Father, these next seven days, help me to identify hour by hour with the sacrificial obedience and selfless love of your Son, our Lord.

"Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." - John 11:3

How are we to measure the prosperity of our soul?

What's dividing the faithful?  Who's rallying us to unite? Who hates us most?

"If thou shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" - Psalm 130:3

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts." - Zechariah 4:6

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” - Matthew 22:40

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free." - Galatians 5:1

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" - Psalm 14:1

"Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” - Ecclesiastes 12:13

“This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize on his inheritance.” - Matthew 21:38

"Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?" - Matthew 20:22

A poor wise man saved his city from a mighty enemy. Thankless? Ecclesiastes says no one remembered him. Not quite: we do, 2500 years later.

"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.  Yet not I, but Christ lives in me." - Galatians 1:20

"There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." - Psalm 46:4

Annunciation! Sacred tradition hallows this day, nine months before Christmas, as the day Mary learned from Gabriel she was to conceive the Son of God.

"Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. There shall no evil befall thee." - Psalm 91:5, 10

"There are some who trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." - Galatians 1:7

"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." - Proverbs 31:10

"Where there is no vision, no redemptive revelation of God, the people perish." - Proverbs 29:18, Amplified Bible