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

TODAY’S WORD…

Joyful are those who obey His laws

and search for Him with all their hearts.

– Psalm 119:2

REFLECTION…

God’s laws are so liberating – they bring so much joy to those who, having found the True Light, do not want to ever again find themselves in the artificial glare of an unbelieving world. That is why we hear so many testimonies, from so many people, from different circumstances, who so gladly share the same story: that as soon as they accepted God in their lives, they found true peace and incredible joy. All also agree that the life they had lived before was comparatively shallow and artificial.

Happiness without God, is short-lived. On the other hand, the pure joy that God brings lies deep within, and is forever. Our body, our mind, our heart, our soul, know their Make and the closer we get to Him, and the more we get to know Him and to obey His laws, the more our entire self yearns and groans, almost audibly, with the desire to be reunited to their Love.

PRAYER…

My Lord and my God, I love You,

and I thank You for the joy You bring.

I yearn for You, my Maker,

and my heart is restless until it rests in You.

I want to obey Your commands, Lord,

and I want to always love You

with all my heart, my mind, my soul and my strength.

Lord, help me love in the way You love.

Help me love even those who do not love me in return.

I love You, Lord.

I thank You, Lord.

I praise You, Lord.

TODAY’S WORD – A TEACHING.

“If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?” asks the Sovereign Lord. “No, I would rather see them repent and live.

But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins.

When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living.”

– Ezekiel 18:21-24,26-28

Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self. Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes. Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace.

Your gain is a life fully dedicated to Him, and the result is eternal life. For sin pays its wage – death; but God’s free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

– Romans 6:12-14,22b-23

PRAYER…

Hear, O Lord, the prayers I offer from my contrite heart.

Have pity on me as I acknowledge my sins.

Lead me back to the way of holiness.

Protect me now and always from the wounds of sin.

Have mercy on me and restore me, Lord;

strengthen my resolve to never fail You,

and fill me with Your love.

Amen.

TODAY’S WORD…

Jesus said, “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

– Matthew 7:8

REFLECTION…

When I believe in Him and spend quality time with Him, I develop a beautiful personal relationship with Him and I find myself loving and trusting Him more and more. The more I get to know Him, the greater my yearning for His Word, and this draws me even closer to Him, increasing my faith and understanding.

Somehow, at some stage of my relationship with the Lord, the eyes of my heart are opened to Him and I begin to realise the extent and the significance of what He so lovingly gives me – every time I ask; the answers and solutions He so caringly lays out before me – wherever I search; the numerous times He so generously opens the door – whenever I knock…in faith.

PRAYER…

Jesus, thank You for providing me with Your incomparable joy and peace, whenever I search for it.

Thank You for Your constant love and care.

TODAY’S WORD…

Have mercy on me, O God,

because of Your unfailing love.

Because of Your great compassion,

blot out the stain of my sins.

Wash me clean from my guilt.

Purify me from my sin.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Do not banish me from Your presence,

and don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

and make me willing to obey You.

– Psalm 51:1-2,10-12

QUOTE…

“If you confess yourself to be a sinner, the truth is in you: the truth is light. Your life does not yet shine as brightly as it might, because there are sins in you; but now you are beginning to be enlightened, because you confess your iniquities”   – St. Augustine

PRAYER…

Have mercy on me, O God!

.

TODAY’S WORD…

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me;

He freed me from all my fears.

The oppressed look to Him and are glad;

they will never be disappointed.

The helpless call to Him, and He answers;

He saves them from all their troubles.

The righteous call to the Lord, and He listens;

He rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is near to those who are discouraged;

He saves those who have lost all hope.

Good people suffer many troubles,

but the Lord saves them from them all.

– Psalm 34:4-6,17-19

REFLECTION…

You and I were created for prayer.  Prayer is acknowledging the Lord our God and Saviour. Through prayer we begin to see the hand of God in our day to day life, that is, we see Him acting in our life. We begin to see that He loves us personally, and that makes life so much more meaningful.

Our prayers must be from the heart and we needn’t ramble on, because God knows our desires and what we truly need before we speak.

Jesus taught us how to pray – He authored the “Our Father”, which is paraphrased below with the hope that by seeing Jesus’ instructions on how to pray in different words we may realise the value of simple and heart-felt prayers…and pray accordingly.

Pray to thank and honour God.

Pray to ask God for help doing His will and doing good.

Pray to ask God for help with our needs.

Pray to ask God to forgive us.

Pray to ask God for strength to forgive others.

Pray to ask God for help in avoiding sin.

Pray to ask God to protect us.

[The last three paragraphs have been paraphrased from an article by A. Badura-Brack]

PRAYER…

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

TODAY’S WORD…

Jesus continued, “Then the King will say to those on his right hand, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.’”

– Matthew 25:34-36

REFLECTION…

All the various actions listed by Jesus in this passage – giving people food and drink, clothing them, visiting them – become works of Christian charity where the person doing them can see Christ in those in need.

During the Penitential Rite of the Mass, I have time and time again confessed to Almighty God, “that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do…” It is a fact of faith that every time I fail to do whatever every good Christian is expected to do, it is like leaving Christ unattended – it is a sin of omission.

We must never forget that Our Lord will ask us to account for not only the evil we have done, but also for the good we have omitted to do.

PRAYER…

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, that I may see You in all others!

TODAY’S WORD…RELECTION…and PRAYER…

Teach me Your ways, O Lord;

make them known to me.

Teach me to live according to Your truth,

for You are my God, who saves me.

I always trust in You.

Remember, O Lord, Your kindness and constant love

which You have shown from long ago.

Forgive the sins and errors of my youth.

In Your constant love and goodness,

remember me, Lord!

Because the Lord is righteous and good,

He teaches sinners the path they should follow.

He leads the humble in the right way

and teaches them His will.

– Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

PRAYER…from the heart…

Teach me Your will, Lord. 

Teach me to live according to Your truth,

for You are my God, who saves me.

I always trust in You.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

– James 3:8

REFLECTION…

Beware the tongue!

No one can tame the tongue. No cunning, persuasion, or influence has ever been able to silence the tongue. Nothing but the grace of God, removal, or death, can bring it under subjection.

It can be full of deadly poison, which, privately, secretly, and gradually, destroys the characters and reputation of men. It can be of fatal consequence in families, friendships and in relationships of any kind – personal, social, political… It can be an unruly evil – so difficult to restrain; it breaks all bounds.

Full of deadly poison – hissing and whispering, backbiting, lying, insinuating, badmouthing…full of hate, malice, envy, resentment, cruelty, slander…

Full of deadly poison – the tongue acts on the happiness of man, and on the peace of society, as poison does on the human frame. There is no sting of any serpent that can do so much evil; there is no poison more deadly to the human than the poison of the tongue is to the peace and happiness of man.

PRAYER…

My Lord, forgive me.

Forgive me for whatever hurt or damage I may have caused others

through what I said, shouted or whispered, directly or indirectly.

I beg you, Lord, undo the damage I have caused,

heal those hearts which I have hurt,

and let them be filled with Your peace.

Lord, please also heal my hurts,

and help me forgive, truly forgive, all those who have hurt me with their words.

Lord, help me forgive them like You forgive me.

For this I pray with all my heart.  Amen.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

Then your salvation will come like the dawn,

and your wounds will quickly heal.

Your godliness will lead you forward,

and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

Then when you call, the Lord will answer.

‘Yes, I am here,’ He will quickly reply.”

– Isaiah 58:6-9a

REFLECTION…

God ignores fasts if those who perform them commit sins against justice and charity. Hypocrisy of any kind is condemnable and God teaches and reproaches, telling us that He will have nothing to do with the pretence and two-facedness of those who fast but behave wickedly and sinfully. He will, however, certainly listen to prayers if they are accompanied by acts of justice and charity.

The works of mercy recommended in this oracle are echoed in Jesus’ discourse on the Last Judgment (Mat 25:23-45). Christian spirituality has always stressed that love of neighbour and works of mercy are clear proof of a person’s love of God and are a touchstone of true religion, for “…works of mercy are proof of a truly holy life” (from St Thomas Aquinas).

St Leo the Great taught: “Let each of the faithful examine his own conscience, seeking out his deepest desires; if he finds the fruits of love within his soul, he will know that God is with him, and he should strive even harder to be worthy of so great a guest, being ever more generous in his works of mercy”.

PRAYER…

Here I am, Lord, remove my impurities and fill me with your love.

Take me, shape me and mould me.

Strengthen my determination and self-control.

Guide me, lead me, walk beside me and use me, Lord.

Amen.  

TODAY’S WORD…

“Have pity on Your people, Lord. Do not let other nations despise us and mock us by saying, ‘Where is your God?’”

– Joel 2:17

OBSERVATION…

Today’s Word is taken from yesterday’s liturgy – from the First Reading, to be precise. Yesterday the Christian world celebrated Ash Wednesday with its tradition of marking, with ash, the shape of a cross on the forehead or on the head of those attending church services – reminding us of Christ’s self-giving love for us. Yesterday also happened to be Valentine’s Day – the “feast of romantic love”.

Jesus said, “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12), and yesterday’s Valentine’s day was a wonderful opportunity for each one of us to think of the Lord’s great love for us and to pledge ours in return, and to also demonstrate our love to our loved ones, pray for their intentions, promise fidelity to them, and thank them for their love in return.

In my part of the “Christian world”, all the restaurants and bars were full of people, young and older, celebrating Valentine’s day – it was a squeeze to get into the bars and impossible to find a table at the fully-booked restaurants.

In my part of the “Christian world”, the Catholic Churches were one third full of mainly older people (or two thirds empty, if you’re feeling pessimistic).

This overlapping of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day (the last time it happened was in 1945) provided me with a sad reflection (and a confirmation, if one was needed) of the true state of the world around me, immediate and otherwise. This is why verse 17 from Chapter 2 of the Book of Joel, read out during yesterday’s Mass, struck me so much especially when I heard the question ‘Where is your God?’

Indeed, where in our heart have we placed the Lord our God?…that is if He is still our Lord, and if we have kept Him there at all!

PRAYER…

Have pity on us, Lord.

Do not let us forget You or put You aside.

Restore and renew our love for You,

and increase and strengthen our faith

so that all will see that You are in our heart.