Message of 9-3-09
Published: Tue, 08/25/09
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A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Of all the spirits, I believe the spirit of judging is the worst,
and it has had the rule of me, I cannot tell you how dreadfully and
how long... This, I find has more hindered my progress in love and
gentleness than all things else. I never knew what the words,
"Judge not that ye be not judged," meant before; now they seem to
me some of the most awful, necessary, and beautiful in the whole
Word of God.
- Frederick Denison Maurice (1805-1872)
(Are you plagued by judgmentalism? What helps you to avoid this
pitfall?)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Col 1:9-14; Ps 98:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6; Lk 5:1-11
R. (2) The Lord has made known his salvation.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
from "Praying the Daily Gospels," by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- Luke 5: 1-11 (The apostles called.)
We often believe that our successes are due entirely to our own
efforts, hence we cultivate a self- righteous attitude that we
deserve God's favor. In today's reading Jesus teaches four
professional fishermen that without God's grace they cannot catch
even one fish. The fishermen respond by following their Lord.
- Work as if everything depended on you, and pray as if everything
depended on God," Ignatius of Loyola advised. How close is this to
your own attitude concerning work and grace?
- Spend some time with the passage "Do not be afraid. From now on
you will be catching people." Allow God's desire to minister
through you to pervade your entire being.
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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
The Voice of Christ
MY CHILD, when you feel the desire for everlasting happiness
poured
out upon you from above, and when you long to depart out of the
tabernacle of the body that you may contemplate My glory without
threat of change, open wide your heart and receive this holy
inspiration with all eagerness. Give deepest thanks to the
heavenly
Goodness which deals with you so understandingly, visits you so
mercifully, stirs you so fervently, and sustains you so
powerfully
lest under your own weight you sink down to earthly things. For
you
obtain this not by your own thought or effort, but simply by the
condescension of heavenly grace and divine regard. And the
purpose of
it is that you may advance in virtue and in greater humility,
that you
may prepare yourself for future trials, that you may strive to
cling
to Me with all the affection of your heart, and may serve Me
with a
fervent will.
-------- Bk. 3, Chapter 49
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