It is not the cares of today, but the cares of tomorrow, that weigh a person down. For the needs of today we have corresponding strength given. For the morrow we are told to trust. It is not ours
yet. It is when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a person can bear.
- George MacDonald
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EPH 1:1-10; PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4, 5-6 LK 11:47-54 The Lord said:
“Woe to you who build the memorials of the
prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you do the building.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said,
‘I will send to them prophets and
Apostles;
some of them they will kill and persecute’
in order that this generation might be charged
with the blood of all the prophets
shed since the foundation of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who died between the altar and the
temple building.
Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees
began to act with hostility toward him
and to interrogate him about many things,
for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
Reflection on the Scriptures
It is because of our Savior, who gave His life for us, that I can have hope and see beyond the tragedies that haunt our lives. How blessed were the Ephesians (and the Corinthians, Galatians, Romans and the
list goes on) to be able to hear St. Paul give testimony of the Risen Christ and news of salvation and redemption. How blessed are we to read these messages and open our hearts – to let Jesus in to dwell with us and within us!! Perhaps our hearts are broken to assure they are open to let God in . . . . by Nancy Shirley
Psychic Energy and Contemplation by James
Arraj From St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. J. Jung, Part III, Chapter 9. Inner Growth Books, 1986. The Way of Faith This is the need to pray actively despite the dark nights. The energy that is derived from pursuing this process of psychological development can be utilized in the exercise of the spiritual
life, but even with new energy available there is no guarantee that the satisfaction and sensible consolation that existed in spiritual exercises before the darkness set in will be rediscovered. In fact, things will probably be quite different. There is a natural process of simplification in ordinary prayer which once experienced is not likely to be reversed. One of the positive benefits that came out of the long saga of acquired contemplation was a heightened appreciation of the variety of
states that comprised the prayer that St. John labeled meditation. Methodical discursive meditation which culminates in an affective conclusion leads to a situation where the affective part of the prayer predominates, and this, in its turn, can simplify so that the principle affect is one of love, and the principle object God, Himself. The guiding thread in this process of simplification is the following of the water of consolation and satisfaction. We do what seems to draw us closer to the
spiritual goal of union with God, and simplification is but the concentration on the means that seem the most effective for reaching this goal.
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