A WORD FOR TODAY 18 NOVEMBER 2019

A WORD FOR TODAY

OPEN MY EYES LORD, THAT I MAY SEE YOUR GOODNESS AND GLORIFY YOUR NAME

The story we have in the first reading of today is about how the people of Israel were lured into sin, by a few persons who misled them to abandon their faith and profane the holy covenant. They left the living God and started observing the gentile customs and this came at a cost.

To abandon the way of the Lord and to follow other gods is to become spiritually blind. Whoever, leaves the way of the Lord and dines with the devil will become darkness and the light of Christ will no longer shine out in him or her until the person repents. Whenever we leave the faith and our Christian practices to begin to do what the commandment of the Lord does not prescribe, we shall miss our way and we will be lost, except we turn around and come back to the Light who is Jesus in order to see well again.

To wander in darkness is to betray the trust the Lord has reposed in us and to dwell in sin. When we are in darkness we will no longer see sin as sin, but we will condone evil and become instruments of destruction in the hands of the evil one. We will strive to put of any light that is shining around us because it will become inconveniencing to us.

However, even as evil was going on in the city, there were many who stood their ground and were willing and ready to die rather than defile themselves. This should be an inspiration to us in this life. Our resolve as we follow Jesus must be to never yield in to the temptations of this world and the pleasures of this life luring us into sin. We must choose to die for Christ who is the light of the world, so as to remain in the light, rather than stay in darkness.

Every opportunity we get in this life is one we must use to witness for Christ, we must never choose the world above God. God is light and whoever is in Him will live in the light, but if we fail to live in God, our heart will become darkness and we will begin to do the things that will not please God.

We can find the healing we seek if we call upon the Lord as the blind man did in the gospel reading of today. Jesus heard his cry for mercy and he restored his sight and when he was healed, he followed Jesus, glorifying the name of the Lord. We can get help from the Lord if we call upon His name, we can receive the strength to walk in the light if we hold unto Him with faith. We can be delivered and set free from the power of sin if we draw closer to Jesus and sincerely ask Him for help.

When our soul seeks the Lord, we shall find the Lord ready to come to us and help us to get well again. God is ready to hear our cry for mercy if we are ready to call upon His name without letting the world intimidate us into keeping quiet and to continue to be in chains and darkness of sin.

Good morning dearest one. Smile😊as you do your work and do have a blessed new week. May Jesus hear your cry for help and may He speedily restore His light in you and rescue you from the darkness of this world. Amen. And may the Almighty God bless you: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Meditation: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-64/Psalm 119:53,61,134,150,155,158/Luke 18:35-43

Watch-Word: I am the light of the world, says the Lord, he who follows me will have the light of life.

In the world you will find light and darkness, choose the light, live in the light and you will be a great instrument of inspiration in the hands of the Lord.

(Monday of the 33rd week in the Ordinary Time, Year 1)