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The Word of God is the informing power of the revelation of God in the finite world. It is not, by any figure, to be identified solely with a book, or a temple, or a minister, or a shrine. ... Elisha Mulford, The Republic of God
(The Word as the presence of God . . . open your heart to be formed by this Power.) |
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1 MC 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63; PS 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158
LK 18:35-43
As Jesus approached Jericho
a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,
and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.
They told him,
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
The people walking
in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
but he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me!"
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him;
and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
"What do you want me to do for you?"
He replied, "Lord, please let me see."
Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave
praise to God.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"Some from among the people promptly went to the
king, and he authorized them to introduce the way of living of the Gentiles. Thereupon they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to the Gentile custom." —1 Maccabees 1:13-14
Some of the chosen people were so spiritually blind that they made an alliance with the Gentiles to introduce to Israel a pagan way of living (1 Mc 1:11).
They even volunteered to help brainwash and pervert themselves. This alliance with pagans eventually became more obviously questionable when the pagans "erected the horrible abomination upon the altar of holocausts" (1 Mc 1:54), burnt any scrolls of the law (1 Mc 1:56), and murdered those who remained faithful to the Jewish law (1 Mc
1:60-63).
Christians today are in a similar situation. The secular humanistic "culture of death" seems at first innocuous to many Christians. Christian churches and groups even volunteer to help brainwash their members. Sooner or later, however, the "culture of death" begins to live up to its name. Its supposed
tolerance is unmasked, and a violently anti-Christian totalitarian dictatorship emerges.
Some of you reading this see what I mean; others don't. May each one of us pray as the blind man of Jericho did: "Lord, I want to see" (see Lk 18:41). Once we see, let us "fight hard for the faith" (Jude 3) and protect people from
lies, sin, death, and destruction.
Prayer: Father, may I see what's going on in our culture.
Promise: "At that very moment he was given his sight and began to follow Him, giving God the glory. All the people witnessed it and they
too gave praise to God." —Lk 18:43
Presentation Ministries
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From Meditation to Contemplation, by James Arraj - Reprinted from St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. G. Jung.
Entering the Dark Night, pt. 1
The heights of consolation for the beginner often have a mystical flflavor to them; there is a certain savour and experience and sense of the presence of
God which is best described as the sensible analogate of contemplative experience. Unfortunately, the limitations of this state are quite hidden from the person experiencing these consolations. For this reason the sudden cessation of consolation is experienced as a terrible trial. There is intense soul-searching for the reason why it has happened. There is a fruitless search for the unrepented sin which must underlie God’s apparent anger. The resultant anxiety is more oppressive than the loss of
consolation itself, for it centers on the apparent loss of God. The frantic attempts to recapture this lost sense of communion by a return to meditation and spiritual practices is doomed to failure, and only exacerbate the predominant mood of anxiety. Seen objectively, it is clear that the person is already learning the necessary distinction between sensible consolation and God Himself by means of this privation, but subjectively he is convinced that God has left
him.
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