Matthew 18:21-35 & Jeremiah 7:23-28 The merciful king who forgave his servant his debt looked forward in hope, towards the potential of a fresh start in life for this slave. The slave in turn, when he chose not to forgive a fellow slave who owed him money, looked backward with retribution in mind. Jesus, working from a basis of faith, hope, and love, calls each of us to look forward to the possibilities of life restored, not backward to debts and trespasses committed. Am I turning away from Christ Jesus to look backward or am I keeping my eyes forward to walk in the footsteps of my Redeemer? Holy Spirit, help me look forward not backward. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25:5) The opposite of resentment is forgiveness. Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, 105 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei
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Luke 4:24-30 The members of the synagogue in Nazareth had their own ideas of the Messiah, and Jesus was not it. So sure were they of their own concept of God’s salvation that they were not tuned in to the absolute Grace of Jesus’ message, hard as it was to hear. Naaman, too, had had his own preconceived notions of how he should be healed from leprosy – but was prepared to listen to his servants who encouraged him to accept God’s remedy, no matter how repugnant it seemed to him. Am I so wedded to my own preconceptions of salvation that I tune out the mercy and simple but rich Grace of God through Christ Jesus, and the quiet murmurings of the Holy Spirit in my life? Holy Spirit, help me leave behind my own concept of redemption embrace your ideas of salvation and healing. O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain and to your dwelling. (Psalm 42:3) It is not easy to commit yourself to furthering peace. It demands courage and much suffering. Chiara Lubich www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Dei Luke 16:19-31
Like the rich man in Jesus’ parable, I too can become encased in a castle of comfort and affluence managing the servers and services that are my rightful property. Such love of money –which includes by association love of comfort, love of wealth, love of security, love of possessions, love of status, love of success and et cetera –Jesus tells us is a pathway to Hades, eternal separation from the Kingdom of God. Am I willing to step out of my comfort zone and minister to the people on the fringes of my life that need some of what I have? Do I hold my “money”(my time, talent and treasure) lightly enough that I can easily give it away to “Lazarus” (the hungry, the naked, the homeless and the oppressed), that is all those ‘hanging out’ around me? Christ Jesus, teach me to love – not money, but people. Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. (Jeremiah 17: 7) Only when all of our service finds its source and goal in God can we be free from the desire for power and proceed to serve our neighbours for their sake and not our own. Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward mobility and the Spiritual Life www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam Matthew23:11-12
Christ Jesus, enfold me in your humility .... “It’s all about me!” says our ego-centric culture that preaches self-improvement, self-awareness and self-preservation at any cost. Jesus exemplified a different kind of life style: being a servant more concerned about the bearer than the burden; more focused on unseen acts of mercy than public shows of powerful rhetoric and actions; more interested in being a non-descript follower of Jesus than on centre-stage. Will I sell out to the status quo or be content with being a humble servant as a follower of Jesus? Christ Jesus, enfold me in your humility. To the upright I will show the saving power of God. (Psalm 50) The mystery of our ministry is that we’re called to serve not with our power, but with our powerlessness. Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward mobility and the Spiritual Life www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam dei Matthew 20:17-28 & Luke 16:19-31
As citizen, customers and clients in a largely dis-connected and self-centred society we have been taught that we have a right to service. After all, we ‘pay for it’, whether directly though cash transfer payments, or indirectly through taxes. Moreover, society dictates that the more successful or privileged I am, the more services are at my command. Even two thousand years ago the mother of the sons of Zebedee was envisioning the services her sons would receive sitting in the most powerful and privileged seats in Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus’ reply? “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.” What is the role of a servant according to Jesus? Giving His life as a ransom for many. What are my responsibilities as a servant like Jesus? Our Lord calls me to pour out my life by ministering to Him in each hungry, lonely or oppressed person I meet, being actively engaged in physical and spiritual acts of mercy, and ‘washing the feet’ of the world as He instructed his disciples at the Last Supper. Am I prepared to live into my position as servant in the Kingdom of God? Christ Jesus, in each prayer, conversation, and activity, help me strive not to be served, but to serve. How wonderful are the good things you keep for those who honour you. (Psalm 31:19) The mystery of our ministry is that we’re called to serve not with our power, but with our powerlessness. Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward mobility and the Spiritual Life www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com & Gospel Mystery of the Day on Facebook Soli ad gloriam dei Luke 6:36-38
As much as I grasp possessions, time and talents to myself, I become anxious, despairing, and unforgiving, and never seem to have enough of anything. But as much as I ‘open my hands’, allowing the fullness of my time and talents –and forgiveness - to flow from my being into the lives of those who need them, I relax into God’s economy, that is always grounded in generosity. Then God’s mercy and forgiveness can constantly ebb and flow through the treasures, time and talents of my life as they are meant to, in great tides of God’s Love and Truth, his gifts for me and all of humanity. Am I ready to ‘open my hands’ and relax into the generosity of God? Christ Jesus, teach me to give of all that I have in generous measure. Redeem me, O God, and have mercy on me. (Psalm 25) If you judge people you have no time to love. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com Soli ad gloriam dei Mark 9:2-10
At times I am overwhelmed by the deaths in my life. Plans falling flat, the demise of an event or a relationship, or the passing of someone close, all taste of death. As a result, grief, anxiety and even anger can converge to oppress my soul into the depression of a kind of a grave –that is often more comfortable than the deliberate act of rising up. But Christ Jesus showed us once and for all that death is not the final act of life. Indeed in any death there is potential for resurrection if I but turn to the Living God and allow Life to have its sway. When I experience death of any kind, am I willing to turn to God and let his mercy and truth raise me to stand again in life? Christ Jesus, teach me what it is to be raised from death. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 116) O Lord, I am your servant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. King David, Psalm 116 www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com Soli ad gloriam dei Matthew 5:20-26
It is the Father of Lies, the great Accuser, who leads me into the snare of accusing those who accuse me. So often I judge the one who is accusing me, rather than come to terms with him /her. As Jesus preached, this judgement leads to smouldering anger and resentments, both in the one who accuses, and the one who is accused. Smouldering anger in turn easily bursts into flames of verbal assault, where labels are assigned, gossip is passed on and carefully crafted insults are spewed out. Each person in the conflict, both accused and accuser, begins to perceive each other objectively, as a de-humanized assailant, rather than as another fallible person caught in the complexities of life. How do I avoid such a downward spiral of depravity and toxic sin? By ‘coming to terms quickly with my accuser’, says the Lord. Instead of fostering disconnection, Jesus calls us to communicate. Instead of objectivising one another, I am to realize that he or she is my brother, my sister. Instead of letting conflict drag me into the fires of hell, Jesus calls me to the ultimate statement of reconciliation: ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do.’ Am I willing to follow Jesus into his ways of forgiveness and peace? Holy Spirit, help me come to terms quickly with those who accuse me. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want... he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. (Psalm 23: 1-2) ) “The man of the true religious tradition understands two things: liberty and obedience. The first means knowing what you really want. The second means knowing what you really trust.” G.K. Chesterton www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com Soli ad gloriam dei Matthew 16:13-19
If Jesus were to ask me today who I say that he is, would I defer to the words of my favourite author, quote scripture or blurt out three or four of his titles? Or would I, like Peter, say with conviction, you are the Son of the Living God, and the Saviour, Messiah, of humanity! Do I know that Jesus is the one who redeemed humanity from infinite darkness and the abyss of unforgiven sin by his obedience to crucifixion? Do I know - (and do I manifest with my life) - that Jesus is the one who redeemed me from infinite darkness and the abyss of unforgiven sin by his obedience to crucifixion? Christ Jesus, teach me who you are as the Messiah of the Living God. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want... he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. (Psalm 23: 1-2) ) “The man of the true religious tradition understands two things: liberty and obedience. The first means knowing what you really want. The second means knowing what you really trust.” G.K. Chesterton www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com Soli ad gloriam dei Jonah 3:1-10 & Luke 11:29-32
Like the Israelites of Jesus’ time, we Christians have access to knowledge of the full mercy of God in our scriptures and in our oral traditions. Unfortunately, like the Jews of Jesus’ day, very few of us Christians today fully live into the great wisdom and salvation of God. When asked for extraordinary signs that he was telling the truth, Jesus pointed out that the Queen of Sheba had gone to great lengths to embrace the wisdom of God manifested in King Solomon, as the people of Nineveh had gone to great lengths to entirely repent of their sins in order to embrace the redeeming grace of God. They simply, but fully, embraced the graces that were at hand, as revealed by the scriptures and prophets of God. Do I take the wisdom and the salvation of God for granted or will I embrace and live into divine wisdom and the salvation of God revealed by Christ Jesus? Living God, help me to embrace your great wisdom and redemption. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51) “The man of the true religious tradition understands two things: liberty and obedience. The first means knowing what you really want. The second means knowing what you really trust.” G.K. Chesterton www.gospelmysteryoftheday.weebly.com Soli ad gloriam dei |
AuthorBeverly Illauq lives in Kemptville, Ontario, where she greets each morning by seeking the Gospel Mystery of the Day - the Word of the Lord for direct and practical application to the specific challenges & joys of the day. ArchivesCategories |