John 6:44-51
                                        
Soon after telling the crowds that their work is to believe in him, Jesus mentions in passing how this is accomplished – hearing and learning from God. Setting out to hear and learn from God is more of a decision of the will, than a happenstance event.  When I take the time to be mindful in the presence of God’s omnipresence, I can indeed listen to the foundational truths of mercy and life that resonate through all of creation, rock solid beneath all the chatter of my own mind and the collective consciousness of human activity and conversation –and learn our Creator’s ways of navigating the journey of this life.  When I align myself with God’s presence and God’s will, I am doing what Jesus did throughout his time on earth – hearing and learning from the Holy Spirit of his Father, particularly in periods of prayer, but also at any time in the ‘marketplace’ of day to day life. Deliberately turning my attention to God is ‘faithful belief’ in action.  This is how I can know Jesus more clearly, and follow him more nearly, in his ways of faith, hope and love. As I deal with the challenges of these days – social distancing, economic stress, distressing chances and changes in daily life –who  am I listening to? What am I learning? Holy Spirit of God, help me hear you and learn from you.
   
Bless God, O Peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.(Psalm 66:1)
 
Christ’s call is revolutionary, there is no denying it.  If we Christians would put it into practice, it would change the world in a few months.
Catherine Doherty. Living the Gospel Without Compromise  
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  
​& Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook                                                            
Soli ad gloriam Dei
 
 

Psalm 119:25-32  & Acts 6:8-15

                                              
Jesus was made if very clear throughout his ministry, that “the work of God is to believe in him (Jesus) whom he has sent.” Being faithful to this belief is not so much an option as a necessity as it is how belief is nourished and grows. Being faithful to my belief in Jesus, is not defined by how much I pray, how many religious things I possess, or even do, by how often I ‘praise the Lord’, or by how useful I am to other people. Being faithful primarily means choosing to believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of Man who was the Son of God whom God sent to save humankind from a trajectory of darkness and death.  Faithful belief in God then becomes the system of beliefs and values that underlines and drives all my choices and decisions day to day and minute by minute. The good deacon Stephen of the early Church, who became the first martryr, was a man who clearly chose the way of faithfulness to Jesus -he was known to be full of grace and power and did great wonders among the people. Indeed, he was so full of the Holy Spirit of Jesus, that when he was being grilled by a ‘council’ and testifying to the truth of Jesus, the Messiah, his face shone like the face of an angel and he was given a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Then as he was stoned to death for his beliefs and values, he, like Jesus, was given the grace to ask for God’s mercy for his murderers. Will I, like Stephen, and other followers of Jesus truly choose the way of faithfulness? Risen Christ, help me choose the way of faithfulness to God.   
   
You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.(Psalm 31: 3)
 
Christ’s call is revolutionary, there is no denying it.  If we Christians would put it into practice, it would change the world in a few months.
Catherine Doherty. Living the Gospel Without Compromise  
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook                                                            
Soli ad gloriam Dei
 

 
Luke 24:13 -35
                                            
Jesus’ path of life took him along the way of rejection, persecution, and crucifixion before he rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Cleopas and Simon, on their way to Emmaus needed to journey over eleven miles of grief, and review with Jesus the whole history of God’s salvation before they reached the turning point of joy when they recognized the risen Lord in the breaking of the bread – and could return the full eleven miles back to Jerusalem to share the resurrection joy of the Lord with other disciples. It makes sense, then, that the path of life for me be no less complicated by suffering or tragedy, and ultimately by understanding the truth of the abundant life that is to be found, manifested as it is in the nativity, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of Man who is the Son of God. Am I truly seeking the path of life as defined by Christ Jesus, and experienced within human history?  Risen Christ, make me to know the path of life.   
   
I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. (Psalm 16:8-10)
 
If we wish to reach eternal life, then –while there is still time, while we are in this body and have time to accomplish all these things by the light of life –we must run and do now what will profit us forever.
St. Benedict’s Rule
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook                                                            
Soli ad gloriam Dei

 
Acts 5:27-42
                                             
Receiving anything without measure is an almost foreign concept in this day and age. Everything, including the uptake of faith in God, seems to be measured by need, by comparison, by human judgement, or by value in terms of time, talent, or treasure.  But this is not how the Holy Spirit is given to us.  More like water than like winning, more like mindfulness than like money, the Holy Spirit surrounds and inspires, cleanses and restores to life, washes over us and soaks into us, slakes our thirst and give grace-full energy to live, to love and to let God enlighten us.  The Holy Spirit of God is infinitely present, infinitely creative, infinitely healing and always available by asking in faith, always bringing us into the nearer presence of God the Father, and God the Son.  Members of the early church unabashedly ‘swam’ within the Holy Spirit, letting the Holy Spirit flow in and out of their beings, their families and their communities, for their own health and strength, and for the uplifting and healing of others around them.  Can I release the checks and balances I have been clinging to, to receive, like members of the early church, the Holy Spirit without measure?  Christ Jesus, help me receive your Spirit without measure.
   
Real zeal is standing still and letting God be a bonfire within you.
Catherine Doherty
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook                                                            
Soli ad gloriam Dei

 
Acts 5:17-26

                                              
When an angel of the Lord  came quietly at night to release a group of the early apostles from prison, they were instructed to “God stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” For millennia other men and women of God have likewise be instructed to share the whole message about this life. This is not a message about science, the economy, human progress in the humanities, and the newest technological advances. It is a message about the instability of the world, the flesh and the devil, and the permanence and pre-eminence of God’s Kingdom of mercy and truth. The whole message, summarized in John 3:16, is that Father God, our Creator loves the world so much that he sent his only Son, Christ Jesus, into the world to live, proclaim the truth, and heal and then to suffer, be crucified to death, and to rise again for the redemption of the world, so that all who believe in Christ Jesus might be reborn to abundant and eternal life. This is the Glad News, the whole message, about this life. Will I aimlessly exist, to survive all that life brings to me, or will I incorporate the whole message about this life from God’s perspective into my days and ways? Holy Spirit of Jesus, teach me the whole message about this life.  
   
My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.  (Psalm 34:2)
 
If we wish to reach eternal life, even as we avoid the torments of hell, then –while there is still time, while we in this body and have time to accomplish all these things by the light of life –we must run and do now what will profit us forever.
St. Benedict’s Rule
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook                                                            
Soli ad gloriam Dei