Message of 12-31-10
Published: Sun, 12/26/10
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Praise lies upon a higher plain than thanksgiving. When I give
thanks, my thoughts still circle around myself to some extent. But
in praise my soul ascends to self-forgetting adoration, seeing and
praising only the majesty and power of God, His grace and
redemption.
- Ole Kristian O. Hallesby
(Spend some time in prayer of praise, letting your focus be on God
for God's sake.)
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LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
1 Jn 2:18-21; Ps 96:1-2, 11-12, 13; Jn 1:1-18
R. (11a) Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the LORD.
The LORD comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
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MEDITATION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
As the days of the Christmas Octave draw to a close, we are
privileged to hear the moving Prologue of the Gospel of John.
Among the many stately phrases that pour out one after the other, I
am struck by the following: "But to those who did accept him he
gave power to become children of God."
Having power to become a child--it is a curious phrase. We normally
do not associate the words "power" and "child." Yet, it is the
heart of the Christian mystery. Incapable of saving ourselves, we
need a savior. But the path to salvation is not "upward mobility,"
but rather "downward humility." Christian maturity consists in
"growing up" enough to become a child, dependent on and totally
confident in God. To be "saved," is to become a child.
- by Rich Gabuzda, S.J.
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Fenelon's "Maxims of the Saints"
It is in accordance with the views of Dionysius the Areopagite, to
say, that the holy soul in its contemplative state, is occupied
with the pure or spiritual Divinity. That is to say, it is occupied
with God, in distinction from any mere image of God, such as could
be addressed to the touch, the sight, or any of the senses.
And this is not all. It does not satisfy the desires of the soul
in its contemplative state, to occupy itself merely with the
attributes of God; with His power, wisdom, goodness, and the like;
but it rather seeks and unites itself with the God of the
attributes. The attributes of God are not God himself. The power
of God is not an identical expression with the God of power; nor is
the wisdom of God identical with the God of wisdom. The holy soul,
in its contemplative state, loves to unite itself with God,
considered as the subject of His attributes. It is not infinite
wisdom, infinite power, or infinite goodness, considered separately
from the existence of whom they can be predicated, which it loves
and adores; but the God of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness.
- Artilce 27
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