First Monday in Ordinary Time

Let all his angels worship him. The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many isles be glad. Justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. 

The Lord is our King and like the angels we were made to worship him. We were made to know Him through the Scriptures and through the traditions of the Church. We were made to love Him through prayer, alms, and mortification. We were made to serve Him and all His children through acts of charity and mercy. We were made to rejoice in Him and be glad. We were made to be founded on justice and wise judgment so we might be instruments of His grace to the world around us and proclaim the Good News to all whom we meet each day.

How do we worship God? What do we do to bring joy and gladness to the world and good tidings to all? Are our lives founded on justice and wisdom?

O Lord, we worship you as our King and Savior.

Amen.

Thursday after Epiphany

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.” 

In order to live Christ-like lives, we all need to bring glad tidings to the poor through our thoughts, words, and works. We do this by not only praying for them, but also comforting them in the midst of their trials, and acting with mercy and love toward others. We are to be bearers of God’s Grace to those whom are in most need of it. We, like Christ, should seek to fulfill the scriptures by following the commandments that Christ gave to us to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and our neighbors as He loves them. So let us bring good tidings to everyone we meet and proclaim through our every action that now is an acceptable time to be faithful followers of Christ.

How do we bring good tidings to the poor, be they poor in material goods or spiritual and emotional ones? Are we fulfilling God’s Will for our lives? Is our presence to others liberating, healing, and freeing?

O Lord, let our lives proclaim the message of the gospels.

Amen.