Message of 12-1-09
Published: Fri, 11/27/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and
reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a
fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent...If Christ is to come more
fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really
incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer.
Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our
souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great
responsibility not to waste this Advent time.
- Edward Hays, "A Pilgrim's Almanac"
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Lk 10:21-24
R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of
peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
He shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
Jesus makes a claim which no one would have dared to make: He is
the perfect revelation of God. Our knowledge of God is not simply
limited to knowing something about God, but we can know God
personally. Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally
know God as our Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like.
In Jesus we see the perfect love of God - a God who cares intensely
and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of
laying down his life for them upon the Cross. Do you pray to your
Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for
you?
"Lord, give me the child-like simplicity and purity of faith to
gaze upon your face with joy and confidence in your all-merciful
love. Remove every doubt, fear, and proud thought which would
hinder me from receiving your word with trust and humble
submission."
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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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Amazon.com gift cards - good for any occasion
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
"Sayings of Light and Love," by St. John of the Cross (jottings
from his notebooks)
148. Do not complain about anyone, or ask for anything; and if it
is necessary for you to ask, let it be with few words.
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