O Oriens, O Morning Star

~~~ Song of Songs 2:8-14 ~~~ Psalm 33 ~~~ 

~~~ Luke 1:39-45 ~~~

My lover speaks; he says to me,

“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one,

and come!

The beauty of being in love is the brightness of the your life.

Nothing is dull or ordinary, everything is more than it was before.

Love makes all things new.

The morning star breaks the darkness.

The morning star brings joy ever closer

 to all who would open their eyes.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

 those who lived in a land of deep darkness—

on them light has shined." Isaiah 9:2

The Morning Star brought great joy to Mary and Elizabeth.

They each carried within the wonder of new life.

The joy these two women carried within

exuded from every pore of the body.

I can just picture them singing and dancing together.

Our soul waits for the LORD...

For in him our hearts rejoice;

in his holy name we trust. 

What causes you to want to sing and dance?

What brings bright light into your heart?

It does not matter if you are young or old

something does bring you joy.

Make it a habit to record what brings joy into your heart.

Later this can serve as a reminder that you are Blessed.

The Morning Star rises first bringing light to the night sky...
eventually it out shines all of the other heavenly bodies.

Jesus, the Morning Star, possesses the
greatest of all brilliance.

Pray for God to shine forth his bright light on the darkness...
the darkness in our heart....
the darkness in our families...
the darkness in our communities...
the darkness in our country...
the darkness in our world. 

Come, O Morning Star,
shine your bright light into our darkest spaces.

Blessing of Joy
and Brightness from the Morning Star.

~~~Peace~~~
JOY
to the World!

Dancing into the Light...

 ~~~Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr~~~

~~~ Isaiah 48:17-19 ~~~ Psalm 1 ~~~ Matthew 11:16-19 ~~~

 

 I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.

God does not want us to be worried about where we should go
or what we should say.
It is challenging to trust that God really will teach us and lead us.
Oftentimes we forget that God does give direction;
it may be in subtle ways, but he does show the way.

When we follow the way of the Lord he does give us joy and peace.
What sometimes surprises me is that things happen
when I follow the Lord that brings me happiness
that I never could have anticipated.

Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

The light of life...without light there would be no life.
All living life forms need a light source.
This is also true of our spiritual life...
we need the light which emanates from the Lord himself.
The light of life streams forth from his eyes, his words,
his hands, his feet, and his pierced side.
 

 

...To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another...

We are too caught up by external things.
This causes us to become distracted from what is really important...
our interior relationship with God.

We surround ourselves with noise makers and we dance with utter abandonment.
We eat and drink in excess until we become satiated, but not satisfied.
The things of the flesh and the senses can never fully satisfy our longings.

Do not let dancing and music making keep you from seeing the light.
 

 

Blessings come to us through the Advent festivities.
Keep focused on who you are really waiting to see.

Holy, Holy, Holy...

~~~ Revelation 4: 1-11 ~~~ Psalm 150 ~~~ Luke 19: 11-28 ~~~

 

 

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come."

 

Today we proclaim the omnipotence and omnipresence of God...

A timeless God...A God who is all that time is...

A God that conceived time in its fullest.

 

Our God is the most consistent reality in existence.

God is present to us today just as he was in the times of Moses.

God is present to us today just as he will be in future generations.

God never changes.

God is constant and reliable.

 

Today as we continue reading from the book of Revelation

 I am struck by the magnificent beauty described for us.

 

Thrones, crowns, precious stones, sparkling gems, and brilliant halos

create a scene beyond comprehension.

Filling out the glorious scene is the deafening sound of praise and thanksgiving

being exclaimed throughout the heavens.

 

"Worthy are you, Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things;
because of your will they came to be and were created."

 

Praising and thanking God for all of creation;

 for out of his goodness

everything was made.

 

 

There is a celebration going on in heaven, the likes of which

we have never experienced.

 

There is singing and dancing.

Trumpets and harp fill the air with their joyous sounds.

The dancers twirl playing their tambourines.

As the music reaches a crescendo all of creation

joins in the dance of praise and song.

 

Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!

 

The celebration continues for all of eternity.

For it is right to give him praise and glory.

 

As we prepare for our annual day of Thanksgiving let us rejoice

with all of creation.

The Lord God almighty is forever worthy of our praise.

Daughter, Your Faith has Saved You

~~~ Wisdom 1: 13-15; 2:23-24 ~~~ Psalm 30 ~~~ 2 Cor.8:7,9, 13-15 ~~~ Mark 5: 21-43 ~~~

Daughter, your faith has saved you.

(Mark 5:34)

The woman in today's gospel who had been bleeding for twelve years and the little twelve year old have more in common than you might think.

Both of these daughters wanted to choose life.

The child was choosing life through the intercession of her father.

The woman chose life by taking action herself to seek out Jesus.

The two females were blessed with restored life through the love and mercy of Jesus. 

"...For he fashioned all things that they might have being..."

(Wisdom)

Paul tells us that we live and move and have our being in him.

(Acts 17:28)

Daughter, your faith has saved you.

(Mark 5:34)

The adult woman in this gospel had been suffering for over a decade.

She was in a desparate state of mind.

The psalm chosen for today expresses how distraught she must have felt.

She may have even prayed this very psalm.

The Lord did indeed rescue her from her despair.

He had pity on her because she allowed her faith to lead her actions.

It was through her faith that she found the courage and

the strength to even approach Jesus.

Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper.

I can just imagine how her long years of mourning were suddenly

 turned into joyful dancing. I can just visualize how this woman

went about spreading the good news of her healing. I can hear her passionately

giving thanks to the Lord; perhaps even singing hymns of praise

morning noon and night.

Today it is difficult for us to understand what her life was truly

like as an outcast of society.

How difficult it must have been for her to just survive from one day to the next.

How physically, emotionally, and spiritually deprived she had become over time.

You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
(Psalm 30)

If you look closely at your life what causes you to dance with joy?

Have you found healing of mind, body, or spirit?

Have you ever felt close to despair because of a long term situation?

I invite you to give thanks to the Lord for all that he has done for you.

Thank the Lord in advance for the healing that is yet to come in your life.

Daughter, your faith has saved you.

(Mark 5:34)