Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

 
We are constantly showered with gifts from our Father in heaven. While many gifts, such as beauty, harmony and kindness are readily recognizable, many gifts that we receive appear at first glance to be ‘problems’ or troubles.  Small frustrations or large complexities – all can be redesigned for our good by God to shift our lives forward into more faith, more hope, more love – and more peace and joy, otherwise known as ‘blessedness’.  When I take time to sit still and ponder the gifts wrapped in the guise of difficulty and struggles, I begin to realize that they are ‘all good’; that indeed everything that I experience - every person , place or thing that I find strewn along my life’s journey -  everything is held out to me as gift, by my Father in heaven.  Will I fill my heart and soul with the fatal plaque of complaints, frustration and rage, or will I allow, with joy, the blessings of God to come and go in my life, with the confidence that no matter what happens in my life, I am loved beyond fear, frustration and even human fortitude. Holy Spirit of God, help me recognize the suitability and timeliness of your gifts.   
                                                                                                
Blessed Be the Lord, my rock, my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield in whom I take refuge.  (Psalm 144:1)
 
Every problem, every trouble that we experience is grace gift-wrapped by God. We have to unwrap each gift to behold it, to understand it, and to use it.
Inspired by St. Theresa of Calcutta
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

 
We are constantly showered with gifts from our Father in heaven. While many gifts, such as beauty, harmony and kindness are readily recognizable, many gifts that we receive appear at first glance to be ‘problems or troubles.  Small frustrations or large complexities – all can be redesigned for our good by God to shift our lives forward into more faith, more hope, more love – and more peace and joy, otherwise known as ‘blessedness’.  When I take time to sit still and ponder the gifts wrapped in the guise of difficulty and struggles, I begin to realize that they are ‘all good’; that indeed everything that I experience - every person , place or thing that I find strewn along my life’s journey -  everything is held out to me as gift, by my Father in heaven.  Will I fill my heart and soul with the fatal plaque of complaints, frustration and rage, or will I allow the blessings of God to come and go in my life, with joy,  and the confidence that no matter what happens in my life, I am loved beyond fear, frustration and even human fortitude. Holy Spirit of God, help me recognize the suitability and timeliness of your gifts.   
                                                                                                
Blessed Be the Lord, my rock, my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield in whom I take refuge.  (Psalm 144:1)
 
We must have a real living determination to reach holiness.  “I will be a saint” means I will despoil myself of all that is not God.
St. Theresa of Calcutta
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Eph 4, 1-13 & Matt 9: 9-13

 
Hard-wired deep in each human heart is our collective connection to each other.  We are each designed, created and given life by our one Father God, and access that unity of heart, soul, mind and strength through actively living, by faith, into our baptism that is the washing away and healing of the sinful glitches of human nature. And we best live into the design for our lives when we Love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.  Unfortunately, human beings have a disposition to division that affects our families, communities, and even countries. It is always easier to objective-ize others and ‘dis’ them, than to lean into our common heritage as beloved children of one Creator.  It takes far less effort to complain and point our our differences, tying to shape others into our vision of ‘good’, than be shaped by a Christ-like commitment to  compassionate service.  And it is so much easier to criticize than to take time to actively hope by  listening to and encouraging everyone we meet along our journey.  Will I live into the life that Jesus demonstrated in his time on earth who faithfully lived into the deep Peace of his own Baptism – “This is my beloved Son!”   ? Will I make the effort to live out my faith, my baptism and my identity as God’s beloved daughter in my relationships with everyone? Holy Spirit, help me live into one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.
                                                                                                
I … beg you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4: 1-3)
 
Go and learn what this means… I desire mercy not sacrifice.
Jesus to those criticizing him for welcoming Matthew the tax collector, quoted in Matthew 9: 13
 
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Luke 8:4-15
 
The Word of God, Who is Christ Jesus, so often comes into my life in tiny, almost inconspicuous ways. Like seeds that are identifiably only to the experienced farmer or gardener, the principles and promises, potential and possibilities of Jesus’ love and life-giving shafts of light are perceptible to me only as much as I have learned to recognize the Word of God as it comes to me. When I do notice the seeds of the Word of Life being enfolded into my life, too often I either forget them or try to force them into germination immediately.  Jesus’ parable of The Sower teaches me how to receive God’s seeds of Grace as Jesus’ examples and teachings touch down into my life. Just as good, fertile and moist soil embraces the seeds that fall into it, I do well to (simply) be-hold, the tiny particles of His great love at work within my life, keeping them moist, warm and safe as they germinate within my heart, and mind, my thoughts and words.  Will my life be good and fertile soil, well-watered with tears of grief and of joy, that will allow the truth and love of God’s work to sprout and to grow up into fruitfulness during my time on earth?  Holy Sprit of God, let your Word find good soil in my life.
                                                                                                
But as for that seed in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance. (Luke 8:14)
 
Be the solution to soil pollution.
Tag line for World Soil Day, Dec 5, 2021
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 

Gospel Mystery of the Day              Monday, Sept 12, 2022
 
Good Morning!      
Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
 
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Holy Spirit of Jesus, I receive your mercy…
 
The mercy of God is all around us, just as much as the oxygen we breathe.  Yes, it gets contaminated, and yes, it is more precious than ever before as the ‘(spiritual) climate changes’.  But mercy is always present and ready for the taking, if we will but ‘breathe it in’.   When I breathe in the mercy of God, and whole-heartedly, and deeply, receive his grace and goodness, it makes it difficult to then turn around and give out anything other than grace to those around me. This in turn feeds my own soul – as I pass forward the patience God has for me, faith and love grow and mature within me, bearing fruits of joy and peace.  Will I breathe in the degradation and despair of this age, or receive the mercy of God, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day?  Holy Spirit of Jesus, I receive your mercy.
                                                                                                
Our soul waits for the Lord, he is our help and shield.  Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.    (Psalm 33:20,21 )
 
But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Paul’s first  letter to Timothy, verse 14  
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca