Message of 6-5-09
Published: Sat, 05/30/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
"If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to
equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own
inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it
means that we are telling God that there is something which He has
not yet taken into account."
- Oswald Chambers
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Tb 11:5-17; Ps 146:1b-2, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10; Mk12:35-37
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the LORD, O my soul;
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.
The LORD keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts
The LORD shall reign forever,
your God, O Zion, through all generations! Alleluia.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
. . . today is the feast of St. Boniface. An early bishop in the
church, he was determined to serve Christ in spite of the risks to
his very being. The following are excerpts of one of his letters:
I love the Lord for he has heard the cry of my appeal;
For he turned his ear to me in the day when I called him. . . .
How gracious is the Lord, and just; our God has compassion.
The Lord protects the simple hearts; I was helpless so he saved me.
. . .
I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Benedictine Approach)
1. Relax. Settle in. Be aware that God is here, now, loving you.
2. Read a short passage of Scripture as though God were speaking
directly to you in it.
3. Choose a phrase from the passage that strikes you and repeat it
slowly, prayerfully, non-analytically.
4. When your heart is full, express to God the needs and sentiments
awakened by your meditation. When you're done, read another passage
and repeat steps 3 and 4.
5. If, at any time, you feel moved to simply be present to God in
loving silence, put the Scripture aside and rest in God.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "The Practice of the Presence of God," by Brother Lawrence
I pity you much. It will be of great importance if you can leave
the care of your affairs to, and spend the remainder of your life
only in worshipping GOD. He requires no great matters of us; a
little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little adoration:
sometimes to pray for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your
sufferings, and sometimes to return Him thanks for the favours He
has given you, and still gives you, in the midst of your troubles,
and to console yourself with Him the oftenest you can. Lift up your
heart to Him, sometimes even at your meals, and when you are in
company: the least little remembrance will always be acceptable to
Him. You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we are
aware of.
- Seventh Letter
At the age of nearly fourscore exhorts his correspondent, who
is sixty-four, to live and die with God and promises and asks for
prayer.
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