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

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;

therefore He will rise up to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for Him.

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– Isaiah 30:18 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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In a few simple words this verse manages to catch God’s attitude towards us,

and inspires us on how to respond to His graciousness.

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God is waiting, hoping to forgive us;

this waiting St Paul calls “divine forbearance” (Rom 3:26);

but the time will come when He will show mercy.

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God acts as He does because He is the God of justice, that is, the God who saves.

Really, God is only waiting for us to turn to Him, and He will forgive us.

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If we realise this,

if we are convinced of this,

then we have every reason to persevere in hope.

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God’s patience elicits from our hope in Him.

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PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord God, how can I ever thank You for your love and mercy and for sending Your Son to save me.

Forgive me and cleanse me by Your grace and renew me by your Spirit.

Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

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Then you will call on me and come and pray to me,

and I will listen to you.

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.”

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– Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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God knows the plans He has for us,

– only He, and nobody else.

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That is why if we believe in Him;

if we heart-fully accept Him as our God;

if we have total trust in Him;

then we will thankfully allow Him to lead us,

as we gladly do His will.

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God promises us that when we seek Him with all our heart,

we shall find Him.

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There are many who are witnesses to this truth!

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THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

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Divine providence consists of

the dispositions by which God guides all His creatures

with wisdom and love to their ultimate end. [CCC 321]

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

and St. Peter the apostle repeats (I Pt 5:7):

"Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you." [CCC 322]

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Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures.

To human beings God grants the ability to cooperate freely with His plans. [CCC 323]

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PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Give me faith, O God, during the times I’m weary, discouraged, and beaten down.

Inspire me, Lord, to trust in Your great promises.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

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– Matthew 7:21 (JB)

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REFLECTION…

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To be genuine, prayer must be accompanied by a persevering effort to do God’s will.

Similarly, in order to do His will it is not enough to speak about the things of God:

there must be consistency between what one preaches – between what one says…and what one does.

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To enter the Kingdom of Heaven it is not enough to speak eloquently about holiness.

One has to practice what one preaches, to produce fruit which reflect one’s words.

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Christians who do not strive to act in accordance with the demands of the faith they profess,

begin to weaken in their faith,

and to say things which are contrary to their faith.

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PRAYER…

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Father, I desire to remain faithful to You all the days of my life,

to serve You with my heart,

loving You above everything and everyone.

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I desire to remain faithful to You

to serve You with my soul

as it lives for all eternity.

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I desire to remain faithful to You

to serve You with my mind

and acknowledge You as the Giver of wisdom, knowledge and strength.

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I desire to remain faithful to You,

to serve You with all my strength,

for even when I am weak, You make me strong.

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Awesome God,

fill me with faith, hope and love,

and give me the resolve

to always do Your will

and to live in a manner worthy of Your grace.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Father, I desire to remain faithful to You all the days of my life.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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As the scripture says, “Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.”

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But how can they call to Him for help if they have not believed?

And how can they believe if they have not heard the message?

And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed?

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– Romans 10:13-14 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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We have no excuse for not invoking Christ as Lord,

for the Good News has indeed been preached to us

and His message of love has been communicated to us, especially through the Gospels.

And so, if we do not follow Him and obey Him or believe in Him,

then it can only be due to our self-centeredness and rebelliousness,

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord, my God, my Jesus, my Saviour!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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I will pasture my sheep,

I will show them where to rest – it is the Lord who speaks.

I shall look for the lost one,

bring back the stray,

bandage the wounded

and make the weak strong.

I shall be a True Shepherd to them.

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– Ezekiel 34:15-16 (JB)

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…AND MORE TO REFLECT UPON…

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The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters.

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– Psalm 23:1-2

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He heals the broken-hearted

and binds up their wounds.

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– Psalm 147:3

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“I am the Good Shepherd;

I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

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– John 10:14

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PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Holy Spirit, help me allow Jesus to lead me along the path He has chosen for me,

that I may be saved and enjoy the light of His presence forever.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.”

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– Matthew 8:5 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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At every Mass we are invited to Communion with our Lord,

to share in the Body and Blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.

And in response to the priest’s invitation to the supper of the Lamb,

we say, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof,

but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

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These are some of same words the centurion uttered in Capernaum

after Jesus, responding to his plea to heal his paralyzed servant, said, “I will come and cure him.”

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Do we, like the centurion, feel that we are not worthy to have Christ enter under our roof?

Is it because our “house” is figuratively not in order?

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Guess what? It never will be.

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We were born sinners, and sinners we will die,

but therein lies the beauty, for the Lord knows full well of our imperfections.

He asks only for a contrite heart

and that we believe in the power of His love and His willingness to forgive our transgressions.

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Today I must ask myself how willing I am to let Jesus in under my roof.

What am I afraid of?

Or is it false humility which I express, simply because I don’t really want to change or “be healed”?

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“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.” (Rev 3:20)

Jesus, as always, is here Jesus standing at the door,

ready to enter under my roof and to heal and save me.

All I have to do is let Him in.

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SHORT PRAYER…

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Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof,

but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

Come and cure me, Lord!

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– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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[*] today’s Reflection owes a lot to a reflection by Steve Scholer at http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Let us walk in the light which the Lord gives us!

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– Isaiah 2:5 (GNT)

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If you love others, you will never do them wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.

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You must do this,

because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep.

For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed.

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The night is nearly over, day is almost here.

Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark,

and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.

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Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day

– no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy.

But take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires.

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– Romans 13:10-14 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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Have hope and prepare for God!

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Our God is faithful to us always and He knows about the situation we are in.

Our God is always moving to bring us together.

Our only real hope of coming together is to walk in the light God – to walk in God’s love.

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The closer we come to our God,

the closer we will come toward one another as we become filled with an incomparable great hope.

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Each one of us can find a desire in our hearts to embrace love and peace.

As St. Paul says, it is a time for us to “wake up from sleep”, from our self-induced and, often, pride-fueled inertia.

This is a season to reject and discard so many things that are all about darkness

and to instead “take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ” – the noble weapons of Light.

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We might have been so stuck in discouragement

that we are no longer attentive to signs of hope, to graces being offered us, to any light at all.

Could this Advent season, which starts today,

be one in which I give myself to more opportunities for togetherness, for bridge building?

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Sometimes genuine healing and reconciliation in our families, our communities and in our world need serious preparation.

We prepare by letting light, God’s light, into all external and internal places of darkness.

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Concretely, can this Advent be about continuing gestures of love for a spouse who often annoys me?

Can this be a time to reach out to the adult child who has disappointed me – who I also might have hurt by my own judgements?

What nice, caring, generous things can I do that builds a bridge, without recalling a hurt or continuing with my finger pointing?

Is there a friend or relative I have recently quarrelled with because of differing opinions about something?

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Advent is not about saving ourselves, it is about recognising that God is already with us and in us.

All we have to do is feel God’s presence in our hearts…and yearning to become more like Him.

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This wonderful season is about recognising our own weakness,

yet realising how deeply God cares for us, even in our deepest failings.

So let us make every effort to love deeply and unconditionally, as we faithfully “walk in the light which the Lord gives us!”

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Meanwhile we can pray, with great hope and growing desire,

“Come, Lord Jesus. We await your coming. Come O Lord.”

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[*] today’s Reflection owes a lot to a reflection by Maureen McCann Waldron at http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry.