Message of 8-3-09
Published: Sat, 07/25/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord from the Christian believer,
and with the joy of the Lord goes his power for vital worship and
vibrant service. Nothing is left but cramped, somber, dull and
listless profession. The truth is betrayed, and the glorious name
of the Lord becomes a synonym for a gloomy kill-joy. The Christian
under law is a miserable parody of the real thing.
- S. Lewis Johnson
(How to respect the law without becoming a "gloomy kill-joy?" . . .
)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Nm 11:4b-15; Ps 81:12-13, 14-15, 16-17; Mt 14:13-21
R. (2a) Sing with joy to God our help.
"My people heard not my voice,
and Israel obeyed me not;
So I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts;
they walked according to their own counsels."
"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
Quickly would I humble their enemies;
against their foes I would turn my hand."
"Those who hated the LORD would seek to flatter me,
but their fate would endure forever,
While Israel I would feed with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them."
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REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"But they said to him, 'Five loaves and two fish are all we have
here.'"
Often we sell ourselves short. We don't realize we already possess
many of the tools we need to impact a situation positively. In the
face of a hungry crowd of thousands, it seems ridiculous to take
out five loaves and two fishes. Yet the Lord calls us to take up
his ministry and serve one another with what we already have
witnessed and received. We have all been richly gifted and we each
have much to offer. When we come to break and share the bread at
the Lord's Table, there's very little we cannot do together in his
name.
"May we use the gifts bestowed upon us to the glory of God and the
benefit of others, we pray."
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LECTIO DIVINA PROCESS
- http://heartlandspirituality.org/vocations/prayer.html
First, you choose a passage of Scripture that you will pray with.
It might be the Gospel reading used in the liturgy of the day, or
anything else you want. The process then follows these steps:
* Reading (lectio) After settling in and quieting yourself,
read the passage slowly, prayerfully. Just let it sink in for a
minute or two, then read it a second time, paying closer attention
to the words or phrases that speak to you.
* Reflecting (meditatio) What do you hear God saying to you in
this passage? What words or phrases caught your attention?
* Responding (oratio) What do you want to say to God in
response to what you've heard? Here you can also voice your prayers
of petition, remorse, thanksgiving, praise, and so forth. If you
sense God speaking to you in your thoughts, feelings or
imagination, you respond as you would in any conversation.
* Resting (contemplatio) If, at any time, you feel drawn to
simply rest in the awareness of God's loving presence, you let
yourself do so. Remain in loving silence as long as you feel
comfortable, perhaps using a simple word or phrase from the
Scripture passage to help deepen your openness to rest in God.
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THE ADORNMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE
by St. John of Rusybroeck (1293-1381)
Now, if we would follow Christ our Bridegroom in virtue, so far as
we are able, we must consider in what wise He was inwardly and the
works which He wrought outwardly; that is to say, His virtues and
the deeds of these virtues.
In what wise He was according to His Godhead, this is inaccessible
and incomprehensible to us; for it is that according to which He is
born of the Father without ceasing, and wherein the Father, in Him
and through Him, knows, creates, orders and rules all things in
heaven and on earth. For He is the Wisdom of the Father, and they
breathe forth one Spirit, that is, one Love, which is a common bond
between Them and all saints, and all good men in heaven and on
earth. Of this condition we shall not speak any more; but we shall
speak of that condition which He had through Divine gifts and
according to His created manhood. And this condition was manifold.
For as many inward virtues as Christ possessed, so many were His
inward conditions: for every virtue has its special condition. The
sum of the virtues and conditions in the soul of Christ, this is
above the understanding and above the comprehension of all
creatures. But we shall take three of them: namely, humility,
charity, and patient suffering, in inward and outward things. These
are the three chief roots and beginnings of all virtues and all
perfection.
- Chapter 2, On the Coming of Christ
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