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

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

“Come with Me

by yourselves

to a quiet place

and get some rest.”

.

– Mark 6:31 (NIV)

.

.

.

CONSOLING PSALM…

.

The Lord is my Shepherd;

there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures

where He gives me repose.

Near restful waters He leads me,

to revive my drooping spirit.

.

He guides me along the right path;

He is true to His name.

If I should walk in the valley of darkness

no evil would I fear.

.

You are there with Your crook and Your staff;

with these You give me comfort. (Ps 23:1-4)

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

I need You, Lord.

In this valley of darkness, hold my hand and lead me, and give me comfort.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…TODAY’S REFLECTION…TODAY’S PRAYER…

.

O my Strength,

it is You to whom I turn,

for You, O God, are my Stronghold,

the God who shows me love.

.

As for me, I will sing of Your strength

and each morning acclaim Your love

for You have been my Stronghold,

a refuge in the day of my distress.

.

O my Strength, it is You to whom I turn,

for You, O God, are my Stronghold,

the God who shows me love.

.

– Psalm 59:9-10;16-17 (The Grail Psalms)

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

O God, You are my Stronghold!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

The word of the Lord remains forever:

What is this word?

It is the Good News that has been brought to you.

.

– 1 Peter 1:25 (JB)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

God’s wisdom has no “best before” date.

God’s word in the Bible, lasts forever,

and the more we eagerly consume from it,

the more there is, for our soul to digest,

in this divine, bottomless and timeless vessel

filled to the brim with wisdom and truth.

.

Everything fades,

except God’s word, which,

enriched by Christ’s love

and His teachings and example,

eternally blossoms – from age to age!

.

The beauty and depth of God’s love

is revealed in the hearts of those

who humbly reflect upon

and eagerly accept God’s promises and reassurances,

and His direction,

which He so caringly

and indelibly

lays down for us to live by,

in His everlasting word.

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

As I reflect on Your word, O Lord,

I ask that Your Holy Spirit graciously opens the eyes of my heart

so I can see and learn Your truth.

.

Your divine truth is food for my soul,

which lovingly recognises the work of its Maker,

and eagerly receives it – if only I allow it to.

.

Lord, I lift my hands to You

and, filled with faith and hope, I proclaim

that Your word is the truth,

Your word is love,

Your word is salvation.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, Your word is truth, love and salvation!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!

What joy!

.

Restore our fortunes, Lord,
as streams renew the desert.
Those who plant in tears
will harvest with shouts of joy.
They weep as they go to plant their seed,

but they sing as they return with the harvest.

.

– Psalm 126:3-6 (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

How wonderful it is

to always acknowledge God’s blessings

and recall His wonderful works in our lives.

.

How appropriately humble and trusting it is

for true believers to acknowledge God’s love

as they seek His divine intervention to lift their spirit

and see them through the dark deserts of life.

.

With God always by our side,

and with a strong unwavering faith in Him and in His boundless love for us,

we can look ahead with great anticipation

to receiving more of that eternal joy which only He can bring.

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

How great You are, O Lord, my God!

How great is Your love for me!

.

You are the beginning and the end;

the Alpha and the Omega.

You are everything

and without You there is nothing.

.

You lead me through the desert

and take me to streams of living water,

where I know that my thirst will always be quenched

and my spirit refreshed.

.

Lord, Your love is eternal

and the joy that You give is everlasting.

.

Thank You, O Lord.

Praise You, O God.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

My Lord and my God – my eternal joy!

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Answer me when I pray,

O God, my defender!

When I was in trouble, You helped me.

Be kind to me now and hear my prayer.

.

– Psalm 4:1 (GNT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Our lives are a mix of highs and lows

but as true believers, we should aim at bearing fruit for the Lord in every condition and every season

– not for ourselves…but for the Lord.

.

Whether hurricane blows or sun shines,

we must ask God to fill us with His love and grace.

We need to pray that we are rooted deeper into His life–restoring presence,

that we may be renewed, restored afresh and reawakened.

.

Let us delight in God’s will in every circumstance. Always.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, help me to be rooted in Your love.

Let me always be gratefully in your presence, no matter what,

so that my life may be fruitful and pleasing to You.

Thank you, Lord.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God,

who are called according to His purpose.

.

For those whom He foreknew

He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,

in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family.

And those whom he predestined He also called;

and those whom He called He also justified;

and those whom He justified He also glorified.

.

– Romans 8:28-30 (NRSV)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

We are assured that God is watching over us during our time on this earth.

God will lead us to the kingdom and brings us into the kingdom.

.

God knows each one of us from all eternity.

His plan is to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things in earth.

.

God also predestines each one of us to eternal salvation.

We have been destined in love to be His sons through Jesus Christ.

God’s plan is that we live for the praise of His glory.

.

Moreover, the Father calls us and chooses us in love to be His adopted children.

He justifies those who respond to His call and believe in His Son.

.

The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us,

that is, to cleanse us from our sins and communicate to us the righteousness of God

through faith in Jesus Christ and through Baptism.

.

We die to sin by sharing in Christ’s Passion and we are born to new life through his Resurrection.

.

The first work of grace is conversion; moved by grace, we turn toward God and away from sin.

.

Finally, those He justifies by grace, He glorifies, for grace is the beginning of glory.

.

– from a homily by Fr. Jason Mitchell

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God, my salvation. (Lk 1:46-47)

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you:

God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all.

.

So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness;

we are not practicing the truth.

.

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light,

then we have fellowship with each other,

and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

But if we confess our sins to Him,

He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar

and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.

.

– 1 John 1:5-10 (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

“We have a Paraclete, a word, an advocate, a defender at the Father’s side,

it is Jesus Christ, the Upright One.

He makes us righteous.

It is He who pardons us.

…a sin is a bad thing!

But if you have sinned, look at who is waiting to pardon you…

Always! That’s because He, our Lord, is greater than our sins.

.

We must walk in the light because God is Light.

Don’t walk with one foot in the light and the other in darkness.

Do not be liars.

And one other thing: we have all sinned.

…only one is Upright, He who paid for us.

And if somebody sins, He is waiting for us and pardons us

because He is merciful and knows very well what we are shaped from

and remembers that we are but dust…”

.

– Pope Francis. From a homily on 29th April 2016.

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

Almighty God,

You are all light,

in You there is no darkness.

Let Your light shine upon us in all its radiance,

so that we may walk gladly in the way of Your commandments.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

.

– From The Liturgy of the Hours

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Almighty God, You are all light, in You there is no darkness.

Let Your light shine upon me in all its radiance,

so that I may walk gladly in the way of Your commandments. Amen.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…and PRAYER of AFFIRMATION…

.

Lord, You have examined me and You know me.
You know everything I do;
from far away You understand all my thoughts.
.

You see me, whether I am working or resting;
You know all my actions.
Even before I speak,
You already know what I will say.
You are all around me on every side;
You protect me with your power.
Your knowledge of me is too deep;
it is beyond my understanding.

.

Where could I go to escape from You?
Where could I get away from Your presence?
If I went up to heaven, You would be there;
if I lay down in the world of the dead, You would be there.
If I flew away beyond the east
or lived in the farthest place in the west,
You would be there to lead me,
You would be there to help me.

.

Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.

.

– Psalm 139:1-10;23-24 (GNT)

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.

.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.”

.

– Matthew 7:21 (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

To be religious is not enough

for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

To pray and fast and hear Mass is good,

but it is not enough.

.

Jesus must find us faithful,

practicing the virtues which He taught us:

to be loyal to and to love God;

to love our neighbours, irrespective of social status, race, colour or creed,

to extend our love to those who do not love us;

to be humble in everything we say and do;

to be charitable and forgiving;

to be caring and helpful;

to treat others as we would like them to treat us;

to be genuine, honest, truthful and sincere.

Jesus wants us to live His Word.

.

Jesus warns us

that only if we do the will of the Father,

will we enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Otherwise, at that moment when we come face to face with Him

and we call out to Him “Lord, Lord”,

He will say to us,

“I never knew you.

Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.” (Matt 7:23).

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“Be doers of the word,

not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

.

– St. James (Jas 1:22)

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus, my Lord, I earnestly seek Your Kingdom!

Lead me as I seek to live Your Word, day by day.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus said,

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth!

I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

.

‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Your enemies will be right in your own household!’”

.

– Matthew 10:34-36 (NLT)

.

.

.

REFLECTION…

.

Jesus Himself helps us reflect further on these words of His,

which may shock us at first,

but which are of fundamental importance to those who want to follow Him.

Jesus explains:

“If you love your father or mother more than you love me,

you are not worthy of being mine;

or if you love your son or daughter more than me,

you are not worthy of being mine.

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me,

you are not worthy of being mine.

.

If you cling to your life, you will lose it;

but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” (Mat 10:37-39)

.

Jesus is clearly telling us

that even where, on the surface, what appears to motivate us is love for others,

we must be extremely wary of our innate selfishness

which can result in self-centred reasoning.

.

Tranquillity and peace at any cost?

Absolutely not! Not unless we are prepared to lose our soul in the process.

.

Compassion?

Yes, always and in every circumstance,

but we must never forget

that showing Christian compassion does not mean having to compromise with God’s Law.
God is above all else, and above everything else.

.

It is the same when it comes to our own parents; to our own sons and daughters.

Christ-like compassion always,

but we must never let our love for our parents and for our children blind us

to the extent that we place them ahead of God.

.

A true follower of Christ must adhere to His teachings,

while always acting in a spirit of gentleness and compassion.

The reaction to this attitude which Jesus wants us to take

is often one of hurtful mockery and even hate.

This is the cross we must be prepared to carry in order to truly follow Christ.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, make me strong in faith – and prepared to give up my life for You.

.