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Where people are praying for peace the cause of peace is being strengthened by their very act of prayer, for they are themselves becoming immersed in the spirit of peace
- John Macquarrie
(Prayer prepares us to "be the change we want to see in the world," as Gandhi wrote.)
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HOS 14:2-10; PS 81:6C-8A, 8BC-9, 10-11AB, 14 AND 17
MK 12:28-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." —Mark 12:30
Christianity is not merely about loving God. Before Christ came to earth, many people loved God. Millions of non-Christians throughout the world love God now. Christianity is unlike any other religion, however, because it is about loving God as He is. Only Christians know and believe that God is our Father (Abba), that God is Love (1 Jn 4:8, 16), and that God is Trinity: three Persons in one God. Because in Christ we have entered more deeply into the mystery of God, we are in a position to love
God more, or even totally, with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds, and all our strength (Mk 12:30).
However, Christ's revelation of God leads us to a total love which is beyond our fallen, self-centered human nature. So the Lord has not only revealed God to us but also has given us a way to receive a new nature in which we share in His divinity (see 2 Pt 1:4).
Prayer: Father, teach me total love for You as You are.
Promise: "Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them." —Hos 14:10
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
CHAPTER II. THE DIVINE ACTION WORKS UNCEASINGLY FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF SOULS.
SECTION VIII. Experimental Science
That which is sent to us at the present moment is most useful for it is intended especially for us.
We can only be well instructed by the words which God utters expressly for us. No one becomes learned in the science of God either by the reading of books, or by the inquisitive investigation of history. The science that is acquired by such means is vain and confused, producing much pride. That which instructs us is what happens from one moment to another producing in us that experimental science which Jesus
Christ Himself willed to acquire before instructing others. In fact this was the only science in which He could grow, according to the expression of the holy Gospel; because being God there was no degree of speculative science which He did not possess. Therefore if this experimental science was useful to the word incarnate Himself, to us it is absolutely necessary if we wish to touch the hearts of those whom God sends to us. It is impossible perfectly to understand anything that experience has
not taught us, by suffering or by action. This is the school of the Holy Spirit who in this way speaks life-giving words to the soul, and those which He speaks to us through others come from the same source.
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