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by Fr. Dmitri, New Zealand
Saturday 31 October 2009 (21 Paapi; 21 Babah)
The Prophet Joel
St. Luke the Physician (Old Style)
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and there shall no torment touch them.
(Wisdom 3:1)
CONSIDER THIS:
Constant prayer adds God's great Dignity to the human being.
(Heguman Pishoy Kamel)
Possess but don't be possessed. Take but don't be taken. Be a master of your
money and not a slave of it.
(St.Augustine)
The Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the Children of
Israel.
(Joel 3:16)
Lord help me not to go astray from the path and make me cling on to You.
(St.Augustine)
Man is in no way submitted to necessity.
(St.Macarius)
God, you are my life. You are my creator. You are my light.
You are my guide. You are my castle and my existence.
Have mercy upon me and hold me up. You are the breath of my life.
(S.Augustine)
This is the great work of a man: always to take the blame
for his own sins before God, and to expect temptation to his last breath.
(Antony the Great)
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom
of God has come upon you.
(Matt.12:28)
Learn if one receives more and another less, yet all are Yours and without you
nothing can be received.
(Imitation of Christ)
As from now, I do not fear God, because I love Him, and love drives away fear.
(Anthony the Great)
REFLECTION:
What great power of the souls, have over the heart of God! If we realized this fact and averted to all the graces that we can gain through their prayers, these would not be so forgotten.
God, Our Creator and Redeemer, may we become righteous
in Thy sight and that our prayers be of benefit to us and our dear ones.
(John Vianney)
HOMILY:
THE WORD:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
(Psa.119:105)
A man taught by God's Law is wiser than opponents, would-be teachers, the proverbial wise elders. The explanation is that in His Word, God is the teacher, and the result is love and sound moral judgement. The element of moral discipline is obedience. We cannot have God without His word. The man who wants God, whole-heartedly desires His favor and grace. It is impossible to abide in Him unless His word abide in us. (see John 15:7)
If we understand God's word, it lightens up our whole life. It gives us markers throughout our life. I think of the motto of my Old College. "Lumen Accipe et Imperti" - Take the Light and Pass it On.
I often think back to those days and wonder how many of us actually did that.
If we do not have these Sign Posts throughout our lives, we could go off the track. If we go out at night for a walk and did not take a torch and had no street lighting, we could stumble and fall.
It is the same with the Word of God, it is our light which enables us to go along life's Pathway without stumbling and falling by the wayside. This wayside could conjour up a lot of meanings.
It could mean falling into Sin, then we would need repentance.
It could mean falling into Error, which also requires repentance and seeking the way back onto the Straight and Narrow.
We truly need the Light of the Word to guide our footsteps along life's Pathway. The Psalmist also found that he needed this Light, as his life's Path was full of obstacles and without the Word of God to show him the way he might have tripped over these obstacles. He was right in saying: "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my Path."
May we accept the Light of His word and pass it on is my prayer in Jesus' Name.
AMEN!
To Thee be Glory & Praise, now and ever, unto Ages of Ages.
AMEN!
Today's Readings:
Evening: 1 John 1:1-7; James 1:1-12; Jude 1 :1-7
Psalm 104:14-15; Gospel Luke 11:37-51.
Morning: Psalm 104:26,27 &45; Gospel John 21:15-25.
Liturgy: Col.4:5-9,14&18; 2 Peter 1:19-2:8; Acts 15:21-29;
Psalm 98:6-7; Gospel Luke 10:16-21.
Copyright DR
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