Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 & Luke 11:14 -23 Jesus’ parable of a man hiring a guard for his house was his answer to those who accused him of being in league with Satan. Jesus was not a fallen angel who had a stiff neck and turned his back on the Lord. But Jesus was a “Holy One” – the Holy One – who know what it was to listen to the Lord God and knew the power of his Father’s Grace. When Jesus was crucified at Golgatha as one who was ‘in league with Beelzabub’ Jesus did not put his trust in good spirits, or in the evil spirits as his accusers falsely claimed –Jesus didn’t need to hire anyone to guard him. Instead he trusted in his Father’s purpose and power without compromise and trustingly faced his Father throughout his passion without turning. He trusted that this Father’s Grace was sufficient to raise him from the tomb of earthly anguish and evil, to live again. Will I, like our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Paul and all martyrs of Faith, learn how God’s Grace is always sufficient? Holy Spirit of God teach me how your Grace is sufficient for me. O Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker! For his is our God, and we are the People of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. O today do not harden your hearts! (Psalm 95:7-8 ) Be attentive to the voice of Grace! St, Elisabeth Ann Seton Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
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www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+5%3A1-15&version=NIV
2 Kings 5:1-15 Like leprosy of the body, seeds of sin silently enter my soul through cuts and bruises that have compromised the ‘skin’ of my being. Traumas of all kinds can leave wounds in our hearts and minds that are particularly susceptible to the nerve-destroying disease, that eventually numbs all senses and extremities, and finally destroys the integrity of one’s being, - as a son or daughter of God. Naaman, the Syrian commander contracted leprosy of the body, and was greatly offended when the God-man Elisha sent his servant to tell him to wash in the Jordon River seven times. How could something so simple as washing work? But encouraged by his servants to humbly follow the Prophet’s guidance, Naaman swallowed his pride and did as he was told. As he simply dipped himself seven times in the quiet splashing of the waters of the Jordan, his mind was cleansed of his self-righteousness, his heart was aligned with the purity of the holy, his soul was healed of its hopelessness and despair and his skin that harbored the spots of leprosy was made whole again. During these 40 days of Lent, we will do well to notice the spots of the leprosy of sin that have invaded, and numbed, the ‘skin’ of our souls through the wounds and wonders of this life. Like Naaman, we will do well to seek out the Holy remedies of God (Repentance, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and fasting and penance) and humbly wash ourselves in them – ‘seven times’, that is repeatedly. Then we will be able to rejoice with all God’s people on earth at Easter, that by the wounds of the crucified Christ we are healed, and by his rising from tomb, we are raised to life again. Will I, like Naaman, notice my maladies, seek out the wisdom of following Jesus, and ‘seven times’ wash away the leprosy of sin in the rivers of God’s Grace? Holy Spirit of God help me wash away the leprosy of sin in the rivers of God’s mercy. As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 50:16,23) Wash me more and more from my sins, and cleanse me from all unrighteousness… Wash me, O God, and I shall be whiter than snow. King David, Psalm 51 For a discussion of ‘leprosy of the soul’, see Dr. Paul Brand’s book, written with Philip Yancey, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me not sit in the seat of scoffers, but delight in the law of the Lord…2/28/2024 Psalm 1 & Luke 6:36-38 There are many more people, it seems, who sit in the seat of scoffers than delight in the law of the Lord, and humanity is all the poorer because of it. Every time I complain, gossip, scheme, criticize and slander or worry issues and accusations to the bone, I too have turned my back on the Mercy seat of God, and have chosen instead to sit in the congregation of scoffers – a human ‘murder’ of crows – chirping* away at others. Think of the Israelites ‘chirping’ Moses and Aaron on their circuitous and a-maze-ing 400 Kilometer journey through the desert that took forty years. Or think of Job’s Friends who flocked to Job when he was at his lowest and told him that his troubles were his own doing and that all was hopeless. Or consider the crowd scoffing at Christ Jesus and condemning him to death on Good Friday. But there is a remedy for all of this chirping and heckling. The Law of the Lord which is Mercy was the delight of Moses of Job and of Jesus and guided them through the places that ‘looked like death, but really led to life’ (cf. Ronald Rohlheiser). When I find myself (again) sitting in the chair of a scoffer, I do have a choice. I can follow the current of scoffing hopelessness, and continue to turn away from God, or I can repent of my foolishness, get up off the chair of contention and begin again to delight in the law of the Lord, in the company of holy people of all ages. Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me not sit in the seat of scoffers, but delight in the law of the Lord. What right have you to recite my statues, or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. .. Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me; to those who go the right way, I will show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50: 16,23) “He who trusts himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.” St. Alphonsus Liguori chirping* - Canadian slang. As in opposing mean-spirited hockey players slandering, swearing at, and checking each other Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Mark 8:14-21 Yeasts of all kinds populate our environment and our bodies. Some yeast plants are helpful, raising dough to make delicious breads. But yeast infections of the body are often ‘silent’ and go undetected as minor discomforts until great damage has been done to skin and ear cells or to other organs of the body. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were like yeast – they were ubiquitous, and some did great good. But many of the Pharisees became self-righteous, critical and anything but holy, infecting individuals, families and groups of their communities because they appeared to be religious and were ‘successful’ – if only in powering over the common folk. As a member of the Church, I can still live like a Pharisee today, feasting on the goods of our present culture and then become infected with ‘yeast’ of stimulating events, delicious foods, tantalizing media bites, self-fashioned habits or the acquisition or production of ‘the arts’ working more to my own agenda and plans than seeking the will of God. Then, like all the other ‘Pharisees’ of ages past and present who posed as religious ‘authorities’ and success stories, my soul’s skin will become raw and inflamed and it will be difficult to find, let alone rest within, the holy peace and love of God. As these 40 days of Lent unfold, will I ‘feast’ with the Pharisees and contract the infections of yeast that affect those who follow the way of false religion? Or will I be wary of the yeasts – and the feasts – of the Pharisees, choosing instead to fast from the small and almost undetectable infections of self-will and self-empowerment? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me beware of the yeast of the Pharisees. Happy are those whom you discipline, Lord, and whom you teach out of your law. (Psalm 94) A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it. G.K. Chesterton Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca Mark 7:24-30
How did the Gentile woman of Syrophoenician origin know that her daughter had a demon and what made her seek out Jesus? And what made her so persistent when Jesus at first side-lined her request? Jesus himself identifies the force within her that resulted in her daughter being healed of demon possession. It was the woman’s faith. By faith she realized that it was not OK for her daughter to remain imprisoned by a demon that was playing with her. By faith the woman received information about Jesus, and recognized him to be the Saviour of all, including those from a non-Jewish cultural background. By faith, the woman did not take Jesus’ initial rebuttal to heart, but continued to ask for his help for her daughter’s condition. This account of a mother petitioning Christ Jesus to cast the demons out of her daughter’s life, calls each of us to similar perceptive and persevering faith. Will I continue to tolerate the influence of demons in my own family, or will I bring them to Jesus for healing? No matter what barriers I perceive, will I simply and persistently petition Christ Jesus to cast out the demons from my family members – because, by faith, I know He can heal them! -? Holy Spirit of Jesus, give me faith to seek your help with life’s demons. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me. (Psalm 86: 6,7) I know, more surely than I know anything, that any pang of healing or forgiveness or goodness I have ever felt comes solely from the grace of God. Philip Yancey 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
March 2024
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