Matthew 7:6, 12-14

 
It is a conundrum for many in Canada – What to do with “the Indigenous Issue”? Christ Jesus gave a whole sermon on a mountain to crowds of people over the space of a few days, teaching them how God has designed all of us men, women and children to perceive and receive others.  He summed it up at one point:  “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.”  As the English mother of an Inuit , First Nations and English-settler family, I sometimes feel that I am standing in the breach between mainstream culture, and the first peoples of this land. I know what it is to be a privileged (white) Canadian and I witness day after day the inequalities, injustices, and grave misunderstandings, both historical and present, that have played out in the health and wellbeing of my Indigenous family. Bluntly, my life expectancy is about 86 years, while my children’s life expectancy is about 70 years. How do we as a family live through the trauma dramas that seem to engulf generations of Inuit and First Nations families in this country? By ‘Putting [our hands] the hand of the Man who stilled the waters,’ and striving to see everyone not as ‘others’, but as fellow human beings to whom, in everything, we have the purpose and the privilege to do to them as we would have them do to us – as individuals, and as family and community members. And let us always welcome and understand ‘others’  as we would be welcomed and understood ourselves.  Will I – will we - truly embrace The Golden Rule of life today?  Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me to do to all others what I would have them do to me.
  
We ponder your steadfast love, O God.    (Psalm 48:9)
 
If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed
If you look within, you’ll be depressed.
If you look at God, you’ll be at rest.
Corrie Ten Boom 
                                                                                                  
See the attached 2 page article from the Catholic Register, May 15, 2022, “New Paths Sought in Reconciliation Walk”
https://www.catholicregister.org/item/34400-new-paths-sought-in-reconciliation-walk
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Matthew 6:19 -23

 
We all have treasure beyond measure of one kind or another, accumulated over a life time of the days, weeks and years that we live.  Besides the many things we have grasped with our hands, are all the items we be-hold in our memories, conversations we have conducted, and thoughts we have ‘thunk’. The question is not what is the quantity of our treasure, but rather, where is our treasure stored. Treasures stored in banks, sheds and shelves, or even in digital files are subject to rot and decay and although they can be stolen by thieves, they cannot go with us to heaven. But treasure stored in the hearts of those we have truly loved, or in the heart of Christ Jesus as we have walked and talked, thought and taught with Him  His love and  truth,  is treasure that is portable for all of eternity, and not subject to rust and decay. Do I have enough holy detachment from the things of this earth to care about, and care for, the treasures valued not by thieves, but by God?  Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me store up treasure for myself in heaven. 
 
Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him and my covenant with him will stand firm.   (Psalm 89)
 
You must keep all earthy treasures out of your heart, and let Christ be your treasure, and let Him have your heart.
Charles Spurgeon
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Matthew 10:7-13 & Matthew 5:38 – 42

 
We are constantly aware of payments – made, owed or owing – in our fast-paced and virtual world. This is true not only for monetary payments, but also for ‘payments’ of the heart. These days social media is especially infamous for ‘payments’ of terse responses and ‘taking a pound of flesh’, that stem from bitterness, resentment, or paying out what another person ‘deserves’.  In Inuktitut there is a maxim for this:  akirkatautikqariaqangituq, roughly translated as ‘don’t keep on trying to get proper payment or to pay back hard feelings’. I find this a helpful reminder of the freedom of heart taught by the Inuit elders of our family.  Just as transactions for goods and services can still be carried out with a generous heart and a smile, so can transactions of soul be carried out without exacting a price.  When I am free to give anything freely – time, talent, treasure or compassion – without expecting payment in return for a deed well done, not even a thank you, recognition, or kindness in return, or without expecting to ‘pay back’ hurtful actions – then I am free indeed. Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount were all designed to free us from the consequences of sinful human behavior, and to give us abundant life as we follow him. Will I take to heart his counsel to his disciples:  You have received without payment; Give without payment Holy Spirit of Jesus help me give without payment.
 
For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favour as with a shiled.   (Psalm 5:12)
 
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. 
Saint Mother Teresa of Kalcutta   
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Matthew 5:13-16

 
Although one of the most common elements of the earth, the properties of table salt, or NaCl as it is named in chemistry, seem to be largely forgotten today. For thousands of years pure salt has been valued as a preservative and as an antiseptic, cleaning, and healing agent, above and beyond its ability to enhance the flavor of food. God knows that the earth is in need of salt! Yes! Humanity constantly needs a holy sprinkling of love and truth to clean out pockets of self-centered greed and pride; to heal rifts in relationships and the broken morals of our age; and to preserve the wisdom of the ages that has allowed civilizations to live humbly with their God on the face of the planet for thousands of years. Just as Jesus called the disciples of his day to maintain their saltiness – by committing themselves to their love of God and their fellow human beings – so Jesus calls us to not lose our own ‘saltiness’, but to unwaveringly live into our role as salt of the earth. Table salt loses its flavor when it absorbs other chemicals from the atmosphere or its surroundings and becomes a more complex compound. It is then that it is thrown out and trampled underfoot.  Am I committed to becoming – and remaining – simple , common, antiseptic, healing, preserving and flavour-full ‘salt of the earth’ for the purposes of God? Holy Spirit of God, help me become salt of the earth.   
 
I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.    (Psalm 16 )
 
Few souls understand what God would effect in them if they should give themselves entirely into his hands and allow his grace to act.
St. Ignatius of Loyola
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
1 Corinthians 12, 3 - 13

 
That we are made in the image of God is indisputable fact within the context of our faith, but more importantly within the ‘DNA’ of the cosmos – aka the ‘mysteries’ that the scientific community constantly plays with.  By extension I understand that each child born is not only whole, but also complete and unique, with the seeds of a particular configuration of ‘ gifts’ that are unique to his/ her being.  Unfortunately, life happens!  Just as each seed I am planting in my garden will not grow into its full potential for any number of reasons, so the gifts within each one of us are not necessarily brought to fruition over a lifetime.  Thanks be to God that each year, through the ministry of his Mercy in the seasons of life, we have opportunity to press the RESET button through the “Paschal (Easter) Mysteries”.  These begin with the Passion of Christ, lead us through the glory of the Resurrection, help us deal with the parting of the Ascension and finally land us on the doorstep of Pentecost. Pentecost gives us opportunity to focus on the coming (again and again and again…) of the Holy Spirit with tongues of flames, multilingual expressions of faith that speak mightily to anyone in any place at any time, and the seven fold gifts of the Spirit of God: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Will I brush the dust off the gifts that God has designed into my being, and allow the Holy Spirit to purify them and renew them, according to his purposes through the special gifts of the Spirit?  Holy Spirit, purify and renew the gifts of my being.
 
Lord, Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.   (Psalm 105)
 
The value of our life does not depend on the place we occupy, It depends on the way we occupy that place.
St. Theresa of Lisieuz
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca