Message of 7-30-10
Published: Wed, 07/21/10
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne well those laid on
you; it is an abuse to long after martyrdom while unable to bear an
insult patiently.
- Francis de Sales
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Jer 26:1-9; Ps 69:5, 8-10, 14; Mt 13:54-58
R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Those outnumber the hairs of my head
who hate me without cause.
Too many for my strength
are they who wrongfully are my enemies.
Must I restore what I did not steal?
Since for your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
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SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
This reading from the Gospel of Matthew seems to describe Jesus
running into a combination of what Jeremiah faced when delivering a
message from God ("Kill the messenger!" to paraphrase Jeremiah's
experience) and what many of us face at some point in our families,
places of work, or home towns. The more someone thinks they know
you, the less they think you can know. . .
Who does Jesus think he is anyway? We know his mother, his father,
his brothers and sisters! Why does he think he knows more than us?
Does he think he's better than us?
Then Jesus offers a powerful, if not sardonic, one-liner: "A
prophet is not without honor except in his native place and his own
house." In other words, Jesus is saying, "Look, I know I'm a
prophet. And I know many people from all over are extremely
impressed by what I know and do. But this is what always happens in
someone's hometown and family: lack of credibility, jealousy,
ultimately lack of faith."
What "mighty deeds" can we help Jesus to accomplish today? Will we
be able to accept and have faith in the ways Jesus works through a
prophet in our own family or hometown in order to accomplish these
mighty deeds?
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Fenelon's "Maxims of the Saints"
One great point of difference between the First Covenant, or the
covenant of works, which said to us, " Do this and live," and the
Second Covenant, or the covenant of grace, which says, "Believe and
live," is this: The first covenant did not lead us to anything that
was perfect. It showed us what was right and good; but it failed
in giving us the power to fulfill what the covenant required. We
not only understood what was right and good, but we knew what was
evil; but, in our love and practice of depravity, we had no longer
power of ourselves to flee from it.
- Article Eleven
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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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