“Way back in 1997, I began exploring the potential of the Internet for ministry, so I shared an interesting quote on spirituality or theology with a few friends in my email contact list. They liked it and suggested others who would enjoy it, and that's how "A Daily Spiritual Seed" got started. When I joined the staff at Heartland Center for Spirituality in September 1997, they encouraged me to
continue with this outreach, and to research other ways to "explore the potential of the Internet." Yes, that was one of the team's goals, and we were at that time pioneers in developing online resources that would be available to anyone at any time all over the world. Now -- over 24 years later -- we're still at it, along with many, many others, some of whom we recommend from time to time.
"A Daily Spiritual Seed" is still foundational to our online ministry, as it not only provides resources to hundreds daily, but also helps us to publicize other offerings. Perhaps you have investigated these. I'll tell you more about them tomorrow.
Your financial support helps us keep going. Thanks for your consideration.
Phil St. Romain
Internet Ministry Coordinator
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Donations are eligible for tax-deduction.
Online donations (secure payment link):
Check payments:
- Heartland Center for Spirituality
Internet Ministry
3600 Broadway
Great Bend, KS 67530
Gratitude gift will be sent to donors.
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"No efforts or expenses seem too great to purchase our escape from the afflictions which God sends us; and yet they are even more beneficial and more meritorious than voluntary penances. For God knows better than we in what regards and by what means our soul has need for being purified and regenerated."
- Angela of Foligna -
(What are the afflictions with which you struggle at this time in your life? How might they be helping you to grow in Christ?)
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Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17
Jn 2:13-22
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.
Reflection on the Scriptures
Today’s readings remind us that the Church’s ultimate mission is to give life. In the desert climate of ancient Judea, Ezekiel’s vision of fresh water flowing out of the temple offers striking images of hope and life: abundant fish, fruit trees, food, medicine, and the multiplication of “every sort of living creature.” The Temple’s life-giving mission is not inevitable, however. When it becomes a profit-driven
vehicle of burdensome taxation and corruption, Jesus makes his feelings abundantly clear in perhaps the most violent scene of his ministry. In his letter to Corinth, St. Paul reminds us that the Church’s life-giving mission belongs to each of us as baptized believers who possess the Spirit of Christ within the unified Body of Christ. Ultimately, the Church’s mission is not to be a corporation, but rather the corporate Body, exemplifying God’s life, love, and unity in the world.
- by Jay Carney
The Son of God Became Human
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three
Article 8: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
IV. THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME
Christ Jesus
727 The entire mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of time, is contained in this: that the Son is the one anointed by the Father's Spirit since his Incarnation - Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.
Everything in the second chapter of the Creed is to be read in this light. Christ's whole work is in fact a joint mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here, we shall mention only what has to do with Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit and the gift of him by the glorified Lord.
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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