Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
John 3:1-15 When I perceive that “God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son” to rejection, torture and crucifixion by human beings that chose self-centredness over God’s love, the only appropriate response can be one of bent knee, bowed head and humbled heart. This is an image of faith. When I use my body to serve God’s will, submit my mind and all my emotions and abilities to God’s wisdom, and release my whole heart to God’s mercy, then my whole being becomes faith-full and can resonate with the harmonies of the life, light and love of the Holy Spirit of God. Will I believe in the redeeming and healing work of Christ Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit throughout creation and within each man, woman and child, and the eternity of life in God’s kingdom? Father God, let all that is in me be born anew by your Holy Spirit. I will not die, but instead I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done. (Psalm 118:17) The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried. G.K Chesterton www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Gospel Mystery of the Day Monday, April 20, 2020
Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119) 1 Peter 1:3-9 & John 20:19 -31 Thomas, the Twin, had set out on a path of doubt that drew his life into disconnection from Christ and a rickety ‘belief’ based on the deceits of darkness. Even though his ten friends had seen Christ risen in their midst just three days after his crucifixion, and Thomas had heard the story more than once of how Jesus had eaten broiled fish with them –and he had witnessed first-hand their peace and excited joy that their Master was alive –still Thomas hung on to his doubts and despair. Each of us, like Thomas, has ‘twin’ paths in front of us at any given time of life, and particularly when we are facing a crisis. On the one hand is the path of disbelief in God’s wisdom and power, and dismay that God’s mercy is fickle at best. On the other hand is the path of faith, a ‘blind’ faith that God’s mercy is the axis of reality and life for anyone who turns to God and believes in redemption won for all by the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Thomas had the joy of meeting the Risen Christ in person a week after Jesus rose from the dead, on what is now called “Divine Mercy Sunday”. I have the privilege of meeting the Risen Christ at any time in the pages of scripture, in the context of the community of other believers, in the sacraments of the Church, and in a thousand other ways in my life by prayer. Will I cling to a path of doubt and despair that leads to darkness, or will I step into the glorious light and life of faith and trust in God’s great mercy? Holy Spirit of God, protect me through faith for salvation I will not die, but instead I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done. (Psalm 118:17) Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe! Jesus. The Gospel of John, 20:29 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 24:35-48 In his risen presence Jesus suddenly appears in a room-full of traumatized disciples. Within the last four disorienting days they had agonizingly witnessed his horrendous torture and crucifixion; his body had disappeared from the tomb; Cleopas and Simon had just arrived telling an unbelievable tale of meeting their Master on the road to Emmaus – and now suddenly here is their master standing before them in living, wounded flesh. Is it any wonder that they were terrified? Similarly, is it any wonder that we, now one month into the disorienting global isolation and shutdown due to the covid pandemic, are likewise traumatized, and at some level terrified? How could Jesus say to his disciples, how can Jesus say to us, “Peace be with you,” and “Why are you terrified?” How did Jesus bring (lasting!) peace into the lives of his disciples then and now? First Jesus showed and spoke the truth of his death by crucifixion and the resurrection of his wounded body. Secondly, he grounded the reality of his presence in common life by eating a piece of broiled fish with them. I imagine there was some chatter and laughter as tending to the ordinary needs of the hour swept away the clouds of unknowing. Thirdly, Jesus opened the mind of each of (us) his followers to understand the scriptures that recount story upon story of light putting away darkness, love overcoming violence, and life arising out of deaths of all kinds, and indeed refer to all that was, and is, unfolding. Finally the Risen Christ points to the forgiveness of sins and our collective human return to God, as the ultimate message of all times. Will I remain paralyzed by the trauma of these times, or will I, like the disciples, become witnesses to the peace brokered by Christ Jesus? Risen Christ help me receive your peace. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. (Psalm 118:23-24) Turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord! Peter the Apostle, Acts 3: 19,20 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Simon
Luke 24:13-35 Walking from Jerusalem home to Emmaus, Cleopas and his friend Simon were talking about the extraordinary things that had taken place over the weekend, trying to figure out what was going on. Jesus came up beside them and, begging ignorance, called out their confusion and listened to their pain. But his love and his knowledge of the truth could not be hidden. The two friends were given the story they had lived through from Jesus’ perspective, a story that burned through their despair and gave them hope, deepened their faith, and poured live-giving love into their beings. Begging their walking companion to stay with them through the night, the men’s eyes were opened to Jesus’ true identity when he presided over their supper. It was then that they commented to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, opening the scriptures to us?” Today, will I turn to Christ Jesus, to listen to his Words, to his version of our human story, so that all that is dead and deceit-full in me can be burned away by the fire of God’s love and truth? Risen Jesus, let the fire of your love and truth burn within me. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. (Psalm 118:23-24) I have seen the Lord! Mary Magdalene, St John’s Gospel 20:18 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei John 20:11-18 Mary Magdalene was beside herself with fear and grief as she found her way in the early morning light of the third day to Jesus’ tomb. Still weeping, she was hardly aware of the other person in the garden, and could barely voice the earth shaking question – “Where is he!!” The point is, Jesus was right there with her. She needed to only hear him utter her name and turn around so she could lift her eyes to his, to find the love and truth of the circumstances in which she found herself. So today. Always when deep grief is present, Jesus is but a conversation away. It is when I am most overwhelmed with fear and sadness that Jesus is right there, whispering my name, reminding me who I am in God’s sight, and waiting to have me turn and catch his glance, proclaiming with certainty the truth and comfort of his love and presence. Then like Mary Magdalene he tells me to go and tell others that he is risen from the dead and goes before us into the way he has prepared for us. When fear and grief threaten to drown me, will I continue to weep and wail that Jesus isn’t where I left him, or will I remember that it is at times such as these that Christ Jesus is closest to us, if I will only turn away from the ‘nothing!’ to the Someone. Risen Jesus, in my fear and sadness let me realize you near me. You show me the way of life. In your presence there is fullness of Joy! (Psalm 16:11) “I have seen the Lord!” Mary Magdalene, St John’s Gospel 20:18 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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