Psalm 103 & Luke 15:1-32

When I fill my heart with all kinds of passions, people and possessions I leave little room to receive the gifts of God’s mercy. When I fill my mind with all the ideas, issues and information that come my way, I leave little room to meditate on and understand God’s mercy.  When I try to satisfy my soul the many pleasures of life, I leave little room or time to extend the gifts of God’s mercy to others.  And when I take my strength from the world around me, I have little strength left to explore the boundless depths of God’s mercy.  Holy Spirit of God help me, like the Prodigal Son to be empty enough in my heart, mind, soul and strength to be filled with your mercy.   
 
It is the Lord who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. (Psalm 103:3,4)

If we stand before God’s mercy and drink of it, that will mean that the Our Father is a reality, not just a prayer that I say.
Catherine Doherty                                                                       

Soli gloriam dei .

Genesis 37: 3-28

While God fills our lives with love and mercy as much as we open our beings up to the Holy Spirit,  it is the word of God by which we are defined (or created), tested and refined. When he was seized, beaten and stripped by his brothers, Joseph allowed God to define, or create, him anew, first as a slave and then a citizen of a foreign country.  In spite of the disordered affections and hatred of his family, he held on to the love and mercy of his God as he was tested, whether in dark prisons or the king’s courts. In this way, Joseph was able to embrace the refinements God made in his life, becoming a trusted official of Egypt which ultimately saved his father and the very brothers who had mistreated him, and all of their descendents.  How is God defining, resting and refining me?  Am I continually embracing his love and mercy?  Lord God, define, test and refine me by your word.

In you, O Lord, I put my trust, for you indeed are my refuge. (Psalm 30)
 
Love speaks little.  The language of divine love is a burning heart.
 St. Paul of the Cross                                                                   

Soli gloriam dei .

Jeremiah 17:5-10 & Psalm 1 & Luke 16:19-31

Personal strength remedies sell very well these days, as a review of the titles of current self help books, articles and seminars will tell.  But making ‘mere flesh [our] strength’ is risky.  Very often another person’s idea of strength is not ours, and it is a fact that in the end, flesh and bone, and any ‘new’ self-development activities are passing and ultimately corruptible. Strength drawn from God, on the other hand, is founded on things that are eternal – purity, love, and deep spiritual truths, or ‘principles of mercy’.  It is the grace of God that ultimately heals and strengthens. I can count on the strength of the Holy Spirit at anytime, whether I am alone or with others, whether I am sick or in health, whether I am distressed in spirit or at peace.  Holy Spirit of God, help me to draw strength not from this world, but from you. 
 
Happy are those whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law meditate day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds?  Lay first the foundation of humility.
Saint Augustine of Hippio                                                          

Soli gloriam dei .

Jeremiah 18:18-20_ & Matthew 20:17-28
 
God’s ways are fueled by truth and love, or mercy, not by convenience or self-indulgence.  It was not convenient for Jeremiah to speak of the mercy of repentance and God’s forgiveness; he was stoned more than he was praised throughout his long life as a prophet. Neither did Jesus bow to the convenience of choosing the half-truths of the religious conventions of his day, but instead chose to become the Mercy of God through his passion, death and resurrection.  The people who lived in both eras and chose the convenience of the priests, the elders and the ‘prophets’ of the status quo, over God’s ways of repentance and forgiveness, closed their hearts to Jeremiah’s message of mercy and put mercy to death by crucifying Jesus, and so restrained themselves from God’s grace. Am I choosing convenient religious or societal trends and activities, or am I embracing the mercy of God and extending it to others? Christ Jesus, help me choose not what is convenient, but what is merciful.

My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.  (Psalm 31:14)

Fasting really makes sense if it chips away at our security and, as a consequence, benefits someone else.
Pope Francis                                                                                

Soli gloriam dei .

Isaiah 1: 10 - 31
 
Repentance is not as much a simple action, but rather a series of steps designed to bring us into closer relationship with Father God.  First I need to stop denying the sinfulness of my words or actions. Then I must stop blaming others for the evil that I have done myself, and cease justifying and minimizing my sins, and maximizing any good I consider myself to have accomplished.  Finally, when I am ‘willing and obedient’, I am ready to bring my sins, along with any of the evil tentacles they have developed, to the cross of Christ Jesus, to have them dealt with, and have my soul washed clean of them.  What evil have I been engaged in that I need to stop doing? What good do I need to learn to do? What do I need to leave at the foot of the cross of Christ? Holy Spirit, help me cease to do evil and learn to do good.  

Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.  (Psalm 50:23)

God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that we try.
Blessed Mother Teresa                                                               
 
Soli gloriam dei .