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

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,

sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him for ever.

.

Bless the Lord, You heavens,

sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him for ever.

.

Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord,

sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him for ever.

.

Bless the Lord. all you waters above the heavens,

sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him for ever.

.

Bless the Lord, all you powers,

sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him for ever.

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– Daniel 3:57-61 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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What an exuberant prayer of praise!

What a rallying call

from the heart of one who recognises the Creator!

.

When touched by the Lord,

when filled with His Spirit,

when the eyes are opened to the greatness of the Lord and His creation,

then the believing heart exalts with joy,

and bursts into incessant praise and thanks.

.

Amen!

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, I will You, love You and exalt You forever!

.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Deep within them I will plant my Law,

writing it on their hearts

– it is the Lord who speaks.

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– Jeremiah 31:33 (JB)

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PRAYER…

.

Yes Lord, I pray,

that You plant Your Law

deep within me.

.

Write it on my heart, O Lord,

deeply engrave it in big letters

– brand me,

so that the rest of me will know

that I am Yours;

so that all of me – my mind, my body, my soul –

will rejoice,

always,

in the knowledge that I belong to You, entirely.

.

Lord, let Your Law take over all that I am,

and make me at one with You.

.

Let me always be conscious

that the heart that beats within me

has Your Holy Name inscribed on it.

and that it belongs to You

…and that You reside in it.

.

My Lord and my God,

let me always be conscious of You

deep within me, inside my heart.

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, plant Your Law deep within me,

write it on my heart!

.

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TODAY’S WORD…

.

Thus says the Lord God:

I myself will search for my sheep,

and will seek them out.

.

I shall judge between sheep and sheep,

between rams and goats.

.

– Ezekiel 34:11,17 (NRSV)

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.

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REFLECTION…

.

God has made Himself a shepherd for His people;

He always looks out for them,

neglecting none.

.

The Lord is the Good Shepherd

who takes care of all of us.

.

This love,

this care,

this kindness and concern of our Lord

includes the practice of justice.

Where there is Divine love and mercy

there is also justice

– in fact, love can never exclude justice

.

The Lord is my Shepherd,

I shall not want

– but is this truly how I feel?

Is this truly how I am?

.

We seem to have

an incessant and selfish desire to want more;

at any cost

– even at the risk of losing our soul.

.

When we will come to be judged,

by our Shepherd, our King,

will He find us wanting?

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

My Lord, my Shepherd, my King, I so want…to be found worthy!

.

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TODAY’S WORD…

.

“He is God

not of the dead,

but of the living.”

.

– Luke 20:38 (NRSV)

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.

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REFLECTION…

.

With these words,

Jesus, Son of God made man,

enlightens us

and fills us with hope and joy

as He teaches us

and emphasises

that God is

“not of the dead,

but of the living.”

.

Jesus reassures us

that there exists a permanent relationship

between God and all righteous people,

even those who have died.

These may be considered dead

as far as their bodies are concerned,

but they are otherwise alive,

truly alive,

in God!

.

The souls of the dead are immortal

– and they are awaiting the resurrection of their bodies.

.

Amen!

.

.

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QUOTE…

.

“By death

the soul is separated from the body,

but in the resurrection

God will give incorruptible life to our body,

transformed by reunion with our soul.

.

Just as Christ is risen and lives for ever,

so all of us will rise at the last day.”

.

– Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC1016)

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.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord and my God, thank You for saving me and giving me life!

.

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TODAY’S WORD…

.

“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live.”

.

– Proverbs 4:4 (NRSV)

.

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Jesus said,

“If you obey my commandments,

you will abide in my love.”

.

– John 15:10 (NRSV)

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.

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REFLECTION…

.

God is life.

By keeping His commandments

we abide in His love.

When we abide in God’s love – we live!

.

The certainty that God loves us is the source of Christian joy,

but it is also something which calls for a fruitful response on our part,

which should take the form of a fervent desire

to do God’s will in everything.

.

If we put God’s Word into our hearts

it will produce the blessings of life.

Keeping His commandments, gives us life

– life in abundance.

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, Your commandments give me life – in abundance!

.

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TODAY’S WORD…

.

Joyful are people of integrity,
who follow the instructions of the Lord.
Joyful are those who obey His laws
and search for Him with all their hearts.
They do not compromise with evil,
and they walk only in His paths.
You have charged us
to keep Your commandments carefully.

.

– Psalm 119:1-4 (GNT)

.

.

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REFLECTION…

.

How full of that indescribable inner joy

are those who are open to hope

and permeated by faith.

.

The Law of the Lord,

which is the object of the passionate love of every believer,

is a source of life.

.

The desire to understand God’s Law,

to observe it

and to direct the whole of one’s being by it

is the characteristic of every righteous person who is faithful to the Lord,

and who “on His law… meditates day and night.” (Ps 1:22)

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

O Lord, my God, Your Law is the joy in my heart.

It is the glorious Way, the undeniable Truth;

it is Your breath of Life.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Do not be conformed to the desires

that you formerly had in ignorance.

Instead, as He who called you is holy,

be holy yourselves in all your conduct;

for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

.

– 1 Peter 1:14-15 (NRSV)

.

.

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REFLECTION…

.

When we accept God’s call

and allow Him to come into our hearts,

we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus

and He changes us and renews us.

As He strips away our weaknesses,

we realise and admit

how ignorant and blind we were without Him.

.

Now that I can see,

I must resist going back to the dark,

to my old ways.

.

Now that I can see,

I want to…I must…

continuously strive to be righteous and holy.

.

The essentials of true holiness,

which a true Christian should focus on

so as to avoid getting side-tracked,

are

love for God and neighbour;

mercy and forgiveness;

as well as justice, faithfulness, and generosity.

..

And so,

holiness should be an interior disposition of our heart

– put it into practice.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, help me put all I receive from You into practice.

Lord, make me holy.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

He [Zacchaeus] was trying to see who Jesus was,

but on account of the crowd he could not,

because he was short in stature.

.

So he ran ahead

and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him,

because Jesus was going to pass that way.

.

– Luke 19:3-4 (NRSV)

.

.

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REFLECTION…

.

Zacchaeus was a tax collector

and, as such, was hated by the people

and seen as being guilty of abuses

and a collaborator of the despised Roman authorities.

.

No doubt moved by grace,

he was certainly very keen to see Jesus,

and he did everything he could to do so,

shedding any kind of human pride or fear

and even risking the ire and scorn of the crowd.

.

Am I honestly prepared

to publically show my feelings and excitement for Jesus,

who I, as a Christian, profess to be the Son of God?

.

We should never let false shame

or fear of criticism or even scorn

prevent us from declaring our allegiance to Christ and His teachings

and acknowledging our love for Him,

especially through our words, deeds and attitude.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, fill me with a strong and ardent love for You.

.

.

TODAY’S WORD…

.

Brothers and sisters,

do not be weary in doing what is right.

.

– 2 Thessalonians 3:13 (NRSV)

.

.

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REFLECTION…

.

Suggest to people in general

to do something that is righteous, good and honourable,

and even if they don’t actually say it,

you can still sense what many seem to be saying to themselves:

“How boring!”

.

People want excitement,

and in an increasingly God-less and self-centred society,

goodness and kindness

can be very often regarded as hum-drum and unexciting

…and boring.

.

But to a good Christian,

the opportunity to do good

should be seen as a privilege

– an exciting one even!

.

It is the great distinguishing characteristic of God

that He always does good

– He is good!

.

It was also what marked the character of Christ our Redeemer,

who went about doing good.

.

Whenever God gives us the opportunity

and the means of doing good,

we should feel blessed and “chosen”

and we ought to be especially thankful

and filled with joy.

.

For a true Christian

opportunities to demonstrate kindness and goodness

should take precedence over all else.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus, I want to demonstrate my love for You

by being good and doing good.

Guide me, O Lord!

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