Message of 11-17-09
Published: Sat, 11/14/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
ANNUAL APPEAL
Sr. Joel Christoph OP was one of the most creative and joy-filled
people I've ever known. I had the privilege of sharing an office
with her at Heartland Center for Spirituality in Great Bend, KS for
several years when I first started working there. The Dominican
charism emphasizes preaching, and Sr. Joel (along with other team
members) very much supported using the Internet to invite others
into a deeper relationship with God. Those of you who've been with
Daily Spiritual Seed since 1997 or so will remember Sr. Joel's
frequent meditations, some of which I'll be re-publishing this
week. She died in February this year, and we have missed her
dearly. May her reflections bless you this day and all through the
week.
Shalom,
Phil St. Romain
Editor, Daily Spiritual Seed
-
To support Daily Spiritual Seed and our online ministries, see
http://shalomplace.com/seed/donations.html which includes secure
credit card options and information for check payments.
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
The friars once complained to Francis of Assisi:
"Can you not see that the bishops often do not let us preach, and
we are
frequently made to wait for days on end before we are allowed to
proclaim the word of God? It would be best to obtain from the Pope a
privilege to allow us to preach."
Francis answered,
"I would rather see the bishops first converted by humility and
respect.
For when they have seen us humble towards them, they themselves will
beg us to preach and convert the people. As for me, I ask of God no
privilege except that of having none, and to be full of respect for
all, and
to convert them, as our Rule ordains, more by example than by
words."
(From "Praying with Francis of Assissi")
Breathprayer:
Keep me humble (breathing in)
Give me humor (breathing out).
Journaling Question:
Humility has the same root as humor (the ability to perceive,
appreciate and express what is amusing) and humus (the organic part
of
the topsoil formed from the partial decay of fallen leaves). Where
have
you experienced a good belly laugh and a real letting go today?
(by Sr. Joel Christoph OP)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
2 Mc 6:18-31; Ps 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; Lk 19:1-10
R. (6b) The Lord upholds me.
O LORD, how many are my adversaries!
Many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
"There is no salvation for him in God."
But you, O LORD, are my shield;
my glory, you lift up my head!
When I call out to the LORD,
he answers me from his holy mountain.
When I lie down in sleep,
I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
I fear not the myriads of people
arrayed against me on every side.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
Saint Augustine of Hippo urges us to climb the sycamore tree like
Zacchaeus that we might see Jesus and embrace his cross for our
lives:
Zacchaeus climbed away from the crowd and saw Jesus without the
crowd getting in his way. The crowd laughs at the lowly, to people
walking the way of humility, who leave the wrongs they suffer in
God's hands and do not insist on getting back at their enemies. The
crowd laughs at the lowly and says, "You helpless, miserable clod,
you cannot even stick up for yourself and get back what is your
own." The crowd gets in the way and prevents Jesus from being seen.
The crowd boasts and crows when it is able to get back what it
owns. It blocks the sight of the one who said as he hung on the
cross, "Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they
are doing. ... He ignored the crowd that was getting in his way. He
instead climbed a sycamore tree, a tree of "silly fruit." As the
apostle says, "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block indeed
to the Jews, [now notice the sycamore] but folly to the Gentiles."
Finally, the wise people of this world laugh at us about the cross
of Christ and say, "What sort of minds do you people have, who
worship a crucified God?" What sort of minds do we have? They are
certainly not your kind of mind. "The wisdom of this world is folly
with God." No, we do not have your kind of mind. You call our minds
foolish. Say what you like, but for our part, let us climb the
sycamore tree and see Jesus. The reason you cannot see Jesus is
that you are ashamed to climb the sycamore tree.
Let Zacchaeus grasp the sycamore tree, and let the humble person
climb the cross. That is little enough, merely to climb it. We must
not be ashamed of the cross of Christ, but we must fix it on our
foreheads, where the seat of shame is. Above where all our blushes
show is the place we must firmly fix that for which we should never
blush. As for you, I rather think you make fun of the sycamore, and
yet that is what has enabled me to see Jesus. You make fun of the
sycamore, because you are just a person, but "the foolishness of
God is wiser than men. Sermon 174.3.
The Lord Jesus is always ready to make his home with each one of
us. Do you make room for him in your heart and in every area of
your life?
"Lord Jesus, come and stay with me. Fill my life with your peace,
my home with your presence, and my heart with your praise. Help me
to show kindness, mercy, and goodness to all, even to those who
cause me ill-will or harm."
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Ignatian Method)
A. Preparation: acts of faith and reverence in the presence of God;
asking grace of a good meditation; petition for specific graces
sought in meditation.
B. Reading the Scriptures slowly, prayerfully.
C. Exercise of the memory, imagination, and intellect:
consideration of the material.. What practical applications are
suggested?
D. Expression of feelings and sentiments awakened in meditation.
Conversation with God.
E. Exercise of will and imagination in making resolutions. Prayer
for grace to fulfill resolutions.
F. Vocal prayer (Our Father, Hail Mary, other prayers).
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
"Sayings of Light and Love," by St. John of the Cross (jottings
from his notebooks)
143. Do not excuse yourself or refuse to be corrected by all;
listen to every reproof with a serene countenance; think that God
utters it.
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