Message of 4-9-09
Published: Mon, 04/06/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
At the end of Jesus' life, he was stripped naked, scourged at the
pillar, dehydrated, and so poor neither the earth nor the wood of
the cross offered Him a place to lay His head. God was homeless.
Christ had nowhere to rest His head except His own shoulder.
That's because Jesus was drunk with love.
- Catherine of Siena, "Dialogue"
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18; 1 Cor
11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15
R. (cf. 1 Cor 10:16) Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood
of Christ.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
from "Praying the Daily Gospels," by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- John 13: 1-15 (Jesus washes the apostles 'feet
This is Jesus' final evening with his apostles. He begins to say
farewell and prepares for the treachery to come. Matthew, Mark,
and Luke emphasize the sharing of the bread and wine, with Jesus
asking the apostles to remember him in that manner. John,
however, shows Jesus washing the apostles' feet as the last
symbolic intimacy he will share with them.
- Bishop Sheen once wrote that, although we have Jesus' example
of the washing of the apostles' feet as a model of service, it is
difficult to find people today fighting for the towel. Is this
true of you? What are some of the lowly jobs at home and at work
you avoid because you feel they are beneath your dignity?
- Pray for the grace to be washed clean of false pride.
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Carmelite Method)
A. Introduction: settling in, relaxing in awareness of God's
presence.
B. Reading the text slowly, prayerfully.
C. Meditation: imaginative representation of the material; reflection
on the meaning of the material and its application to one's life.
D. Affective prayer: conversation with God, attentive to sharing
feelings awakened in meditation. Prayer of petition, thanksgiving,
remorse.
E. Resting in God in silent loving awareness, if moved to do so.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "Imitation of Christ," by Thomas A. Kempis
Oh, how good and how peaceful it is to be silent about others,
not to
believe without discrimination all that is said, not easily to
report
it further, to reveal oneself to few, always to seek You as the
discerner of hearts, and not to be blown away by every wind of
words,
but to wish that all things, within and beyond us, be done
according
to the pleasure of Thy will.
-------- Bk. 3, Chapter 45
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