Message of 7-15-11
Published: Mon, 07/11/11
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
He enters by the door who enters by Christ, who imitates the
suffering of Christ, who is acquainted with the humility of Christ,
so as to feel and know that, if God became man for us, men should
not think themselves God, but men. He who, being man, wishes to
appear God, does not imitate Him who, being God, became man. Thou
art not bid to think less of thyself than thou art, but to know
what thou art.
- St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
(First principle for sanity: "There is a God. You are not Him.")
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LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Ex 11:10--12:14; Ps. 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18; Mt 12:1-8
R. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of
the Lord.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
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MEDITATION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Today's readings present a familiar tension between the spirit and
the letter of the law. In the Gospel, the disciples were
undoubtedly breaking the letter of the law by picking and eating
the grain on the Sabbath. For this, Jesus was scolded by the
Pharisees, though Jesus is able to point to the famous Old
Testament story of David allowing his soldiers to eat the bread of
the offering even though it was reserved for priests. In the first
reading, the Pharaoh shows a view of the world similarly obtuse to
that of the Pharisees by ignoring the signs performed before him by
Moses and Aaron.
Deep down, I suspect it depends on how one views God. If one views
God as a sort of "score keeper in the sky" waiting to put down a
check mark against us each time we transgress a written rule, then
the Pharisees were probably right. The disciples should have just
gone hungry. But that's not my view of God or the view held by
Jesus. True enough, the rules are important. The Commandment not
to kill is an important one and it would be only in the direst of
emergencies that one could imagine having to kill another. It
would be justifiable, for instance, to kill another if he were
about to plunge a knife into an innocent child and there were no
other way to stop him, but such cases are few and far between. But
our God is a loving and forgiving God who cares about what's in our
hearts. We all make mistakes, sometimes serious ones. But God
forgives if we let Him into our hearts.
- by Patrick Borchers
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Christ's Four Modes of Presence to Us
by Philip St. Romain
- 2. The Church (part 1 of 3)
For most people, the Church is their most tangible encounter with
Jesus, although it is not always recognized as such at first. They
go to a living, vibrant Church community and experience a sense of
new life from the experience. "Those people have something," they
might think to themselves. Or, as the pagans said about the early
Church: "See how they love one another!" The community shows
hospitality, love, concern--even compassion! Eventually, the
visitor comes to know the source of these graces, but it is
doubtful that s/he will get that far without the support of the
community.
- from "Jesus Alive in Our Lives"
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/jesus-alive-in-our-lives/11780728
(paperback)
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/41961 (ebook formats)
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Alive-Our-Lives-ebook/dp/B00427YKNU/
(Kindle)
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- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu
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