Message of 6-21-07

Published: Thu, 06/21/07



MESSAGE OF THE DAY

God gives us what we want when our good actions mirror God's good intent.  That's why every kindness we do has the sweetest aroma to God.
   - Hildegard of Bingen, "The Book of the Rewards of Life"

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SCRIPTURE READINGS
      http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/

2 Cor 1:1-11;   Ps 111:1b-2, 3-4, 7-8;   Mt 6:7-15

R.    (7a) Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.

Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.

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Praying the Daily Gospels
 - by Philip St. Romain:
 - http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614

- Matthew 6:7-15 (The Lord’s Prayer)

Today’s reading emphasizes the importance of being sincere and honest with God. Because God is not impressed by the length of time that we pray, or how many words we say, or how much we promise to give him, Jesus shares with us a formula for prayer that plugs us into grace and forgiveness.

• With each verse of the Lord’s Prayer, spend some time reflecting on how your own life is influenced by these words. Add your own reflections.

• What faults in other people bother you most? How are these faults evident in your own life?  Ask God for forgiveness.

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THE IMITATION OF CHRIST
    - by Thomas a Kempis -

  Who, O most beloved Spouse, Jesus Christ, most pure Lover, Lord of all
   creation, who shall give me the wings of true liberty that I may fly
   to rest in You? When shall freedom be fully given me to see how sweet
   You are, O Lord, my God? When shall I recollect myself entirely in
   You, so that because of Your love I may feel, not myself, but You
   alone above all sense and measure, in a manner known to none? But now
   I often lament and grieve over my unhappiness, for many evils befall
   me in this vale of miseries, often disturbing me, making me sad and
   overshadowing me, often hindering and distracting me, alluring and
   entangling me so that I neither have free access to You nor enjoy the
   sweet embraces which are ever ready for blessed souls. Let my sighs
   and the manifold desolation here on earth move You.

       --- Bk. 3, Chapter 21

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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Carmelite Method)

A. Introduction: settling in, relaxing in awareness of God's presence.

B. Reading the text slowly, prayerfully.

C. Meditation: imaginative representation of the material; reflection
on the meaning of the material and its application to one's life.

D. Affective prayer: conversation with God, attentive to sharing
feelings awakened in meditation.  Prayer of petition, thanksgiving,
remorse.

E. Resting in God in silent loving awareness, if moved to do so.

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