Message of 5-15-17

Published: Mon, 05/15/17

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Monday: May 15, 2017
Message of the Day
There is no limit to the ways in which God may make himself known. At every turn in our lives there can be a meeting place with God. How our hearts should sing with joy and thanksgiving. We have only to want him now at this moment — at any moment in our lives — and he is there, wanting us, longing to welcome us, to forgive us all that has gone before that has separated us from him.” 
- Mother Frances Dominica, Prayer

(Do you "want" God in the moment? How do you respond?)
Readings of the Day
"The Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My name will instruct you in everything." —John 14:26
 
As Jesus is a Paraclete and Teacher (see Jn 20:16), so the Holy Spirit is "another Paraclete" (Jn 14:16) and another Teacher (Jn 14:26). The right attitude to have towards a teacher is to be teachable, that is, docile. Pope St. John Paul II has taught that the Holy Spirit is "received by the humble and docile heart of the believer" (Splendor of the Truth, 108). The Pope prophesied that we would have a "new springtime of Christian life," if we "are docile to the action of the Holy Spirit" (Toward the Third Millennium, 18, emphasis added).

In this same letter, Pope St. John Paul II has described Mary as "the woman who was docile to the voice of the Spirit" (48). She was docile because she was a woman of silence, attentiveness, and hope (48). To be docile, we must be quiet, minimize distractions, and hope that what the Spirit is teaching us will renew the face of the earth (Ps 104:30).

In this month of Mary, ask your mother's intercession so that you will "let it be done" to you "according to God's word" (Lk 1:38, our transl). Be docile; know the truth; change the world.

Prayer: Father, as my pride gives way to docility, so may this culture of death give way to a civilization of love and life.

Promise: "There was a man who was lame from birth; he used to sit crippled, never having walked in his life. On one occasion he was listening to Paul preaching, and Paul looked directly at him and saw that he had the faith to be saved. He called out to him in a loud voice, 'Stand up! On your feet!' The man jumped up and began to walk around." —Acts 14:8-10
​​​​​​​
Reflection on the Scripture
"The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." —John 10:11

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came that we "might have life more abundantly" (see Jn 10:10, RNAB). Paradoxically, life is given through death (see Jn 12:24). To give life to His sheep, Jesus the Good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:11, 15, 17). "There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life" (Jn 15:13). "It is rare that anyone should lay down his life for a just man, though it is barely possible that for a good man someone may have the courage to die. It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rm 5:7-8).

We, the "died-for," can't help but ask the question: "How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?" (Ps 116:12) "He died for all so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him Who for their sakes died and was raised up" (2 Cor 5:15). Lay down your life in love for the crucified and risen Jesus.
 
Prayer: Jesus, You gave Your life for me. I give my life for You.

Promise: "As I began to address them the Holy Spirit came upon them, just as It had upon us at the beginning." —Acts 11:15

Amazon Gift Cards: Good for any occasion.
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
​​​​​​​
432. Christ’s charity is the source, within the human race, of the divine life that is diffused throughout mankind, just as spirating love is the principle of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity.

-- the love of the Sacred Heart