Message of 5-7-10
Published: Mon, 05/03/10
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
The reason we can hope to find God is that He is here, engaged all
the time in finding us. Every gleam of beauty is a pull toward Him.
Every pulse of love is a tendril that draws us in His direction.
Every verification of truth links the finite mind up into a
Foundational Mind that undergirds us. Every deed of good will
points toward a consummate Goodness which fulfills all our tiny
adventures in faith. We can find Him because in Him we live and
move and have our being.
- Rufus M. Jones (1863-1948), "Pathways to the Reality of God"
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Acts 15:22-31; Ps 57:8-9, 10 and 12; Jn 15:12-17
R. I will give you thanks among the peoples, O Lord.
My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant praise.
Awake, O my soul; awake, lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn.
I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O LORD,
I will chant your praise among the nations.
For your mercy towers to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
above all the earth be your glory!
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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
When you were a child, did you hear the old saying... "for the love
of God!"? Today's Gospel opens and closes with the command, "Love
one another". Obviously that is the theme. Jesus gave His life to
friends and non-friends alike. Not something many of us know much
about. His was a sacrificial love few of us understand. In other
words, modern-day LOVE takes on an ephemeral quality, something
written about in songs for young lovers, romantic melodies to
slow-dance to, not one tied to reality.
So what is 'for the love of God'? Google says, 'sacrificial love is
self-sacrifice with the pure motivation to alleviate the suffering
of others. This supreme love is suffering love, love that requires
involvement in the knotty problems of the world, love that bears
with the failings and weaknesses of others, love that is committed
to helping others regardless of the cost'. An experience that
brought me closer to this, were the years I spent working with
African youth refugees, here in Omaha. Out of the blue one day,
the deacon at my church said, "You are a saint", to which I
interpreted him to mean, 'You are crazy!' Yet I was crazy in love
about these people! I knew God so loved me to open that door.
The other day I rushed to the hospital after learning my daughter
had had a seizure. That evening I suffered my love for her, not
knowing if this would happen again. Strangely I felt I was
sacrificing her at the altar, and I recognized my love for her
deepened in a new way. We've all experienced that kind of love.
- by Janine ter Kuile
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Fenelon's "Maxims of the Saints"
In the history of inward experience, we not infrequently find
accounts of individuals whose inward life may properly be
characterized as extraordinary. They represent themselves as
having extraordinary communications -- dreams, visions,
revelations. Without stopping to inquire whether these inward
results arise from an excited and disordered state of the physical
system or from God, the important remark to be made here is, that
these things, to whatever extent they may exist, do not constitute
holiness.
- Seventh Article
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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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