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

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Job said,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.”

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– Job 1:21 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Job has just experienced complete deprivation,

and these few words that he utters succinctly, yet expressively and submissively,

describe the human condition – its fragility and impotence.

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He has only just been told that he has lost his children, servants and possessions

yet he remains fully conscious of the absolute sovereignty of God,

who alone has power to give and to take away

…and Job fully accepts the will of God.

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God has placed Job’s story in Scripture for good reason

– He wishes us to see and handle our afflictions as Job does.

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Above all, God’s is a message of encouragement and reassurance.

As a result of his acceptance of God’s will

Job learned something new when he suffered his great troubles,

he learned that it is more important to serve God than anything else.

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In the end,

and in the context of Job’s love and compassion for his friends, who he prayed for in spite of his own misfortune,

God restored Job’s blessings.

Job’s “happy” ending is a blessed ending.

It is an act of divine grace; not profit, but a gift.

It is a foretaste of the joy that awaits those who believe and accept God’s will.

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What did God find in Job?

He found a person who did not turn from true wisdom,

who continued to fear and turn away from evil.

Job maintained his integrity.

Though he lamented – often bitterly – he nevertheless trusted His Maker.

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Job is every person and every person is Job.

Will we persevere in faith even when the circumstances are tragic?

Will Jesus find us living in faith when He returns?

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We should not let our troubles and apparent misfortunes divert us from our faith.

If in all our troubles and heartbreaks we look to the Lord,

He will support us, and we will come out stronger.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord God, who am I to question You and Your wisdom?

In every need, let me come to You with humble trust saying, "Jesus help me!"

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“’…I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat,

I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

I was a stranger and you did not invite me in,

I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,

I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’”

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– Matthew 25:43 (NIV)

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QUOTE…

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“Today there is an inescapable duty

to make ourselves the neighbour of every man, no matter who he is,

and if we meet him, to come to his aid in a positive way,

whether he is an aged person abandoned by all,

a foreign worker despised without reason,

a refugee,

an illegitimate child wrongly suffering for a sin he did not commit,

or a starving human being

who awakens our conscience by calling to mind the words of Christ:

‘As you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Mat 25:40)“

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– Gaudium Et Spes – Joy and Hope (Vatican Council II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World)

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PRAYER…

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O Lord, my God,

I thank You for all the blessings You have bestowed upon me,

and especially for the gift of faith.

Lord, grant that I reciprocate Your love for me

in a manner that is pleasing to You.

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Lead me, Lord,

and grant that I will do Your will

and go and find You in the poor and the hungry,

in the sick, the lame and the crippled,

in the socially excluded,

in those on the fringes of society.

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Help me, Lord, to look beyond myself,

beyond my family, and my own direct interests,

so that I will share my blessings

as well as Your love, joy, peace and hope

with those others who are less fortunate than me.

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Amen.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, help me share Your love.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“Very truly, I tell you,

you will see heaven opened

and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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– John 1:51 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus is telling us believers

that if we humbly persist in our faith and determinedly follow Him,

our minds shall be opened

and the wonder of God will slowly be revealed to us,

and we will begin to see how truly great God is.

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If my faith in Christ is real, then it will be continually strengthened

and the evidence that He is Lord will become clearer and brighter.

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Jesus reassures me that if I believe His word,

I shall yet see full proof that His word is true.

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If I allow my heart to be open to Christ,

Heaven will be opened to me!

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus,

Son of the Living God,

King of Kings,

Lord of Lords,

increase my faith

that I may see and begin to understand

the greatness of Your power and of Your love for me.

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Amen.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“And what about you?

Who do you say that I am?”

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– Luke 9:20 (CEB)

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REFLECTION…

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Who, in truth, is Jesus for me?

Do I have a personal relationship with Him?

Do I eagerly listen out for Him?

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Who do I say that He is?

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Do I believe Jesus, when He tells me who He is?

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“I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,

and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” [Jn 6:35]

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“I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever;

and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” [Jn 6:51]

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“Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep…

Whoever enters by me will be saved,

and will come in and go out and find pasture…

I came that they may have life,

and have it abundantly.” [Jn 10:7,9-10]

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“I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” [Jn10:11]

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“I am the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in me,

even though they die, will live,

and everyone who lives and believes in me

will never die.” [Jn 11:25-26]

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“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you know me, you will know my Father also.” [Jn 14:6-7]

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“I am the true vine,

you are the branches.

Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit,

because apart from me you can do nothing.” [Jn 15:5-7]

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Do I truly believe and proclaim Jesus as my Lord?

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Christ,

the Son of God of the Living God!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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What has been will be again,

what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

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– Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NIV)

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REFLECTION…

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Mankind’s vices and virtues;

hopes; dreams;

desires and passions;

morality and immorality;

that unending search for happiness…

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Fundamentally, over the millennia, nothing’s really changed

– there is nothing new under the sun!

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Spiritually, however,

and coming from Him who is Divine, who is from above and beyond the sun,

is the new covenant of grace;

the New Testament and its doctrines;

the new commandment of love…

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Jesus is the new and living Way to God;

He is our renewable source of joy,

as He leads us to the new glories, joys and pleasures that will never end

– all for us to enjoy for all eternity in God’s realm of bliss.

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[inspiration for today’s reflection from John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible]

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PRAYER…

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Renew me, O Lord, every day.

Put a new joy in my heart

and lead me along the way

to that Holy Place of unceasing happiness

where I can delight, for all eternity,

in the beauty of Your Face.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Renew me, O Lord, every day.

Fill me with a new joy and lead me along Your way.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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So you must live as God’s obedient children.

Don’t slip back into your old ways

of living to satisfy your own desires.

You didn’t know any better then.

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But now you must be holy in everything you do,

just as God who chose you is holy.

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– 1 Peter 1:14-15 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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"Don’t slip back into your old ways"

After having truly found God and welcomed Him into our hearts,

we will find ourselves realising that our old ways were rather self-centered.

To go back to darkness, after having found the Light, will be tragic.

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“You didn’t know any better then.”

But we do now!

Now we have been shown the Way;

now we know the Truth;

now we truly have Life!

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As always, it is really up to us

to do our utmost to live as Christ taught us

and to fill our heart with love, joy and peace, and great hope.

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QUOTE…

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“Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things.

It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us.

It consists in accepting and following the will of God.”

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– St. Teresa of Calcutta

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus, Your truth has set me free!

Strengthen my faith, O Lord, and make me holy.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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People may be right in their own eyes,

but the Lord examines their heart.

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– Proverbs 21:2 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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We are all, to some extent or other,

attached to our own opinions and to our own ways.

– we are all highly conceited of ourselves,

but some are more humble than others.

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We often justify what is not right about our behaviour,

because we are proud,

or because it provides us with pleasure,

or profit,

or comfort,

or honour and status.

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What we need to constantly remind ourselves of

is that ultimately, what is important, is not how we see our own selves

but how God sees us.

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When God looks into our heart,

is what He finds acceptable to Him?

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, fill my heart with Your light, remove my pride and make me humble like You.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“Pay attention to how you listen;

for to those who have, more will be given;

and from those who do not have,

even what they seem to have will be taken away.”

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– Luke 8:18 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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On matters of faith

it would be wise if we would listen…to the many voices and differing opinions…

with great care, caution and discernment.

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It is so easy to lose the little faith that we may have (or that we think we have),

in this sea of deceit and confusion that swirls threateningly around us.

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If we faithfully keep our focus on God and not on ourselves,

we will then no longer seek to only listen to what suits us and our lifestyle.

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If the faith we have is real,

we will recognize the Truth

and we will gladly entrust everything to God and to His will,

and our faith will grow from strength to strength..

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PRAYER…

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Holy Spirit, teach and counsel me

and help me sift through all the deceit and confusion

which seek to distort the Truth and engulf my soul.

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Holy Spirit, remove my selfishness and pride,

so I can gladly embrace Your Truth

and grow steadily in faith.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Holy Spirit, strengthen my faith.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“No slave can serve two masters;

for a slave will either hate the one and love the other,

or be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and wealth.”

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– Luke 16:13 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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In the culture of Jesus’ time “service” involved such commitment to one’s master

that a servant could not take on any other work or serve any other master.

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The Pharisees jeered at what Jesus was saying,

because they wanted to justify their own attachment to material things; to wealth.

Sometimes people make fun of total commitment to God and detachment from material things

because they themselves are not ready to practice virtue;

and they cannot even imagine other people doing so.

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Am I totally committed to God?

Do I place Him as absolute first and totally above anything and anyone else?

Do I place Him as absolute first in every situation?

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QUOTE…

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“Like all idols, money is deceitful and lying:

it promises security and instead takes it away;

it promises freedom and instead destroys it.

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How many times these days have we had to think back again

to the cry Jesus addressed to the rich man who, in the parable, had stored up endless riches and thought he was secure for the rest of his life:

“Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”! (Lk 12:20)”

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– Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, grant me the gifts of discernment and self-control;

increase my faith, O Lord, so that I will always and only serve You!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“A sower went out to sow his seed.

As he sowed, some fell…amongst thorns

and the thorns grew with it and choked it…”

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And Jesus cried out,

“Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!”

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– Luke 8:5a,7,8b (JB)

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REFLECTION…

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This is how Jesus Himself explained the meaning of this part of the parable of the sower:

“The seed is the word of God.

[…] As for the part that fell into thorns,

this is people who have heard,

but as they go on their way

they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life,

and do not reach maturity.”  (Lk 8:11b,14)

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If only we would pay more attention to what Jesus teaches us.

He pleads with us to listen to Him

and to hear with more intent and purpose!

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He wants us to always be well aware of how worries, fixation on riches, and the unrestrained pursuit of the pleasures of life

can “choke” our faith.

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Trying to serve two masters distracts us from the Truth,

and leads us away from God.

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QUOTE…

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“‘No, Father, I am not good soil; I am a disaster, and I am full of stones, of thorns, of everything.’

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Yes, maybe this is so on the surface,

but free a little piece, a small piece of good soil, and let the seed fall there and watch how it grows.

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I know that you want to be good soil, true Christians, authentic Christians,

not part-time Christians: starchy, aloof and Christian in appearance only.

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I know that you don’t want to be duped by a false freedom,

always at the beck and call of momentary fashions and fads.

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…in silence, let us all look into our hearts

and each one of us tell Jesus that we want to receive the seed of His Word.

Say to him: ‘Jesus, look upon the stones, the thorns, and the weeds that I have,

but look also upon this small piece of ground that I offer to You so that the seed may enter my heart.’

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In silence, let us allow the seed of Jesus to enter our hearts.

Remember this moment.

Everyone knows the seed that has been received.

Allow it to grow, and God will nurture it.”

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– Pope Francis

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, remove the stones, the thorns, and the weeds that I have in my heart.

Jesus, renew my heart, that I may gladly welcome the seed of Your Word.

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