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

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

“May the Lord bless you and take care of you;

May the Lord be kind and gracious to you;

May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace.”

.

– Numbers 6:24-26 (GNT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Such a meaningful blessing

– so deep, so loving, so touching.

.

It cannot be otherwise,

because its author is the Lord Himself!

.

This is the special blessing

that the Lord instructed Moses to pass on,

for His people to be blessed with.

.

This special blessing

was written in God’s Book for posterity

and so that all future generations of believers

could similarly bless their loved ones

with this very powerful prayer.

.

We should make it our daily prayer

for our loved ones!

.

.

.

Special Prayer Over Our Loved Ones…

for today…and for every day…

.

May the Lord bless you and take care of you;

May the Lord be kind and gracious to you;

May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,

who was, and is, and is to come.”

.

– Revelation 4:8 (NRSV)

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord!

.

Divine Creator,

Most Loving and Almighty God,

You are Holy!

.

I worship You

and I give You praise and thanks and glory,

for You are my Lord.

.

I give you thanks, Almighty Father,

for every day of the year that You give me;

for all the blessings that I have;

and for all the graces that I receive.

.

I thank You for the consolation You give,

for lightening my burdens,

and for the resolve You instil in me to carry the crosses of life

through looking at Your beloved Son, Jesus, my Saviour.

.

Without You, O Glorious God, I am nothing;

With You in my heart, I have everything

– You are all I need!

.

Strengthen my faith, O Divine Lord,

and my determination

as I journey through life,

day by day,

with You by my side.

.

My soul rejoices!

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord!

.

.

.

SHORT PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Almighty God, Heavenly Father,

thank You for loving me.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Simeon took the child [Jesus] in his arms

and praised God saying,

“Lord, now I can die in peace!

As You promised me,

I have seen the Saviour

You have given to all people…”

.

– Luke 2:28-31 (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Simeon’s emotions,

which he so beautifully expresses

as he holds the child Jesus in his arms,

can be our own

…as we receive the Sacred Host in our hands,

every time we go to Holy Communion.

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

My Lord Jesus,

I thank You for making it possible

for me to hold You, even if for just a few moments,

in the palm of my hand.

.

I thank You for the grace You have given me,

to feel what Simeon felt as he held You.

.

I thank You for making Yourself present in that host

which, unworthy as I am, I so gladly and humbly receive

every time I respond to Your healing call.

.

You, Lord, are all I need,

and I thank You for filling my heart with joy

and wonderous expectation.

.

Thank You, Jesus.

I love You, Jesus.

.

.

.

SHORT PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Thank You, Jesus.

I love You, Jesus.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

God’s message…

which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries…

is Christ among you, your hope of glory;

this is the Christ we proclaim.

.

– Colossians 1:25-27 (TJB)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

In Christ, the “mystery” is fully revealed.

.

In His infinite love,

Christ lives in us through faith and grace,

through prayer and the Sacraments.

.

Jesus promised us,

“Where two or three are gathered in My Name,

there am I in the midst of them” (Mat 18:20)

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“In a special way,

Christ stays with us in the daily offering of the Blessed Eucharist […].

The presence of Christ in the host is the guarantee,

the source and the culmination of His presence in the world.

.

“Christ is alive in Christians”.

Our faith teaches that man, in the state of grace, is divinized – filled with God.

We are men and women, not angels.

We are flesh and blood,

people with sentiments and passions,

with sorrows and joys.

And this divinization affects everything human;

it is a sort of foretaste of the final resurrection”

.

– St. Josemaria Escriva

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Come, Lord Jesus, my Lord, my hope,

and live in me.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Stop your crying
and wipe away your tears.
All that you have done for your children
will not go unrewarded;
they will return from the enemy’s land.
.

There is hope for your future;
your children will come back home.
I, the Lord, have spoken.

.

– Jeremiah 31:16-17 (GNT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Are you concerned about your children’s spirituality…or lack of it?

.

If you are, and if you are a parent who has done his or her best to teach the Faith and solid Christian principles and values to your children,

then the Lord, your God, is reassuring you.

Your children will reap what you sowed in them.

.

Just carry on praying for your children…and trust them the Lord hands.

.

.

.

BLESS YOUR CHILDREN…in person and in prayer…

.

"May the Lord bless you and take care of you;

May the Lord be kind and gracious to you;

May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace.”

.

– Numbers 6:24-26

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

O Heavenly Father, I commend my children to Your care.

Be their God and Father;

and mercifully supply whatever is lacking in me through frailty or negligence.

.

Strengthen them to overcome the corruptions of the world, whether from within or without;

and deliver them from the secret snares of the enemy.

.

Pour Your grace into their hearts,

and strengthen and multiply in them the gifts of Your Holy Spirit,

that they may daily grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ

and love and faithfully serve You here,

they may come to rejoice in Your glorious presence hereafter. Amen.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Light is sown for the righteous,

and joy for the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

and give thanks to His Holy Name!

.

– Psalm 97:11-12 (NRSV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

To men and women of good will,

Jesus’ birth is indeed good news!

.

Suddenly there is light

where before there was darkness;

joy to push desperation aside;

hope where, perhaps, there was none.

.

.

.

PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

My spirit rejoices in You, O Jesus, my Light, my Saviour!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

God chose that we should receive salvation

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

who died for us;

so that, asleep or awake, we should still live with Him.

.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 (TJB)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

“Salvation“, in the New Testament,

means being protected from danger

and able to live free from anxiety.

.

Salvation comes to us “through our Lord Jesus Christ“.

The name Jesus – “God saves” – conveys the mission which Christ attributed to Himself when He said:

“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Lk 19:10)

.

Jesus was made man, like us, in every respect.

He went through the ups and downs of life like any other,

and, having suffered and been tempted,

He is able to help those who suffer and those who are tempted.

.

Christ is the Saviour.

He will give us forgiveness of sins – that was why He “died for us“.

.

Jesus fulfilled the mission entrusted to Him,

and died for us in obedience to the Father, to become the source of our eternal salvation.

.

“So that, asleep or awake,

we should still live with Him.”

The word “asleep” here means “dead”,

and “awake” means “alive”.

For Christians, death is a step which enables us to live with Christ – forever.

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

We welcome You among us, O Lord,

knowing full well that Your Divine Mission

is to die for us so we can, ultimately, be saved.

.

Thank You, O loving Jesus,

for all You have done and do for me.

Thank You for Your saving grace.

.

Thank You, Jesus – my Lord and my God –

thank You for giving me life!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

All that came to be had life in Him

And that life was the light of men,

A light that shines in the dark,

A light that darkness could not overpower.

.

– John 1:4-5 (TJB)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Jesus is Life!

Jesus is Light!

.

Jesus is Divine Life,

the primary source of all life,

natural and supernatural.

And that Life is the light of men,

for from God we receive the light of reason,

the light of truth

and the light of glory.

.

Jesus is the Light of men

because He brings us out of the darkness of sin and error.

.

Darkness resists and has a repugnance for the light,

but Christ and the Gospel continue to shine despite the world’s opposition,

As Jesus later says:

“Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“Just as if you place a blind person in the sunshine,

although the sun is present to him,

yet he is absent from the sun;

in the same way, every foolish man,

every unrighteous man, every ungodly man,

is blind in heart. […]

.

What course then ought such a one to take?

Let him cleanse the eyes of his heart,

that he may be able to see God.

He will see Wisdom, for God is Wisdom itself,

and it is written:

‘Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.'”

.

– St. Augustine

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Welcome, O Light Divine!

Welcome, O Holy One, Son of God.

Welcome Prince of Peace,

Come and reign in my heart

And give me life!

.

Amen.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace,

who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation.

.

– Isaiah 52:7 (NIV)

.

.

.

QUOTE… for reflection…

.

“Nothing is more beautiful, urgent and important

than freely offering to men and women, in turn, what we ourselves have freely received from God!

Nothing can dispense or relieve us from this burdensome but fascinating commitment.

.

While the joy of Christmas…fills us with hope,

it spurs us at the same time to proclaim to everyone God’s presence in our midst.

.

[…] May every Christian and every community

feel the joy of sharing with others the Good News

that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son…that the world might be saved through Him’.

.

This is the authentic meaning of Christmas, which we must rediscover and live intensely.”

.

– Pope Benedict XVI

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Lord Jesus, I have decided – I want to share my joy in You with others!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Make me to know Your ways, O Lord;

teach me Your paths.

Lead me in Your truth,

and teach me,

for You are the God of my salvation;

for You I wait all day long.

.

– Psalm 25:4-5 (NRSV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Such is the prayer

that would come from the heart of a person blessed with a personal relationship with Jesus.

.

This is a true Christian’s constant yearning,

to get to know Jesus better;

to learn how to overcome life’s difficulties and temptations;

to steadfastly follow His Way;

to humbly delve deeper into His beautiful Truth;

to accept His love and forgiveness;

and to never stop acknowledging Him as Lord and Saviour.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Throughout the day, every day,

show me, Lord, teach me, lead me, instruct me, save me.

.

Show me Your ways, Lord. I put my hope in You!

.