Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Gospel Mystery of the Day Thursday, February 14, 2019
Good Morning! Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119) Mark 7:24-30 Dealing with the overwhelming grief of the loss of his cousin John in a brutal beheading by Herod, Jesus sought refuge and retreat in the region of Tyre and Sidon away from the crowds of Judea. Surrounded by non-Jewish people, surely he would be left alone for rest and prayer! But a Syrophoenician woman from the area found him out and begged him to heal her daughter from demon oppression. Not phased by Jesus’ likening her people to the dogs under the table, the woman persisted in her trust that this Jewish Rabbi could heal her daughter. Politely but firmly she rebuffed Jesus’ rejection and persisted in asking for help for her daughter. Her perseverance –like ours can be –was rewarded. Praising the woman for her faith and her persistence, Jesus healed her daughter (even in absentia) and the woman returned home to find her restored in mind, body and spirit. Am I as faith-full and persistent as the Syrophoenician woman when I approach Christ Jesus for the healing of my children or myself? Holy Spirit, help me persist in asking God for healing. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants within your hearts, which is able to save you. (James 1:21) I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse. Philip Yancey www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Mark 8:1-10 God’s Truth underlies and arches over all other ‘truths’ that academic, scientific or social knowledge purport to have discovered. As such, the Truth of God cannot be limited to mere facts (or fiction!), to fake news or fervent speeches. Like nature which is a reflection of the divine, God’s Truth weaves around, above, below and through all of humanity. It is more about an undeniable, immutable and lively relationship than about a storehouse of knowledge relegated to print, or digital, words. When the first human beings were tested by their Creator, and definitively told not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, the evil one, Satan, deceived them with tidbits of knowledge that were true, but not part of the underlying and overriding Truth of their existence as beloved human beings created in God’s image. Lured into deceptions that were half-truths argued by a cunning tongue, they lost their primal relationship with their Creator and forever set humanity on a path of reaching for the Truth of their identity as beloved children of God. When faced with facts and other partial truths of ‘knowledge’ will I entertain their credibility and so hide myself from God, or will I turn to face Father God and let his Truth inform my thoughts, words and actions? Holy Spirit, help me always rely on God’s truth. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1) The man [or woman] of the true religious tradition understands two things: liberty and obedience. The first means knowing what you really want. The second means knowing what you really trust. GK Chesterton www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Mark 7:14-23 Today our hearts are bombarded with multiple and various forms of temptation to evil intention not only in real time and space, but in the virtual world of screens and devices as well. The list of twelve evil intentions of the heart that lead to defilement mentioned by Jesus is just a starting point. St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians (5:19-22) added immorality, filthiness, indecency, idol worship, participation in the occult, fighting, jealousy, sustained anger (resentment), ambition, divisiveness, drunkenness, and participation in orgies to Jesus’ list of evil intentions that lead to sin, that is to ‘defilement’. St. James adds a few more in his epistle, James 2:13-17: Bitterness, selfishness, boasting, disorder, and every kind of evil. Today one could also add addictions of any kind, voyeurism, pornography, fake news, excessive gaming, relativism, involvement with the dark web, cyber bullying and excessive web surfing to the long list of evil intentions that defile anyone who participates in them. Scientific proof is fast coming in that excessive participation in virtual reality stifles healthy function of the mind and robs human hearts of empathy. How can I be sure that my heart is not engaged in evil intentions that will defile my being? Only by intentionally following Jesus into and through all circumstances, events and relationships, whether real or virtual, can I be sure that my thoughts, words and actions will not defile my being and lead to sin. Holy Spirit, lead my heart away from evil intentions, that I might not participate in sin. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, for they belong to you. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. (John 17:17) Don’t think there is no truth in the scripture that says, “The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires.” But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Letter of St. James 4:5,6 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Gospel Mystery of the Day Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Good Morning! Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119) Psalm 141 The story of creation, whether told in the sciences or in scriptural and oral history is by all accounts a magnificent and carefully orchestrated drama. The order and timeliness of perfect conditions for all varieties of life that were wrested from the cataclysms and chaos of all systems on the planet – cosmic, geological, physical, atmospheric and biologiological –is awesome. The stage that has been set for the age of human beings is even more phenomenal. As a privileged woman or man with a short life- span of about 80 years, certainly my role is to stay connected with its timely and balanced splendour and to walk carefully on ‘mother earth’ with continual care and gratitude. Father God, teach me my place and role in creation. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Genesis 1:32) May the stars carry your sadness away, may the flowers fill your heart with beauty, may hope forever wipe away your tears. And, above all, may silence make you strong. One thing to remember is to talk to the animals. Chief Dan George www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Psalm 141 Like oil that seeps slowly but surely into all fibrous material it touches, so when we are anointed with the holy oil of healing, the oil of the catechumenate, or the oil of sacred chrism, the Holy Spirit seeps into our bodies, our hearts, minds and souls to make us more like Jesus over time. Similarly the oil, or the ‘honor’ (flattering words) of the wicked can seep into my being to “discolour” and “make holyproof” my heart, mind and spirit. Am I allowing the holy oils of gladness and of salvation to seep through me so that the flattering words or evil deeds of the wicked gain no entry into the fibers of my being? Holy Spirit of God, let the oil of gladness and salvation anoint my being. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 42:10) We must always have courage, and if some spiritual languor comes upon us, let us run to the feet of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and let us place ourselves in the midst of the heavenly perfumes, and we will undoubtedly regain our strength. St. Padre Pio In Roman Catholic churches, an ambry, traditionally located in the sanctuary (as in, the altar area) of a church or in the Baptistery, is used to store the oils used in sacraments: Oil of catechumens (indicated by the Latin letters O.C.), Oil of the Sick (O.I.), and Sacred Chrism (S.C.). For more on the role of Holy Oils in the Church, go to: https://www.osv.com/TheChurch/Sacraments/Article/TabId/667/ArtMID/13707/ArticleID/10304/What-Are-Holy-Oils.aspx 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
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