A LAMP TO MY FEET. A LIGHT FOR MY PATH.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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But we have this treasure in jars of clay

to show that this all-surpassing power is from God

and not from us.

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– 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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This image that St Paul uses – jars of clay –

is reminiscent of the clay which God used to make Adam,

and it reminds us that we are of the world

and made of humble clay

with the frailty that is typical of clay.

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Through grace we bear in our souls a wonderful treasure, God Himself.

But, like jars of clay, we are very fragile

and needing to be put together again.

This we do in the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.

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Whenever this jar of clay that we are, gets cracked or broken,

we must go and glue the bits together again,

and, just like the prodigal son told his loving father,

we too, with a contrite heart, ask for forgiveness as we tell our heavenly Father:

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against You…" (Lk 15:21)

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Father, I have sinned against heaven and against You.

Forgive me, mend me

and make me whole again.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.”’

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– Ezekiel 37:6b (NIV)

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The Spirit of God has made me;

the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

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– Job 33:4 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Go into your quiet space

and be still.

Call upon the Lord

and tell Him that you are there to be with Him

and to listen to His voice.

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If you allow the Lord’s peace to take over your mind,

in that beautiful stillness you will become conscious of your breathing,

of the rising and falling of your chest,

of your heart breathing…

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You will become conscious

of being,

of living,

of breathing,

of thinking, and feeling, and…

Suddenly you are more aware of the fact that you have life

and that you owe your life to the Almighty…

who made you in His image.

You will know that He is Lord!

Then, like Job, you will utter in thankful acknowledgement,

from somewhere deep inside your heart:

“The Spirit of God has made me;

the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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O Lord, my God, it was You who breathed upon me and gave me life,

and I want to live my life to the full…for You!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus told them another parable:

“The Kingdom of heaven is like this.

A man sowed good seed in his field.

One night, when everyone was asleep,

an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up.

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The man’s servants came to him and said,

‘Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?’

‘It was some enemy who did this,’ he answered.

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‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ they asked him.

‘No,’ he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them.

Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest.

Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them,

and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.’”

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– Matthew 13:24-30 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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Here is one way of looking at this parable:

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Any farmer who knows his business would quickly tell you

that allowing the weeds to grow with the wheat is a recipe for disaster.

But, in the Kingdom of heaven – which is now – where God is The Farmer,

He seems to permit the presence of what is bad

rather than have it immediately uprooted and burnt.

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Why?

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Just think about it this way:

look at yourself…

and consider whether there were times in your life

when “The Farmer” would have regarded you as “bad”.

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What if God had decided to pull you out and destroy you there and then…?

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The Kingdom of heaven is like this

– the Farmer of that Kingdom is wise and generous

and because He loves us all beyond our understanding,

He provides us with the opportunities to learn the Truth

and to move from being bad to becoming good.

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In the Kingdom of heaven, the weed can become wheat.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Thank You, Lord, for being so forgiving and so loving;

for giving me a chance…to change.

Thank You, O Lord, my God.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

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– James 4:10 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Let us go to that quiet place

and humbly call upon Jesus

and fall at His feet

as we acknowledge our unworthiness,

and express our sincere repentance.

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In that quiet place,

in those quiet moments,

Jesus will listen to us and console us,

and we will feel His healing hand

and, above all, His love,

and He will lift us up.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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You are my light, my salvation and my strength.

Your grace is enough for me, O Lord!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable

– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

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– Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Get your mind on Jesus

– He is true, noble, right,

pure, lovely, admirable,

excellent and praiseworthy.

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Listen out for His voice

and do as He tells you.

Yearn to be like Him,

seek to serve Him with love

…and peace shall truly be with you.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, there is none like You.

Teach me how to love You, Lord, and give me Your peace.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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This is what the Lord says:

“Stop at the crossroads and look around.

Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.

Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.”

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But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

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– Jeremiah 6:16 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Why are we so stubborn?

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Jesus is Lord.

He showed us the way by what He said and taught,

by setting an example

through the way that He lived;

the way He prayed;

the way He loved.

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Jesus died for us on the Cross

so as to put us back on the road to salvation;

the road to eternal life.

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And yet…so many of us seem to have decided

that the Lord’s way is not the one we want.

So many of us are choosing to disregard the direction Jesus gives us.

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Have I?

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QUOTE…

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“God never forces people to follow Him. He gives us a choice.

The question is when you are at the crossroads of faith, which way will you choose to go?

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You have a decision to make and you will certainly make it.

In fact, you may actually be making it right now.

You may even decide that you will do nothing, for that too is a choice

– a choice to reject the Lord, to reject His will for your life.

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Remember, whatever choice you make,

that choice is a reflection of your character.”

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– S. D. James

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, my Saviour, Yours is the road I want to take.

Stay with me, Lord, and be my vision, my path, my guide.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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You were called, as you know, to liberty;

but be careful,

or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence.

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Let me put it like this:

if you are guided by the Spirit

you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence,

since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit,

the Spirit is totally against such a thing,

and it is precisely because the two are so opposed

that you do not always carry out your good intentions.

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What the Spirit brings is very different:

love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness,

trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.

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Since the Spirit is our life,

let us be directed by the Spirit.

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– Galatians 5:13,16,17,22,23,25 (JB)

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REFLECTION…

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Self-indulgence is defined as

excessive indulgence and lack of restraint when satisfying self;

unwillingness to resist the self-gratification of urges and desires;

selfish, unrestrained indulgence in physical and sensuous pleasures.

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But self-indulgence does not bring true happiness.

In order to be perfectly happy,

we must strive to attain the character, which Christ exhibited;

and the nearer we approach it,

the more will love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness,

trustfulness, gentleness and self-control

reign in our hearts.

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Christ’s beautiful character was one of self-denying benevolence,

and, with the help of the Holy Spirit,

as we go through daily efforts at self-denial,

we can gradually transform our character

and become more like Christ.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Holy Spirit, come, remove my self-indulgence,

take over my life and direct me,

so that I may become more like Jesus.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“Ask and it will be given to you;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

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For everyone who asks receives;

the one who seeks finds;

and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

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– Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Ask Jesus

…never stop asking Him

for what will keep you on the right path,

because only He is the Way.

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Seek Jesus

…do not give up on finding Him,

because He is the Truth

and He will truly set you free.

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Knock

…with determination, on Jesus’ door.

He so desires to hear You call out His name;

He wants to hear you call out,

“Jesus, I love You, I need You,

You are my Life!”

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, I love You, I need You,

You are my Life!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God.

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You will reap exactly what you plant.

If you plant in the field of your natural desires,

from it you will gather the harvest of death;

if you plant in the field of the Spirit,

from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life.

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– Galatians 6:7-8 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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The kind of life that many seem intent on living,

even those who may claim to be believers,

appears to reflect a careless attitude,

as if convinced that God may not always be looking,

or that, in any case, He may casually overlook the breaking of His commandments.

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How can true believers

live as if the Lord were not going to ask them to render an account of their actions some day;

as if they could fool God, or deceive Him?

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, I believe You will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. Forgive me for the times I ignored You and rejected You.

Thank You, Lord God. Forgive me, Lord God.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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God is not unfair.

He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for Him

in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.

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Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end,

so that the things you hope for will come true.

We do not want you to become lazy,

but to be like those who believe and are patient,

and so receive what God has promised.

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– Hebrews 6:10-12 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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It is not enough for us, individually, to have a history of being good and of doing good:

it is necessary that we persevere

in the way that we live

and in the good that we do,

right to the end.

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It is by seeing through to the end what reflects our faith,

that we shall obtain everything we hope for;

everything the Lord has promised.

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We must be firm in our love for the Lord and for our neighbour right to the end

because, as Jesus said, “the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10;22)

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Eternal life is there for those who never stop hoping in God

and who persevere to the end.

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However, we must always beware of the lethargy which can creep in

and which often hides behind the excuse

that being and doing good involves too much suffering and difficulties.

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It is only through keeping our eyes on Jesus

and through a longing for the eternal life He promises us,

that we can carry on moving forward cheerfully and resolutely… to the end.

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For those who truly believe,

there is no other goal which is more worthwhile!

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, help me keep my eyes on You

and protect my soul from lethargy and inconsistency.

Lord, I want to do Your will – always…and to the very end!

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