Forum on Christianity and Spirituality
December 4, 2025, 7:30 p.m. CST Topic: Our Original Face: The Immaculate Conception by Carla Mae Streeter, OP See https://shalomplace.com/inetmin/forum.html for more information and registration.
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Message of the Day
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God the Father is a deep root, the Son is the shoot that
breaks forth into the world, and the Spirit is that which spreads beauty and fragrance. - Tertullian
Where do you see signs of “beauty and fragrance” in your life?
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Readings of the Day
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2 Maccabees 6:18-31
Psalm 3:2-3, 4-5,
6-7 Luke 19:1-10 Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance: he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass
that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they saw what was happening. ‘He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house’ they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.’ And Jesus said to
him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was
lost.’ USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“This is how he died, leaving in his death a model of courage and an unforgettable example of virtue not only for the young but for the whole nation.” —2 Maccabees 6:31
One of the main ways of maturing in Christian life is by example. We should imitate Christ and imitate others as they imitate Christ (1 Cor 4:16; 11:1). We should be models of courage and unforgettable examples of virtue both in life and death.
Jesus is our Example in setting an example. He said at the Last Supper shortly before He died: “What I just did was to give you an example: as I have done, so you must do” (Jn
13:15). St. Peter said: “It was for this you were called, since Christ suffered for you in just this way and left you an example, to have you follow in His footsteps” (1 Pt 2:21). St. Paul told St. Titus: “In everything set them an example by doing what is good” (Ti 2:6-7). Paul told St. Timothy the same: “Be a continuing example of love, faith, and purity to believers” (1 Tm 4:12). Paul also set an example for being an example: “Not that
we had no claim on you, but that we might present ourselves as an example for you to imitate” (2 Thes 3:9). He said: “Be imitators of me, my brothers. Take as your guide those who follow the example that we set” (Phil 3:17). Our example is the first Bible most people read, the only one some will ever read. “Be examples to the flock” (1 Pt 5:3). Prayer: Jesus, I’m sorry for taking
Your name and then failing to show Your sanctity by misrepresenting You (see Nm 20:12). Promise: “Jesus said to him: ‘Today salvation has come to this house...the Son of Man has come to search out and save what was lost.’ ” —Lk 19:9-10 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Dilexi Te: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, by Pope Francis (completed by Pope Leo XIII), 2025.
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.html
CHAPTER ONE
RETURNING TO THE HEART
14. It could be said, then, that I am my heart, for my heart is what sets me apart, shapes my spiritual identity and puts me in communion with other people. The algorithms operating in the digital world show that our
thoughts and will are much more “uniform” than we had previously thought. They are easily predictable and thus capable of being manipulated. That is not the case with the heart. 15. The word “heart” proves its value for philosophy and theology in their efforts to reach an integral synthesis. Nor can its meaning be exhausted by biology, psychology, anthropology or any other science. It is one of those primordial words that “describe
realities belonging to man precisely in so far as he is one whole (as a corporeo-spiritual person)”. [10] It follows that biologists are not being more “realistic” when they discuss the heart, since they see only one aspect of it; the whole is not less real, but even more real. Nor can abstract language ever acquire the same concrete and integrative meaning. The word “heart” evokes the inmost core of our person, and thus it enables us to understand ourselves in our integrity and not merely under
one isolated aspect. 16. This unique power of the heart also helps us to understand why, when we grasp a reality with our heart, we know it better and more fully. This inevitably leads us to the love of which the heart is capable, for “the inmost core of reality is love”. [11] For Heidegger, as interpreted by one contemporary thinker, philosophy does not begin with a simple concept or certainty, but with a shock: “Thought must be provoked
before it begins to work with concepts or while it works with them. Without deep emotion, thought cannot begin. The first mental image would thus be goose bumps. What first stirs one to think and question is deep emotion. Philosophy always takes place in a basic mood ( Stimmung)”. [12] That is where the heart comes in, since it “houses the states of mind and functions as a ‘keeper of the state of mind’. The ‘heart’ listens in a non-metaphoric way to ‘the silent voice’ of being, allowing
itself to be tempered and determined by it”. [13] |
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