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The most miserable prison in the world is the prison we make for ourselves when we refuse to show mercy. Our thoughts become shackled, our emotions are chained, the will is almost paralyzed. But when we show
mercy, all of these bonds are broken, and we enter into a joyful liberty that frees us to share God's love with others.
- Warren W. Wiersbe
(Where might you be called to be more merciful these days?)
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IS 55:10-11; PS 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19; MT 6:7-15
R. From all their
distress God rescues the just.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears
them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
USCCB Lectionary
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
We never know when God will beckon. For example, today's Gospel in which Jesus does a basic thing: He tells the apostles, "This is
how you are to pray." So He begins the Our Father, which despite its familiarity most often presents some phrase on which to cling for inspiration.
Yet, perhaps today offers an opportunity to learn a bit more about this most common of prayers. For example, there is a book that can be found on the Internet, The Lord's Prayer in
500 Languages, comprising the "leading languages and their principal dialects throughout the world." A huge testament to the fact that Christians have taken to heart Jesus's instructions. And if it has been a good source for all of those many, perhaps for us.
There have been any number of adaptations in English written perhaps to fit
more culturally a variety of praying Christians: Native Americans, Africans, and an interesting, Internet also "Alternative Versions," that includes the New Zealand Prayer Book; from Mark Berry of the Emerging Church Movement, that ends with a Postscript after the Amen: " May our future actions grow from here!" Also included is a "retranslation" from the Aramaic that begins: "O Breathing Life, your Name shines
everywhere!.
- by Maryanne Rouse
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 Living Flame of
Love
Stanza 3. #33.
Contemplation is receiving, and the spirit has to be silent and detached from sweetness and knowledge.
#34. The sooner the soul reaches this restful tranquility, the more abundantly does it become infused with the spirit of Divine wisdom. At times the soul will feel itself to be tenderly and serenely ravished and wounded, not knowing how, since the Spirit communicates Himself without any act on the part of the soul.
- compiled by James and Tyra Arraj Paperback edition: Kindle edition available
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