Message of 7-16-10
Published: Sat, 07/10/10
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
O Holy Spirit, Who breathe where you will, come into me and snatch
me up to yourself. Fortify the nature you have created, with gifts
so flowing with honey that, from intense joy in your sweetness, it
may despise and reject all which is bad in this world, that it may
accept spiritual gifts, and through melodious jubilation, it may
entirely melt in holy love, reaching out for uncircumscribed Light.
- Richard Rolle (1290?-1349), "Concerning the Love of God"
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12; Mt 12:1-8
R. (see 17b) You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Once I said,
"In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years."
I said, "I shall see the LORD no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world."
My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
You have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.
Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.
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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
I have realized that prayer is not about asking for specifics. The
endless lists of "I want" to be satisfied. Prayer for me now is
about asking for faith, strength, and wisdom to understand God's
will. Prayer for me is support for making the rights decisions -
not necessarily what I want to do. I do not pray thinking cures are
the only positive answers. I understand the need for care and
support as we travel this journey of life. I know the strength for
that journey comes from God - albeit manifest in a variety of ways.
I know, "you saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die" means our
spiritual life will transcend these earthly bonds.
- by Nancy Shirley
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Fenelon's "Maxims of the Saints"
So much is this the case, that some individuals, across whose path
God had spread the darkness of His providences, and who seemed to
themselves for a time to be thrown out of His favor and to be
hopelessly lost, have acquiesced with submission in the terrible
destiny which was thus presented before them. Such was the state of
mind of Francis de Sales, as he prostrated himself in the church of
St. Stephen des Grez. The language of such persons, uttered
without complaint, is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
They claim God as their God, and will not abandon their love to
Him, although they believe, at the time, that they are forsaken of
Him. They choose to leave themselves, under all possible
circumstances, entirely in the hands of God: their language is,
even if it should be His pleasure to separate them for ever from
the enjoyments of His presence, "Not my will, but thine be done."
- Article Ten
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- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu
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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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