Start with Peace

Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you.

Lk.10:5,6

Jesus is instructing the seventy-two disciples before their mission trip. He instructs that their very first action in each house is to extend a blessing of peace.

For the human condition peace was and is and always will be a desirable commodity. Jesus knew this and made it the mission ignition point for every household the disciples entered. This is the model for all Christian mission. Start with a blessing of peace.

I find when I start with peace, joy quickly follows. My mission trip today is the people I'm about to meet at home and at work. I'll start with peace  and watch for the joy.

Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace. Help me be an emissary of peace to all those I meet today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

 

Mercy not Fire

The disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.

Lk.9:54-56

Jesus is refused entry into a Samaritan village because he signals he is a Jew, his destination being Jerusalem. James and John want to punish the village which earns them the rebuke of Jesus.

James and John, the "Sons of Thunder", what to burn the villagers up.  After all, the village has unwittingly insulted God. Instead of passing judgement and inflicting punishment, Jesus gives mercy. This foreshadows what is about to happen from the Cross where Jesus intercedes for those who are crucifying him. They know not what they do.

There's a lot of James and John in me. I'm strong on judgement, weak on mercy. Pope Francis is strong on mercy and this makes some in the Church nervous. Judgement is so neat and tidy and... well... just. Mercy gives the initiative back to the perpetrators and they may not respond the way I want. But mercy is the way to change people's hearts. It worked on me. I need to have the grace to give space for mercy to work on others.

Jesus, thank you for extending mercy to me. Help me be a channel of mercy to the people I meet today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Least is Great

For the least among you all, that is the one who is great.

Lk.9:48

Jesus has just stopped and argument between the disciples as to who is the greatest by presenting the answer before them. A little child.

Jesus brought in a new world order, the upside down pyramid with the greatest at the bottom supporting and serving all those above.  For Jesus, greatness is measured by humility. This was and continues to be countercultural. The world adulates the the rich, the beautiful and the powerful. Jesus tells us to pray behind closed doors, give with one hand while the other doesn't see it, be the last, serve all, be humble, be poor to be blessed. 

If I'm honest I'd have to say I don't find this easy. My flesh craves adulation and power. Yet on this point Jesus is uncompromising. If I am to be an authentic follower I am to be a servant to the small and weak. It's the "Love others" put into action.

Jesus, you know I would have been arguing with the disciples as to my greatness. Help me act with humility and service to be great in your eyes.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

What's the Goal?

At a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: “The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.”

Lk.9:43,44

Jesus is at the height of his popularity but isn't swayed from his primary goal... death on a cross.

What appears to be a desired objective can sometimes be a smoke screen. There can be a greater goal on the other side. This is especially true when the attention and clamour is worldly. Wealth, popularity, material success are often distractions. 

What is my goal I need to have constantly in mind? Attaining heaven. How do I get there? By loving God and loving others. Anything else is a distraction. 

Jesus, you kept your goal clearly in focus. Help me do the same today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

New Glory

The new glory of this Temple is going to surpass the old, says the Lord of Hosts, and in this place I will give peace – it is the Lord of Hosts who speaks.

Hag.2:9

The prophet Haggai stands with the remnant Israelites looking on the destroyed Temple. With the eyes of faith, he doesn't see ruins and destruction, he sees a rebuilt temple more glorious than the last.

Life has its ruins. Marriages that were joyous and full of hope on the wedding day now a train wreck. Bodies that were young, full of life and vigor now thin, frail shadows from the ravages of sickness. Careers formerly full of promise now derailed and languishing. 

God doesn't see wreckage. He sees restoration. I've heard it said that God's favourite building material is broken lives. He makes gold out of miry clay, sinners into saints. And to restored lives he gives peace and with that, joy. 

Never give up. Stay in the ring and continue the fight. Don't focus on the ruins but on the restoration. This is the source of my hope and joy today.

Thank you Jesus that you don't dwell on the wreckage in my life. Help me always look up to what you see in me. Let me help others do the same.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

 

Way Truth Life

Gospel Acclamation 

Alleluia, alleluia! 

I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord; 

no one comes to the Father except through me. 

Alleluia!

Jn.14:6 

Jesus is comforting his disciples. In answer to Thomas's question about where Jesus is going, Jesus says, "To the Father and you can come too, via me".

This statement is not very PC. It's too exclusive for the modern world. Surely there are other ways to the Father. Not according to Jesus. He is THE way. This puts emphasis on evangelisation. I have loved ones who don't follow Jesus. If I desire them to have a home in heaven, they need to know the way there. 

Also, there is a great joy in living on the way to truth and life. I'm always looking up, moving further in. This is the source of my joy and optimism today. It's a joy that deserves sharing.

Jesus, you are my way, my truth, my life. Help me share the joy I have in you today.
Saint Philip Neri, patron saint of Joy, please pray for us.

Rebuke Cure and Proclaim

Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Lk.9:1,2

Jesus is commissioning the twelve apostles prior to their first mission trip. He gives them power to rebuke, cure and proclaim, which is what they set out and do.

There are some who say that was for then, that we don't have that authority or mandate now. What a dead religion if that were true. No, I am called to rebuke, cure and proclaim today. Through my baptism and the Church I have been given that power, given that authority. The Kingdom of God is near today.

Lord Jesus, I receive your commission. Help me be a scourge to the devil and his demons. Help me heal and proclaim your Good News today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Noble and Generous Heart

As for the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Lk.8:15

Jesus is explaining the parable of the sower to his disciples. The seed falling on rich soil are people who hear God's word and act on it, people with a noble and generous heart.

Noble is an old fashioned word meaning a person with fine personal qualities or high moral principles. A generous person is one who has a readiness to give more than is strictly necessary. These are people I like to be around. They are people who Jesus held up as rich soil yielding a plentiful harvest for God.

Noble and generous. These are virtues I can aspire to. Today my actions can be measured against the question, "Is what I'm doing noble and generous".

Jesus, you are both noble and generous. Help me be rich soil so your word can yield a rich harvest in my life.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

 

True Religion

You must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called.

1Tim.6:12

Paul writes to Timothy, warning him of the distractions of pride, pointless arguments and love of money. The Godly life is full of faith, love, patience and gentleness.  

I shouldn't be surprised that the early Church had the same distracting arguments and factions as today. Human nature is what it is. The only difference today are the topics being argued. 

Catholic social media arguments are depressingly similar to those of the unchurched. Why you should be vaccinated, why you shouldn't, why you should oppose government attacks on "freedoms", why there is a plot to control your mind... yadda yadda yadda. Distractions and disunity that Satan will be relishing.  I don't see Jesus being lifted up anywhere.

I'm just as prone to be sucked into this downward vortex of noise. The antidote? True religion consisting of faith, love, patience and gentleness. Let's try and practice these today.

Jesus, it's hard sometimes to hear you through the noise. Help me always have an ear inclined to your voice and stay focussed on the life you call me to.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Lift Him Up

The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

Jn.3:14,15

Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, explaining what belief in him gains... eternal life.

What is death is the final question everyone must face. Is it a black hole into nothing or a door into everything? My mother, after ninety two years of atheism, faced this question four days before she died and concluded it must be the door into everything and became a believer. Her eleventh hour belief gained her eternal life. Thank you Jesus.

People don't realise they have a choice unless Jesus is lifted up. They must be told. My life is a book others can read. I need to be sure it tells the right story, that it lifts Jesus up so people may believe and have eternal life.

Thank you Jesus for the people you placed in my life that lifted you up and helped me believe. Help me be the same to those you place in my life today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Hear Act

Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock.

Lk.6:47,48

Jesus insists that listening to his words is not enough. I must act on them or ruin for my household will follow.

Good foundations are crucial.  This well known parable of the wise man building his house on the rock contains sobering words. They highlight how my actions, or lack of them, affects not only me but my household, my family. 

So, how do I lay good foundations for my household? According to Jesus, hearing his words then acting on them. The process starts with hearing. My morning prayer is time of less noise, I time when I can hear. Acting on what I hear follows throughout the day. Acting requires intention. That can be tough but it's possible... one day at a time, starting with today.

Jesus, I hear you plain enough. Help me act on your words so I can lay a strong foundation for my household.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

 

Mercy and Grace gives Faith and Love

 

Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.

1Tim.1:13,14

Paul writes of what his conversion involved from God, mercy and grace, and what was the result in his life, faith and love.

This is true of my own conversion. Mercy and grace rescuing me from ignorance and filling me with faith and love. If I want to have any effect in a non-believer's life the starting point is showing them mercy and grace, even if they are persecuting what I hold dear. Today I need to be a channel of mercy and a flood of grace.

Jesus, you rescued me by your mercy and grace. Help me be a channel of mercy and grace to those I meet today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

The Face of Love

Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.

Col.314,15

Saint Paul lists all the virtues that should be active in a believer's life. They are the natural ourworking of love, peace and gratitude.

Paul lists compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness. This is the attractive face of the Church that draws people in. 

The opposite is coldness, cruelty, pride, harshness, impatience, intolerance and judgement. This is the ugly face of the Church that repels. 

I'm a member of the body. What virtues and vices do people see in me? God's word and the words of those close to me are my mirrors. 

Jesus, help me root out my vices and foster my virtues so I can more authentically reflect you.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

What a Friend I've Found

Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

Mt.1:22,23

Following the long genealogy of Jesus, Matthew writes of the circumstances of Jesus' birth. Mary is silent in these verses, all action focussing on Joseph and his wrestling with what to do. It's high drama that can only be made sense of by the words of the prophet Isaiah, "they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us."

God becoming man. This is unique to our Christian faith. Jesus being Emmanuel, God with me, stops him from being some distant, cold deity. He is my friend, my best friend right beside me. I am never alone, I always have his assured presence, he is the source of my joy today.

What a friend I've found 

Closer than a brother 

I have felt your touch 

More intimate than lovers 

Jesus, Jesus 

Jesus, friend forever

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Full of Thanksgiving

You must live your whole life according to the Christ you have received – Jesus the Lord; you must be rooted in him and built on him and held firm by the faith you have been taught, and full of thanksgiving.

Col.2:6,7

Paul writes to demonstrate that Christ is supreme over every human philosophy and accomplishment. The believer must choose to be rooted, built and held by faith in Christ, all bound together by an overarching gratitude. 

It is good for me to recall what Jesus has done for me. It stirs my faith and brings on gratitude. Thankfulness is a natural consequence of faith. An optimist tends to be a person full of hope who is always thankful. They are contagious, which is why they're great to hang around. 

Today I choose to be a man full of thanksgiving.

Thank you Jesus for the freedom, peace and joy you have given me. I will speak of your love forever.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Shine

They filled the two boats to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made.

Lk.5:7-9

After using Peter's boat as a stage to address the people, Jesus tells Peter to again put out his nets. Reluctantly Peter obeys and hauls in the catch of a lifetime. He gains a glimpse of who Jesus is, a holy man, and clear insight of who he is, a sinner.

Sitting in our lounge in the evening, I don't realise how dark it has become until I turn on the light. The light exposes the darkness. Peter has a similar lightbulb moment. Darkness creeps up on a man. The light of Jesus instantly exposes it for what it is.

Jesus doesn't leave Peter on his knees. He lifts him up, renames him and makes him into a holy miracle worker. He can do the same with me, but I have to start on my knees.

Jesus, please don't leave me on my knees. Shine into my life so I can reflect you to those I meet today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.