Message of 2-10-09
Published: Thu, 02/05/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have
it even more fully in your heart.
- St. Francis of Assisi
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Gn 1:20-2:4a; Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Mk 7:1-13
R. (2ab) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place--
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from "Daily Reflections"
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The gospel story is from the last chapter of Mark before Jesus goes
from the healing and teaching fields of Galilee and goes south and
up the mountain to Jerusalem to his death. Before this trip Jesus
is confronted yet again by the "law-abiding" Pharisees and scribes,
the self-appointed judges of the orthodoxy of Jesus and his
companions.
Jesus confronts them with a simple example (and the gospels
elsewhere have several more) of their hypocrisy in keeping the law.
The gentiles to whom Jesus is talking and ministering with his
healing and teaching do not know the shades of meaning in the
Mosaic Law and the strong influence of tradition. (This emphasis
on "tradition" was stressed by Tevya in the musical "Fiddler on the
Roof.") Jesus clarifies how the Pharisees have substituted their
own rules to replace the Law given to them by God in his encounter
with Moses in the desert. He clearly shows how they have erred in
changing the commandment of the Lord to "honor one's father and
mother" with a human device (qorban) to avoid helping their parents.
Each of us might reflect on how well we keep this commandment of
honoring our parents, especially in their old age when they are
needy and vulnerable. It is so easy in our culture for any one of
us to say that the government will help or someone else in our
family should help them.
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Ignatian Method)
A. Preparation: acts of faith and reverence in the presence of God;
asking grace of a good meditation; petition for specific graces
sought in meditation.
B. Reading the Scriptures slowly, prayerfully.
C. Exercise of the memory, imagination, and intellect:
consideration of the material.. What practical applications are
suggested?
D. Expression of feelings and sentiments awakened in meditation.
Conversation with God.
E. Exercise of will and imagination in making resolutions. Prayer
for grace to fulfill resolutions.
F. Vocal prayer (Our Father, Hail Mary, other prayers).
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
"Sayings of Light and Love," by St. John of the Cross (jottings
from his notebooks)
99. There are souls that wallow in the mire like animals, and there
are others that soar like birds, which purify and cleanse
themselves in the air.
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