Message of 4-10-17

Published: Mon, 04/10/17

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Monday: April 10, 2017
Message of the Day
There is nothing that pleases the Lord so much as praise. There is no test of faith so true as the grace of thanksgiving. Are you praising God enough? Are you thanking Him for your actual blessings that are more than can be numbered, and are you daring to praise Him even for those trials which are but blessings in disguise? Have you learned to praise Him in advance for the things that have not yet come?
- Anonymous

("For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." Heb. 12, 15)

See also: http://blog.adw.org/2016/01/meant-sacrifice-praise-scripture/
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Readings of the Day
IS 42:1-7;   PS 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14

JN 12:1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. 
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages
and given to the poor?"
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.

USCCB lectionary
Reflection on the Scripture
"Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord." —Psalm 27:14

We wait for what we cannot see; the return of the Master seems to take so long. We wait with courage, not in doubt. We wait not because there is no other alternative but because we faithfully choose to persevere in hope while waiting for the Master to appear (see Mt 25:1ff).

We call people who serve in a restaurant "waiters." The waiter serves us. Thus, serving the Lord and His people is a big part of our waiting. We don't wait passively, but in active service.

We wait in love. Jacob waited and served seven years for the hand of his beloved Rachel, but they seemed like a few days to him because of his love for her (Gn 29:17-20). An ardent love changes the waiting from a drudgery into a delightful anticipation of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. As the song says: "If it takes forever, I will wait for you."

We wait in hope, joyful hope. Ours is a living hope (1 Pt 1:3), alive, vibrant, joyful. We want to wait with a living hope, and not to be "among the living dead" (1 Jn 3:14).

Our entire life is one of waiting for the Lord (Ps 27:14). Like the five wise virgins, we wait full of the oil of the Spirit (Mt 25:4). In summary, we wait for the Lord by waiting with service, courage, love, hope, and fullness. We wait by living an abundant life, a life to the full (Jn 10:10).
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When we wait like this, in a sense, we already have what we are waiting for. Wait for the Lord by waiting on the Lord.
 
Prayer: Father, I will wait in joyful hope for the coming of My Savior, Jesus Christ.

Promise: "I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice." —Is 42:6

Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
Theological Gems from Emile Merch's Theology of the Mystical Body
- selected by Jim and Tyra Arraj

Book III: Christ
 
Chapter 14: The Holy Spirit

418. -- In creating the world the first time, He gave existence to things; but the second time, He places His own existence in it. And this loving action that proceeds from the Father through the Son to the Spirit is so eminently a work of love that it is attributed to the Spirit.

-- The Holy Spirit - is holiness, love, a kiss, a gift, union, consummation, and perfection.
 
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