Forum on Christianity and Spirituality
November 7, 2024, 7:30 p.m. CST What does it mean to be a soul?
by Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min. See https://shalomplace.com/inetmin/forum.html for more information and registration.
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Message of the Day
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Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your
sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind; that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.
- Susanna Wesley (Which of these can you relate with? What else might you add to this list?)
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Readings of the Day
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Gal 2:1-2, 7-14; Ps 117:1bc, 2 Lk 11:1-4 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your
name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final
test." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“I went prompted by a revelation, and I laid out for their scrutiny the gospel as I present it.” —Galatians 2:2
The Lord commands every Christian to
be submissive to God-given authority (Eph 5:21). Wives are to be prime examples of this submission. They are to teach all Christians the peace, joy, freedom, and disciplines of submission (see Eph 5:22). Submission is not a man-made idea but a gift of God. Thus, God revealed to St. Paul to submit his ministry and preaching to the authority of the leaders of the Jerusalem church (Gal 2:1-2). In Paul’s submission, he received affirmation from
the Jerusalem leaders and also “the handclasp of fellowship” (Gal 2:9). Submission leads to affirmation and community. In effect, submission leads to peace and love. Submission has such good effects not primarily because of the excellence of the people in authority. For example, Cephas, that is, St. Peter, one of the Jerusalem leaders, blundered greatly in Antioch through his duplicity in his relations with Jewish and Gentile Christians
(Gal 2:11ff). Submission works because God makes it work even when those in authority don’t work out very well. Submission is a “sure thing” because God backs up His plans. Be submissive and rejoice. Prayer: Father, free me from co-dependency and for submission. Promise: “Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us
our sins for we too forgive all who do us wrong.” —Lk 11:3-4 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 the
Trinity - Selected quotes
God’s ultimate remedy (to sin) was to incarnate as a human being through the Word, restoring human nature in this Christ or New Adam, and thus introducing into the human race through Christ’s divine nature the movement of Spirit that flowed between the Son and the Father. In other words, the gift of the Spirit is
not simply God’s love for humans, which the first parents knew and which we can still discover through spiritual work; what the New Covenant made available to us is God’s love for God—the great Love movement in the Trinity Itself. Through our faith connection to Christ, then, we ourselves are enabled to partake of the Trinitarian love flow—the Spirit who gifts us to become transformed into images of Christ, and to form communities of love that mirror on earth the Community of Love that
exists in the supernatural realm.
No small blessing, here . . . and no insignificant revelation! You can see why Christian tradition came to regard this teaching as a dogma—an indispensable truth for help in understanding and realizing what God has done through Christ.
Let us ponder then, the holy mystery of the Trinity; let us marvel at these Persons and their unity, their ongoing work in creation, their holding us and cherishing us through all eternity. Let us strive to know them and be open to them in their uniqueness, marveling at the gifts each of them brings, and how together they communicate to us the fullness of the divine life.
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