Message of 6-4-07
Published: Mon, 06/04/07
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Do not be afraid to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal any unforgiveness or bitterness. The longer you hide it, the stronger it will become and the harder your heart will grow. Stay tenderhearted.
- John Bevere
(What bitterness lies in your heart these days? Acknowledge it before God and pray for a loving heart.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Tb 1:3; 2:1a-8; Ps 112:1b-2, 3b-4, 5-6; Mk 12:1-12
R.
(1b) Blessed the one who fears the Lord.
Blessed the one who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
His generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
Well for the one who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just shall be in everlasting remembrance.
Blessed the one who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
His generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
Well for the one who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just shall be in everlasting remembrance.
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Praying the Daily Gospels
- by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- Mark 12:1-12 (Malice in the vineyard)
The parables of Jesus are symbolic statements about life, designed to hold a mirror before us so we might see who we are in God’s sight. In today’s reading Jesus describes Israel as a vineyard entrusted to its tenants, the religious leaders. These leaders kill or mistreat all who were sent to them by God, the owner of the vineyard. Still, Jesus promises, their wickedness will not prevail.
• What
kind of steward are you for the people God has entrusted to you? For
the environment? For the government?
• Sketch a Christ-cornerstone and lay additional stones representing your gifts on top of it, fashioning a building of some sort.
• Pray for the grace to become a good steward of creation.
• Sketch a Christ-cornerstone and lay additional stones representing your gifts on top of it, fashioning a building of some sort.
• Pray for the grace to become a good steward of creation.
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THEOLOGICAL GEMS FROM EMIL MERCH'S THEOLOGY OF THE MYSTICAL BODY
from http://www.innerexplorations.com/chtheomortext/theolgems.htm
166. Personal sins are a sort of continuation of the original fault.
Nature - once it has received grace - is wounded to death when it loses grace, because the gift has actuated splendors of life which were but possible before and which, vanishing with the grace that departs, leaves nature bereft of what had become its supreme necessity, and so it is desolated by the strictest kind of privation… In losing grace, man loses a life that had been his own, and so this sin is for him the death of his soul. - God intends a restoration and a redemption. Belief in original sin is but an aspect of belief in God’s redeeming love.
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LECTIO DIVINA METHOD (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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