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

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TODAY’S WORD…

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

QUOTE…

“Love is patient, because it bears serenely the injury it suffers.

It is kind, because it repays evil with good.

It is not jealous, because it covets nothing in this world: it does not know what it is to envy worldly prosperity.

It is not boastful, because it yearns only for spiritual reward and it is not carried away by external things.

It is not arrogant, because it thrives only on the love of God and neighbour and avoids whatever would take it from the path of righteousness.

It does not insist on its own way, because it scorns, as alien, those things it temporarily possesses here below: it seeks to hold on only to what is enduring.

It is not irritable, and even though injuries seek to provoke it, it does not let itself have any desire for vengeance, for no matter how difficult a time it may have in this life, it hopes for greater rewards in the next.

It is not resentful, because it has invested its thought in the love of purity, and, having rooted out all hatred, it is incapable of harbouring in its heart any type of aversion.

It does not rejoice at wrong, because it feels affection for others and does not rejoice at seeing the ruin of its enemies.

It rejoices in the right, because by loving others as it loves itself, it is as pleased to see goodness in them as if it were indeed something to its own personal advantage.”    – St. Gregory the Great

PRAYER…

Lord, fill me with Your love.  Teach me and help me truly love.

TODAY’S WORD…

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

– Romans 8:35,37

REFLECTION…

This is the attitude which enables us to live as children of God, who fear neither life nor death.

QUOTE…

“Our Lord wants us to be in the world and to love the world but without being worldly. Our Lord wants us to remain in this world (which is now so mixed up and where the clamour of lust and disobedience and purposeless rebellion can be heard) to teach people to live with joy […].

Don’t be afraid of the paganized world: our Lord has in fact chosen us to be leaven, salt and light in this world. Don’t be worried. The world won’t harm you unless you want it to. No enemy of our soul can do anything if we don’t consent. And we won’t consent, with the grace of God and the protection of our Mother in heaven.”

– S. Bernal, “Monsignor Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer”

PRAYER…

Lord, make me more than a conqueror

– don’t let anything separate me from You!

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TODAY’S WORD…

Whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

– James 1:2-3

REFLECTION…

Everyday adversity: problems, trials, temptations – all these test our faith. These trials act as a test of perseverance in the pursuit of good and help the soul to grow in patience, which is a much needed virtue

Being patient and steadfast reflects enduring perseverance, and is quite different from the mere passive endurance of suffering. Being patient and steadfast, comes from the virtue of fortitude and leads one to accept suffering as something sent by God.

Fortitude is grounded on hope and on faith put to the test; and it is also very fruitful, and produces immense and infectious Christian joy!

QUOTE…

“God knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come out like gold.”  – Job (23:10)

PRAYER…

Father God, thank You for all the blessings You have given me,

let me never forget all that is good in my life,

all that brings me joy.

Holy Spirit, whenever I have to face

difficulty, pain, adversity and temptation,

fill me with the mental and emotional strength that I need.

Faithful Jesus, help me endure…with joy

– joy which comes from knowing that You are always with me,

shaping and strengthening me for Your glory.

Lord, I trust in You, and in good times and in bad I will praise You!

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TODAY’S WORD…

A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: “If You want to” he said “You can cure me.”

– Mark 1:40

REFLECTION…

This leper’s plea is the perfect example of how, as true believers, we should pray to God – on our knees we implore, “Lord, ‘if You want to, You can cure me.’” Rather than a straightforward request, “Please cure me…”, we subject ourselves to God’s will and, full of faith and hope, we must trust fully in Him and be ready to accept that He may not cure us, if for whatever divine reason, it is not His will.

God does not always respond to our desires, and He frequently allows circumstances we wish He would not. Our requests will not always coincide with His purpose nor, therefore, with His response.

Jesus, as always, gave us the perfect example when, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed in anguish: “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but Yours be done.”  (Lk 22:42) On that occasion, Jesus still had to endure the Cross; but on the third day He rose victorious…and we were saved!

Why God permits that one is healed and another not, only He in His wisdom knows, but if we believe in Him and Trust in Him and in His purpose, then we must cling to His goodness and follow the example of His Son.

PRAYER…

My Lord and my God,

if You want to, You can cure me,

yet not my will but Yours be done.

Lord Jesus, I trust in You!

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TODAY’S WORD…

Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”

– Matthew 4:4

REFLECTION…

If our aim in life is the satisfaction of our material and emotional needs, then there will always be a feeling of emptiness in us – an empty space that nobody and nothing seems to be able to fill it.

If our aim in life is to seek to do as God directs, and accept and allow that His will done as we strive to provide for our material and emotional needs, then we will be satisfied, because God will fill those “empty spaces” with His love and reassurance.

When we entrust all we do to God, we will be satisfied, because our main aim in this life will be to get to get to the next – to spend an everlasting life in His glorious presence!

PRAYER…

My Lord and my God,

You are my nourishment.

Without You, Lord, I am nothing.

Without You in my heart,

all that I possess is worthless

and all my emotions are self-centred and hollow.

Lord, let me be guided by You,

by Your Word,

by Your precepts and commandments,

so that my life on this earth may be complete,

until You call me to Your side,

where I shall live in Your glorious presence – forever!

Amen

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TODAY’S WORD…

“He has done all things well; He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak!”

– Mark 7:37

REFLECTION…

Those who witnessed the miracle that Jesus had performed on the deaf and dumb man, exclaimed: “He has done all things well; He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak!” We, ourselves, can see that miracle as a symbol of the way God acts on souls. For us to believe, we must first allow God to open our heart so we can listen to His Word.

As God’s Word penetrates our heart, we will recognise it as the Truth, and we will not be able to contain our joy nor want to keep it to ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit who opens our ears to receive the Truth with gladness, and our lips to proclaim God’s love with joy and delight in our heart!

PRAYER…

O Holy Spirit, Divine Counsellor,

Spirit of Truth, always by my side,

thank You for Your persistence with me;

for Your gracious encouragement;

and for being always so ready to fill me with love, joy and peace

…at my asking.

Thank You, Spirit of God,

for opening up the ears of my heart

to let me hear the Truth

and to be able to receive it gladly.

Holy Spirit,

let Your voice flow into my heart;

open my lips;

and fill me with the need to humbly, but ardently, share the Good News with others.

Amen

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TODAY’S WORD…

Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

– Galatians 4:16

REFLECTION…

The truth can be painful. When we are told the truth about ourselves and our ways – truth we are unwilling to admit – our reaction can be annoyance, anger, resentment even. We love to be flattered; and we shrink with pain when anything or anyone hints at the necessity to repent and change.

Jesus is the Truth. Are we humble enough to listen to and accept His loving advice and His pleas for us to change, as He tells us and warns us about ourselves and what we do? Are we willing to give up what we have now, in exchange for Jesus’ promise?

If not, then we cannot call ourselves ‘faithful’, and we must admit that the only ‘truth’ we are ready to embrace is the one which pleases us now. Instant satisfaction – perhaps this is why our churches are emptying!

PRAYER…

My Lord and my God, thank You for Your Truth.

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God, give me Grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

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Living one day at a time;

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;

taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

trusting that You will make all things right, if I surrender to Your will,

so that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

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Amen.

 [Today’s prayer is the “Serenity Prayer” by theologian R. Niebuhr.]

TODAY’S WORD…

Jesus said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

– Mark 7:20-23

REFLECTION…

The sins, which our Lord lists here, are those which are committed in the human heart prior to being acted out.

Jesus teaches us that the true center of moral action lies in our personal decisions, good or evil – decisions which we allow to be shaped in our heart. If we encourage our sinful thoughts, rather than reject and discard them, they will affect the decisions we take and will be expressed in the actions we make.

As professed Christians, we should reflect deeply on what Jesus is warning us about, and take a firm decision to repel and renounce certain thoughts.

PRAYER…

My Lord Jesus, my God, my Saviour, my Teacher,

thank You for Your reassurances

and also for Your warnings;

for teaching and showing me, by Your own example,

how to love,

how to think,

how to act…

Lord, I give You my heart and my mind

– take over, Lord, and make me yearn and search

for only what is good and unselfish,

and help me totally reject

all that corrupts and is greedy and self-centred.

Lord, save me from myself.

TODAY’S WORD…

Jesus said, “This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless…”

– Mark 7:6-7

REFLECTION…

These accusatory words are uttered by Jesus when He quotes from the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 29.

He is severely rebuking those who are hypocritical – offering lip-service to God when their hearts are very far away from Him and from His teachings.

As we reflect on this rebuke, we should avoid applying it to others – we should, rather, relate it to ourselves, and look at our own attitude towards God’s commandments.

This rebuke from Jesus, can help us look closer within ourselves and consider whether any falsity becomes apparent when we compare our public religiosity to the way we truly live our private lives.

PRAYER…

Father in heaven,

You know all there is in my heart;

You know my mind, my thoughts, my words, my deeds;

You know me like nobody else does.

You know me more than I know myself!

Lord, I want to be genuine – not two-faced –

with You, with anyone.

I want to obey and live Your Commandments

because I know they are the truth,

I know they reflect Your amazing love for me

and Your desire to get me safely through this passage of life

and to join You in Your heavenly Kingdom.

Father, help me love and worship You in truth.  Amen.

TODAY’S WORD…

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

– John 8:12

REFLECTION…

Our Lord applies this image to Himself in two ways: He is the light which enlightens our minds, for He is the fullness of divine Revelation; and He is also the light which enlightens our hearts to enable us to accept this Revelation and live according to it.

This is why Jesus asks us to follow Him – but He knows that many will reject this light because they would rather that their evil deeds not be uncovered.

When we choose not to follow Jesus, who is the Light, for our own self-centred and, often, devious reasons, we are by elimination, opting to walk into the darkness. Do we really want to take that route?

PRAYER…

God Almighty, shine the light of Jesus into my life

and help me make my way through this world of darkness

without stumbling.

Guide me, O God, away from any false light,

and help me to find and follow Jesus’ light.

Use me to share that light with others

so they can find their way home to You. Amen.