Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Luke 1:46-56 Humanity needs saving! On a global level alone we are dealing with a pandemic, global warming, and social and political movements rooted in greed and godlessness that are threatening humankind as a species. On an individual level, throughout all generations individuals have struggled continually to love and to be loved, and to hold on to what is true and holy in our existence. How are we to be saved? We need a King to look to for guidance and protection, for justice and provision. Will we find such a king among mortals? In all the generations of human civilizations no king has been found truly worthy of kingly authority & power – no human ruler has arisen who ‘knows’, understands, and cares unconditionally for people of all races, all cultures, all kinds of conditions. There is no one who has ever really had the wisdom of all the ages of the kingdom of heaven at his command. Only the royal family of God the Father, expressed on earth by the Son, through the working of the Holy Spirit, has the power, the glory – and the mercy – to be King over all. Will I continue to look for a quintessential leader, a ‘king’ or queen, on earth, or will I glory in the human form of God, Jesus the Christ, who came to us some 2000 years ago? O Come, King of Nations, who promised to return at the end of this age... save us! My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour! (Luke 1:46) Listen, my people! Your hopes are answered! God waits for his people... Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, Listen, My People, #309, CBW III www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Luke 1:39-45 When Mary heard the news from Gabriel that not only was she pregnant with a Son of Man who would be the Son of God, but that Elisabeth, an elder woman in her family was pregnant as well by the grace of God, she ‘made haste’ to go and connect with her cousin. The connection between John (the Baptist) at six months gestation with Jesus in utero is legendary. John ‘leaped’ with joyful recognition in Elizabeth’s womb, and she exclaimed, ‘Hail, full of Grace, the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” When I am bowed down with the weight of my life’s challenges, I too have the option of ‘hastening to visit’ – by phone, by internet, by written word, or in person – someone else who has welcomed the generative word of God into his/her life. When I do this, then I, too, find the grace of God leaping within me, with joyful recognition, and I can again joy in the presence of Emmanuel. O Come, Emmanuel, God With Us... let us joy in your presence. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations... Our heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name. (Psalm 33:11.21) Listen, my people! Your hopes are answered! God waits for his people... Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, Listen, My People, #309, CBW III www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 1:26-38 Mary was so full of grace that when the Holy Spirit of God came to her as announced by Gabriel, the seed of the Word of God planted within her became not only goodness, but a human being, a Son of Man who was the Son of God. As much as I think, speak, and enact grace-full thoughts, words, and actions founded in God’s Life and Light, that much I too can become pregnant with God’s Word. Then I can expect God’s Truth and Mercy to grow and be birthed from my life, just as Jesus ‘God Saves’, Emmanuel, ‘God With Us’, was birthed from Mother Mary, to be become God’s reconciliation with human kind. Will I, like Mary, be grace-full enough to receive and give birth to the Word of God through my life’s journey here on earth? O come, Holy Spirit of God... embed your Word within me. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who has visited and redeemed his people. (Luke 1:68) Listen, my people! Your hopes are answered! God waits for his people... Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, Listen, My People, #309, CBW III www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 1:5-25 The power of darkness – despondency, despair, deceits, indecency, and the idea of ‘disaster all around’ –often threatens to cast its pall over our souls as community and as individuals, perhaps especially so during these pandemic times. In this way, from the beginning of time, human kind has thus had the power to destroy itself by unleashing the ‘seven deadly sins’ and allowing them to sweep their beings into hell. What hope is there? Our hope is that from time immemorial God has been intervening in the lives of his people as the historical records in Jewish scriptures indicate. In the 49 generations between King David (whose father was Jesse) and Jesus, God continually connected with people who had faith in the God who is there, the God of mercy. In this way, God prepared the world stage for his earth-shifting work of breaking the death-dealing grip of sin on human kind as a species. With the birth of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was the Son of Man, God brokered the definitive creation of Life beyond death, Love beyond indifference and selfishness, and Light beyond all darkness, through the ultimate sacrifice of his only beloved Son, born into the family of Jesse at exactly the right time, historically, culturally, and spiritually. Will open my heart, mind, soul and strength to Christ Jesus to be saved from the tyranny of sin? O come, branch of Jesse, save me from the tyranny of sin. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people. He has raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of his servant David. (Luke 1:68-69) Listen, my people! Your hopes are answered! God waits for his people... Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, Listen, My People, #309, CBW III www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Matthew 1:18-24 Time after time in scripture we see the plans of holy men and women being put aside as they lean into a prayerful consideration of God’s will that is designed to help them and their families live in love, beyond evil. When Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant with ‘God with us’ that is, Emmanuel, he planned to do what was right according to local custom, to ‘dismiss her quietly’. But the God’s will for the coming of the Great Lord of Might into the human condition was different from the Jewish customs of the day. As Joseph beheld his decision with a prayerful and open heart, God was able to intervene and direct him to welcome Mary and become the perfect stepfather of her Holy Child, Jesus, ‘God saves’ , the Son of Man who was the Son of God, destined to be the Redeemer of the world. Subtle though Joseph’s decision was that night, it changed the course of history. Subtle though God’s direction is in our lives – a dream here, a nudge there, a view of glory ahead or a word of scripture just at the right moment – the Lord of Might performs mighty deeds almost invisibly through the love and obedience of faithful human beings. Will I be open to the coming of the Great Lord of Might into my life? O Come, Great Lord of Might ... lead me into your will. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25: 2) Listen, my people! Your hopes are answered! God waits for his people... Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, Listen, My People, #309, CBW III 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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