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Any single verse of the Bible, taken in isolation, may actually be dangerous to your spiritual health. Every part of it must be read in relation to the whole message.
... Louis Cassels (1922-1974)
(A basic principle to keep in mind, especially regarding extreme statements. Can you think of some examples from your own considerations of scripture?)
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Ex 34:29-35; Psalm 99:5, 6, 7, 9
Mt 13:44-46
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”
Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain, 2018 (3rd ed.)
Matthew 13: 44-46 The pearl of great price
The two mini-parables in today’s reading emphasize the kind of response to Jesus to which we are called. Like the people in the parables, we are invited to set his kingdom as our highest priority, organizing our lives according to God’s will.
• If you could write a job description explicitly suited for your most complete response to Jesus, what would it include type of work, salary, benefits, with whom you would work, for example? How closely does your present occupation resemble this ideal work? How long do you intend to remain in your present occupation?
• Pray for the grace to treasure the things of God.
Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
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BOOK II: THE HISTORY OF THE GENERATION AND HEAVENLY BIRTH OF DIVINE LOVE
Chapter 11: That it is no fault of the divine goodness if we have not a most excellent love
The Blessed Mother (S.) Teresa of Jesus, also, in good truth, a quite angelic virgin, speaking of the prayer of quiet, says these words:--"There are divers souls who come up to this perfection, but those who pass beyond are a very small number: I know not the cause of it, certainly the fault is not on God's side, for since his divine majesty aids us and gives us the grace to arrive at this point, I believe that
he would not fail to give us still more if it were not for our fault, and the impediment which we on our part place." Let us therefore, Theotimus, be attentive to advance in the love which we owe to God, for that which he bears us will never fail us.
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