1 Corinthians 13: 4-13 & John 21:15 – 19

 
“Do you love me?  Do you love me? Do you LOVE me?”, Jesus asked Peter three times, as He asks each one of us day by day. For St. Peter, the cost of loving Jesus was that he would be sent across Eurasia to proclaim the Good News of God’s Grace.  He would be listened to and stoned, heal people in Jesus’ Name and perform other miracles by God’s Grace – and would eventually be bound and led to a cross for crucifixion like his Master.  Loving Jesus is not signing up for a life of leisure in a bed of roses.  Loving Jesus means that I navigate the path of life that Father God has designed for me as Jesus did, dealing with all the wonder-full and ‘interesting’ and sometimes overwhelming circumstances along the way with the same patience and kindness Jesus used as he lived into his love-life in this world. Even during his tortuous trial, Jesus did not lose his patience with his Father’s will.  Even to those who attacked an tortured him, Jesus was not unkind.  Do I truly LOVE Jesus? Will I love like Jesus? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help your love be mine.
 
O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.(Psalm 98:1:)  
 
You need not cry very loud: He is nearer to us than we think.
Brother Lawrence, Practicing the Presence of God
 
Listen to You Are Mine  By David Haas
https://www.google.com/search?q=do+not+be+afraid+i+am+with+you&rlz=1C1SQJL_enCA890CA891&oq=Do+not+b&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j35i39i650j0i20i263i512j46i512j46i340i512l2j0i512l4.10239j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:03960e53,vid:14pPevY5sd8
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gospel Mystery of the Day              Wednesday, May 24, 2023
                                                       
 Good Morning!      
Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
 
Matthew 28:16-20

 
When he ascended into heaven, Jesus left his disciples with three directives: Go and make disciples and baptize them; Teach them; and Remember. What is it that we, as Jesus’ followers down through the ages, are to remember?  We are to remember that our Lord has not left us as orphans – He is with us always to the end of the age.  Do I notice Christ present with me?  Do I realize that He is always with us, when I am talking to another person or having a meal together with family or friends? Am I aware of his desire to be part of my life – informing my decisions, consoling me when I am grieving and counseling me through the storms of life? Do we acknowledge Him walking with us through this digital age, helping us navigate the culture of death that is wrecking havoc in society, and guiding us into the paths of Truth in love and love in Truth beyond all the facts and figures that the world takes as guidance? Holy Spirit of Jesus, remind me that you are always with us, in spirit and in truth.  
 
O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.(Psalm 98:1:)  
 
You need not cry very loud: He is nearer to us than we think.
Brother Lawrence, Practicing the Presence of God
 
Listen to You Are Mine  By David Haas
https://www.google.com/search?q=do+not+be+afraid+i+am+with+you&rlz=1C1SQJL_enCA890CA891&oq=Do+not+b&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j35i39i650j0i20i263i512j46i512j46i340i512l2j0i512l4.10239j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:03960e53,vid:14pPevY5sd8
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

John 16:12-15

 
“What is Truth?” Pilate’s question rings out through all the ages of human kind. Today, when I try to find all the truth about a given situation or event, a multiplicity of facts and figures converge to muddy my mind and seemingly complicate the various available persepctives of IT.  It is only when I let go of this world’s various perceptions of ‘truths’ that I can begin to recognize that all the truth, in God’s eyes, perhaps all the truth that really matters, is simply Love.  It is then that I can begin to clear-headedly commit to The Truth and let it alone, inform my thoughts, words, and actions.  Any of the nagging self-talk going on in my own head, or in the world around me is actually of little value, in terms of living into the “abundant life” Jesus promised us, his Followers: I’m no good; It’s crazy!; It’s all rotting; Everyone is always wasted and wasting; 60% of the population is unaware of the dangers of AI; We’ve gone too far; There is always more. They are not worth it.- these are all ruses and eventually deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil, designed to weigh me/ us down with cares and worries of this life. In the end, Truth is much larger than any incidents and information the world offers.  Truth is much more the miracles of creation and relationships that our Merciful God has gifted to us, day by day, place by place and life by life. As much as my whole purpose in life becomes defined by Love, then that much I seek not the scientific or circumstantial ‘truths’, but the Truth of God – all the Truth of the love-ly design and destination of the natural world and human kind. How can I find the way of God’s unconditional love, that is Mercy, in all the ways, and by ways, and high ways of my life’s journey?  By opening the eyes and ears of my heart to the power and love of the Holy Spirit at work in me and all around me, despite the rot and decay, the deceits and darkness, and all of the complexities I see and hear in the world around me.  Am I open primarily to the complexities of the world, or to the work of the Holy Spirit calling me into the divine depths of love? Will I relax my white-knuckle grasp on temporal things that I might find my way into all the truth, that is, all the love, that Christ Jesus knew and used in his life here on earth ? Holy Spirit, guide me into all the truth!
 
O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.(Psalm 98:1:)  
 
Let us speak the truth in our hearts and not practice treachery with our tongues, so that by pouring forth charity more and more in our hearts, the Spirit of truth may teach us recognition of all truth.
St. Bede the Venerable
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 

 
Acts 16, 11-34 & 1 Peter 3: 15-18

 
As a dealer in purple cloth Lydia of Thyatira was used to gradually revealing the beauty and strength of her yard goods deliberately, without haste.  I wonder how many times she unfurled a piece of beautiful material from a roll of cloth, or unfolded a swatch of fabric, making comments such as: Notice how tightly this is woven – now look at the edges how even they are; this piece will give you many years of service. Or, Notice the drape of this fine linen – it flows in even a slight breeze. Or perhaps she said, The embroidery is very rich on this section – see the surprising selection of colours and how carefully the threads are knotted on the back and intertwined on the top; this is pure gold thread from Ophir – and this is silk thread from the Orient. Like Lydia, the Spirit of Christ Jesus unfurls and unfolds the lengths of his Father’s mercy to his disciples,  both when he was alive on earth, through his Resurrection and Ascension into heaven and still now by the movement of His Holy Spirit in our lives. As much as they paid (we pay) attention, Jesus showed the Apostles how beauty-full and service-able the mantle of God’s Mercy has been through the ages and still was then in the 1st Century A.D., even now in this day and age. After Paul and Silas had visited with Lydia and her friends down by the river, and spent a few days with them, teaching them the Good News of  Jesus’ death and resurrection, Paul and Silas were attacked by a crowd of non-believers in the city of Philippi – and need God’s mercy even more when they were thrown into jail. The Apostles could have descended into despair shackled as they were in fetters in an innermost jail cell, in abhorrent prison conditions, perceiving that the mantle of God’s mercy had ripped and was neither strong nor beautiful.  Instead, while they were shut away in the dark dinginess, Paul and Silas continued to testify to the mercy of God by praying out loud and singing hymns of praise to God, extolling His strong and wonderful mercy for them and for all human kind. When I feel imprisoned, and all seems dark and dank around me, will I toss away the rich mantle of God’s love for me and my loved ones, and descend into despondency and spiritual death? Or will I pull the strong, flexible, and rich fabric of God’s mercy around me, and openly testify to God’s Love with prayers and hymns of thanksgiving?  Paul and Silas were spontaneously delivered from prison by an earthquake ( a shaking of the mantle of God’s mercy…).  Will I trust the workmanship of my Father’s love for me and realize His Mercy unfolding around and through me?  Holy Spirit, help me testify to the unfolding of God’s Mercy around and through me.
 
Come and see what God has done; he is awesome in his deeds among the children of Adam. (Psalm 66: 4)  
 
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God … Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible … Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength…
Corrie ten Boom
 
A Happy and a Blessed Easter Season to you and your family! 
Much Grace, Peace and Joy be with you!
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 

 
John 14:27-31

 
When trials, troubles and traumas descend into my own life’s journey, it is only ‘natural’ to give in to the cares and worries about many things that Jesus warned his disciples about. Fear has many names and is the root cause of most maladies, mentally and spiritually as well as physically. Thankfully, as the Son of Man who was the Son of God, Jesus understood the slippery slopes of anxiety and panic, and knew how being afraid and troubled about many things shuts down normally functioning systems and energy, leading to exhaustion, disconnection, and fragmentation of all kinds. Unleashed “sinkin’ thinkin’ ” threatens to drag me so often  into paths of darkness and despair, away from life-giving words, actions and connections with our heavenly Father and with others. But all is not hopeless! Jesus is constantly calling us back to the reality of time-less time and life in his presence: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.” Do I truly know how to be untroubled and unafraid? No – I do not, if I depend on human nature alone. But taught by the Holy Spirit of Jesus, indeed my heart little by little is learning how to be untroubled and unafraid. Holy Spirit of Jesus, teach my heart to be untroubled and unafraid and full of the peace of the Risen Christ!    
 
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me, I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.   (Psalm 16:7-8) 
 
Let God’s people then recognize that they are a new creation in Christ, and with all vigilance understand by whom they have been adopted and whom they have adopted. 
St. Leo the Great.  
 
A Happy and a Blessed Easter Season to you and your family! 
Much Grace, Peace and Joy be with you!
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca