Daily Office Readings for Monday of the first Sunday of Advent; Year 2
Morning, Psalms 1, 2 and 3; Evening, Psalms 4 and 7;
Amos 2:6-16; 2nd Peter 1:1-11; Matthew 21:1-11
“You have put gladness in my heart, more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; for only you, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:7 and 8)
Grain and wine and oil was, at one time, a method of payment for work done in the quarries. It was hard work cutting and shaping stone. I am sure such men had no problem falling to sleep after such a hard day at work. But they slept with what was more important, they had gladness in their hearts.
As a priest I have seen, and continue to see, too many sad hearts in my community. Such people probably have a hard time sleeping. And lack of sleep just adds to frustration and anxiety.
Most sleepless and anxious people are this way due to various forms of corruption in the world. Perhaps they should borrow a page from 2nd Peter’s writing for today; “For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love;” (2nd Peter 5 to 7). And maybe even some hard work thrown in might help one to sleep a little better.
For me, God’s gladness in my heart means more than anything. With God’s gladness, even in the worst of situations, we can endure many of the things that go wrong. Let us ask God for divine gladness, it will make us happy and will enable us to fall asleep at once.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, Israel and our schools.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 