Friars Corner: Let Jesus, our Savior, radiate us in his light and joy
Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR
Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Mark 4:12-17
Last Sunday we talked a little about our daily prayers filling us more with the light and joy of Jesus, our savior. This week we continue that theme. These four readings span 2800 years. Isaiah’s prophecy goes back eight centuries before Christ. The Christmas Season celebrated the time when God’s Son came into our world as its new light.
The letter to the Hebrews, that we are reading at daily Masses, lays out for us what our new savior would do and is still doing as he invites us into his new kingdom of light, glory, peace and joy. Jesus lays out the principles of living in God’s light and kingdom.
Daily reading some of the Gospel stories and studying the Letter to the Hebrews helps us greatly grow in our understanding of new life in Crist. If we daily make our “home in God’s Word in the Bible,” the Holy Spirit lights up texts for us to enlighten our understanding and get us moving in his direction and not in all the distractions and lies of the world.
Psalm 27
Psalm 27 today is one of those major texts. It is short and easy to understand and memorize. I use it a lot as part of my night prayer. If Jesus is our light and salvation, what do we need to fear? We want to live in the house of the Lord now and forever after this life. There we shall gaze on the loveliness of the Jesus forever. St. Paul said we see the Lord only indistinctly on this earth. We hope to see him face to face and be with Him forever in heavenly glory.
Let us place our faith, hope and love in Jesus and his church. We know we are not perfect yet. We don’t place our full hope in any human person or institution. Most of us do live in a rather free society.
New direction
Our new president is not our messiah or savior. Most of us pray he will redirect our country to its founding principals. Most citizens know we needed a new direction moving into the future. Let us pray for our new administration that “they may serve our people,” and not build their own dynasty. One Protestant prophet heard the Lord say, even before Mr. Trump decided to run for president, that he was the person God has chosen to help God redirect our country to benefit us all. Let us pray daily for our new president and all who govern and serve all of our people here in the United States of America.
We can’t save everyone in the world. Yet I think our first responsibility is to take care of our own people first. And that has many applications and responsibilities. God bless America!
Have a good and prayerful week
+ Fr. Bob Hilz
(© 2017 Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR)
