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All the wickedness in the world that humans may do or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped
in the sea.
- William Langford (We are never beyond the reach of God's love and mercy. Let this thought permeate your mind and heart this day, and extend this mercy to
others.)
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Phil 2:1-4; Ps 131:1bcde, 2, 3 Lk 14:12-14 On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one
of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the
blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the
righteous."
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Reflection on the Scriptures
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Generous giving doesn't impoverish - but enriches the heart
Jesus probes our hearts as well. Do you only show favor and generosity to those who will repay you in kind? What about those who do not have the means to repay you - the poor, the sick, and the
disadvantaged? Generosity demands a measure of self-sacrifice. However, it doesn't impoverish, but rather enriches the soul of the giver. True generosity springs from a heart full of mercy and compassion. God has loved us first, and our love for him is a response of gratitude for the great mercy and kindness he has shown to each one of us. No one can outmatch God in his generous love and kindness towards us. Do you give freely as Jesus gives without seeking personal gain or
reward?
Lord Jesus, your love never fails and your mercies abound. You offer us the best of gifts - peace, pardon and everlasting friendship with you at your banquet table. Fill me with gratitude for your great mercy and kindness towards me. And may I never fail to show kindness and mercy towards all I meet so that they may know the mercy and goodness you offer them as
well.
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The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross E. Allison Peers Translation. Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book.
Click here to purchase on Amazon.com BOOK THE SECOND Wherein is described the nature of dark night and how necessary it is to pass through it to Divine union; and in particular this book describes the dark night of sense, and desire, and the evils which these work in the soul. Of the Ascent of Mount Carmel Wherein is treated the proximate means of ascending to union with God, which is faith; and wherein therefore is described the second part of this night, which, as we said, belongs to the spirit, and is contained in the second stanza, which is as follows. __________________________________________________________________ Second Stanza Chapter 29 Which treats of the first kind of words that the recollected spirit sometimes
forms within itself. Describes the cause of these and the profit and the harm which there may be in them.
4. I knew a person who had these successive locutions: among them were some very true and substantial ones concerning the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, but others were sheer heresy. And I am appalled at what happens in these days -- namely, when some soul with the very smallest
experience of meditation, if it be conscious of certain locutions of this kind in some state of recollection, at once christens them all as coming from God, and assumes that this is the case, saying: God said to me . . ,'; God answered me . . ,'; whereas it is not so at all, but, as we have said, it is for the most part they who are saying these things to themselves.
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