Message of 6-25-10
Published: Sat, 06/19/10
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
The most dangerous man in the world is the contemplative who is
guided by nobody. He trusts his own visions. He obeys the
attractions of an interior voice but will not listen to other men.
He identifies the will of God with anything that makes him feel,
within his own heart, a big, warm, sweet interior glow. The sweeter
and the warmer the feeling is, the more he is convinced of his own
infallibility.
- Thomas Merton
(Note, here, please, that Merton is not holding this out as virtue;
quite the contrary.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
2 Kgs 25:1-12; Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Mt 8:1-4
R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
"Sing for us the songs of Zion!"
How could we sing a song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Today's Gospel reflects the simple beauty of a leper's prayer.
This man had endured suffering and anguish, and perhaps also fear,
as he witnessed his flesh wasting away. We are told that he came
to Jesus and "did him homage". Then, he chose not to beg, plead,
or cajole, as some have done. (Compare Bartimaeus in Mark
10:46-52). Instead, he left room for Jesus to do as he wished,
stating plainly: "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."
Such graciousness is present in this man's request. It strikes me
as a better model for prayer than the questioning model we adopt
during periods of stress and turmoil. But thankfully, God hears
both kinds of prayer, and He is gracious to us in spite of our
ungraciousness. I am grateful for the example of the leper
recorded in Matthew's gospel. He could not have known his prayer
would teach so much to others coming after him who would also
follow Jesus.
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Fenelon's "Maxims of the Saints"
The state of abandonment, or of entire self-renunciation, does not
take from the soul that moral power which is essential to its moral
agency; nor that antecedent or prevenient grace, without which even
abandonment itself would be a state of moral death; nor the
principle of faith, which prevenient grace originated, and through
which it now operates; nor the desire and hope of final salvation,
although it takes away all uneasiness and unbelief connected with
such a desire; nor the fountains of love which spring up deeply and
freshly within it; nor the hatred of sin; nor the testimony of a
good conscience.
- Ninth Article
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Benedictine Approach)
1. Relax. Settle in. Be aware that God is here, now, loving you.
2. Read a short passage of Scripture as though God were speaking
directly to you in it.
3. Choose a phrase from the passage that strikes you and repeat it
slowly, prayerfully, non-analytically.
4. When your heart is full, express to God the needs and sentiments
awakened by your meditation. When you're done, read another passage
and repeat steps 3 and 4.
5. If, at any time, you feel moved to simply be present to God in
loving silence, put the Scripture aside and rest in God.
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