Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 My heart is aching for a young family member who has been lured into the misty flats of dependence on teenage counter culture. Yes! We know that evils lurk along the fringes of the path of our lives trying to devour all of us. But how can we, how can I, respond as a loved one is slipping off the edge of the culture of life that Jesus calls us to? I can shift the situation in only one way – by clinging to what is good within him/her and abstaining from the evils of panicking, fearing and fighting, blaming, coercing or judging. When I, with Jesus clutching my other hand, simply reach out to the goodness of the one struggling on a slippery slope, not worrying about – and certainly not engaging - the evils that have already been rendered ultimately powerless by our Redeemer, it is possible to ‘rescue the perishing’, as our Lord did time after time during his ministry on earth. My loved one needs to be reminded much more of his/her heritage as a beloved child of God, with all of his/her intrinsic abilities, beauty, gifting, peace, joy, kindness and faithfulness, than he/ she needs to have the evils lurking in the shadows described and decried. Will I deliberately hold fast to what is good and abstain from all forms of evil? Holy Spirit, help me always hold fast to what is good and abstain from every form of evil. He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1) Do not be overcome by evil; but overcome evil with good. St. Paul’s letter to the Romans 12:21 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Isaiah 45:6-25 In the week preceding Christmas the Gospel Reading antiphons all begin with O Come! Sometimes they are referred to as the “O! Antiphons”. Oh yes! The Advent of Jesus is quite something! On the 17th of December, O come, Wisdom of our God Most High is the first ‘O antiphon’ to contemplate. Surely we all – and I, most of all!- need more Wisdom from on high to guide thoughts, words and actions, day by day on the journey through life, especially in this season of a Christmas that is ‘different’. What is to be the focus of my life today? Where will I expend my energies, my time, treasures and talents? Who needs what treasure from the Word? How will I walk with the infant Jesus through the humility and the glory of Bethlehem present to me today? Only as I lean into the Wisdom of the Creator, our Father God, can I navigate the path Christ has prepared ahead of me. O Come, Wisdom of our God Most High ... teach me how to walk the path of life. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25: 2) Listen, my people! Your hopes are answered! God waits for his people... Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, Listen, My People, #309, CBW III www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 1:39-47 As soon as the seed of God’s Word was planted deep within her, Mary began magnifying, or beholding, nurturing, and growing the Lord, and hurried to connect with her cousin who was also miraculously pregnant. Elisabeth, too, was magnifying, or beholding, nurturing, and growing the Lord in the person of John the Baptist. Between these two holy women, the Messiah’s work on earth was set in motion, with John ‘making straight the way’ for Christ Jesus to begin his ministry and his final, obedient sacrifice for the redemption of human kind. No wonder Mary – and Elisabeth – rejoiced in God, whom they recognized as their saviour! Will I magnify, or behold, nurture, and grow the Word of God that is planted deep within my being, and so join with Mary and Elisabeth to rejoice - continuously, through all the trials and temptations of life – in God my Saviour? Christ Jesus, let my soul magnify you and my spirit rejoice in God, my Saviour. The Lord has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.(Luke 1:48) In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God himself is hidden within. St. Bonaventure www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Holy Spirit of God help me pay attention to learn what you teach, and to go where you lead…12/11/2020 Isaiah 48:17-19 & Matt 11:17-19 In my own finite perception of the events and purposes of my life, it is easy, like the Judean crowds, to try to adapt God to my way of thinking, instead of letting the Holy Spirit in-form me from within. Then, like a child of little understanding, I misjudge this visit of Christ in my life as a nuisance or that nudge of God as negligible because it was not what I thought it should be. Each step of my journey I need to discern the presence and leading of the Holy Spirit of God, as I am reminded within the very heart of my being that I am the Lord your Redeemer. And I need to remember that life is not about being comfortable and entertained as a child, but rather engaging life wisely as an adult, learning what God is teaching me, and deliberately going where he leads me. Am I going through life as a whiney child or a wise adult? Holy Spirit of God, help me pay attention to learn what you are teaching me, and to go where you are leading me. Indeed you love truth in the heart. Then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom. (Psalm 51:6) In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God himself is hidden within. St. Bonaventure www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Clearing the Temple
A poem reflection by Will Howard At twelve, Jesus lingers, the elders all gathering. His parents then found, ‘in his Father’s house’ teaching, All clearly recognize: God’s spirit strong-dwelling. And those twenty years hence, In His healing and teaching, the Good News of the kingdom, But now a in a Temple of narrow oblivion: - just the common folk listening to another bothersome Galilean’. Yet, too well did they know, God’s Love and Truth lived. But, Sadducees, Pharisees, Priests and Elders, Well outraged and scandalized, at their Temple’s keen clearing; Did they recognize the child the Word’s enduring? Where now, how am I In my temple’s strong dwelling? Do I recognize His presence, In my life of visitation? Every scene and scenario - His being; In my walking my sitting standing, ... my Being. |
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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