Matthew 22, 1-14 

 
According to the custom of the day, the host of the wedding feast in Jesus’ parable had given a white linen garment to each wedding guest that came to the wedding banquet. All those who had been summoned by the family’s servant had opportunity to come to the feast, just as all elders, men, women, youths, and children today are invited to join God’s family and prepare themselves for the feast of all feasts.  Unfortunately, most of those ‘in the first string’ of invitations made excuses; the couple marrying were of no account to them, and the wedding banquet a waste of time, deterring them from their important business and family matters.  Some of those invited even chose to ‘shoot the messenger’ to show their disregard for the family extending the invitation. Finally the family servants were sent to those who were not relatives, or even people of stature in the community, and gathered together people from the streets and margins of society.  Anyone who chose to come was handed a white wedding garment upon entry, and was welcomed to sit at table or mingle with the guests.  All but one guest donned their white garments, of purity of intention, of righteousness, and settled into the wedding celebration. But, like us, that one guest chose instead to ignore the beautiful white robe he was given and to wander around without his white garment, without purity of intention, without righteous – and so the Lord of the feast ‘threw him out into outer darkness where there was wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Will I accept God’s call to come to the wedding banquet of his Son, as we espoused the Church, once and for all? Will I put on, or ignore, the white garment of baptism that I received at my ‘entry’ to the Kingdom of Heaven to purify my heart, mind, soul and strength?  Holy Spirit of God, prepare me in heart, mind, soul, and strength to attend the feast of heaven.
 
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalm 23: 5)
                                                                                   
Where love exists it works great things.
St. Gregory the Great
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Luke 11:15-26   

 
So much of Jesus’ ministry was about gathering – “As a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings”. First and foremost Jesus went up to the hills to pray and ‘gather under the wings’ of his Father.  He didn’t scatter from his Father, or from his own ‘chicks’ (his disciples), even when he was nailed to a cross. And in the 40 days following his Resurrection he constantly gathered his disciples; “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world”, he told them before his Ascension into heaven.  As we gather together in His Name, we continue to fulfill Jesus’ ministry of gathering under God’s Grace, and  drawing others into the healing and holy presence of God.  Just as Jesus welcomed the sick, the dying, the oppressed (notice the tax collectors and sinners He befriended), the outcasts (the Samaritans, the lepers, the thief He welcomed), and the captives he released (the demoniac in the tombs, and Saints Peter and Paul from prison), so He calls us to gather together, in His Name, with people pushed to the fringes of society.  In our comfortable pews today will we notice, and then reach out to gather into our parish communities, those who are forgotten and marginalized? Will we (will I) gather or scatter - the sick, the dying, those suffering from mental health or addictions issues, families struggling to make ends meet, the First Peoples and refugees in our country, the widowed and the orphans and the “foreigners” in our midst?  Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me – help us –like You, to gather in, not scatter away, your beloved people to Yourself. Holy Spirit help me gather with You and not scatter.   
 
He leads [us] in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though [we] walk through the darkest valley, [we] fear no evil, for you are with [us]; your rod and your staff they comfort [us].  (Psalm 23:3b,4) [ transposed into first person plural]
                                                                                   
How wonderful to know that Christianity is more than just a padded pew and a dimly lit Cathedral; but that it is a real, living, daily experience which goes on from grace to grace.
Jim Elliot
 
See a biography of the 20th century Christian martyr, Jim Elliot at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Elliot
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gospel Mystery of the Day              Tuesday, October 13, 2023
                                                       
Good Morning!      
Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
 
Luke 9: 1-6    
Holy Spirit, help me go on my way to do your work… 
 
Each of us has a unique, whole and complete life’s journey - ‘way of the cross’, that is the way of Jesus – that is custom designed by God in his mercy for us.  But the work we are assigned is the same for each of us: to proclaim the good news of the salvation of God, heal the sick, release the captives and raise the dead. As we walk the path of our lives, carrying out this work of the Holy Spirit of God, we will be received in peace by some and will be shunned by others.  That’s Ok!  Jesus instructs us to keep on doing his work of salvation and healing with those who welcome us and beyond those who do not receive us in peace. I am not to get caught up with arguing my points, retaliating for maltreatment or even protect myself with my own talents and other baggage, but simply keep my sandals clean, pick up my staff and continue walking my journey as a servant and friend of the Master. Am I prepared to simply carry on with the decisive and life-giving work of Christ – proclaiming the Good News, healing the sick, releasing the captives and raising the dead, both figuratively and literally?  Holy Spirit, help me go on my way to do your work.
 
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
(Colossians 3:17)
 
Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible… It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts.
Corrie Ten Boom
 
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Exodus 28:20-23 & Psalm 91 & Matt 18:1-10

 
Physical shelter keeps the winds, the snow and rain, the burning rays of the sun and blasts of cold from winter days at bay, and protects our bodies. Spiritual shelter, such as the shelter of God’s protection, guards my spirit. God’s Holy Spirit alive and at work, protects my heart from false and fickle idols, guards my soul from the desires and passions, resentments, and revenge that tear and trouble my being, and protects my mind from deceits and despondency. One thing is sure!  There will be ‘bad weather’ to deal with at various points of my life’s journey! Climatic events such as wind, extreme heat, perhaps even fire, and snow and rain will blow through from time to time creating challenges to personal safety and community integrity.  It is likewise certain that the ‘principalities and powers’ that wedge themselves between us and the mercy of God will swirl about our lives. But just as a house or a vehicle provide safety and mobility in bad weather, so the Wisdom, the faithfulness, the Grace, and the Love of God can keep my soul, heart and mind intact when the powers of changelings and evil assail us. Will I trust merely in the buildings in my life, or will I surely and firmly place myself in the shelter of the Most High each morning through prayer, and meditation on the Word of God?  Holy Spirit, help me live under the shelter of the Most High.
                                    
You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty … No evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.  For the Lord will command his angel to guard you in all your ways.
(Psalm 91:1,10&11)
 
Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible… It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts.
Corrie Ten Boom
 
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook &www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca