Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
The Feast of St. Joseph , Patron of Canada
Deuteronomy 4:1-9 & Matthew 1:16-24 The speeches of Moses recorded in the book of Deuteronomy reminded the Israelites that they as a people were saved and blessed by God because of his great love for them. These speeches also reminded the people how to continue to love and obey Yahweh so that they might have life and continual blessing: “Take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.” As a faithful Jewish man who loved and obeyed Jahweh, Joseph, when he was espoused to Mary during the Roman occupation of Israel, clearly gave the word of God much room in his mind. It seems that he kept his thoughts on Yahweh so much that he received messages from his God even in his dreams –and so allowed his heart to be aligned with the Holy Spirit and marry Mary to become Jesus’ foster Father. We too, like Joseph, are to live as people of God keeping our thoughts on Holy things, especially in these times. Will I, like Joseph, move aside the chatter of anxiety, and defragment the clutter of information, issues, and inordinate affections by freeing up space for the ways and words of God in my thinking? Holy Spirit of God, help me keep your ways and words in my mind. The Lord sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. (Psalm 147:3) Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Where true love and charity are found, God is always there. A hymn of the 9th century. www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Daniel 3:25-43 As relationships smolder due to ‘social isolation’, west coast forests go up in flames, fevers of sickness touch down and our economy crashes and burns, it seems as though we are surrounded by fires wildly out of control. At another time, 3,000 years ago, another friend of God walked amongst flames licking at his clothing and heating his skin beyond comfort. Daniel had been thrown into a fiery furnace because as a Jewish man, he gave his allegiance only to Yahweh and he wouldn’t succumb to the political pressure of his day to worship the King of Babylon. What did Daniel do? He proclaimed aloud... “And now with all our heart we follow you, O Lord.” Today, as I deal with the shifting and inflammatory environment around me, will I succumb to the illness, the despair and the boredom (acedia) being called out by the signs of our times, or will I, like Daniel, proclaim aloud, “With all my heart, I will follow you, O Lord!”. Will I follow the Lord God, will I follow Jesus, through these remaining weeks of Lent, with all my heart ? Holy Spirit of God, help me follow you with all my heart. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25:2) This day God sends me strength to sustain me, Might to uphold me, wisdom as guide. Angels of heaven drive from me always All that would harm me. Stand by me still. Transliteration of a prayer of St. Patrick www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 4:24-30 Our experience in Canada today in some ways parallels Jesus’ visit to Nazareth, his home community. Jesus was just trying to make an ordinary visit home. We are just trying to live our ordinary lives. Because of Roman occupation, the people of Nazareth, like all Jewish people in those days, were more or less under siege by a common enemy. All people across our country today are under siege by the COVID-19 virus. Jesus was met with a barrage of misconceptions and half-truths based on a community that was already far from God’s plan. We are being bombarded with conceptions and mis-conceptions, with truths and half-truths and outright lies generated by a society that has been hurtling away from God for generations. Both in Jesus’ times and in our times, life was complicated and could easily be interpreted as being ‘tense’, even hopeless. What did Christ Jesus do in the face of all the ‘deceits’ of his day? He passed through the midst of them and went on his way. What am I to do with the barrage of daunting information and mis-information swirling around me this week as we all live into our various shades of ‘social distancing’? Will I let these ‘deceits’ that threaten to ‘hurl me off the cliff’ of sanity take their course, or will I, like Jesus, stand up, pass through the midst of them, and go on my way? Holy Spirit of God, help me stand up and walk through the deceits of these days. O send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain. (Psalm 42) Jesus, take my life and lead me on… Lenny Leblanc in Lord you Have My Heart www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Genesis 37:3-28 Joseph, the cherished younger son of Jacob-Israel, was the scapegoat for jealousy and judgement of his older brothers, as well as others in his adult life. At 17, he was stripped, thrown into a dry well and handed off to desert traders by 10 of his older siblings. That was just the beginning of his trials and tribulations. After being dragged by camel caravan for days he was sold into slavery into Egypt, and although he lived righteously in his master’s household, he was wrongfully imprisoned on false charges in an Egyptian jail. We all know the story of Joseph’s unfailing trust in the saving mercy of God, however. Having been brought up with a Hebrew understanding of the life-giving breath of Yahweh, Joseph retained his faith and lived into his Jewish heritage. Eventually through his righteous behaviour, Joseph became a trusted Egyptian ruler who ultimately saved not only millions of Egyptian civilians but also all of Jacob-Israel’s thousands-strong family members during a seven-year global famine. When I am at the bottom of a pit, being dragged along by circumstances beyond my control, or isolated (quarantined) from family, friends and all the amenities of modern society, will I, like Joseph, remain faithful to God and trust his mercy? Father God, help me to trust deeply into your grace. I come to you, O Lord, for protection. Never let me be defeated. (Psalm 31:1) Lord you have my heart, And I will search for yours, Jesus, take my life and lead me on… Lenny Leblanc www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Psalm 31 It is easy to get the order wrong. I often respond to life with an attitude of “I better take it into my own hands...” and make a clumsy effort to make my circumstances line up with my limited view of what is important in life –and end up running around trying to put out fires of miscommunication, patching up the results of my errors, and plugging leaks of energy. At other times I act as though God’s times were in my hand. Then I relegate my Godly connection to glossing through a reading, attending a church service or shooting arrow prayers up to heaven at intense moments of the journey. I need constant reminders that my times are in God’s hands; that no matter what pandemic assails us (me), whether the virus of Covid 19 or the germ of incessant materialism and self-centredness, God’s mercy can rain down on my heart, mind, soul and strength to give life and light and even through the end of this life. When will I remove the umbrella of my own self-centredness to allow the mercy of God to water my being? When will I relax into the fact that my times are in God’s hands? Holy Spirit of God, remind me that my times are in your hand. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. (Psalm 31:5) Lord you have my heart, And I will search for yours, Jesus, take my life and lead me on… Lenny Leblanc 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
March 2024
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