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

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“Come to me,

all you who labour and are overburdened,

and I will give you rest.”

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– Matthew 11:28

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REFLECTION…

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Our Lord calls everyone to come to Him.

We all find things difficult in one way or another

and the history of souls bears out the truth of these words of Jesus.

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Only the Gospel can fully satisfy

the thirst for truth and justice which sincere people feel.

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Only our Lord, our Master – and those to whom He passes on His power –

can soothe the sinner by telling him or her,

“Your sins are forgiven” (Matt 9:2).

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QUOTE…

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“Jesus says now and always,

“Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened,

and I will give you rest.”

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His attitude towards us is one of invitation, knowledge and compassion;

indeed, it is one of offering, promise, friendship, goodness,

as remedy of our ailments.

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He is our comforter;

indeed, our nourishment, our bread,

giving us energy and life”
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– Pope Paul VI

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PRAYER…

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My Lord, my God,

my comforter, my energy, my strength, my life!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Mary kept all these things,

pondering them in her heart.

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– Luke 2:19

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…and His mother

kept all these things in her heart.

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– Luke 2:51

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REFLECTION…

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Two very similar verses, in the same chapter of this Gospel,

underline the significance that Sant Luke sees in our Lady’s demeanour.

He appears to want to emphasise

this beautiful attitude of our heavenly mother, as something we should emulate.

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These two recorded instances do tell us a great deal about our Lady.

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We see the serenity with which she contemplates

the wonderful things that are coming true, through the birth of her divine Son.

She studies them, ponders them

and stores them in the silence of her heart.

She is a true teacher of prayer.

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If we imitate her,

if we guard and ponder in our hearts what Jesus says to us,

what he teaches us and what He does in us,

we shall never lack His doctrine and His grace.

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Also, by meditating in this way

we shall obtain a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ.

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QUOTE…

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“The Mother of God

is our unsurpassable model […].

Mary’s silence […]

is more than a simple silence;

it is wonder,

it is adoration;

it is a "religious silence",

a being overwhelmed by the reality.

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The truest interpretation of Mary’s silence

is that which is had

in the ancient Byzantine icons,

where the Mother of God

opens herself motionless,

with her gaze fixed,

her eyes wide open,

as if she had seen things

that cannot be repeated in words.

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Mary, first raised to God

what Saint Gregory Nazianzen called

a ‘hymn of silence.’"

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– Padre Raniero Cantalmessa

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PRAYER…

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Sweet Mother of God,

teach me

how to kneel,

to adore,

to be silent,

in the presence of your Son.

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Thank you sweet mother.

I love you, O sweetest Mother.

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Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus exclaimed,

“I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth,

for hiding these things from the learned and the clever

and revealing them to mere children.

Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased You to do.”

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– Matthew 11:25-26

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REFLECTION…

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The wise and understanding of this world,

that is, those who rely exclusively on their own judgment,

cannot accept the revelation which Christ has brought us.

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One’s supernatural outlook is always connected with one’s humility.

A humble person, who gives himself little importance, sees.

A person who is full of inordinate self-esteem

fails to perceive supernatural things.

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QUOTES…

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“O Lord,

I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe,

but I believe in order to understand.

For this too I believe,

that unless I believe, I shall not understand.”

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– St. Anselm of Canterbury

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“Let us try, therefore, never to lose our supernatural outlook. […]

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Your first instinct always should be to talk to your Father God,

whom we should seek in the depths of our souls.

And we cannot consider this a trivial or unimportant matter.

On the contrary, it is a clear sign of a deep interior life,

of a true dialogue of love.

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[…] Constant prayer should be for a Christian

as natural as the beating of his heart.”

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– St. Josemaria Escriva

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PRAYER…

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Loving Father, remove my pride and self-esteem,

and make me humble, make me like a child.

I want to be Your child.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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I will remove from you

your heart of stone

and give you a heart of flesh.

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– Ezekiel 36:26

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REFLECTION…

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“Spaccapietre” (literal translation: “rock-breaker”)

– a very appropriate Italian word for a type of plant

that breaks up rock as it sprouts and grows.

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Imagine a large mound of solid rock – immovable, impenetrable

…or so we think!

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Some people can be, or appear to be, like that,

also…especially…in matters of religion and faith

…or so they think!

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But God works in marvelous ways,

and He really wants us to believe

that such an apparently hard and solid rock can be penetrated, can be moved

…by something that we can do!

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God doesn’t require any particularly physical exertion from me.

All He needs me to do is to grab that right and opportune moment when I can lovingly, yet almost surreptitiously, sow that tiny seed of faith.

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It is so tiny, that when it is sown it is hardly noticeable…

yet all it needs is the smallest of cracks in that rock,

and in God’s time it will sprout.

Then, as it grows out of that crack, its roots will also expand

and that rock will break open

so that what was once barren, now bears life.

What was stone…is now flesh.

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PRAYER…

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Father, I pray that I will never waste those opportunities

that You give me to scatter Your divine seed of faith.

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Lord, help me sow Your love!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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I will get rid of anyone

who whispers evil things about someone else;

I will not tolerate anyone

who is proud and arrogant.

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– Psalm 101:5

Without wood, a fire goes out;

without gossip, quarreling stops.

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– Proverbs 26:20

Do not think of yourself more highly than you should.

Instead, be modest in your thinking,

and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you.

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Love one another warmly as Christians,

and be eager to show respect for one another.

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– Romans 12:3,10

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REFLECTION…

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Gossip offends God and is a sin against both God and neighbour.

If you do gossip, pray for forgiveness

and the grace to only speak kind words about others in the future.

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Those who gossip need an audience of people willing to listen.

If you refuse to take part in gossip, then eventually others may follow your example, leaving the gossiper with no one to share the juicy rumours.

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Those who indulge in malicious gossip tend to think of themselves more highly than they should.

Therefore, be modest and judge yourself humbly before God.

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The Lord wants us to love one another warmly as Christians,

and be eager to show respect for one another.

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Sincere Christian love and charity requires that we respect and esteem all others.

HOWEVER, to be able to esteem others

we must be careful that we do not esteem our own selves too much,

nor to be always (and, therefore, arrogantly) sure of ourselves.

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Be modest in your thinking.

We need to be modest and to minimise our big-headed certainty that all we have are virtues.

It is not a bad thing to also look more closely at ourselves and to actually admit our own failings.

When we genuinely do so with all humility,

what then follows is that those defects we would often see in others are minimised.

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Minimising the defects we may see in others and showing respect for one another

includes not engaging in gossip.

Gossip may sometimes appear to be innocent enough,

but it is in fact one of the things that most pollutes what should be a Christian communal spirit.

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QUOTES…

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“Gossip is spread by wicked people;

they stir up trouble and break up friendships.”

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– Proverbs 16:28

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“Talking badly about someone else while they aren’t there to defend themselves

says more about you than the person you’re talking about.”

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– anon

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“It is not enough to avoid speaking ill of others

– we must also prevent people from doing so in our presence,

making it clear, perhaps by our silence, that we do not approve.”

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– Fr Raniero Cantalamessa

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PRAYER…

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Lord Jesus, take away my arrogance

and grant me humility and a caring heart that loves and is gracious to all. Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Seek good, not evil, that you may live.

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

just as you say He is.

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– Amos 5:14

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REFLECTION…

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This is a simple but clear call to conversion, to change,

directed at believers.

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We often need to look inside ourselves to realise and admit

that in our, sometimes blind, efforts to satisfy our ego and our yearnings,

we so often seek that which is not good for our soul.

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If we truly believe, then we should seek what is good,

because we ought to be very well aware

that there, in what is good, we will find God

…and that is when we shall truly live!

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PRAYER…

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Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

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I believe in You, O Lord,

and my soul yearns for You,

yet I am sometimes weak and selfish,

and foolish enough to seek what goes against Your Truth.

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Lord, I want to truly live with You in my heart.

Come Lord, and cleanse me

and fill me with life

and with Your love, joy and peace.

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I love You, Lord.

Forgive me, Lord.

Change me, Lord.

Renew me, Lord.

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Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“My Lord and my God!”

Thomas exclaimed to Jesus.

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– John 20:28

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REFLECTION…

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Thomas’ doubted

– He had not believed his friends and fellow disciples about Jesus having appeared to them.

He insisted that only if he saw for himself and touched Jesus’ wounds,

would he then believe.

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Gentle, loving and understanding Jesus allows Thomas to do so,

and that is when Thomas’ lets out, from the bottom of his heart,

this short yet profound assertion of faith: “My Lord and my God!”

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We too can be like Thomas, at various stages of our lives.

We too can become almost irreverent towards the Lord

in those moments when our faith is tested by circumstances in our lives,

or influenced by an increasingly Godless world.

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Jesus, who loves us and who so understands our humanity,

wants us, encourages us, to go to Him in those dark moments

and to insist with Him about our doubts.

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Jesus knows it when we sincerely want to believe,

and He will touch us in ways which are beyond our own understanding,

and our incredulity will be healed

…and our heart will recognise its Maker and cry out, “My Lord and my God!”

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PRAYER…

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Jesus, You are my Lord and my God!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me

is not worthy of me;

anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me

is not worthy of me.”

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– Matthew 10:37

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REFLECTION…

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Love for our parents and indeed love for our children, must not come before love of God.

When a situation comes up in the family,

and it clearly goes against one’s Christian values and spirituality,

that is when loves will clash.

And when that happens,

we should be quite clear in our mind and in our heart about what Jesus tells us here,

about how we shouldn’t love anybody more than we love Him.

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The word of God can lead to divisions even within families,

because to the person who truly believes in Christ’s teachings and commands,

nothing and no one can come between the Christian and his or her God.

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When a dear one chooses to follow a way of life, which is not consonant with one (or more) of God’s commandments,

we must absolutely carry on loving the dear one, which is fundamental in Christ’s Gospel of love and compassion.

That is how we must always act, but

without ever compromising with or accepting whatever clearly goes against Christ’s teachings.

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We must love and have compassion,

but we must also call a spade a spade.

When, for the right reason, we do not give our approval to our dear ones, this does not mean we do not love them.

Quite the opposite, in fact!

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QUOTES…

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“I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again.”

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– Jesus – John 8:11

“As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

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– Jesus – John 13:34

“If you love me, you will obey my commandments.”

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– Jesus – John 14:15

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PRAYER…

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My Lord Jesus, I want to love You above all else.

I want to place You above everybody, even my dearest ones,

because I know that Your law is the truth – for me and for them.

Lord, please let my love and compassion reflect Yours.

Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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The Centurion said to Jesus,

“Lord, I am not worthy

to have you enter under my roof…”

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– Matthew 8:8

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REFLECTION…

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Am I? Am I ever prepared to receive Jesus?

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This man’s humble faith is still very much an example to us. .

His words, “Lord, I am not worthy…”,

we repeat at the solemn moment when we are about to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

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When Jesus sees a humble and contrite heart,

and notices the smallest sign of a desire to live in accordance with His teachings and commandments,

Jesus enters ever so willingly.

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He is the same Jesus who carries on knocking at our door

even when we pretend not to hear Him,

or after closing the door in his face.

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Jesus never gives up on us.

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PRAYER…

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Lord, I am not worthy.

Forgive me, Lord; heal me, Lord.

Create in me a clean heart!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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You love Him even though you have never seen Him.

Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him;

and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

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The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.

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– 1 Peter 1:8-9

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REFLECTION…

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“Blind faith!” – a phrase used derogatively

against Christians who express and practice their beliefs,

and who place their full trust in God.

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Our faith is not “blind” at all

– not when we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus,

or when we welcome the Holy Spirit and allow Him to counsel us,

to speak to us and enlighten us through the Word of God

as we pray and meditate on the One who loves us so.

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PRAYER…

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My Lord and my God,

I praise and thank You for giving me “eyes of faith”

to see and acknowledge the truth of Your resurrection

and victory over sin and death.

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It is with a believing and loving heart

that I live and pray with determined hope

that I will, one day, see You face to face

and share in Your everlasting Glory and Joy.

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Lord Jesus, may I never fail

to recognise Your voice;

to acknowledge Your love;

to lose sight of Your presence by my side.

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Amen.

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