Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Ezra 9:1-9 (-15) & Luke 8:16-18 Ezra was the prophet for Israel who guided the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem when the Persian Kings Cyrus & Darius sent the Israelites back home to Judea with tons of gold and silver from their exile in Babylon. Ezra knew all too well the sufferings of the exiles – and was scandalized when the Israelites returned to their homelands and immediately turned their backs on God by marrying foreign women and worshipping their idols. Bowed down with overwhelming grief for his people’s faithlessness and “abominable sins”, Ezra shows us how to respond when we too are appalled at how faithless, fickle, and futile society can be. Ezra fasted and prayed and poured his heart out to God -even tearing his clothing and pulling out his hair in his anguish – and listened carefully all day to the Word of God resonating in his heart. Then he got up, taking his shame and embarrassment to the foot of the altar at the time of the evening sacrifice. With arms outstretched, Ezra asked God to be with him as he ‘put his lamp on a lamp stand’, as Jesus would later teach us to do, and so guide the people of his day back to God. As a result he turned his people, en masse, back to God. Will I, too, take time to carefully listen to the Word of God in my heart allowing it to guide me? Will I listen to the Word of God so well that God’s holy Grace can shine through me to draw others back to the Light of the World? Holy Spirit, help me carefully listen to your Word in my heart. Turn to him with all our heart and soul, live in loyal obedience to him. Then he will turn to you to help you and will no longer hide himself. Remember what God has done for you, and give thanks with all your heart! Praise the righteous Lord; honor the eternal King! (Tobit 13:6 ) God sustains every soul and dwells in it substantially, even though it may be that of the greatest sinner in the world. This union between God and creatures always exists. St. John of the Cross Listen to to Lord, You Have my Heart https://www.google.com/search?q=lord+you+have+my+heart&rlz=1C1SQJL_enCA890CA891&oq=&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59j46i67i650j0i67i650l2j46i67i650j69i61l2.6385j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:78cc69fa,vid:lIRPDwwO8mw,st:0 Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
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Ephesians 4:1-13 Each of us has a calling, a vocation, a calling into a state in life. Whether called to be a single person, a married person, a parent, a priest or a vowed or consecrated person, all baptized believers are called to ministers of the Good News of the saving Grace of God in Christ Jesus. We also have professional ‘callings’ that we undertake in our lives, but because we are human ‘beings’ and not human ‘doings’ it is the our intrinsic calling as a beloved son or daughter of Father God that requires that we ‘live life worthy of our calling.’ This means that we live life as Jesus did, and as Mary his Mother, his Stepfather Joseph, and all saintly people before an since have lived – with Humility, Gentleness and Patience – not to mention Courage and Diligence! Will I allow the Holy Spirit of God to help me live in a way that reflects not self-centredness, but the openness of a humble attitude to life; not using the strident power that is ours by being made in the image of God, but in the open gentleness of a quiet and waiting spirit; not with impatience and ‘galloping away on wild horses’, but steadily and firmly walking the path that God has crafted for my life as a parent, a single person, or a religious sister or brother? Holy Spirit, help me live worthy of my calling in humility, gentleness and patience. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 145: 8 ) Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible… It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts. Corrie Ten Boom Listen to Make Me A Channel of Your Peace- The Prayer of St. Francis: https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tFP1zcsNM2qyjXNKjNg9JLPTcxOVchNVUhUSM5IzMtLzVHIT1OozC8tUihITUxOBQBp2A-_&q=make+me+a+channel+of+your+peace&rlz=1C1SQJL_enCA890CA891&oq=Make+me+a+Channel+&aqs=chrome.3.0i67i650j69i57j46i340i512l2j0i512l6.12559j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:14a041c6,vid:fYz14jEoaeU,st:0 Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Sirach 27:30 – 28:7 A small statue of St. Francis of Assisi came my way years ago. Just recently I noticed a skull peaking out from behind the Saint’s habit – a jarring reminder that indeed the only certain thing about life is death! Further research into the life of St. Francis and many other saints underscores how holy men and women through the ages have used their lives to become friendly with death, allowing the fact of their own mortality to in-form and shape their lives. If I see my life simply as the here and now with all its memories, thoughts and will power unleashed to wander where they will, my life journey can quickly become boundless and shapeless. But when I study and submit to the guidelines and the parameters of my earthly existence, like St. Francis and other holy men and women - most of all, perhaps, those in the company of the martyrs through the ages- then I realize that my life in this body, in this environment on earth are finite; that each day, each moment, is a rich and measured gift from Father God. It is then that I realize I don’t have time for enmity – or worry about temporal relationships and possessions. I only have time to study and be true to God’s ways. Will I fearfully put away all thoughts of my mortality, or will I allow an understanding of my own death from earth to inform and shape my life? Holy Spirit, help me remember my mortality, to set enmity aside and be true to your ways. Bless the Lord, O my soul, let all that is within me bless his holy name! (Psalm 103:1) May the power of your love, O Lord, fiery and sweet as honey, wean my heart from all that is under heaven, so that I may die for love of your love, you who were so good as to die for love of my love. St. Francis of Assisi Listen to Make Me A Channel of Your Peace- The Prayer of St. Francis: https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tFP1zcsNM2qyjXNKjNg9JLPTcxOVchNVUhUSM5IzMtLzVHIT1OozC8tUihITUxOBQBp2A-_&q=make+me+a+channel+of+your+peace&rlz=1C1SQJL_enCA890CA891&oq=Make+me+a+Channel+&aqs=chrome.3.0i67i650j69i57j46i340i512l2j0i512l6.12559j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:14a041c6,vid:fYz14jEoaeU,st:0 Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Luke 2: 33-35 Interestingly, the name Mary in Hebrew means not ‘joy’ or ‘peace’ or ‘favored one’ as you might expect; it means ‘bitterness’. Yes! Mary’s life was full of sorrow! Simeon laid this prophesy on her when Jesus was just 8 days old, “… and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Traditionally seven sorrows are assigned to Mary, not least of which was witnessing her Son’s brutal crucifixion. But there was other grief in Mary’s life as well – Joseph died before Jesus assumed his ministry; Jesus lived with his friends in Capernaum rather than in Nazareth caring for his mother; and her son publicly rebuffing her attempt to speak to him by saying, ‘Who is my mother and who are my brothers?’ and then pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!’ This must have been a deeply grievous event for Mary! But it was this same Son, Jesus, who gave her counsel on how to accommodate the sorrows and grief of life: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Left to our own devices, life’s sorrows can lead us into precarious places of darkness, despondency depression, and yes, bitterness. But when grief and sorrows are interpreted and healed by the Holy Spirit of God, any ‘gore-y story’ or mourning can be transformed into a ‘glory story’ of God’s living and loving Grace. Clearly as Mary lived through her times of mourning, she embraced not the curse, but the blessings that accompanied all the hurts and separations she experienced. And so the sorrows of her life did not break Mary, but ultimately strengthened her – to live beyond the loneliness of being a widow to share the mystery and ministry of Jesus with the crowds he was sent to save; to stand alone, defenceless amongst Roman soldiers at the foot of her son’s cross; and to journey beyond the death of Jesus to witness the resurrection and then become a respected Apostle of the Gospel ministering to the early Church. Will I, like Mary, see the blessing of God within life’s sorrows? Holy Spirit of God, comfort my sorrows by your blessedness. Holy Spirit of God, comfort my mourning by your blessing. But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.” My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. How abundant is your goodness you have laid up for those who take refuge in you! (Psalm 31:14-15 & 19) Restore to me the joy of your salvation. With a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I might teach transgressors your ways, and sinners might return to you. David, Psalm 51:12-13 Listen to Trading my Sorrows (Yes, Lord!) , by Darrell Evans https://www.google.com/search?q=i%27m+trading+my+sorrows&rlz=1C1SQJL_enCA890CA891&oq=I%27m+trading+my+&aqs=chrome.0.0i355i512j46i512j0i512l2j69i57j0i512l5.5671j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:dc2db448,vid:X5I86UXcrpQ,st:0 Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Psalm 95, Ezek 33:7-9, Romans 13:8-10 & Matt 18:15-20 My soft-heartedness allows me to know God more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly – and to witness the myriad of miracles God’s love produces in our lives. So often it is the faults of other that trip me up, hardening my heart with self-righteous criticism, judgement and unforgiveness. Hard-heartedness so gained, stops the flow of God’s love throughout my being and so withdraws the love of God that I could have passed along to others. God has ways of releasing our hard-heartedness and softening our hearts to know and to serve him. Speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, God encourages us to be driven by his love, not our own judgement, to be able to explain to others the paths of repentance and of life. St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that we are always called to love, and that love does no wrong – no judgement –to a neighbour. And Jesus in the passage from Matthew counsels us how to be reconciled with one who wrongs us. Rather than plugging up my heart and soul with bitterness and resentments, Jesus guides us to go and speak to the person who sins against us, alone, with another person, or with the church, to be reconciled together. And he opens a door for peace if the other person’s heart is closed to reconciliation: prayerfully set a boundary and move on in life –within the love and peace of Christ. Will the Lord find in me a heart that is unrelenting and hard, or a heart that is open and schooled by love, despite the errors and faults of others? Holy Spirit, soften my heart beyond the faults of others. O that today you would listen to God’s voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. (Psalm 95:8-9) Restore to me the joy of your salvation. With a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I might teach transgressors your ways, and sinners might return to you. Psalm 51:12-13 Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca |
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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