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

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TODAY’S WORD…

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One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak,

and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak.

The crowds were amazed…

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– Luke 11:14 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Muteness, blindness, deafness and paralysis,

all can be used as symbols to illustrate the state of the soul.

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Our attitude, our sins, can make us spiritually mute, blind, deaf, and paralysed

and it is Jesus – our Divine Healer – who can cure us,

like He cured the physically mute, blind, deaf and paralysed

in those actual and historical events mentioned in the Gospels.

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Those physical cures that Jesus performed

are also symbolic in that they represent the spiritual healing that He comes to effect in our lives.

It can be said that Jesus was giving us an image of the sacraments and their healing grace.

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St. John Chrysostom says about this passage,

that this man was unable to present his request himself, because he was dumb;

he was unable to ask others to do it either, because the devil had tied his tongue,

and together with his tongue he had bound up his soul.

The devil had him well and truly trussed up!

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If we do not talk to Our Lord in prayer about our misery,

and beg Him to rid us of it;

if we do not lay bare our loss of spiritual direction;

if we keep silent because pride has sealed up our lips,

the sickness becomes practically incurable.

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Usually, if we do not talk about the way our soul is suffering,

we also fail to listen.

The soul becomes deaf to God’s requests,

and we reject argument and reason

that could be the one clear light that will help us get back on the right road.

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On the other hand, St Josemaria Escriva encourages us

by telling us that it will be easy for us to open our hearts sincerely

if, when we become aware of the burdens and human passions that dwell in us,

we also remind ourselves that these should not be regarded as obstacles,

but as spurs for us to become more closely united to God

and to seek Him constantly,

because He purifies us.

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“O that today you would listen to His voice!
Do not harden your hearts” (Ps 95)

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, today I resolve, never to resist Your healing grace,

and to be always very sincere in my love for You.

Heal me, and lead me, O Lord.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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You will show me the way of life,

granting me the joy of Your presence

and the pleasures of living with You forever.

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– Psalm 16:11 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Jesus uses different images

to teach us that the path that leads to Life, to holiness,

consists in the full development of the spiritual life.

He speaks of the mustard seed which grows into a great tree;

in its branches the birds of the air come to rest.

He speaks of the grain of wheat

which reaches maturity and produces rich ears of corn…

That growth, not without its difficulties and sometimes seeming so slow,

is in fact the increase of virtue.

If we are to sanctify each day,

and offer it to the Lord as a humble gesture of love,

we have to practise many human and supernatural virtues:

faith, hope, charity, compassion,

justice, fortitude – conscientiousness, loyalty, optimism…

The virtues demand the repetition of acts in order to grow,

because each act disposes the soul to perform the next one more easily.

This is a lot like the sportsman,

who improves his physical fitness by training

and acquires a greater aptitude for repeating his exercises.

Through repetition, it will become a habit – a way of life.

Virtues, therefore,

are those good actions acquired through the repetition of good acts, with the help of grace.

Virtues are what perfects us,

and at the same time they make it easier for us to perform good works

and to respond at every moment to God’s will

in a prompt and fitting manner.

Without virtues

it is easier to fall into imperfections and sins

that widen the gap which separates us from God.

On the other hand,

the practice of virtue shows us, at every moment, which path it is that leads to God.

Let us make practicing virtues a daily routine.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus, show me the way of life,

and grant me the joy of Your presence

and the pleasures of living with You forever!

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Then Peter came to Jesus and asked,

“Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”

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– Matthew 18:21-22 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Where do I stand with pardoning?

Have I set a limit – say, seven times?

Or do I always forgive, as Jesus tells me to – seventy times seven?

In other words, am I ready to pardon always and without limit?

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The Lord asks of those who follow Him, of you and me,

a forgiving approach and unlimited pardon.

The Lord demands of His own friends – you and me –

a completely generous largeness of heart.

He, in fact, wants us to imitate Him.

Nothing makes us so God-like

as our willingness to forgive. (St John Chrysostom)

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Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

That is what we say each day – often several times a day- in the Our Father.

If we claim that our prayer to the Father is sincere,

then the pardon we grant must also be sincere,

from the heart,

and granted in the same manner as God pardons us…repeatedly, every time.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Our Father, Who art in Heaven,

hallowed be Thy name;

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

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Amen.

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…  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  …  … 

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?

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– Psalm 42:2 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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To enter the dwelling of the Lord,

a soul has to be clean and humble.

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For us to be able to see Jesus,

good dispositions are needed

and our souls need purification.

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On contemplating Jesus we ought to purify our soul.

That Christ you see is not Jesus.

It is only the pitiful image that your blurred eyes are able to form…

Purify yourself.

Clarify your sight with humility and penance.

Then…the pure light of Love will not be denied you.

And you will have perfect vision.

The image you see will be really His: His! (St. Josemaria Escriva)

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Lent is a good opportunity

to intensify our love with penitential deeds and loving altruistic sacrifice,

which dispose the soul towards receiving light from God

thus helping us to see the true face of Christ.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My soul thirsts for You, my Living God.

Lord, remove all my darkness and fill me with Your Light, so I can behold Your face and Your truth.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“…what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Is anything worth more than your soul?

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For the Son of Man will come with His angels in the glory of His Father

and will judge all people according to their deeds.”

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– Matthew 16:26-27 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Christ’s words are crystal-clear:

every person has to bear in mind the Last Judgment.

Salvation, in other words, is something radically personal

and each one of us will be judged according to our deeds.

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Our purpose on earth is not the accumulation of worldly goods,

for these are only means to an end.

Our last end, our ultimate goal, is God Himself.

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Jesus shows us the route to take to achieve this ultimate goal,

to reach our final destination

and be with Him fully and forever in Heaven:

there is only one way

and that is denying ourselves and taking up the Cross.

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Every earthly good is temporary

and cannot be compared with the salvation of the soul, which is eternal.

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Selfishness, self-centeredness, attachment to temporal goods

and preferring ease and comfort over personal sacrifice,

knowing that we are going against God’s will and Commandments,

is a rejection of the Cross

and is suicidal for the soul.

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The choice is ours to make

and we basically have two options:

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One is to listen to and follow that inner voice

that keeps telling us that we have only one life

and that we should live it to the full for ourselves.

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The other is to continually strive hard to be always ready

to abandon everything to please God.

It involves enduring all kinds of sacrifice

and denying ourselves

as we take a firm decision to follow Christ,

faithfully clinging to His words:

“If any of you wants to be my follower,

you must turn from your selfish ways,

take up your cross,

and follow me.” (Matt 16:24)

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, I give You my heart, I give You my soul,

I want to live for You alone!

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TODAY’S WORD…

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The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

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The Lord is good to all,

and His compassion is over all that He has made.

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– Psalm 145:8-9 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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Without God, true happiness is impossible.

The limitless happiness He has willed for us

reaches its fullness in heaven,

and only there will we secure it for ever.

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When we sin gravely,

we are lost to God and also in ourselves,

for sin makes us lose our way to heaven,

it drags us down,

it causes the death of our soul,

and that is the greatest tragedy that can happen to a Christian.

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With regards to venial sin,

John Paul II reminds us that,

although it does not cause the death of the soul,

the person who commits it can cease to go forward

or can stray from the way that leads to the knowledge and love of God.

Thus venial sin must never be considered as something trivial,

or regarded as a sin of little importance.

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The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all,

and His compassion is over all that He has made.

And without God, true happiness is impossible

…although to some, for a time, it may appear otherwise.

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QUOTE…

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“Learn to call what is white, white,

and what is black, black;

call evil what is evil,

and good what is good.

Lean to call a sin, sin.”

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– St. Pope John Paul II

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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This is what love is:

it is not that we have loved God,

but that He loved us

and sent His Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

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– 1 John 4:10 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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The sins of men have been the cause of the death of Jesus Christ.

Every sin bears an intimate and mysterious relationship to the Passion of Jesus.

We will recognise the evil of sin

only if we know how to relate it to the mystery of Redemption.

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The conversion which Our Lord insistently asks for,

and in a special way during this period of Lent as we approach Holy Week,

ought to start with a firm rejection of all sin

and with the determination to avoid every occasion that could out us in danger of offending God.

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Moral renewal, which this world so much needs, begins with this profound conviction:

On earth there is but one evil,

which you must fear and avoid with the Grace of God,

and that evil is SIN.

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On the other hand,

there seems to be a loss of the sense of sin,

which is nothing but another form or consequence of the denial of God;

not only in the form of atheism,

but also in the form of out and out secularism.

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If sin is the breaking off of one’s filial relationship to God

in order to place and live one’s life outside obedience to Him,

then to sin is not merely to deny God.

To sin is also to live as if He did not exist,

to eliminate Him from one’s daily life. (St. Josemaria Escriva)

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We do not wish to eliminate Our lord from our lives,

but rather to recognise and be more and more aware of His presence with each passing day.

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Through God’s mercy and the help of His grace, we will not leave Him,

and we will try to bring to Him many who are separated from Him.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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O my God, I am sorry and beg pardon for my sins,

and detest them above all things

because they offend Your infinite goodness,

and I firmly resolve with the help of Your grace,

never to offend You again

and to carefully avoid the occasion of sin.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.

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– Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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We are called for absolute trust in God

because the Lord looks after a soul which has placed its heart in Him.

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He who puts his confidence in earthly concerns,

whose heart turns from the Lord,

is condemned to be barren and ineffective with respect to what really matters.

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The Lord is not telling me not to be concerned about the things of earth,

but He wants me to treat such matters in the right way

and not in the manner that leaves no room in my soul for the love of God;

not in a manner that will put Him in second place…or worse.

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We can get so caught up with the things of the world

as well as with our own self-interests,

that we can forget God, and also our trust in Him.

Moreover, focusing on ourselves and on our earthly concerns,

prevents us from becoming aware of the needs of others

– others in whom we should see God.

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On the other hand, when we place our trust in the Lord,
we shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, I trust in You. Lead me through life, Lord,

and help me spread Your love on those in need.

… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“You do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.”

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– Matthew 20:22 (NRSV)

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You then, my child, be strong

in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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– 2 Timothy 2:1 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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Drinking the cup of another was a sign of deep friendship

and of a readiness to share a common destiny.

It is in this intimate relationship

that our Lord invites those who wish to follow Him,

Are you ready to suffer with me?

Are you able to drink of my chalice with me?

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Following Christ involves having a strong disposition

towards accepting, above all, the Will of God,

even when it does not concur or run parallel with our wishes.

His Majesty knows best what is suitable for us;

it is not for us to advise Him what to give us,

for He can rightly reply that we know not what we ask. (St. Teresa)

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The language of the Cross is not easy to understand,

and to follow Christ involves being of a humble and obedient yet strong mind

and not placing any limits on how far we are willing to follow Jesus.

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But the Lord sent us His Holy Spirit

who, if we welcome Him into our lives,

fills us with faith and trust to say “We are able”

and gives us the grace and the strength

to accept and do God’s Will…come what may.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Holy Spirit, River of Grace, increase my faith

and fill me with determination and strength to always do God’s will.

Come Holy Spirit.

… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“Who is greater,

the one who sits down to eat or the one who serves?

The one who sits down, of course.

But I am among you as one who serves.”

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– Luke 22:27 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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Christ has repeatedly pointed out the way for us:

“Who is greater,

the one who sits down to eat or the one who serves?

The one who sits down, of course.

But I am among you as one who serves.”

Without humility and spirit of service

there can be no effectiveness

and it is quite impossible to practice true Christian charity.

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Without humility there is no holiness,

for Jesus does not want conceited self-centred friends in His service.

As St John Chrysostom tells us,

“the instruments of God are always humble.”

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In the little acts of service that we can offer to others,

there is no room for complacency or for arrogance,

since it is the Lord who really does the work

and without grace our best efforts will be in vain.

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Grace is the one thing that can raise the power of our human talents

so as to achieve by them

what would otherwise have been beyond our possibilities

always remembering what we read in James 4:6,

that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

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When we struggle to attain this virtue of humility,

we become effective and strong.

But we ought to be constantly vigilant,

because the worst kind of ambition is to strive for one’s own exaltation

– that ambition of seeking ourselves and our enhanced reputation

in the things we do, supposedly to help others.

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If we are not humble,

we can make ourselves unfit for helping those around us,

because pride infects everything.

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How do I treat others?

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Is my behaviour towards others imbued with a spirit of service?

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Do I truly serve out of love?

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Do I see Christ in others?

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, help me serve others with love and humility,

so that by doing so I will be serving and loving You.

… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.