Message of 11-13-17

Published: Mon, 11/13/17

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Monday: November 13, 2017
Message of the Day
Annual Appeal

Mid-November — time for me to ask for your assistance in helping us, at Heartland Center for Spirituality, fund our Internet ministry outreach. We have been extending this appeal each year since 1997, when we were among the first to use the Internet to provide resources, newsletters, and other ministry services via the Internet. 

I will be including an appeal message at the top of Daily Spiritual Seed this week, hoping that many of you will respond generously, as you have in the past. I will also be updating you on what’s happening with our Internet Ministry, and plans for the future.

Stay tuned.

Phil St. Romain
Internet Ministry Coordinator 
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All donations are tax-deductible.
- A special gratitude gift will be sent to all donors.

Online donations (secure payment link):
- http://tinyurl.com/jqgxp32

Check payments:
- Heartland Center for Spirituality
   Internet Ministry
   3600 Broadway
   Great Bend, KS  67530

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Message of the Day
- Quotes and reflections this week were developed years ago by Sr. Joel Christoph OP, who was a member of the team at Heartland Center for Spirituality at the time. Sr. Joel died in 2009.

“Jesus will say over and over again in his encounters with sinners and his disciples, ‘Today salvation has come to this house,’ and the psalmist sings out, ‘This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.’ Today is this day, every day, any day. Today we can start. Today everything can start. There is only today with God.”
- Megan McKenna, from Parables -

Reflection for journaling: What is it that you have been putting off that you could begin today? What grace would you ask of God that you might make that start?

Breath Prayer: Living in hope (breathing in) . . . I begin today (breathing out) 
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Readings of the Day
WIS 1:1-7;   PS 139:1B-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10

LK 17:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples,
"Things that cause sin will inevitably occur,
but woe to the one through whom they occur. 
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck
and he be thrown into the sea
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard!
If your brother sins, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day 
and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,'
you should forgive him."
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And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

USCCB lectionary
Reflection on the Scripture
Jesus "said to His disciples: 'Scandals will inevitably arise, but woe to him through whom they come.' " —Luke 17:1
 
Throughout the history of Christianity and humanity, scandals have inevitably arisen. Talking about these scandals makes matters worse. However, we can make even scandals work together for the good of all who love God (Rm 8:28), if we:
  • are on guard so as not to cause scandals (Lk 17:3),
  • are on guard to prevent scandals (Lk 17:3),
  • correct our brothers and sisters (Lk 17:3),
  • forgive others 70 x 7 (Lk 17:4; Mt 18:22),
  • pray for an increase of faith (Lk 17:5), and
  • use our faith to move trees, mountains, and anything else so as to further God's kingdom (Lk 17:6).
Of course, we cannot do all these things by our power but only by the power of the Spirit (see Zec 4:6). Throughout history, the Spirit has transformed the worst situations, and will do it in our times also. Consequently, ask for the Spirit (see Lk 11:13) to be stirred into flame in your life (2 Tm 1:6-7). Follow the Spirit's lead (Gal 5:25) as the Spirit lusts against the flesh (Gal 5:17) and convicts the world (Jn 16:8). You will not cause scandals but cause them to be turned into blessings. De-scandalize the scandalized.
 
Prayer: Father, may I let the Holy Spirit work through me to renew the face of the earth and rid it of scandals (see Ps 104:30).

Promise: "God is the Witness of [the blasphemer's] inmost self and the sure Observer of his heart and the Listener to his tongue." —Wis 1:6
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Presentation Ministries
Amazon Gift Cards: Good for any occasion.
Spiritual Reading
From Meditation to Contemplation, by James Arraj
- Reprinted from St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. G. Jung. 

Beginnings of Contemplation

The beginning of contemplation is often gradual and blends imperceptibly with the simplification of ordinary prayer. However, it can also take place in a sudden and disconcerting fashion. This latter case is instructive because it points to the underlying discontinuity of the two states. St. John has likened this transitional stage to the weaning from the breast of sensible consolations, and to the shutting out of the sun of divine favor. “Consequently, it is at the time they are going about their spiritual exercises with delight and satisfaction, when in their opinion the sun of divine favor is shining most brightly on them, that God darkens all this light and closes the door and spring of the sweet spiritual water they were tasting as often and as long as they desired.” (“Dark Night of the Soul,” 1,9,8)
 
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