Message of 1-18-11
Published: Wed, 01/12/11
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Question: "Didn't we agree that God is a spirit? Don't you worship
Him because He is pure spirit?" Answer : "Good heavens, no! We
worship Him because He is wise and good. There's nothing specially
fine about being a spirit. The Devil is a spirit."
(Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis
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LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Heb 6:10-20; Ps 111:1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c; Mk 2:23-28
R. (5) The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
He has given food to those who fear him;
he will forever be mindful of his covenant.
He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.
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REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
When David and his men were fleeing for their lives, they sought
food from Ahim'elech the priest (1 Samuel 21:1-6). The only bread
he had was the holy bread offered in the Temple. None but the
priests were allowed to eat it. In their hunger, David and his men
ate of this bread. Jesus reminds the Pharisees that the Sabbath was
given for our benefit, to refresh and renew us in living for God.
It was intended for good and not for evil. Withholding mercy and
kindness in response to human need was not part of God's intention
that we rest from unnecessary labor. Do you honor the Lord in the
way you treat your neighbor and celebrate the Lord's Day?
"Lord Jesus, may I give you fitting honor in the way I live my life
and in the way I treat my neighbor. May I honor the Lord's Day as a
day holy to you. And may I always treat others with the same mercy
and kindness which you have shown to me. Free me from a critical
and intolerant spirit that I may always seek the good of my
neighbor."
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SPIRITUAL READING
"The Way of Perfection"
- by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
(Treats of how the necessities of the body should be disregarded
and of the good that comes from poverty.)
My daughters must believe that it is for their own good that the
Lord has enabled me to realize in some small degree what blessings
are to be found in holy poverty. Those of them who practise it will
also realize this, though perhaps not as clearly as I do; for,
although I had professed poverty, I was not only without poverty of
spirit, but my spirit was devoid of all restraint. Poverty is good
and contains within itself all the good things in the world. It is
a great domain -- I mean that he who cares nothing for the good
things of the world has dominion over them all. What do kings and
lords matter to me if I have no desire to possess their money, or
to please them, if by so doing I should cause the least displeasure
to God? And what do their honours mean to me if I have realized
that the chief honour of a poor man consists in his being truly
poor?
For my own part, I believe that honour and money nearly always go
together, and that he who desires honour never hates money, while
he who hates money cares little for honour. Understand this
clearly, for I think this concern about honour always implies some
slight regard for endowments or money: seldom or never is a poor
man honoured by the world; however worthy of honour he may be, he
is apt rather to be despised by it. With true poverty there goes a
different kind of honour to which nobody can take objection. I mean
that, if poverty is embraced for God's sake alone, no one has to be
pleased save God. It is certain that a man who has no need of
anyone has many friends: in my own experience I have found this to
be very true.
- Chapter 2
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