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

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“Truly I tell you,

if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask,

it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

For where two or three are gathered in my name,

I am there among them.”

.

– Matthew 18:19-20 (NRSV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

When Christians meet together in the name of Christ for the purpose of prayer,

our Lord is present among them,

lovingly listening to their unanimous prayer.

.

What can be more motivating than this

to encourage us as family, friends, community,

to get together in a simple and natural fashion

…and pray.

.

Christ is also calling us

to put aside our disagreements and petty dissensions,

if and whenever these arise,

and to humbly agree to get together in prayer

and to petition Him, who is Love,

and who is in our midst

…and we will find peace.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Lord,

how can I ignore what You tell me?

You are always so ready to guide me

yet I, who claim to believe in You,

am so indolent

and I so often disregard Your counsel.

.

Lord, lead me into heartfelt prayer

with my loved ones;

with my family;

with my friends;

with the community,

and let me share in the glory in Your presence.

.

Lord, remove my pride

and lead me to come to You in prayer

even with those who may have hurt me,

that we may allow You to heal us

and we can find peace.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord Jesus, remove my indolence and my pride,

and bring me to earnest prayer.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy:

by the narrow gate of faith.

.

Through the signs of His presence, it is the Face of the Lord that we seek and desire;

it is His Word that we want to hear and keep.

.

[CCC 2656]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“I assure you that unless you change and become like children,

you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven

is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.”

.

– Matthew 18:3-4 (GNT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Jesus insists with us

to remove any inordinate ambition and pride

and tells us that for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven,

we must decide to be like little children

who are simple and full of trust,

incapable of hating anyone,

and totally innocent of vice,

particularly of pride, the worst vice of all.

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

"If you ask me what is the essential thing in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ,

I shall reply: first humility, second humility and third humility."

.

– St. Augustine.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Lord, make me more like a child today.

Make me less cynical and more hopeful.

Make me more eager to ask You for impossible things

and more excited to be with You.

.

Make me look forward to the next adventure that You have planned for me.

Help me embrace simplicity,

fill me with trust for You,

make me more passionate about Your gaze

and delighted with Your presence.

.

Remove my pride

and make me more like a child today

so that I can glory in calling You Abba Father.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Father, make me more like a child.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

The heart is the seat of moral personality:

"Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication…"(Mt 15:19)

.

The struggle against carnal covetousness

entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance:

.

Remain simple and innocent,

and you will be like little children who do not know the evil that destroys man’s life. (Pastor Hermae)

.

[CCC 2517]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said to Peter,

“…go to the lake and cast a hook;

take the first fish that bites,

open its mouth

and there you will find a shekel…”

.

– Matthew 17:27 (JB)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

This is such a lovely little episode!

.

In Capernaum it is the time of the year to make the annual contribution

(equivalent to a day’s wage)

for the upkeep of the temple,

and Peter and Jesus, like everybody else, are asked to pay their half-shekel each.

.

But they don’t have the money to do so,

and so Jesus performs this sweet little miracle – a conjuror’s trick almost!

He instructs Peter to go to the lake to cast a single hook,

and assures him that a fish will bite,

and that in its mouth – as if by magic –

there will be the shekel they need to pay their dues!

.

Wow!

.

God is like that

– if we go to Him with our anxieties

and, as we place our full trust in Him, humbly do as He tells us,

we will find that suddenly and out of the blue,

in one way or another,

He will provide a solution!

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

My Lord and my God,

I thank You with all my heart

for the numerous occasions when You,

so lovingly and generously,

solved my problems

in ways I cannot even begin to try to understand.

.

O Amazing Grace,

O Great Provider,

O Most Loving God,

I trust in You.

.

Grant that I will always come to You.

Grant that I will always trust in You.

Grant that I will always do as You tell me.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord God, I trust in You.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

Christ invites us to filial trust in the providence of our heavenly Father,

and St. Peter the apostle repeats:

"Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you."(1 Pt 5:7)

.

[CCC 322]

.

.

Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures.

To human beings God grants the ability to cooperate freely with His plans.

.

[CCC 323]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake and ready when he returns!

.

You, too, must be ready,

because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting Him.”

.

– Luke 12:37, 40 (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Christ frequently exhorts us to be watchful.

A person who truly loves is always awake,

and the watchfulness of the Christian

expresses itself in a spirit of prayer

and fortitude in faith.

.

This vigilance should be continuous and unflagging,

because the enemy – the devil – is forever after us,

always on the prowl “like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pt 5:8)

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“Watch with the heart,

watch with faith,

watch with love,

watch with charity,

watch with good works […];

make ready the lamps,

make sure they do not go out […],

renew them with the inner oil of an upright conscience…”

.

– St. Augustine

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Heavenly Father,

help me to do the best I can as I live my life.

Make me watchful

that I not waste the precious time that You have given me,

and not reject the divine grace of faith.

.

Grant, O Lord, that I will love You with all my heart

and that I will always seek to love and forgive others

like You love and forgive me.

.

Keep me away from temptation, O God,

and deliver me from all evil.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, grant that I am always awake

and ready when You return.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

[The] mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ

is beyond all understanding and description.

Scripture speaks of it in images:

life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom,

the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise:

“no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived,

what God has prepared for those who love Him.”(1 Cor 2:9)

.

[CCC 1027]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“Those who love their life lose it,

and those who hate their life in this world

will keep it for eternal life.

.

Whoever serves me must follow me,

and where I am, there will my servant be also.

Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.”

.

– John 12:25-26 (NRSV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

A true Christian,

should see every type of suffering and contradiction

as a sharing in Christ’s cross,

which redeems us and exalts us.

.

To be supernaturally effective,

we have to die to ourselves,

forgetting our comforts

and shedding our selfishness.

.

Jesus wants each of us to serve Him.

To serve Him means to follow the One who is the Way.

To do otherwise means that we can easily become self-centered

as we focus on the trifling concerns of this life

which can so easily lead us astray.

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Lord Jesus,

You are my glorious hope

and I pray that I will always trust in You

and put You first

whatever may come my way.

.

I want to serve You with an eager mind, O Lord;

with an undivided heart;

with my entire strength;

and I want to follow Your holy example.

.

Jesus, help me die willingly to myself,

that I may live forever in Your love.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus, my glorious hope, I want to serve only You.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

In all of His life Jesus presents Himself as our model.

He is “the perfect man”,

who invites us to become His disciples and follow Him.

.

In humbling Himself, He has given us an example to imitate,

through His prayer He draws us to pray,

and by His poverty He calls us to accept freely

the privation and persecutions that may come our way.

.

[CCC 520]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“If any of you wants to be my follower,

you must turn from your selfish ways,

take up your cross,

and follow me.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

.

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world

but lose your own soul?

Is anything worth more than your soul?”

.

– Matthew 16:24-26 (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

As we follow Jesus

we strive to please God rather than men,

always ready to abandon everything for Christ.

.

Our Lord’s requirement means

that we must renounce our own will

in order to identify with the will of God.

.

Jesus shows the route to take to reach the divine destination

– it often means denying oneself

and taking up the cross.

.

Earthly, impermanent, desires are short lived,

and none can compare with the soul’s eternal salvation..

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“Apart from the cross

there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.”

.

– St. Rose of Lima

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Lord Jesus,

I so want to follow You.

Please stay with me as I carry my cross

which is weighty especially because of my own selfishness.

.

Help me make the right choices,

help me deny myself,

help me desire only to love and obey You,

and to submit myself to Your will.

.

In all the choices I make in life,

help me put You first;

help me please You;

help me demonstrate my love for You.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, help me take up my cross and follow You.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

Conversion is accomplished in daily life

by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor,

the exercise and defence of justice and right,

by the admission of faults to one’s brethren,

fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience,

spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering,

endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness.

.

Taking up one’s cross each day and following Jesus

is the surest way of penance.

[CCC 1435]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!
.

Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

.

O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For He is our God,
and we are the people of His pasture,
and the sheep of His hand.

.

– Psalm 95:1-2,6-7 (NRSV)

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

My Lord,

You are my Rock,

the One who saves me.

.

Let me come into Your presence with thanksgiving,

bowing down before You in worship,

for You are my God!

.

Here I am Lord.

I want to give You praise, thanks and glory.

Forgive me Lord.

I love You Lord!

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Here I am Lord. Forgive me Lord. I love You Lord!

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength.”(Deut 6:5)

.

[CCC 2133]

.

.

The first commandment summons man to believe in God, to hope in Him, and to love Him above all else.

.

[CCC 2134]

.

.

“You shall worship the Lord your God.” (Mt 4:10)

Adoring God, praying to Him,

offering Him the worship that belongs to Him,

fulfilling the promises and vows made to Him

are acts of the virtue of religion which fall under obedience to the first commandment.

.

[CCC 2135]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

God does not see as man sees;

man looks at appearances

but the Lord looks at the heart.

.

– 1 Samuel 16:7 (JB)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

This reflection is not about others

– it is about me.

.

Am I really the person I project myself to be?

Am I what I make others think I am?

.

When God looks into my heart, what does He see?

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Jesus,

Son of the Living God,

come and shine Your glorious light

in the darkest corners of my heart

and help me remove all that is not from You;

all that weighs me down and separates me from You.

.

Come, O Lord,

right in to the depths of my being,

probe and remove,

clean and heal,

give me life and make me whole.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

In the sacrament [of Penance],

the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God,

anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life.

For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death,

and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom,

from which one is excluded by grave sin.

.

In converting to Christ through penance and faith,

the sinner passes from death to life

and does not come into judgment.

.

[CCC 1470]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…and PRAYER

.

Now the Lord is the Spirit,

and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory,

are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory,

which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

.

– 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Christian freedom

means accepting God’s commandments

as children who strive to do what pleases our Father God.

.

As we lovingly contemplate the Lord in faith,

we reflect the splendour of Christ in our lives.

.

And, as we gladly allow the influence of grace on our souls,

the more we become identified with Christ

…and the more we radiate Him.

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Jesus, my Lord, my God,

Light of my heart,

thank You for Your Spirit of freedom.

.

Transform me, O Lord,

and make me more like You.

.

Give me more of You,

so much more of You,

You’re all I want and need,

hear me as I plead.

.

Please take more of me,

so much more of me,

till it’s no longer I,

but You who lives in me.

.

Lord, give me more of You!

…..

.

[Most of today’s prayer is from the lyrics of the song “More of You” by Fr. Robert Galea. To listen, to pray, to sing to the Lord, please click here >> “MORE OF YOU”]

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Transform me, O Lord, and make me more like You!

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

It remains for the holy people to struggle, with grace from on high,

to obtain the good things God promises.

.

In order to possess and contemplate God,

Christ’s faithful mortify their cravings

and, with the grace of God,

prevail over the seductions of pleasure and power.

.

[CCC 2549]

.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…and PRAYER

.

In You, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in Your righteousness deliver me.
.

Incline Your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.

.

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for Your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for You are my refuge.
.

Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

.

– Psalm 31:1-5 (NRSV)

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“This is why, buoyed up by hope,

we raise our hearts to God Himself and have learned to pray

[in You, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame].

.

I have placed my hope in You, O Lord:

may Your hand guide me now and at every moment,

for ever and ever.”

.

– St. Josemaria Escriva.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties

and constancy in the pursuit of the good.

It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations

and to overcome obstacles in the moral life.

.

The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death,

and to face trials and persecutions.

It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defence of a just cause.

.

“The Lord is my strength and my song.” (Ps 118:14)

.

“In the world you have tribulation;

but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)

.

[CCC 1808]

.

.

.