Message of 1-13-11
Published: Mon, 01/10/11
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- - -
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
There are seasons when to be still demands immeasurably higher
strength than to act. Composure is often the highest result of
power. To the vilest and most deadly charges Jesus responded with
deep, unbroken silence, such as excited the wonder of the judge and
the spectators. To the grossest insults, the most violent
ill-treatment and mockery that might well bring indignation into
the feeblest heart, He responded with voiceless complacent
calmness. Those who are unjustly accused, and causelessly
ill-treated, know what tremendous strength is necessary to keep
silence to God.
- Margaret Bottome
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Heb 3:7-14; Ps 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11; Mk 1:40-45
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
Forty years I was wearied of that generation;
I said: "This people's heart goes astray,
they do not know my ways."
Therefore I swore in my anger:
"They shall never enter my rest."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MEDITATION ON THE GOSPEL
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter."
Like the leper, we want what we want ... but we want it on our own
terms. We take our needs to the Lord in all earnestness and
humility, believing in his power to restore us to wholeness,
begging for his healing touch. But do we listen to Jesus with the
same earnestness and faith? Do we seek his will for us with the
same fervor? Let us be done with prayer that only seeks favors.
Jesus gave the leper specific instructions to be carried out after
he was healed. If we pay attention, the Holy Spirit will likewise
instruct and guide us in God's way.
"For hearts attentive to God's direction, we pray."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SPIRITUAL READING
- "Imitation of Christ," by Thomas A. Kempis
- The Disciple
O God, hidden Creator of the world, how wonderfully You deal with
us! How sweetly and graciously You dispose of things with Your
elect to whom You offer Yourself to be received in this Sacrament!
This, indeed, surpasses all understanding. This in a special manner
attracts the hearts of the devout and inflames their love. Your
truly faithful servants, who give their whole life to amendment,
often receive in Holy Communion the great grace of devotion and
love of virtue.
Oh, the wonderful and hidden grace of this Sacrament which only the
faithful of Christ understand, which unbelievers and slaves of sin
cannot experience! In it spiritual grace is conferred, lost virtue
restored, and the beauty, marred by sin, repaired. At times,
indeed, its grace is so great that, from the fullness of the
devotion, not only the mind but also the frail body feels filled
with greater strength.
- Book 4, Chapter 1
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Amazon.com gift cards - good for any occasion
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067L6TQ/?tag=christianspiritu
- - - -
Please help support Heartland Center's Internet ministries:
- For more info on tax-deductible donations, see
http://shalomplace.com/seed/donations.html.
Thanks for your consideration!
--------------------------------------
* Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
* RSS: http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed