Matthew 5:20-26
  
Much stress in life comes from unbalanced relationships leading to misunderstandings, un-forgiveness and bitterness. Which of my relationships are off-balance? What things are others holding against me? To whom –a child, spouse, parent, relative, friend, and colleague, neighbour –do  I need to be reconciled? Holy Spirit, before I offer you my all, help me first be reconciled to my brother, my sister.  
                      
If the wicked turn away from all their sins, they shall not die; for the righteousness that they have done they shall live. (Ezekiel 18:21-22)
                                                        
Soli ad gloriam dei

Esther 14:1-14 & Matthew 7:7-12 
 
Holy Spirit, make yourself known in this time of affliction and give me courage . . . 
 
Times of affliction come and go as we journey through life – how to deal with them?  ‘Seized with deadly anxiety’ of the impending genocide of her people, Queen Esther ‘fled to the Lord’ and prayed that God would make himself known – and for courage for herself.  Esther was given the courage to seek out King Xerxes on pain of death, to knock at the door of his love for her and invite him twice over to a banquet, and to ask him to revoke his order for the destruction of the Jewish people.  The salvation of her people, the appointment of her Uncle Mordecai as Prime Minister, and a new awareness of God for all concerned, were the fruits of her prayers. Holy Spirit, make yourself known in this time of affliction and give me courage –to seek, knock and ask. 
                      
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. (Psalm 138)
                                                        
Soli ad gloriam dei

Jonah 2:1-10 & 

 
Like clothing, as life ‘happens’, I too can become soaked with the sweat of giving into passions, smelly with shame, grimy with filth from the environment, stained with resentments, or rumpled with deceits and half-truths. Like clothing that needs a good laundering from time to time, I need periodic inner washing and healing to make me pure from sin (the sacrament of Reconciliation). After a good washing, by taking time to meditate and contemplate God’s mercy and steadfast love, I allow my being to be hung out to dry in the bright sun.  Then the colours of my being will be revived and the gifts that God created within me for the good of the world, will be restored.  Christ Jesus, wash me thoroughly from my sins.      
                      
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51
                                                        
Soli ad gloriam dei

Leviticus 19:1-18 & Matthew 25:31-46
  
Great un-holiness is caused by turning a blind eye to the needs of others. I miss out on participating with God in loving human kind when I become so absorbed in my own agendas in life that I have no time for corporal works of mercy: feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and visiting the imprisoned.  When I, like Jesus, take time to truly be merciful, then I, like Christ, become holy enough to endure rejection and suffering, to rise again in the glory of God.  Lord God, help me be holy, as you are holy. 
                      
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. Psalm 19:7
                                                        
Soli ad gloriam dei

What is God’s holiness like? This hymn gives language to some of that great  mystery.:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, your great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, you rule in might;
Your justice like mountains high soaring above
Your clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all life you're giving — to both great and small;
In all life you're living, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changes thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Your angels adore You, all veiling their sight;
But of all Your rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the evil from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendour of light hiding Thee,
And so let Your glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Your Christ in my heart.
Rev. W. Chalmers Smith.  With poetic updating of language and using the original version of last two stanzas from Hymns of Christ and the Christian Life, 1867

Isaiah 58: 1-9 
Holy Spirit shape me to share my bread with the hungry . . . 
The number of hungry people in the world rises daily, both near at hand and far away. Do I simply toss off my extras, an expiring can of beans here, and a dollar there, into the local food bank?  Or am I willing  to share my own bread  - that which I have for the needs of my own household - with the hungry around me? Will I deliberately share all that comes into my pantry with the hungry family or homeless man down the street?  Will I take time out of my busy day to visit one who is hungry for a listening ear and a warm smile? Will I stop to chat and chuckle with a person with haggard face or sad eyes to bring the love of God like a ray of light into their life? Holy Spirit, shape me to share my ‘bread’ with the hungry.   
                      
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17) 
                                                        
Soli ad gloriam dei
“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”
Mother Teresa
 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/motherter130839.html#HKdobodIQrqvP3gA.99