Psalm 16 & Mark 13:24-32

 
As winter darkness approaches, it encroaches on our freedom out-of - doors, and our mental ease within. In this season, it is easy to look to passions and dependencies of all kinds to divert our attention from the embracing dark night of our souls. It is likewise a short step to curling up in the cocoon of depression, or at least disenchantment with life in general, just letting life happen, come what may.  But Jesus’ counsel to his disciples about any of these ends times whether it be end of a growing cycle, end of a calendar year or end of a generation of human kind (that would be ours!), is to stay sober and vigilant. When once I give into the numbness of diversion and entertainment, I become hardened to the dignity and spiritual muscle it takes to embrace true joy and true live-li-ness despite the darkness and storms that come and go around us. And when I stop ‘tracing the Grace’ of God in my life with praise and thanksgiving, my lack of vigilance to the workings of God through the good, the bad, the distressing, and the joyous has deadly results for myself and those around me. Thankfully, as I live ‘soberly’ keeping the Word of God alive and active in my life, I can find ample love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, faithfulness and self-discipline to see me through even the darkest days. And, being vigilant, I will always be able to seek and to find more than enough Grace shining through even darkest nights, to remind me of God’s steadfast Love and Mercy. Will I give into the darkness of this season of the year, and of humanity in general, or will I soberly and vigilantly breathe in the Fire of the Holy Spirit and become a Christ-like-Light of hope to shine into all the corners of the world around me?  Holy Spirit of God, help me be sober and vigilant in these days.   
 
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; … Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.  (Psalm 16:5,9)
 
Let us remember that love lives through sacrifice and is nourished by giving. Without sacrifice, there is no love… A single act of love makes the soul return to life.
Saint Maximillian Kolbe
Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Luke 17:7-10

 
There are two kinds of people in this world – those who are blessed and those who choose not to receive the blessings of God.  And there are two kinds of servants in this world – those who are happy and those choosing not to be happy. A servant is one who anticipates the needs of the one he/ she is serving, jumps up to fulfill them, and does not expect or demand reward in return for rendering service.  Service is a given – no matter how fatiguing, how tedious, how messy, how disgusting, or how strenuous the task at hand.  And the reward for service faithfully rendered?  The only sure reward for approaching life with a servant heart is the peace of being aligned with the Word of God, the Living Word, that is Jesus, who gave his life for us mere mortals as his fellow human beings.  That is, as servants of one another, we are aligning ourselves with Christ Jesus who served up salvation, no matter how fatiguing, how tedious, how messy, how disgusting or how strenuous it was to carry out his redeeming work in his Passion and death on a cross.  As a servant will I, like Christ Jesus, know beyond the shadow of any doubt that God has planned for our Resurrection both in this life and the next?   Holy Spirit of God, help me render service to others as to You..    
 
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart… Our  steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way.  (Psalm 37: 4,23 )
 
We become saints not by violently overcoming our own weakness, but by letting the Lord give us the strength and purity of God’s Spirit in exchange for our weakness and misery. 
Thomas Merton
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
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