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Message of the Day
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Reading is good, hearing is good, conversation and meditation are good; but then, they are
only good at times and occasions, in a certain degree, and must be used and governed with such caution as we eat and drink and refresh ourselves, or they will bring forth in us the fruits of intemperance. But the spirit of prayer is for all times and occasions; it is a lamp that is to be always burning, a light to be ever shining: everything calls for it; everything is to be done in it and governed by it, because it is and means and wills nothing else but the totality of the soul — not doing
this or that, but wholly…given up to God to be where and what and how He pleases. - William Law
(“The spirit of prayer is for all times and occasions . . . “)
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Readings of the Day
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2 THES 3:6-10, 16-18; PS 128:1-2, 4-5 MT 23:27-32 Jesus said,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.
Even so, on the outside you appear
righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
now fill up what your ancestors measured
out!” USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you frauds!” —Matthew 23:27 The scribes and Pharisees thought they excelled in holiness. They fasted and tithed (Lk
11:42). They dedicated themselves to reading Scripture. They had zeal for God’s house. However, they neglected “the love of God” (Lk 11:42). This means two things. First, the scribes and Pharisees were rightly concerned about God’s Word and the Temple, but placed a lower priority on His love. They found it more important to concentrate on other parts of their religion rather than on God’s command to love their neighbor (Lv 19:18). To
neglect the love of neighbor is to neglect God. In fact, “the man without love has known nothing of God, for God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Second, and most important, by neglecting the love of God the scribes and Pharisees neglected to personally love God. The first and most important commandment is to love God before all else (Dt 6:5). They served God but neglected to love Him. What about
you? Is there anything today more important in your life than loving God? How much priority did you place on loving God yesterday? Life is full of distractions, responsibilities, and problems which demand our time and attention. In addition, Satan attempts to prevent us from taking time to love God. Yet those who fall in love always manage to find plenty of time to spend with their beloved. If we want to love God, then we have chosen the best part, and we shall not be deprived of loving Him (Lk
10:42). Love God. Prayer: Father, nothing can separate me from loving You (Rm 8:39) except my own choice. I devote myself to love You always. Promise: “Happy are you who fear the Lord.” —Ps 128:1 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Three, Gift of the Spirit Chapter : The Holy Spirit and Christian
Theology - Selected quotes
It was important for those first Christians-—all Jewish, at first—to connect their experiences of the Spirit with their understanding of what God had done through their history, and what God had promised to do in the new age to come. In fact, they seemed to regard their
experience of the Spirit as a kind of seal, or “proof,” if you will, that the time of the new covenant was being realized among them. In light of their experiences, the prophecies of Joel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and others made more sense. They came to understand that the Spirit was God’s great gift to people living in this age, for it was the Spirit who enabled them to not only recognize the Messiah, but to live as the Messiah had lived. This was made possible because, as Paul
noted, the same Spirit that reaches into the depths of God also dwells now in the depths of human beings, providing power and discernment to effect behavior according to the rule of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10-16). Because of the Spirit dwelling within, the prophecy of Jer. 31 was being realized.
I’m sure that non-Jewish converts to Christianity also came to appreciate the Jewish teachings about Jesus, the Spirit, and the new
covenant. For many of them, however, it seemed their greater interest concerned who the Spirit was in the divine order, or, to pose the question a different way: what did the Spirit and the Christ reveal to us about the divine nature Itself?
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