Message of 10-2-09
Published: Wed, 09/23/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
To live in a fully predictable world is not to be truly human, and
Christ was truly human. His prayer in Gethsemane, his sweat of
blood, show that the preceding anxiety is a part of human
affliction, which we must try to accept with some sort of
submission.
... Kathryn Lindskoog (1934-2003)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Bar 1:15-22; Ps 79:1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9; Mt 18:1-5, 10
R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the corpses of your servants
as food to the birds of heaven,
the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water
round about Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
We have become the reproach of our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
O LORD, how long? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly come to us,
for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name's sake.
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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
- Feast of Guardian Angels -
That's the Good News: that our guardian angels serve the Lord, not
us. They are not here to enable our bad behavior. They are here,
like all beings, to promote the Kingdom of God, for the coming of
the Kingdom. So unlike our slaves or pedagogues, our guardian
angels are more like our own personal Super Nanny, which makes
sense, because today's Gospel passage tells us we must be as
children. To think that they serve us is to entirely miss the
point about how God works in our world to create salvation.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "The Practice of the Presence of God," by Brother Lawrence
If we were well accustomed to the exercise of the presence of GOD,
all bodily diseases would be much alleviated thereby. GOD often
permits that we should suffer a little, to purify our souls, and
oblige us to continue with Him.
Take courage, offer Him your pains incessantly, pray to Him for
strength to endure them. Above all, get a habit of entertaining
yourself often with GOD, and forget Him the least you can. Adore
Him in your infirmities, offer yourself to Him from time to time;
and, in the height of your sufferings, beseech Him humbly and
affectionately (as a child his father) to make you conformable to
His holy will. I shall endeavour to assist you with my poor prayers.
- 12th Letter - to one who is in great pain.
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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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