Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
2 Timothy 4: 9-17 Nearing the end of his life while he waited in prison for certain beheading, St. Paul was unloading his heart to his protégé, Timothy. Looking back over his journeys as a missionary of the Gospel, Paul noted those who had deserted him, and the times when he was left alone to face torture, trials and persecution of all kinds. Did this human abandonment leave Paul distressed and depressed? Although he still felt acutely alone in his sufferings, Paul’s conclusion was far from a statement of resentment and accusation. “May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed.” Paul’s forgiveness, that is, his release of his deserters, allowed him to notice beyond a shadow of doubt that his Lord Jesus Christ had stood by him and had definitely given him strength. In my own life, where I have been abandoned by others, particularly in my sufferings, am I prepared like Paul to forgive their desertion so that I can notice the Lord standing by me and giving me his extraordinary strength? Am I willing to let my life become a witness to God’s plans and power in this way? Lord God, stand by me and give me strength. The Lord is near to all who call upon him to all who call upon him in truth. (Psalm 145:18) It is love alone that gives worth to all things. St. Theresa of Jesus www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Luke 11:37-41 It is very clear: a pure heart produces good things. If I give ‘alms’ out of obligation, for show, or because I am downsizing, I am giving with the outside of the cup, the outside of my heart, to use Jesus’ metaphor, while building up sludge and crusty residue on the inside of the cup. The effect of such almsgiving is at best nice, and at worst demeaning. But when I let the cleansing love and mercy of God flow into, and out from, the chalice of my heart, then the time, talent and treasure I give away are genuine, and leave light, love and life in their wake. Is the cup of my heart stale and soiled, or refreshed and pure by the washing waves of God’s love and mercy? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me give alms from a heart that is pure. The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4: 12 ) It is love alone that gives worth to all things. St. Theresa of Jesus www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 11:29-32 The miracles, signs and wonders of Jesus were, and continue to be, extraordinary to say the least. Many people of Jesus’ day, as some do now, followed him more out of curiosity than out of faith, more for the blessings they could have from him, than for the wholeness of person they could be with him. Jesus held up the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba as models of how humankind needs to approach God –through humble repentance on the one hand, and seeking true wisdom on the other. Both repentance and the seeking of wisdom depend on forming a relationship with God, with his Son, Christ Jesus and with the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus longed for and cultivated in his disciples and in all who had faith in him; this is what he longs for and is trying to cultivate in all his followers, to this present day. Am I seeking only the miracles signs and wonders of Holy Spirit of Jesus, or am I truly seeking to deepen and restore my relationship with God? Christ Jesus, help me seek connection wtih you beyond all miracles. If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts! (Psalm 95:7-8 ) Wholeness and meaning in life are not the products of what you have or don’t have, what you’ve done or haven’t done. You are already a whole person and possess a life of infinite meaning and purpose because of who you are—a child of God.” ― Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness: Realize the Power of Your Identity in Christ www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 11:5-13 Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened, ask and it will be given you... So often these words of Jesus are misconstrued to be a way of receiving wants rather than needs. The greatest need of all human hearts is the gift of the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus is not promising in this passage that I will get ‘whatever my little heart desires’, but rather that when I seek the living, loving, light-filling, Spirit of God, I will find it; that when I knock on the door of Christ’s heart, he will open up to me the riches of his life and death and life again; and that when I ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit in every part of my being, it will be given me. What am I seeking, knocking and asking for? Am I asking for the Holy Spirit of God, or some lesser gift? Christ Jesus, help me rightly ask, seek and knock... Happy are those who ... delight in the law of the Lord, and on his law meditate day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2 ) By our actions we tell Him of our love. Elizabeth of the Trinity www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 11:15-26 The casting out of demons that Jesus charges his disciples with is often misunderstood. Rather than being the healing and life-changing experience it is meant to be, the exorcism of demons in Christian circles is often seen as an activity of anxiety cloaked in power rather than the step of sure hope and fulfillment it is meant to be. Jesus taught his disciples that rather than being a simple clean-out activity, the casting out of evil from a person’s life is primarily the restoration of an individual’s mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual capacity to respond to the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ purpose in healing was not to empty a person, but to fill them, with the Holy Spirit of God that gives way to light, love and life within. Will I welcome the Holy Spirit of Jesus within me to clear out the darkness and then fill up the empty recesses of my heart? Holy Spirit of God, fill up my heart, mind, soul and strength. Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. (Psalm 97:11 ) Wholeness and meaning in life are not the products of what you have or don’t have, what you’ve done or haven’t done. You are already a whole person and possess a life of infinite meaning and purpose because of who you are—a child of God.” ― Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness: Realize the Power of Your Identity in Christ 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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