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Message of the Day
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No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, pure and good without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.
- Phillips Brooks We leave the consequences to God.
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Readings of the Day
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Jonah 3:1-10
Psalm 130:1b-2, 3-4ab, 7-8 Luke 10:38-42 Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself?
Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’ Podcast reflection on Jesus at the
home of Martha and Mary. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.” —Jonah 3:5
Before the Great
Jubilee, Pope St. John Paul II prophesied that the Lord wanted to bring about “manifold conversions” in the year 2000 (Toward the Third Millennium, 14). Today, the Lord also intends to quickly bring about amazing conversions in great numbers. In our skeptical world, some people find this hard to believe. Nevertheless, we should look at the 120,000 people of wicked Nineveh who repented in one day (Jon 3:5; 4:11) or the eight million people converted in seven years through the ministry of Our Lady
of Guadalupe. There were even greater harvests of souls in some African countries, China, and South Korea. Jesus bears fruit abundantly and more abundantly (see Jn 10:10). Expect Jesus to manifest His divine love by converting, in a short time, millions or even billions of people. Jesus promised: “I — once I am lifted up from earth — will draw all men to Myself” (Jn 12:32). Be converted; be a witness for Jesus (Acts 1:8); be part of Jesus’
greatest works of salvation. Prayer: Father, may I live and die to lead people to Jesus. Promise: “She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and listened to His words.” —Lk 10:39 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Here Now in Love: The Roots of Contemplative Spirituality, by Philip St. Romain. Liguori Publications, 2001.
https://amzn.to/4n3bu4j The Four Modes of Christ's Presence to
Us Fourth: The Cosmic Christ The resurrection and ascension of Jesus means that all of reality is, in fact, sacramental--a symbolic means through
which Christ is present to us. It may be more difficult to find him in a tree or a rock than in the bread and wine shared in a vibrant liturgy, but he is nonetheless present to us through all creation. The Church’s sacraments help us to learn to be open to this mystical, cosmic dimension of Christ’s presence, while our knowing him through Church and Scripture enable us to recognize that it is, indeed, the same presence in creation that we encountered in the other modes. Marvel
of marvels, we discover: Jesus is lovingly present to us through everything all the time. We don’t have to be in Church or read a Bible to meet him. All we need to is be here now in love, for that is where he is and that is what he is doing. There are many these days who fear that this emphasis on the Cosmic Christ might lead some away from the Church, or to “New Age” ideas. I hope, however, that I have sufficiently
emphasized how important it is to know him in all four modes. The Eastern Christian Churches have long recognized the mystical, cosmic dimension of Christ without losing their appreciation for his presence in Church, sacrament, and scripture. The Churches of the West, meanwhile, in their emphasis on dogma, ritual, and service have lost much of this cosmic mysticism. It is there for us to claim, however; Christ is still present in everything, waiting for
us. This understanding of the Cosmic Christ also helps us to begin to understand something of how other kinds of religious experiences might happen. What if, for example, spiritual seekers who knew nothing of the historical, personal Jesus or his Church and its sacraments, nonetheless cooperated with the moral and spiritual instincts God has created us with, and came to awaken to Ultimate Reality as the Ground of their own being
and all else that exists? This would surely be an experience of Christ in his cosmic aspect, but, lacking the assistance of Christian revelation and life in the Church, it might not be understood or even experienced in the same way as those who have known Christ in all four modes. There are many implications, here, for interreligious dialogue, but that is not the focus of this work. Nevertheless, it has helped me to find awaken to a new closeness with my brothers and sisters in
other world religions. We all do worship that same God--even the same Christ, only we know him in different ways. |
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