Message of 1-6-09
Published: Sat, 01/03/09
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Any time we open ourselves up to fear, we fall prey to his
deceptions and intimidations. Yet, if we submit our hearts to God
and stand in faith, we can resist those first fearful thoughts. As
we yield to God we can master our reactions to fear and the enemy
will soon flee.
- Francis Frangipane
(What are your fears at this time? Hold them up to God and believe
in God's providential care for your needs.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
1 Jn 4:7-10; Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8; Mk 6:34-44
R.(see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from "Daily Reflections"
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The unbelievable, incomprehensible gift of the Incarnation is
simply too big to celebrate as a single feast. So Christmas merges
into Epiphany and both spread out into the days around them.
Epiphany is actually the oldest of the Christmas celebrations -
giving us, in stories and in theologizing, some hints of what this
gift is all about - helping us get our heads around something
really too big to grasp. In the readings around Epiphany we see a
Jesus whose identity as God's Son is revealed at His baptism, a
Jesus who works wonders like multiplying bread, healing lepers, and
walking on water. But perhaps most directly we hear today in 1 John
who/what God actually is - love. . . .
Subsequent generations of theologians have developed whole systems
of moral theology, but they all boil down to this. Christian ethics
is simply a response ethics. No set of rules, however reasonable,
can either capture or limit that response. God's self-giving is too
wonderful to grasp, but most certainly too wonderful to ignore.
Having been given Jesus, the only possible response has to be to
give ourselves. It does not seem like much in comparison. But it is
all we have to give. We have to give it all.
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Ignatian Method)
A. Preparation: acts of faith and reverence in the presence of God;
asking grace of a good meditation; petition for specific graces
sought in meditation.
B. Reading the Scriptures slowly, prayerfully.
C. Exercise of the memory, imagination, and intellect:
consideration of the material.. What practical applications are
suggested?
D. Expression of feelings and sentiments awakened in meditation.
Conversation with God.
E. Exercise of will and imagination in making resolutions. Prayer
for grace to fulfill resolutions.
F. Vocal prayer (Our Father, Hail Mary, other prayers).
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
"Sayings of Light and Love," by St. John of the Cross (jottings
from his notebooks)
94. Have great love for trials and think of them as but a small way
of pleasing your Bridegroom, who did not hesitate to die for you.
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