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The Internet ministry that began with A Daily Spiritual Seed in 1996 continued to evolve into an extensive Internet presence. I had been in retreat ministry in one form or another since 1974, and it seemed too good to be true that one could now post retreat conferences, books, meditations, artwork and other resources online and have them available to people all over the
world 24/7. Of course, people would need to be able to have the means to access the Internet, but it seemed that was going to come, in time. Everything was still expensive back then -- computers, Internet hosting, even Internet web browsers! I paid $50 for Netscape 3, which had a feature to help create clunky web pages. We complain about inflation now, but you just couldn't do anything back then without computer equipment costing at least $2,000 and $500 of software -- in pre-inflation dollars.
Now, you can get a Chromebook for $200 that is fast, secure, and has an amazing number of apps that can be used to do pretty much anything. So I learned to create web pages, edit graphics and sound files, install discussion board software online and tweak the permissions -- all sorts of technical skills! The fruit of it was an online presence that is still alive and growing 25
years later. The Dominican Sisters who sponsor Heartland Center for Spirituality were very supportive of this development as part of Dominican "holy preaching." I'll tell you tomorrow all the many forms it takes online. Thank you for supporting our Internet outreach. 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
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Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and
get first of all into harmony with God.
- Hudson Taylor
(What difference does it make to you to begin your day with prayer? How can you keep "first things first" in your life?) |
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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. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“He was talking about the temple of His body.” —John
2:21
Today’s feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome is a way of acknowledging that God dwells among His people (see Jn 1:14). This feast reminds us of the beauty of God, that all beauty is a means to glorify God. A Church building is likewise a beautiful, holy house and from it flows many graces to bless the people of God.
Today’s feast is also a reminder that God dwells in our own bodies (Jn 6:56; 17:23). We are to dedicate the temple of our body to God’s service, just like the Lateran Basilica is dedicated to God’s use. We dedicate our bodies to the Lord to glorify God in them (1 Cor 6:20), so that we may be beautiful, good, holy, and true, a pleasing dwelling place consecrated to God. May each of us likewise be united to God and each other in faith, forming a holy building founded on
Christ (1 Cor 3:9-11). Let God make you a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). Prayer: Father, I offer my body to You to be dedicated to Your service (2 Tm 2:21; cf Rm 12:1).
Promise: “For the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.” —1 Cor
3:17
Presentation Ministries
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From Meditation to Contemplation by James Arraj (all rights reserved) The Three Signs of the Onset of Contemplation, and Their Meaning Since the first
sign might result from lukewarmness, neglect or sin, the second sign is used as a safeguard, and since the first and second signs might be the result of some illness or general weakness where the soul has no desire for anything, the third sign is brought forth. The third is the most vital sign, for it is that of contemplation itself. Since the recipient is still addicted to sense perception, this new knowledge is too different and subtle to be readily perceptible. However, it will soon become
so: “But the more habituated he becomes to this calm, the deeper his experience of the general, loving knowledge of God will grow. This knowledge is more enjoyable than all other things, because without the soul’s labor it affords peace, rest, savor, and delight.”(“Ascent of Mt. Carmel,” 2, 13, 7) The actual beginning of this infused contemplation is the crucial sign, for without it the
soul would be leaving meditation without something better taking its place: “If a man did not have this knowledge or attentiveness to God, he would, as a consequence, be neither doing anything nor receiving anything. Having left the discursive meditation of the sensitive faculties and still lacking contemplation (the general knowledge in which the spiritual faculties - memory, intellect, and will - are actuated and united in this passive, prepared knowledge), he would have no activity whatsoever
relative to God.”(“Ascent of Mt. Carmel,” 2, 14, 6) Online book
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