Archives - years gone by
Post from December 2017 - See below.
Posts from January to November 2017, and from 2016 & 2015 are available upon request - see contact page.
Posts from January to November 2017, and from 2016 & 2015 are available upon request - see contact page.
December 2017
Holy Spirit, help me accommodate your will for my life...
12/20/2017
Luke 1:26-38
The Annunciation of Christ Jesus’ birth to Mary guides me to find and follow God’s will for my life. First, and perhaps foremost, Mary was accustomed to praying ‘without ceasing’ (cf 1 Thessalonians 5:17). She was present in prayer, so mindful of the Holy Spirit of God to perceive the angel Gabriel and to hear his message. Secondly, despite her initial fear, Mary listened and recognized the origin of the life-giving words (the Word), and so opened herself in body, mind and spirit to the will of God. Thirdly Mary did nothing to promote her own agenda, but glorified God in thought, word and deed, because she recognized his plans of mercy and healing. Finally, Mother Mary waited and waded through the challenges of 9 months of pregnancy for Jesus to be born, and another 33 years for Gabriel’s prophesy to be fulfilled in her son’s death and resurrection. Am I ready, like Mary, to lift up my soul to God, that we might receive salvation and healing through Christ Jesus? Holy Spirit, help me accommodate your will for my life.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false. (Psalm 24:3,4)
[God’s will ] comes from love; all is ordained for the salvation of people; God does nothing without this goal in mind.
St. Catherine of Sienna
Soli ad gloriam dei
Christ Jesus, help me mature in faith that I might see things your way more than my way...
12/19/2017
Matthew 11:16-19
It seems that children in Jesus’ day played unsupervised in the marketplaces! Clearly our Lord had observed them in their games calling out to each other, “These are the rules!... Play it my way!” Child’s play hasn’t changed much over the centuries; neither has the predisposition of adults changed, to revert to the do-it-my-way attitude when we meet up with relationships, circumstances and events that are unfamiliar. In this context, Jesus commented on the crowds’ judgement and dismissal of both John the Baptist and himself, each of whom lived ‘outside the box’. Because neither John as a prophet, nor Jesus a the Messiah fit the status quo (a.k.a. did-it-my-way) society easily dismissed – and disposed of – both John and Jesus. How am I walking with Christ Jesus? How am I insisting on Jesus being my Redeemer and my Healer in my way? Christ Jesus, help me receive your presence in my life in your way. Help me mature in faith that I might see things your way, not my way!
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread... (Psalm 1:1)
Real zeal is standing still and letting God be a bonfire in you.
Catherine Doherty
Soli ad gloriam dei
Holy Spirit, help me accommodate your coming to remove our sinfulness...
12/19/2017
Luke 1:5-25
Holy Spirit, help me accommodate your coming to remove our sinfulness...
More than anything the people of Israel, indeed the whole world, needed to have their sinfulness –their tendency to be self-centred, self-glorifying and self-sufficient – removed so that they could live into their heritage as children of God. This is what Zechariah in his priestly role prayed for when it was his turn to offer incense on the altar of the temple. The Lord’s answer to his prayer was to bring the forerunner of the Messiah into the world through Zechariah’s own holy family, ‘barren’ though it was. Was this what Zechariah expected to be the answer to his prayer? No! In fact it was so astounding to him that he had to wait in mute silence for almost one year to come to terms with God’s entrance into his own and Elizabeth’s reality. How is God calling me to accommodate his coming in my present reality to remove our sinfulness? Help me accommodate your coming to remove our sinfulness, no matter how surprising your will is.
The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him... (Judges 13:25)
The endurance of darkness is the preparation for a great light.
St. John of the Cross
Soli ad gloriam dei
Teach me your gentleness and humility, Christ Jesus...
12/14/2017
Matthew 11:28-30
The people of Jesus’ day expected that their Saviour would be calling them to arms to obtain societal power and control. Instead their Messiah came as the Prince of Peace. He did not call them to espionage and weapons. Instead he offered to settle his yoke on their shoulders so that they could learn from him as Redeemer and Healer of all of humankind. He offered to teach them not violence, but his own gentleness and humility, so that they could find rest. Am I willing to exchange my own brand of power and control (aka violence) for the gentleness and humility of Christ? Teach me your gentleness and humility, Christ Jesus.
The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. (Psalm 145:3)
Be kind to each other. It is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness.
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Soli gloriam dei.
Holy Spirit, help me dwell in godliness and peace as I wait for you...
12/11/2017
2 Peter 3:8-14
Sometimes we are so impatient. We pray, and expect God’s response (that is, God’s fulfilment of myvision, my desires immediately. This season of Advent, though, reminds us to wait for God to unfold his will, which is the fullness of our humanity, according to his timing. How are we to wait for this unfolding of God’s will? Simply by living a godly life and striving to be found at peace by him – at peace with others and with myself through forgiveness and reconciliation, with humility and with patience. Today how am I waiting for God? How will I ‘dwell’ in godliness and peace? Holy Spirit, help me dwell in godliness and peace as I wait for you.
A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way... (Isaiah 35:8)
Faith liberates. It liberates love and hope. If I am free to love and free to hope, what more do I want of life?
Catherine Doherty
Soli ad gloriam dei
Christ Jesus, help me listen to your words and act on them...
12/7/2017
Matthew 7:21-27
The words of Jesus are wonderful and life-giving! – but only inasmuch as I act on them. It is only as I align every thought, word and deed with the words of Christ Jesus - or every note, every pause and every movement of my life’s symphony with the will of the great Composer – that my being becomes firmly grounded on the rock of God’s mercy. When I feel my world shake and shudder in the winds of change and human error, I need not be afraid, as much as I have lived into Jesus’ words of love and mercy. How much of my life has been built on the words of Christ rather than the words of the world? Christ Jesus, help me listen to your words and act on them.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3)
Those of steadfast mind You keep in peace –in peace because they trust in you,”
Isaiah 26:3
Soli gloriam dei.
Christ Jesus, I bring the broken and the hungry into your presence.
12/6/2017
Matthew 15; 29-37
Christ Jesus, I bring the broken and the hungry into your presence ...
We are told by Luke that in a blessed ‘three days’ by the Sea of Galilee Jesus healed many and fed a multitude. Healing lameness and blindness, or brokenness of any kind (mental, spiritual, physical), is beyond me. Similarly, I can do little to feed all the hungry within my community, let alone the world. But I can do ‘little’. I can help the broken and the ill with my prayers and active words to arrive at the feet of Jesus so that He can heal them. And I can align myself with Christ to be available as his hands, his feet, his servant, ready to distribute to the hungry whatever Jesus gives me to give away in His name. Today, whose life is Jesus touching through me? Christ Jesus, I bring the broken and the hungry into your presence.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23)
The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.
St. Teresa of Avila
Soli gloriam dei.
Teach me how to rejoice your heart, Christ Jesus...
12/5/2017
Luke10:21-24
Teach me how to rejoice your heart, Christ Jesus...
When the 70 disciples returned to the Master from proclaiming the Good News, healing the sick, raising the dead and releasing the captive, St. Luke records that Jesus ‘rejoiced in the Holy Spirit’. I would do anything to make Jesus, who is lover of my soul) rejoice! Anything? Do my thoughts, words and deed rejoice the soul of Jesus? Christ Jesus, today teach me how to rejoice your heart.
I lift up my soul unto the Lord. (Psalm 119)
Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Soli gloriam dei.
12/20/2017
Luke 1:26-38
The Annunciation of Christ Jesus’ birth to Mary guides me to find and follow God’s will for my life. First, and perhaps foremost, Mary was accustomed to praying ‘without ceasing’ (cf 1 Thessalonians 5:17). She was present in prayer, so mindful of the Holy Spirit of God to perceive the angel Gabriel and to hear his message. Secondly, despite her initial fear, Mary listened and recognized the origin of the life-giving words (the Word), and so opened herself in body, mind and spirit to the will of God. Thirdly Mary did nothing to promote her own agenda, but glorified God in thought, word and deed, because she recognized his plans of mercy and healing. Finally, Mother Mary waited and waded through the challenges of 9 months of pregnancy for Jesus to be born, and another 33 years for Gabriel’s prophesy to be fulfilled in her son’s death and resurrection. Am I ready, like Mary, to lift up my soul to God, that we might receive salvation and healing through Christ Jesus? Holy Spirit, help me accommodate your will for my life.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false. (Psalm 24:3,4)
[God’s will ] comes from love; all is ordained for the salvation of people; God does nothing without this goal in mind.
St. Catherine of Sienna
Soli ad gloriam dei
Christ Jesus, help me mature in faith that I might see things your way more than my way...
12/19/2017
Matthew 11:16-19
It seems that children in Jesus’ day played unsupervised in the marketplaces! Clearly our Lord had observed them in their games calling out to each other, “These are the rules!... Play it my way!” Child’s play hasn’t changed much over the centuries; neither has the predisposition of adults changed, to revert to the do-it-my-way attitude when we meet up with relationships, circumstances and events that are unfamiliar. In this context, Jesus commented on the crowds’ judgement and dismissal of both John the Baptist and himself, each of whom lived ‘outside the box’. Because neither John as a prophet, nor Jesus a the Messiah fit the status quo (a.k.a. did-it-my-way) society easily dismissed – and disposed of – both John and Jesus. How am I walking with Christ Jesus? How am I insisting on Jesus being my Redeemer and my Healer in my way? Christ Jesus, help me receive your presence in my life in your way. Help me mature in faith that I might see things your way, not my way!
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread... (Psalm 1:1)
Real zeal is standing still and letting God be a bonfire in you.
Catherine Doherty
Soli ad gloriam dei
Holy Spirit, help me accommodate your coming to remove our sinfulness...
12/19/2017
Luke 1:5-25
Holy Spirit, help me accommodate your coming to remove our sinfulness...
More than anything the people of Israel, indeed the whole world, needed to have their sinfulness –their tendency to be self-centred, self-glorifying and self-sufficient – removed so that they could live into their heritage as children of God. This is what Zechariah in his priestly role prayed for when it was his turn to offer incense on the altar of the temple. The Lord’s answer to his prayer was to bring the forerunner of the Messiah into the world through Zechariah’s own holy family, ‘barren’ though it was. Was this what Zechariah expected to be the answer to his prayer? No! In fact it was so astounding to him that he had to wait in mute silence for almost one year to come to terms with God’s entrance into his own and Elizabeth’s reality. How is God calling me to accommodate his coming in my present reality to remove our sinfulness? Help me accommodate your coming to remove our sinfulness, no matter how surprising your will is.
The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him... (Judges 13:25)
The endurance of darkness is the preparation for a great light.
St. John of the Cross
Soli ad gloriam dei
Teach me your gentleness and humility, Christ Jesus...
12/14/2017
Matthew 11:28-30
The people of Jesus’ day expected that their Saviour would be calling them to arms to obtain societal power and control. Instead their Messiah came as the Prince of Peace. He did not call them to espionage and weapons. Instead he offered to settle his yoke on their shoulders so that they could learn from him as Redeemer and Healer of all of humankind. He offered to teach them not violence, but his own gentleness and humility, so that they could find rest. Am I willing to exchange my own brand of power and control (aka violence) for the gentleness and humility of Christ? Teach me your gentleness and humility, Christ Jesus.
The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. (Psalm 145:3)
Be kind to each other. It is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness.
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Soli gloriam dei.
Holy Spirit, help me dwell in godliness and peace as I wait for you...
12/11/2017
2 Peter 3:8-14
Sometimes we are so impatient. We pray, and expect God’s response (that is, God’s fulfilment of myvision, my desires immediately. This season of Advent, though, reminds us to wait for God to unfold his will, which is the fullness of our humanity, according to his timing. How are we to wait for this unfolding of God’s will? Simply by living a godly life and striving to be found at peace by him – at peace with others and with myself through forgiveness and reconciliation, with humility and with patience. Today how am I waiting for God? How will I ‘dwell’ in godliness and peace? Holy Spirit, help me dwell in godliness and peace as I wait for you.
A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way... (Isaiah 35:8)
Faith liberates. It liberates love and hope. If I am free to love and free to hope, what more do I want of life?
Catherine Doherty
Soli ad gloriam dei
Christ Jesus, help me listen to your words and act on them...
12/7/2017
Matthew 7:21-27
The words of Jesus are wonderful and life-giving! – but only inasmuch as I act on them. It is only as I align every thought, word and deed with the words of Christ Jesus - or every note, every pause and every movement of my life’s symphony with the will of the great Composer – that my being becomes firmly grounded on the rock of God’s mercy. When I feel my world shake and shudder in the winds of change and human error, I need not be afraid, as much as I have lived into Jesus’ words of love and mercy. How much of my life has been built on the words of Christ rather than the words of the world? Christ Jesus, help me listen to your words and act on them.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3)
Those of steadfast mind You keep in peace –in peace because they trust in you,”
Isaiah 26:3
Soli gloriam dei.
Christ Jesus, I bring the broken and the hungry into your presence.
12/6/2017
Matthew 15; 29-37
Christ Jesus, I bring the broken and the hungry into your presence ...
We are told by Luke that in a blessed ‘three days’ by the Sea of Galilee Jesus healed many and fed a multitude. Healing lameness and blindness, or brokenness of any kind (mental, spiritual, physical), is beyond me. Similarly, I can do little to feed all the hungry within my community, let alone the world. But I can do ‘little’. I can help the broken and the ill with my prayers and active words to arrive at the feet of Jesus so that He can heal them. And I can align myself with Christ to be available as his hands, his feet, his servant, ready to distribute to the hungry whatever Jesus gives me to give away in His name. Today, whose life is Jesus touching through me? Christ Jesus, I bring the broken and the hungry into your presence.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23)
The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.
St. Teresa of Avila
Soli gloriam dei.
Teach me how to rejoice your heart, Christ Jesus...
12/5/2017
Luke10:21-24
Teach me how to rejoice your heart, Christ Jesus...
When the 70 disciples returned to the Master from proclaiming the Good News, healing the sick, raising the dead and releasing the captive, St. Luke records that Jesus ‘rejoiced in the Holy Spirit’. I would do anything to make Jesus, who is lover of my soul) rejoice! Anything? Do my thoughts, words and deed rejoice the soul of Jesus? Christ Jesus, today teach me how to rejoice your heart.
I lift up my soul unto the Lord. (Psalm 119)
Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Soli gloriam dei.