Message of 8-17-09
Published: Sun, 08/16/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
It is impossible for two people to live together without being a
source of mutual suffering, and as we cause others to suffer, it is
but just that we should bear with their failings also and such a
burden is light since Jesus Christ helps us to carry it. Do not
therefore be so lacking in sense, so unreasonable and so
unchristian as to pretend that you should not have to suffer
anything from your Brothers and Sisters. This would be truly asking
a most unheard of and extraordinary miracle. Do not expect to see
such a thing during the whole of your life.
- John Baptist de La Salle
(Consider the sufferings and trials you experience from others.
Invite Christ to help you love them, and to be more patient in your
dealings with them.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Jgs2:11-19; Ps 106:34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44; Mt
19:16-22
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They did not exterminate the peoples,
as the LORD had commanded them,
But mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
They became defiled by their works,
and wanton in their crimes.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
Many times did he rescue them,
but they embittered him with their counsels.
Yet he had regard for their affliction
when he heard their cry.
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REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."
The Gospel selections for this week say much about wealth and
possessions. Like the sad young man in today's passage, we might
find the above advice very hard to face. Even so, we can make a
start. Eliminating wastefulness, reducing and simplifying our
material needs and caring intelligently for the earth's resources
can become truly saintly acts for those seeking spiritual
perfection, if they are done out of love for God and loving concern
for our neighbors -- those near at hand and those far away.
"Lord, help me to see this earth's bounty as you see it, not as
something to be exploited but as something to be shared with all in
justice and love."
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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 let us take the humility which was in Christ according to His
manhood and through the grace and the gifts of God. In this
humility His soul with all its powers bowed down in reverence and
adoration before the most high might of the Father; for a bowed
down heart is a humble heart. And therefore He wrought all His
works for the praise and for the honour of His Father, and never
and in nothing sought His own glory according to His humanity.
He was humble and subject to the old law, and to the commandments,
and also to custom whenever such was right. And that is why He was
circumcised, and taken into the temple, and redeemed in the
customary way; and He paid His tribute money to Caesar like any
other Jew. And He was humble and subject to His mother and to the
lord Joseph; and that is why He served them with true reverence
according to all their needs. He chose poor and outcast people for
His comrades, to live with, and wherewith to convert the world:
these were the Apostles. And He was lowly and meek among them and
among all other men. And He was ever ready for all men in whatever
inward or outward need they might be: as if he were the servant of
all the world.
- Chapter 3, Of Humility
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