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Go ahead! Courage! In the spiritual life, those who do not go forward go backwards. It is the same with a boat which must always go forward. If it stands still, the wind will blow it back.
- Padre Pio
(How do you know if you're advancing in the spiritual life? Regressing?)
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IS 29:17-24; PS 27:1, 4, 13-14; MT 9:27-31
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
"The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;be steadfast and wait for the Lord.
USCCB Lectionary
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
Today is St. Nicholas Day. I am reminded of how much our responses are dependent on our background and context. I grew up in a very comfortable environment in the suburbs. The evening before St. Nicholas Day would involve putting up our special Christmas stockings on the fireplace. On the following morning I would find my stocking filled with candy and a check. (I grew up in an environment where a six year old appreciates a check.) My wife had a very different childhood. In a good year St. Nicholas Day meant mandarin oranges and nuts in her shoes. In a bad year it meant coal. (Yes, one year she really got coal.) My childhood built an environment of trust. Her childhood left her with concern. As I grew I found my trust erode as I had more interactions with people who did not have my best interest in mind. Violations of trust have always cut me deeply. Still I had a place where I could retreat for protection. My wife experienced challenges to her trust that were both more numerous and more severe. She came to expect this as the way that things were.
Trust in the Lord. This is a theme that we find in today's readings. The reading from Isaiah promises a better future to the faithful. The psalm assures us of protection and salvation. The Gospel offers healing growing out God's mercy and one's faith and trust.
- by Michael Cherney
Creighton Online Ministries
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Selected Quotes from St. John of the Cross on the Journey of the Soul to God by Contemplation - from The Spiritual Canticle Prologue. #2. Mystical wisdom, which comes through love, need not be understood distinctly, for it is given according to the mode of faith, through which we love God without understanding Him.
#26. In the inner wine cellar I drank of my Beloved, and, when I went abroad Through all this valley I no longer knew anything, And lost the herd which I was following.
#28. I no longer tend the herd
Nor have I any other work
Now that my every act is love.
#35. In solitude He guides her, He alone, Who also bears in solitude the wound of love.- compiled by James and Tyra Arraj
Paperback edition: Kindle edition available
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