“When all these things were made by me and all belong to me? - declares the Lord. But my eyes are drawn to the person of humbled and contrite spirit, who trembles at my Word.” Isaiah 66:2 Whose prayer does God listen to? What are the fundamental virtues we need when we approach His Word? The prophet reveals that the Lord is drawn to the person with these virtues: true humility, deep repentance and reverent fear of God. Let us approach our Lord this way so that He will draw near and reveal Himself to us.
“When Your words came, I devoured them: Your Word was my delight and the joy of my heart; for I was called by Your Name, Lord, God Sabaoth.” Jeremiah 15:16
Those whom the Lord has called will find delight in reading and meditating on the Scriptures because it is food for our soul. The Word of God is Jesus Himself, so our joy will be complete only once we devour His Word and allow it to bear fruit in us. So let us try to spend some time everyday nourishing our soul with Sacred Scripture.“But the Lord said to him, ‘You Pharisees! You clean the outside of cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness.’” Luke 11:39
Grace and Peace The Lord could not tolerate the hypocrisy of those who claimed to be close to God, but in fact were quite far away from Him. He cautions us to be on guard against the vice of hypocrisy, which can easily blind us unless we are careful to keep a clear conscience at all times towards God and toward men. Praise God!“When all these things were made by me and all belong to me? - declares the Lord. But my eyes are drawn to the person of humbled and contrite spirit, who trembles at my Word.” Isaiah 66:2
Whose prayer does God listen to? What are the fundamental virtues we need when we approach His Word? The prophet reveals that the Lord is drawn to the person with these virtues: true humility, deep repentance and reverent fear of God. Let us approach our Lord this way so that He will draw near and reveal Himself to us.“Set your hearts on His Kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well.” Matthew 6:33
Many of us are hesitant to lead a spiritual life because we presume that we will be deprived of comforts in the world. But our Lord clearly tells us that we will not lose anything if we set our hearts on His Kingdom. May we never forget that the Lord knows what is best for us, and He always makes sure we get the best of the best. Those who seek God, lack nothing good.Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Matthew 16:16
Who was Jesus? Was he a prophet, miracle-worker, teacher, or a new religious leader? For Simon Peter, Jesus could not fit in to any of the descriptions that the people gave. From the depths of his soul, he answered the question of Jesus from what he knew to be the greatest truth, “You are the Son of the living God.”On him will rest the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and insight, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:2
The Spirit of the Lord is sometimes a broad term. Prophet Isaiah, the greatest among the Prophets, describes the gifts of the Spirit of the Lord - wisdom, insight, counsel, power, knowledge, fear of the Lord and devotion to the Lord. Let us pray for the seven-fold Spirit, the same Spirit which was in Jesus Christ.So do away with all impurities and remnants of evil. Humbly welcome the Word which has been planted in you and can save your souls. James 1:21
The Word of God is holy. It cannot abide where there is any uncleanness. Uncleanness of soul begins with pride, grows with human anger and takes root through bitterness. The remedy for all these ills is humility, the virtue which prepares our soul to receive the holy Word of God, and so save our souls.The Word became flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Behold the greatest of all mysteries - the Word of God becoming flesh and living amongst human beings. God, Who was unseen, unknown, mysterious, beyond the grasp of human beings, now becomes flesh seen, known, revealed and dwelling in our midst. But although human, He is God; although veiled in flesh, the fulness of grace and truth dwells in Him.So the Lord God says this, 'Now I shall lay a stone in Zion, a granite stone, a precious corner-stone, a firm foundation-stone: no one who relies on this will stumble. Isaiah 28:16
The stronger the foundation stone, the stronger the structure that is built on it. Jesus Christ is the precious cornerstone that has been laid by God the Father as the foundation of His House. The man who builds his life on Jesus Christ will stand forever, and any man who does not build his life on Jesus Christ will perish. Let us build our lives on Jesus by our faith in him.“Do not gloat over me, my enemy: though I have fallen I shall rise; though I live in darkness, the Lord is my light.” Micah 7:8
Sometimes all of us have experienced being overpowered by the Evil One. But this does not mean that we should give in to despair. In such situations, let us like the Prophet Micah, look towards the Lord, Who is the gives us strength to rise again, fight and win the victory over every temptation of the Evil One. Though I have fallen, I shall rise; though I live in darkness, the Lord is my light!For it is not eating and drinking that make the kingdom of God, but the saving justice, the peace and the joy brought by the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17
We can have one of two forces reigning in us, and the effects of both are made manifest. If the Prince of darkness reigns in us, our lives will be unholy, restless and devoid of life and true joy. If Jesus, the Prince of Peace reigns in us, our lives will be upright and filled with a peace and joy that cannot be told.The greater you are, the more humbly you should behave, and then you will find favour with the Lord. Sirach 3:18
Humility is not an easy virtue. The natural tendency for us is grow in pride as we grow in greatness. But the Lord lays down for us the measure to become truly great: we are to grow more humble the more we are exalted. This requires that we grow more in the knowledge of God’s mercy towards us and the knowledge of our nothingness. Let us work hard to grow in this knowledge.'Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly. Luke 21:34
None of us knows when the Lord will visit us. If we are not watchful in prayer, the Lord warns us that we will be overtaken by love of pleasure, drink or worries. We will lose the light and will be completely taken by surprise on the day of the Lord’s visitation and will find no excuse to give Him. To avoid this sad state, let us be continuously watchful in prayer."“Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward will be great in heaven;” Matthew 5:11-12"
Do people around us become shocked when they come to know our stand on the issues of the day - stands we take because of our faith? Do we become isolated and alone. cut off from our relatives and friends because of our faith in Jesus? Does our faith in Jesus lead us a step further - into hearing insults, abuse and all kinds of falsehood spoken against us? If so, today’s Word of God to rejoice and be glad - we have a great reward waiting for us! Praise God!‘Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments.’ Mark 7:7
We all have many relationships - starting with those with our parents, our spouses, our children, our friends, our relatives, our colleagues and so forth. Some of these are formal, others follow good traditions, others appear nice on the outside, but inside we may have no intimacy - still others are very intense, from the heart. Coming to our relationship with God: God wants that our relationship with Him should be one that we give the highest priority, He desires that we know Him and love Him with all our heart. If we try to love our good God with our whole heart, we will experience the greatest of all loves and the greatest of all joys.I am the mother of fair love ,and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. Sirach 24:18
Mary is the Mother of fair love. She eagerly shows Herself a Mother to all who love Her Son Jesus and lovingly shares with them the treasures of grace which are with her. Her children are filled with virtues, and she protects them from sin. Having such a beautiful and sweet Mother, let us strive to be her faithful and obedient children.The first principle of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, What God's holy ones know - this is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
The Bible introduces us to Wisdom, which opens to the horizons of our minds the knowledge of the One, Eternal and True God, and directs our thoughts and actions accordingly. To acquire Wisdom, the first principle a disciple learns is to fear God. The fear of God helps us to grow in our knowledge of the Holy One and to acquire prudence, which is the wise avoidance of evil which can lead us to eternal destruction.