Message of 12-20-11

Published: Tue, 12/20/11


A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth


Message of the Day

It is by affliction chiefly that the heart is purified, and that the thoughts are fixed on a better state. Prosperity ... has power to intoxicate the imagination, to fix the mind upon the present scene, to produce confidence and elation, and to make him who enjoys affluence and honours forget the hand by which they were bestowed.
   - Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), The Works of Samuel Johnson, L. L. D., v. III

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

Is 7:10-14;    Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6;    Lk 1:26-38

R. (see 7c and 10b) Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

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Reflection on the Gospel
  - from Praying the Daily Gospels
    http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614

- Luke 1:26-38 (The Annunciation)

 Mary shall always occupy a unique place in salvation history. It was her acceptance of Gods invitation that brought the Messiah into the world. She is a model for all who struggle to give birth to the Messiah in their own lives.
  
  • How do you feel about Mary? What virtues does she model that appeal to you?
      
  • Spend some time with the passage "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Pray that this attitude will take deep root within you.


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

    (Teaches that detachment from the things aforementioned is insufficient if we are not detached from our own selves and that this virtue and humility go together.)

    No one need be afraid of our committing excesses here, by any chance -- for as soon as we do any penances our confessors begin to fear that we shall kill ourselves with them. We are so horrified at our own possible excesses -- if only we were as conscientious about everything else! Those who tend to the opposite extreme will I know, not mind my saying this, nor shall I mind if they say I am judging others by myself, for they will be quite right. I believe -- indeed, I am sure -- that more nuns are of my way of thinking than are offended by me because they do just the opposite. My own belief is that it is for this reason that the Lord is pleased to make us such weakly creatures; at least He has shown me great mercy in making me so; for, as I was sure to be self-indulgent in any case, He was pleased to provide me with an excuse for this. It is really amusing to see how some people torture themselves about it, when the real reason lies in themselves; sometimes they get a desire to do penances, as one might say, without rhyme or reason; they go on doing them for a couple of days; and then the devil puts it into their heads that they have been doing themselves harm and so he makes them afraid of penances, after which they dare not do even those that the Order requires -- they have tried them once! They do not keep the smallest points in the Rule, such as silence, which is quite incapable of harming us. Hardly have we begun to imagine that our heads are aching than we stay away from choir, though that would not kill us either. One day we are absent because we had a headache some time ago; another day, because our head has just been aching again; and on the next three days in case it should ache once more. Then we want to invent penances of our own, with the result that we do neither the one thing nor the other. Sometimes there is very little the matter with us, yet we think that it should dispense us from all our obligations and that if we ask to be excused from them we are doing all we need.

    - Chapter 10

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

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