Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
John 17:11-19 The Inuit artists I work with who spend so much time rubbing off the corners to bring out the image that is in the soapstone they are carving, show how our Father God shapes our lives to form our beings into the work he originally designed us to be. Sanctification can be defined as ‘purification’, a.k.a. rubbing off the corners of our lives – and this was Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. Jesus prayed that they would be sanctified by the truth. Each of us carries our own (version of the) ‘truth’, that is limited by language, experience, perception and knowledge – not to mention our own small share of wisdom! But it is not our own truth that can sanctify us, and rub off the edges and knobs of our beings. Rather it is the Truth, that is God’s perception and vision of Truth – the order of the universe, the collective consciousness of humanity, and the mystery of the Holy Spirit at the heart of all creation – that is able to work on our hearts, minds, souls and strength to sanctify and shape our beings. Then we – I – can be shaped by God’s orderly and mysterious artistry. Will I insist on my own truth and so be destroyed, or will I submit to the Truth of God, which is deep and eternal Love, and be shaped into the image of Creator God? Holy Spirit of God, sanctify me in the truth.. Summon your might, O God; show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before. (Psalm 68:28) If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God, you’ll be at rest. Corrie Ten Boom Soli ad gloriam Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
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Ephesians 1:17 - 23 The eyes of my heart perceive many kinds of light and darkness each day. At times, when the ‘clouds’ of conflict, injustice, loneliness or the rains of change move into our lives, it is so very difficult to find ‘light’. It is then that I need a reminder that it is God who is the source of all that is light, all that is love, all that is life-giving, and that when I turn to the Holy Spirit of Jesus for help, I am able to see the beauty and the order of God’s Mercy in many things, and in many people. The beauty of a flower, the green symmetry of a leaf, the loftiness of a tree reaching up its branches to the sky – these all bring light to my eyes and lighten the burden of my heart. The smile of a stranger, the smile of a child in response to my welcoming glance their way, and each word of kindness and compassion that I speak to another – these all lighten my heart and bring a glimmer of joy into the hearts of others. It is then that I begin to understand the breadth and the depths of the great hope to which we are called in Christ Jesus, resurrected from the dead, and with us always, even to the ends of the worlds we grapple with, day by day and hour by hour. Will I embrace the light and the hope that Jesus holds out to me today? Holy Spirit, enlighten the eyes of my heart to hope. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:2) There is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force when there is suffering, too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways. Saint Mother Teresa Soli ad gloriam 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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