Message of 10-5-09
Published: Fri, 09/25/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
You meet a thousand times in life with those who, in dealing with
any religious question, make at once their appeal to reason, and
insist on forthwith rejecting aught that lies beyond its sphere,
without however being able to render any clear account of the
nature and proper limits of the knowledge thus derived, or of the
relation in which such knowledge stands to the religious needs of
people. I would invite you, therefore, to inquire seriously whether
such persons are not really bowing down before an idol of the mind,
which, while itself of very questionable worth, demands as much
implicit faith from its worshipers as divine revelation itself.
- Theodor Christlieb (1833-1889), "Modern Doubt and Christian
Belief"
(Maybe you have a little of this idolatry in yourself? I surely
have, at times. Yet faith goes beyond what reason can affirm
without contradicting what reason knows.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Jon 1:1-2:2, 11; Jonah 2:3, 4, 5, 8; Lk 10:25-37
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Out of my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me;
From the midst of the nether world I cried for help,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, "I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple."
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
My prayer reached you
in your holy temple.
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REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"And who is my neighbor?"
We live a series of contradictions. We possess countless
technologies to make our world smaller, yet the gulf among peoples,
nations, religions and ideologies continually widens. If we are
truly to live with compassion and conviction, we must look past the
small-minded questions of who our neighbor is and where our
boundaries lie. They no longer exist in this global community. We
can no longer act as if we do not have any obligations beyond our
own front doors or city limits. We cannot live as if no one is our
neighbor or our responsibility when television, radio and the
Internet continually broadcast news of need and suffering. We have
made our world smaller, and with it, our neighborhood and our duty
greater.
"To love our neighbors as ourselves, we pray."
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THE ADORNMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE
by St. John of Rusybroeck (1293-1381)
Now we must consider the why and the wherefore, the way and the
working of this coming. Its wherefore is fourfold: God's mercy and
our destitution, God's generosity and our desire. These four things
cause the growth of virtue and of nobleness.
Now understand this: when the sun sends its beams and its radiance
into a deep valley between two high mountains, and, standing in the
zenith, can yet shine upon the bottom and ground of the valley,
then three things happen: the valley becomes full of light by
reflection from the mountains, and it receives more heat, and
becomes more fruitful, than the plain and level country. And so
likewise, when a good man takes his stand upon his own littleness,
in the most lowly part of himself, and confesses and knows that he
has nothing, and is nothing, and can nothing, of himself, neither
stand still nor go on, and when he sees how often he fails in
virtues and good works: then he confesses his poverty and his
helplessness, then he makes a valley of humility. And when he is
thus humble, and needy, and knows his own need; he lays his
distress, and complains of it, before the bounty and the mercy of
God. And so he marks the sublimity of God and his own lowliness;
and thus he becomes a deep valley. And Christ is a Sun of
righteousness and also of mercy, Who stands in the highest part of
the firmament, that is, on the right hand of the Father, and from
thence He shines into the bottom of the humble heart; for Christ is
always moved by helplessness, whenever a man complains of it and
lays it before Him with humility. Then there arise two mountains,
that is, two desires; one to serve God and praise Him with
reverence, the other to attain noble virtues. Those two mountains
are higher than the heavens, for these longings touch God without
intermediary, and crave His ungrudging generosity. And then that
generosity cannot withhold itself, it must flow forth; for then the
soul is made ready to receive, and to hold, more gifts.
These are the wherefore, and the way of the new coming with new
virtues. Then, this valley, the humble heart, receives three
things: it becomes more radiant and enlightened by grace, it
becomes more ardent in charity, and it becomes more fruitful in
perfect virtues and in good works. And thus you have the why, the
way, and the work of this coming.
- Chapter 6, Of the Second Coming of Christ
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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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