Message of 10-25-11

Published: Tue, 10/25/11


A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth

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Message of the Day

Weak and imperfect people shall, notwithstanding their frailties and defects, be received as having pleased God, if they have done their utmost to please Him.
  - William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

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Lectionary Readings of the Day
   http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month

Rom 8:18-25;    Ps 126:1b-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6;    Lk 13:18-21

R. (3a) The Lord has done marvels for us.

When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.

Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.

Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.

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Reflection on the Gospel
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/

The kingdom of God produces a transformation in those who receive the new life which Jesus Christ offers. When we yield to Jesus Christ, our lives are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Paul the Apostle says, "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Do you believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit?

"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and transform me into the Christ-like holiness you desire. Increase my zeal for your kingdom and instill in me a holy desire to live for your greater glory."

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Spiritual Reading
The Way of Perfection
  - by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

(Treats of the great blessing that shunning their relatives brings to those who have left the world and shows how by doing so they will find truer friends.)

In this house, daughters, we must be most careful to commend our relatives to God, for that is only right. For the rest, we must keep them out of our minds as much as we can, as it is natural that our desires should be attached to them more than to other people. My own relatives were very fond of me, or so they used to say, and I was so fond of them that I would not let them forget me. But I have learned, by my own experience and by that of others, that it is God's servants who have helped me in trouble; my relatives, apart from my parents, have helped me very little. Parents are different, for they very rarely fail to help their children, and it is right that when they need our comfort we should not refuse it them: if we find our main purpose is not harmed by our so doing we can give it them and yet be completely detached; and this also applies to brothers and sisters.

- Chapter 9

(Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters in a cloistered contemplative order.
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