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To pray is to listen to the One who calls you
- my beloved daughter,
- my beloved son
- my beloved
child. To pray is to let that voice speak to the center of your being, to your guts, and let that voice resound in your whole being.
- Henri J. M. Nouwen (Let this be your prayer today.)
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Daily Readings
2 KGS 19:9B-11, 14-21, 31-35A, 36; PS 48:2-3AB, 3CD-4,
10-11
MT 7:6, 12-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.“Enter
through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are
few.”
Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain, 2018 (3rd ed.) Matthew 7: 6, 12-14 (The narrow gate) Today’s reading includes
three loosely related teachings. As we strive to walk the difficult path of love, we are warned that we should not profane sacred truths and rituals by sharing them with people who cannot receive them or are not ready to. This caution does not mean that we should become exclusive or elitist, however. • What golden rule sums up your philosophy about relationships with other people? How does this
differ from verse 12? • With what kinds of people do you find it difficult to share your beliefs about Christianity? How do you relate to these people?
Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) ____________ Chapter 2: How by complacency we are made as little infants at our saviour's breasts. Milk, which is a food provided by the heart and all of love, represents mystical science and theology, that is, the sweet relish which proceeds from the loving complacency taken by the spirit when it meditates on the perfections of the divine goodness. But wine signifies ordinary and acquired science, which is squeezed out by force of speculation under the press of divers arguments and discussions. Now the milk which our souls draw from the breasts of our Saviour's
charity is incomparably better than the wine which we press out from human reasoning; for this milk flows from heavenly love, who prepares it for her children even before they have thought of it; it has a sweet and agreeable taste, and the odour thereof surpasses all perfumes; it makes the breath fresh and sweet as that of a sucking child; it gives joy without immoderation, it inebriates without stupefying, it does not excite the senses but elevates them (ne leve pas mais
releve).
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