Matthew 2:13-18
                                        
The infant Jesus was so good and holy that angels sang at his birth. And yet within weeks King Herod was trying to kill him and annihilated hundreds of Jewish babies in the process. Throughout the ages millions of innocent children have lost their lives. Persecutions, epidemics and famines that periodically sweep through populations, even today, slay innocent children first and foremost. Jesus survived Herod’s slaying of the Holy Innocents through the grace of God – a dream that told Joseph the Truth, and his step-father’s disciplined, obedient, and skilled, character that allowed him to respond by immediately fleeing with Mary and her baby Jesus to Egypt.  Our forebears were fortunate like Jesus, and by the discipline, obedience and skills of their parents, also escaped the periodic scourges that came their way.  Our family lines not only survived but thrived generation by generation down through the years, to bring me to this day, in this society, where I have reached adulthood, and have received the grace of God so that our four children have reached the age of majority. Do I realize the grace and discipline that saved my family down through the ages? Do I appreciate the grace of God and the obedience of Joseph that saved the Son of God who was the Son of Man so that he could redeem all of humankind?  Holy Spirit of God, thank you for saving my family.    
                                                                              
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side when our enemies attacked us... then they would have swallowed us alive. (Psalm 124:1,4)
 
Praise and bless the Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility.
St. Francis of Assisi
 
A Joyful and a Blessed Christmas season to you and your family! 
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook
Soli ad gloriam Dei
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Luke 1:67-79 & John 1:1-18
Holy Spirit of God, guide my steps into the way of peace...
                                         
The shepherds not only heard the angels proclaim the glory of Christ Jesus’ birth, but their footsteps took them along the way of peace to the cave to behold Joseph and Mary and their new-born baby, the saviour of the world wrapped in swaddling cloths laying on a mound of fresh hay in a feeding trough.  In this holy and humble place on that night long ago the Prince of Peace quietly and gently established his kingdom of uncompromising and uncomplicated Mercy and Truth, that we might receive ‘grace upon grace’. Having heard the Glory of God proclaimed again this Christmas will I, like the shepherds, the wisemen, and the saints of all ages, take steps along the way to profound and lasting peace, to the Prince of Peace? Holy Spirit of God, guide my steps into the way of peace. 
                                                                              
Remember what the holy God has done, and give thanks to him.
 (Psalm 97:12)
 
He became what we are so that he might make us what he is.
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria c.300 A.D.
 
 
A Joyful and a Blessed Christmas season to you and your family! 
 
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Soli ad gloriam Dei
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Matthew 21:23-27
                                         
I notice more and can engage with any person, place, or thing that I name,. All the persons, places and things I do not have a name for, are either not significant, or are simply not (yet) known to me. When a group of Jewish chief priests and elders came to Christ Jesus, asking him to name his ‘authority’, Jesus recognized their lack of notice, of knowledge and of naming the power of God among them.  These leaders were clearly neither connected with God nor engaged in his true nature, that is in divine Grace and Truth.  And so, our Lord did not answer their questions about his authority, the authority God. Do I notice, name and engage the power of God manifest in and through each person, place and thing in my life? Do I recognize the Grace and Truth of God, that came among us through Immanuel, ‘God With Us’ ? Holy Spirit help me name the power of God at work among us. 
                                                                              
Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.  (Psalm 25: 2)
 
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Emily S. Elliot, 1864
 
See My Heart Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger in PDF here:  https://www.usna.edu/Navigators/_files/documents/MHCH.pdf
 
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Soli ad gloriam Dei
 
 

Isaiah 48:17-19
                                        
When Christ dwells in my heart by faith, hope and love, then he is present wherever I am, whether I pay attention to his present grace or not. Rushing ahead into plans, projects and preoccupations can be exhausting, to say the least, when I do not take time to check in with Jesus, to discover what God is teaching me, and directing me to do.  When I do pause to pray first, however, and listen, I hear the Holy Spirit reiterating truths that are recorded in scripture and I notice that, above all, God wants to lead me into all Truth and Mercy, in and through life. Will I take time today to listen to Jesus with my whole heart and mind?  Come teach me and direct me, Lord Jesus.  Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me listen as you teach and direct me. 
                                                                              
My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour (Luke 1:46-47)
 
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Emily S. Elliot, 1864
 
See My Heart Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger in PDF here:  https://www.usna.edu/Navigators/_files/documents/MHCH.pdf
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook
Soli ad gloriam Dei
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Isaiah 40:25-31 & Matthew 11:28 - 30
                                         
In our society, we are conditioned to seek renewal and strength from pharmaceutical drugs or supplements, from self-help programs or from ‘taking it easy’.  While we are certainly called out of the rat-race of daily stresses and strains, God in no way calls us to lie back in a stupor and let life happen.  Instead our Lord speaks of walking and not growing faint, running and not growing weary and rising up on the wings of an eagle – to be engaged in the day to day disciplines and movements of life.  But I am called to ‘wait upon the Lord’ as we walk along, yoked with Christ , so that I  can ‘renew strength’ and continue on my life’s journey. Throughout his ministry, Jesus waited on the Lord to renew his strength, as have all the saints throughout the ages. When my strength needs to be renewed, where will I turn? Will I rush off to find solutions of human design, or will I wait upon the Lord, with Christ Jesus? Holy Spirit, help me wait upon the Lord to renew my strength.            
                                                                              
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.   (Psalm 103: 8 )
 
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Emily S. Elliot, 1864
 
See My Heart Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger in PDF here:  https://www.usna.edu/Navigators/_files/documents/MHCH.pdf
 
www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca  & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook
Soli ad gloriam Dei