus, help me notice you reaching out to connect with me, when my faith is too little. I am listening to what the Lord God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways. (Psalm 85:8) When we walk with the Lord, in the light of his word, What a glory he sheds on our way… John Sammis www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei 2 Peter 1:16-19 The pre-figuring of all human beings is that we are made with the imprint of God - the Light of Lights, our Glorious Everlasting Father -stamped into our very beings. As much as we live into this identity, we grow into our heritage as a beloved child of God. When Jesus allowed his disciples to see him in his true form talking to Moses and Elijah by trans-figuration, he was showing them the essence of his being and his true identity. This shifted their realization of who Jesus was, and empowered them to find Jesus’ way through his crucifixion and resurrection, and to proclaim the good news without compromise going forward. When I begin to see the true essence and identity of Christ Jesus in the context of the events and relationships of my life with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, (that is, when I see them transfigured to show their true essence and identity) my whole attitude shifts, from seeing life relative only to myself in finite time, to perceiving each person, each relationship, each event as God revealing his divine purpose, his divine configuration, here on earth throughout eternity. Will I allow the Holy Spirit of God to transform my perception - to witness ongoing transfiguration - to see God’s will being carried out on earth through all persons, all relationships, and all events? Holy Spirit of God, transfigure the ordinary that I might realize you present in all. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 17:5) The glory of God is the human person fully alive. Irenaeus of Lyons www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Jeremiah 26:11-24 True prophets proclaim God’s truth and grace. The false prophets of Jeremiah’s day told the people of Israel what they hoped to hear and condoned their sinful paths of passion. The false prophets of our day, sometimes tell us what we want to hear, but more often proclaim conspiracy theories and the floods of human foolishness, and encourage the all kinds of entanglements with testy technology, idealistic issues, and projected passions. The result of false prophesies in no matter what age, is that the people do not repent and turn back to the Holy One, and continue to make up and follow false ways that lead to death and destruction rather than light and love. Am I listening to false prophesies or walking in false ways that are outside the light of the life and death of Christ Jesus? Or am I heeding God’s call to repentance and to conversion back to him in holiness and humility? Holy Spirit, keep me from false prophesies and false ways. Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me your law. (Psalm 119:29) If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy. Corrie Ten Boom www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Jeremiah 16:1-9 & Matthew 13:47-52 When conditions are ‘not too bad’ in our lives, it is easy to trust in the praises and promises of human kind and to dismiss the prophetic cries of God, as did the people in both Jeremiah’s and Jesus’ home communities. Jeremiah’s message telling the people how far from God they were living, and Jesus’ teachings about himself as the way, the truth and the life, were too disruptive and inconvenient for most people, both then and now, who preferred to trust in customary perceptions, their own judicial systems, the trades and trends of everyday life and the local gossip (the media’s) version of reality. In the signs and stresses of present times, will I lean into the currents of collective social understanding, or trust the message of God, correcting us and calling us back to himself, no matter how challenging, counter-cultural, disturbing or inconvenient it is? Holy Spirit of God help me trust in God alone. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them. (Psalm 146: 3,5) If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy. 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
Categories |