God has given us two ears, but one tongue, to show that we should be swift to hear, but slow to speak. God has set a double fence before the tongue, the teeth and the lips, to teach us to be wary that we offend not with our tongue.
- Thomas Watson
(Right speech leads to right relationships.)
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1 JN 4:19–5:4; PS 72:1-2, 14 AND 15BC, 17
LK 4:14-22
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
Reflection on the Scriptures |
All of us have a mission in life, no matter what our particular vocation. Sometimes we are more aware of its particularities than at other times. Whatever this mission may be, it cannot be discovered unless we first discover our identity in God. Knowing ourselves as Beloved Sons and Daughters provides the key, the place from which our mission flows.
The remaining days of the Christmas season provide an opportunity to receive more deeply the Good News that in Jesus we have become adopted daughters and sons. To the extent that we “remain” there, we can be assured that the mission to which we are called will bear much fruit.
- Fr. Richard Gabuzda
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 54
“Faith is nought else but a right understanding, with true belief and sure trust, of our Being: that we are in God, and God is in us: Whom we see not”
Highly ought we to rejoice that God dwelleth in our soul, and much more highly ought we to rejoice that our soul dwelleth in God. Our soul is made to be God’s dwelling-place; and the dwelling-place of the soul is God, Which is unmade. And high understanding it is, inwardly to see and know that God, which is our Maker, dwelleth in our soul; and an higher understanding it is, inwardly to see and to know that our soul, that is
made, dwelleth in God’s Substance: of which Substance, God, we are that we are.
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