Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever! Praise be His Holy Name. All praise and all glory to Our Lord and Savior. Blessed is He who was, who is, and who always will be.
Thank You, God, for Your guidance. Thank You, God, for all thy benefits. Thank You for the change in seasons. Thank You that You have not abandoned us, nor have you forsaken us. Thank You for Your presence in Your Word, in Your Church, in Your Sacraments. Thank You for Your steadfastness, mercy, and love.
Forgive me, Lord, for my forgetfulness, my self-centeredness, my impatience, my doubt, my ego, my short-sightedness. Forgive me for all the many times a day that I bring sorrow to Your most Sacred Heart by failing to live my faith in the fact that You are God. Forgive me for the times I have failed to love You and others as I should. Forgive me for engaging in gossip or judging others because my pride has been hurt or others have acted in a way I would not have- like I am any better than anyone else or believe that I should not be subject to criticism or correction. I am so sorry I have hurt You, Lord, who art all good and deserving of all my love.
I am so blessed by God’s guidance, even though, many times, I do not recognize it until it is hindsight. Recently, Psalm 119: 105 became very real to me. “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
I remember hearing various reflections on that verse of how a lamp only illuminates the part of the path you are, not the whole path.
Many times, we must move along that path not even being able to see the very next step. I am sure this can happen for many reasons. Perhaps our lamp does not burn so brightly during a time when we have lapsed, or maybe the wind blows in the storms of life and our flame struggles to stay alight. I am sure we have all experienced times when the darkness seems so thick that our lamp light does not seem to be capable of making a difference. Yet, the light remains. We nurture it by frequenting the Sacraments. We protect it by avoiding the near occasions of sin. We feed the flame by seeking the One who lit it at our baptism.
Sometimes, however, our light shines brightly, by God’s grace, and we are given the gift of seeing where our foot will land next on our path to our Heavenly home. Maybe it happens more clearly or frequently for some people, but this week, for me, there was a definite guidance from our motherly intercessor, and I am beyond grateful.
I had just finished renewing my total consecration to Jesus through Mary when my sister texted. When I say, just finished, I mean literal minutes! My sister texted me a link to the Impossible Novena or “Walk of the Incarnation.” It is a nine-month novena that began the very day of my renewal!
It was as if I gave Jesus, through Mary, my consecration, and He immediately, through Mary and my sister, said, “Here’s your next assignment.” I almost giggled because there was absolutely no doubt this is the next step on my path. He lit the way!
I also laughed when reading about the novena. The link she sent states, “It is an opportunity to ask Mary to take 3 of our most ‘impossible’ requests and present them to Jesus, to plead with Him on our behalf.” I laughed because I am sure one of the most impossible requests is me completing this novena! Of course, I can do all things in Him, with Him, and through Him, especially when He practically handed me the novena. So, I trust that He will see me through it.
Has your lamp burned brightly lately? Are you walking the path by faith and not by sight? Has the Lord directed you unexpectedly recently? Share your God story! Sharing may help your light and others burn all the more brightly.
Photo by Julia Florczak on Unsplash
