Sirach 44, 1-15

 
Everyone needs grandparents, needs elders in their lives – to love one particularly, to advise, pray for and with, to give perspective, and to walk alongside. Pope Francis, like Benedict XVI & John Paul II before him, is demonstrating what it is to be a faithful elder, like so many respect First Nations, Inuit and Metis elders in their home families and home communities. By making a Penitential journey across Canada tempered by his physical pain and aging body, the head of the global Catholic Church, some one billion souls strong, sat in solidarity with First Nations, Inuit and Metis elders who had also made a painful and taxes journey through life to be able to sit down with the Pontiff, the ‘bridge’ person in their midst.  From all elders present at the various venues of the Papal visit to Canada, are words of conciliation, as well as their deep experiences of the journey of life, ‘rightous deeds that are encouraging others to ‘stand by the (true) covenants, [the] children also for their sake.  This is the job of each one of us whether young or old – to become a faith-full, humble and wise elder who points people to God, their Father, who created us, God the Son who redeems and heals us, and God the Holy Spirit who comforts, teaches and protects us – always.  Will I allow myself to be fashioned by God to become the elder I am designed to be. Holy Spirit, teach me to become a faithful elder here on earth, and a saint in heaven   
                                                                                                
Praise the Lord, O my soul!  I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God all my life long.   (Psalm 146. 1 )
 
Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.
Saint Frances de Sales
 
 
Recommendedhttps://www.papalvisit.ca/walking-together-a-salt-light-media-original-documentary/
Soli ad gloriam dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 

Gospel Mystery of the Day              Monday, July 25, 2022
 
Good Morning!      
Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
 
Jeremiah 7:1-11 & Luke 11: 1-13

 
This is my way of doing things,  I insist time and again. But it is these ways and these doings  that are ‘mine’ or even ‘ours’ that ultimately separate me not only from my neighbours, ( and particularly our Indigenous neighbours) but ultimately from God. God longs that each person come back to him in heart, mind, soul and strength (body), to love God more than any institution, ideology or idol that can and does work its way into my ways, our ways, and commandeers my doings, our doings.  How then am I – are we –to amend my/our ways and doings to draw closer to Father God? God promised through Jeremiah’s prophesy  that when I, when we, turn back to him to adopt his ways and do his doings amongst  family,  community and the world at large, God will dwell with us in the land, no matter what trials and troubles we face. Furthermore, Jesus promised that when we are trying to amend our ways and our doings to align with the Holy Spirit of God, if we seek we will find the Spirit who can help us amend our ways; if we knock at the door of Holy mysteries, we will be allowed to enter into life-amending understanding; and  if we ask God to give us a measure of His Spirit, we will receive the life-giving spiritual fruits of the Holy Spirit that correct and purify our doings. Will I insist on ‘doing it my/our way’ or will I humbly and openly take time to amend my ways and my doings with the help of the Holy Spirit of God? Holy Spirit of God , help me amend my ways and my doings.
                                                                                                
On the day I called your answered me, you increased my strength of soul… the Lord will fulfill his purposes for me.  (Psalm 36:9,10 )
 
Purity is the fruit of prayer.
Saint Mother Teresa
 
Soli ad gloriam dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Jeremiah 2;1-13

As a child, I remember my engineer father finding a spring on our property, and cleaning it out. The water bubbled up from the ground, but even with a cup, it was difficult to pick up enough water to drink. The next step was to dig into the ground beside the spring, strategically place a rock, and then set up a pipe to allow the cool stream to run freely a few inches above the ground. Voila! A ready flowing source of delicious ‘living’ water far superior to the cloudy rain water in the cistern my Dad had created next to our house, that was full one day and stagnant or even dry the next. Spiritually, we have the same options available to us.  We can spend our time, talents and treasure ‘digging cisterns’ with societal customs and cultures, and lining them with the concrete of our own resolve, to collect the drips and drabs of all the ‘goods’ offered by the world. Or we can choose to spend our days and find ways to free the springs of the Word of God in our lives. First we must find the source – at church, through scripture, by giving and receiving mercy, in the throbbing silence of the natural world or in the ordering of chaos in our own lives as we each follow Christ Jesus.  Then we need to take time to dig down deep into the ‘ground’ around it and set up a trough - a routine of prayer-  that will keep the water flowing and accessible. Finally we need to deliberately take time to drink our fill of the delicious and life-giving water, that is the merciful presence of the Holy Spirit of God. Will I insist on building less than perfect cisterns to collect the so-called ‘goods’ of humanity, or seek out the ever flowing, ever fresh, ‘living water’ of the Spirit of God? Holy Spirit help me drink not from fabricated cisterns, but from the fountain of your living water.
                                                                                                
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart. (Psalm 36:9,10 )
 
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Jesus – John 4:14
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Matthew 11:28-30

 
Jesus can be trusted to give us rest and to teach us how and where to walk on our life’s journey.  What makes Him so sure a friend and guide? It was Jesus himself who stated it: for I am gentle and humble in heart.. you can find rest for your souls. Walking with Jesus, I too can become a haven for others – but only if my heart is aligned with his. When I am self-absorbed, self-centred and self-motivated, my heart is strident rather than gentle and pride becomes not only a driver of my thoughts, words and action, but also a justification for flashes of anger, biting exclamations and complex explanations. But when I am walking in yoke with Jesus, finding the same lush nurture, avoiding the same pitfalls and swamps, and resting in the same meadows of mercy, I can become gentle and humble of heart like Jesus, and deal with large and small people - and ‘things’ - with great love.  Will I bring rancor and pride or gentleness and humility into the lives of others and the world today? Christ Jesus, teach my heart to be gentl and humble like yours.
                                                                                                
My soul yearns for you in the night,my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.  (Isaiah 26:9 )
 
Speak to Jesus, not only with your lips, but also with your heart; actually, on certain occasions, you should speak with only your heart.
Saint Padre Pio
 
See also :  Where is God when It Hurts? A book by Philip Yancey  https://www.amazon.ca/Where-When-Hurts-Philip-Yancey-ebook/dp/B000SEONA6
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Matthew 10:16-24

 
Just as we are known as Jesus’ followers by our love, so the mark of a Christian is also the peace within.  Jesus told his disciples to depend on divine peace more than once in his ministry.  When he sent out the 70 disciples to proclaim the good news, heal the sick, free the prisoners and raise the dead – he instructed them to enter every household, every community, in peace. Likewise, when instructing his followers on how to respond to the violent blowback they could expect in places of worship as well as courts and prisons as his disciples – he told them to wait  - in peace- on the inspiration and wisdom of the Holy Spirit of God within them.  Whether we are visiting family members, other households or communities, or facing persecution for anything we do in the name of Jesus, let love – and the peace that passes all human understanding – keep our hearts and minds grounded and rooted in the Holy Spirit of God, that we might continue to sit, walk and stand in the peaceful presence of Christ Jesus.  Lord, teach me to live into your peace that passes understanding.
                                                                                                
Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually.  (Psalm 105:4 )
 
Prayer is not a matter of getting what we want the most. Prayer is a matter of giving ourselves to God and learning His laws, so that He can do through us what He wants the most.
Agnes Sandford
 
See also :  Where is God when It Hurts? A book by Philip Yancey  https://www.amazon.ca/Where-When-Hurts-Philip-Yancey-ebook/dp/B000SEONA6
 
Soli ad gloriam
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca