Message of 9-20-2023

Published: Wed, 09/20/23

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Wednesday: September 20, 2023

Message of the Day

The Christian faith is meant to be lived moment by moment. It isn't some broad, general outline -- it's a long walk with a real Person. Details count: passing thoughts, small sacrifices, a few encouraging words, little acts of kindness, brief victories over nagging sins.
- Joni Eareckson Tada

("Details count . . . " Resolve to be lovingly attentive this day.)

Readings of the Day

1 Tm 3:14-16; Ps 111:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Lk 7:31-35

Jesus said to the crowds:
"To what shall I compare the people of this generation?
What are they like?
They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,

'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.'

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, 'He is possessed by a demon.'
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

USCCB lectionary

Reflection on the Scripture

“Woe to you rich, for your consolation is now.” —Luke 6:24

“You will know what kind of conduct befits a member of God’s household, the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of truth.” —1 Timothy 3:15

Christians sometimes conceal rather than reveal Christ by conduct unbefitting “a member of God’s household.” We act “like children squatting in the city squares,” self-centered and full of complaints (Lk 7:32). We often make the Christian life look like a drag, fulfilling our “Sunday obligation,” doing only the minimum, out of so-called love for God.

Additionally, Christians have trouble with their mouths (see Jas 3:8). It’s questionable whether we gossip any less than non-Christians. In many ways, we’re just about as worldly as unbelievers. How many churches raise money through gambling and selling beer!

The Lord calls us to project a different image — His image. We must “hunger and thirst for holiness” (Mt 5:6) and in every aspect of our conduct be holy as Jesus is holy (1 Pt 1:15, 16). Christians and churches that are not holy but lukewarm cause Him to become nauseated (Rv 3:16). Let’s live for God with no compromises.

Prayer: Lord, have mercy and forgive me.

Promise: “God’s wisdom is vindicated by all who accept it.” —Lk 7:35

Presentation Ministries

Amazon Gift Cards: Good for any occasion.

Spiritual Reading

-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011.

Part Two, Encountering the Risen Christ

Chapter 5: Sacramental Encounters

- Selected quotes

   I will begin this chapter with a reassurance that my treatment of this mode of Christ’s presence is not intended to be some kind of indoctrination into Catholicism, where the emphasis on Sacraments is very strong. As with previous chapters, I will share both teaching and personal experiences of the meaning of sacraments.
   Let us begin with #774 from The Catechism of the Catholic Church. There we learn that term sacrament is from the Latin, “sacramentum,” which is the equivalent of the Greek word “mysterion,” used in scripture to speak of the mystery of God. “Sacramentum” emphasizes the visible sign of the hidden reality of salvation, while another Latin word, “mysterium,” captures the connotation of invisible. We see, then, that the word “sacrament” is related to both the realms of mystery and to this world; sacraments are a making visible something of the mystery of God.
     How do sacraments make the mystery visible to us?
   First and foremost, through God’s action in history, especially through the life of Christ and his continuing work through the Church. “The Church’s first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of (people) with God.” (CCC #775) “As sacrament, the Church is Christ’s instrument. . . The Church ‘is the visible plan of God’s love for humanity.. .’” (CCC #776). In other words, a sacrament makes the invisible visible, and that is what the Church does: it makes Christ’s life visible. The Church, then, is the first and primary sacrament of God. What we call Sacraments—Baptism, Eucharist, etc.—are specific instances of Christ’s presence becoming manifest in and through the action of Church.
   That’s the overview, and I hope it makes sense. This is all part of the incarnational aspect of revelation that is unique to Christianity. While acknowledging that God is mystery, beyond our understanding, existing in the realm of the eternal/supernatural, Christians believe, simultaneously, that God has become manifest in space and time, wants to be known, and continues to communicate with us in ways that connect with our human modes of knowing. God communicates the sacred presence to us through Christ, a human being, then through the community of believers, with whom Christ is intimately identified. Christ and the Church are primary “channels of grace,” or channels of the Spirit—which means about the same thing. That is an old definition of the meaning of sacrament—a sign instituted by God to communicate grace.

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