Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
1 Maccabees 1:1-64 In ancient times, about 175 years before Jesus was born, the Israelites were under a lot of pressure to water down their religious practices so that they could fit into the local culture that was fast over-taking them. This was not a revolution of relativism as we know it today, but it was a relativism that reflected those times and trends and had a similar effect on the long-standing Jewish culture and traditions as the relativism of today has on Christian traditions. In the end, it all comes down to ‘food’. “You are what you eat,” says the age-old adage, whether one is speaking figuratively or literally. For the Israelites, they were being spiritually fed the deceits and practices of an idol-worshipping nation, and with recipes for pork and other unclean foods, were being enticed away from the wholesome Middle East diet the Lord God had prescribed for them. In our day, we are being fed the spiritual deceits and practices of materialism, consumerism, post-modernism and a wide variety of other variations on atheism. In addition, nourishment for our bodies has become so mangled and manipulated that it takes a great deal of discipline and work to eat whole, simple, and genetically and chemically ‘clean’ foods. The result for both the ancient Jews and us today is the same: as much as we consume unreal and unhealthy food, we become ill, whether spiritually or physically. As much as we consume ‘good food’ we stay well spiritually and physically. Today, what kind of ‘food’ am I eating in body and soul? Holy Spirit of God, help me not to eat unclean ‘food’. Redeem me from human oppression, that I may keep your precepts. (Psalm 119: 134 ) You are what you eat, so don’t be fast, easy, cheap, or fake. Anonymous quote from the Internet www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories |