PRAYER: “STIR UP OUR HEARTS, O LORD, TO MAKE READY THE PATHS OF YOUR ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT THROUGH HIS COMING, WE MAY BE FOUND WORTHY TO SERVE YOU WITH MINDS MADE PURE. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Is 41:13-20; Ps 144:1,9-13 and Mt 11:11-15.
God, through the Prophet Isaiah continues to speak words of consolation and encouragement to his depressed and disappointed people in exile in Babylon. The passage from the Prophet Isaiah we are reflecting on today is about hope for a new exodus, a new departure to return from Babylon to Jerusalem.
This would be accompanied by wonders greater than those that took place during the first Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Lord would hold Israel by the right hand and lead Israel back to Jerusalem. Signs of life and happiness are promised to the disappointed exiled people of God.
The message from this passage of Isaiah is still very relevant today for us. This earthly life is an exile. In fact, we are in exile on this planet. We are pilgrims in a foreign land, journeying back to our homeland, heaven. Therefore, as exiles, we equally encounter some of the things the Israelites encountered in Babylon. We encounter disappointments, pain, difficulties, pressure and persecution.
A lot of things, including the activities of our fellow human beings, sometimes enslave us in the world. There are times we encounter, experience and suffer violence and ‘storms’ in the world. Physical violence and storms could easily be handled and managed, but the psychological, emotional and spiritual storms and violence in life very often, cannot easily be handled and managed.
What are the storms in life you are experiencing at the moment? Are you suffering and going through any type of violence in life? What is giving you pressure or putting you under pressure in life? Take consolation from today’s scriptures and know that the Lord is leading you and he is with you in all your encounters.
Open your spiritual ears and hear his call that “I, the Lord, your God, I am holding you by the right hand; I tell you, do not be afraid, I will help you” (Is 41:13). All he needs from us is strong faith and trust. May the Lord take us, and lead us through all our storms and forceful violence in life and bring us back to ‘our own land’ to experience joy, happiness and life. May Saint John of the Cross intercede for us. Stay blessed and happy feast to all who bear the name John of the Cross.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, THURSDAY, ON THE MYSTERIES OF LIGHT: ‘THE BAPTISM OF JESUS, THE WEDDING AT CANA, THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM, THE TRANSFIGURATION, AND THE INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST’. (WE PRAY FOR OPENNESS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, PRAY TO JESUS THROUGH MARY, FOR REPENTANCE AND TRUST IN GOD, THE DESIRE FOR HOLINESS, AND WE PRAY FOR THE SPIRIT OF ADORATION) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “O GOD, WHO IN SAINT JOHN HAVE WONDERFULLY MADE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE CROSS, GRACIOUSLY GRANT THAT, DRAWING STRENGTH FROM THIS SACRIFICE, WE MAY CLING FAITHFULLY TO CHRIST AND LABOUR IN THE CHURCH FOR THE SALVATION OF ALL. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN”.
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.
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