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"A Daily Spiritual Seed” is only one part of our Internet ministry, but it’s pivotal in reaching out to help nourish the spiritual needs
of Christians worldwide. The first newsletters were sent out during April 1997 to a few friends in my email contact list, and it’s gone out to hundreds of voluntary subscribers every weekday since (43 countries from every continent at this time). So thank you for being part of this ministry, which will hopefully continue for years to come.
Your financial support helps us keep going. Thanks for
your consideration. Phil St. Romain Internet Ministry Coordinator _________ 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
Christ is like a river. A river is constantly flowing, there are fresh supplies of water coming from the fountain-head continually so that
we may live by it, and be supplied with water all our lives.
- Jonathan Edwards (Drink deeply of the living water of Christ. Invite Him to refresh your soul with His
Spirit.)
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Rom 12:5-16ab; Ps 131:1-3
Lk 14:15-24
One of those at table with Jesus said to him,
"Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God."
He replied to him,
"A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
'Come, everything is now ready.'
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him,
'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen
and am on my way to evaluate them;
I ask you, consider me excused.'
And another said, 'I have just married a woman,
and therefore I cannot come.'
The servant went and reported this to his master.
Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his
servant,
'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.'
The master then ordered the servant,
'Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.
For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my
dinner.'"
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Christianity and Spirituality monthly forum
Reflection on the Scriptures
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who died for his faith under the Nazi persecution of Jews and Christians, contrastedcheap grace andcostly grace: "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate... Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which
must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life." God lavishes his grace upon each one of us to draw us closer to himself and he invites each of us to his banquet that we may share more deeply in his joy. Are you ready to feast at the Lord's banquet table? -Lord Jesus, you withhold
no good thing from us and you lavish us with the treasures of heaven. Help me to seek your kingdom first and to lay aside anything that might hinder me from doing your will.
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The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross E. Allison Peers Translation. Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book.
Click here to purchase on Amazon.com BOOK THE THIRD Which treats of the
purgation of the active night of the memory and will. Gives instruction how the soul is to behave with respect to the apprehensions of these two faculties, that it may come to union with God, according to the two faculties aforementioned, in perfect hope and charity.
Chapter 18 (skipped a few chapters on purgation of memory) Which treats of joy with respect to temporal blessings.
Describes how joy in them must be directed to God. 2. For in that case I should never cease quoting Scripture, nor should I cease describing the evils which Solomon imputes to riches in Ecclesiastes. Solomon was a man who had possessed great riches, and, knowing well what they were, said: All things that are under the sun are vanity of vanities, vexation of spirit and vain solicitude of the
mind.' And he that loves riches, he said, shall reap no fruit from them. And he adds that riches are kept to the hurt of their owner, as we see in the Gospel, where it was said from Heaven to the man that rejoiced because he had kept many fruits for many years: Fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee to give account thereof, and whose shall be that which thou has provided?' And finally, David teaches us the same, saying: Let us have no envy when our neighbour becomes rich, for it
will profit him nothing in the life to come;' meaning thereby that we might rather have pity on him.
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