Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Ezekiel 37, 1-14
When I exist as a human being, flesh and skin cover my bones, and I work to keep my body alive, and my soul happy, no matter the cost to others. When I live, my spirit is ignited by God’s Holy Spirit, and ‘heart, mind, body and soul’ are nourished by, grow within, and re-produce the love and mercy that radiates from the glory of God within my being. Is my humility sufficient to receive God’s mercy and holiness? Is my life good humus or soil for the cultivation of the Spirit of God? Do I take the Spirit of God seriously enough to seek him with all that I am and have? Lord God, put your Spirit within me that I might live. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:12) Sanctity has to do with gratitude. To be a saint is to be fueled by gratitude, nothing more and nothing less. Fr. Ronald Rolheiser Soli gloriam dei.
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Holy Spirit, help me run with perseverance the race that is set before me, looking to Jesus ...8/15/2016 Hebrews 12: 1-4
Viewing the Olympics we are reminded of the commitment, discipline and long hours of practise required of physical athletes to participate in, let alone win, a race of any kind. So it is for us spiritually. Similar discipline, commitment and long hours of spiritual practice are required if we dare enter the ‘race that is set before us’. Only by ‘looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith’ will we be able to keep focused enough to finish this most challenging of all races, the journey called life. Holy Spirit, help [me] run with perseverance the race that is set before me, looking to Jesus. Consider Jesus who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. (Hebrews 12:4) Choice of attention...is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be. W.H. Auden Soli gloriam dei. Ezekiel 18:1-32
As human beings we are designed to be aligned with the love and faithfulness of God. As much as I go my own way, wandering from one passion to another, from one anxiety to another, or wallowing self pity and offending others along the way, I turn away from (transgress from) the Lord and do not recognize, let alone receive, God’s mercy. But as much as I repent, throw away my sins, and turn again to God, I ‘get myself a new heart and a new spirit’ that real-izes God’s mercy. Holy Spirit of God, help me turn again to you, and live. Create in me a clean heart, and put a new and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10) Love is an act of endless forgiveness. Jean Vanier Soli gloriam dei. Ezekiel 16:1-63
Indisputably the salvation of Christ exists. It requires only that I real-ize it, and bring it into the reality of each moment of every day, in all circumstances. As much as I choose good over evil and life over death, I real-ize the salvation of God. When I deliberately walk through the doorway of forgiveness, begging the Lord for healing in a relationship, I real-ize the mercy of God. Similarly as I follow Jesus through his ways of life, death and resurrection, my life real-izes the redemption of God as expressed through Christ Jesus. Holy Spirit, help me real-ize your salvation by my life. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3) We invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, and then remain still in God’s presence, full of faith that he is more in us than we are in ourselves. St. Jane Frances de Chantal Soli gloriam dei. Ezekiel 12: 1-16
Rebellion, or ‘wickedness’ separates us from God in the same way that it separated the Israelites from their covenant with the Lord in the prophet Ezekiel’s time. Then as now, the only remedy for rebellion is reconciliation, which begins with repentance: ‘Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Am I being rebellious toward God by following my own whims and wishes, instead of following Jesus? Do I rebel (with Satan) against God’s gentle nudges to mercy by refusing to serve others and serving my own self interests instead? Am I resisting Christ’s call to seek first the kingdom of God, by spending my time, treasure and talent to chase success and material gain? Do I decline to forgive others by standing on my principles, rather than growing into the good soil of faith, hope and love? Am I prepared to repent of my rebelliousness and so seek full communion with God again through forgiveness? Holy Spirit of God reveal my rebellion, that I might fully repent. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:2) Forgiveness is the doorway to the healing work of God. Parish priest’s homily, 2016 Soli 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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