Message of 2-22-11
Published: Mon, 02/21/11
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot from that
situation create something that is surpassingly good. He did it at
the creation. He did it at the cross. He is doing it today.
- Handley Moule (1841-1920)
(What chaotic situation do you experience in your life? How is God
at work there?)
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LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
1 Pt 5:1-4; Ps 23:1-3a, 4, 5, 6; Mt 16:13-19
R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for years to come.
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REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
To call someone a "rock" is one of the greatest of compliments. The
ancient rabbis had a saying that when God saw Abraham, he
exclaimed: "I have discovered a rock to found the world upon".
Through Abraham God established a nation for himself. Through faith
Peter grasped who Jesus truly was. He was the first apostle to
recognize Jesus as the Anointed One (Messiah and Christ) and the
only begotten Son of God. The New Testament describes the church as
a spiritual house or temple with each member joined together as
living stones (see 1 Peter 2:5). Faith in Jesus Christ makes us
into rocks or spiritual stones. The Lord Jesus tests each of us
personally with the same question: Who do you say that I am?
"Lord Jesus, I profess and believe that you are the Christ, the Son
of the living God. You are my Lord and my Savior. Make my faith
strong like Peter's and give me boldness to speak of you to others
that they may come to know you personally as Lord and Savior and
grow in the knowledge of your love".
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SPIRITUAL READING
"The Way of Perfection"
- by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
(Continues the subject begun in the first chapter and persuades the
sisters to busy themselves constantly in beseeching God to help
those who work for the Church. Ends with an exclamatory prayer.)
You may ask why I emphasize this so much and why I say we must help
people who are better than ourselves. I will tell you, for I am not
sure if you properly understand as yet how much we owe to the Lord
for bringing us to a place where we are so free from business
matters, occasions of sin and the society of worldly people. This
is a very great favour and one which is not granted to the persons
of whom I have been speaking, nor is it fitting that it should be
granted to them; it would be less so now, indeed, than at any other
time, for it is they who must strengthen the weak and give courage
to God's little ones. A fine thing it would be for soldiers if they
lost their captains! These preachers and theologians have to live
among men and associate with men and stay in palaces and sometimes
even behave as people in palaces do in outward matters. Do you
think, my daughters, that it is an easy matter to have to do
business with the world, to live in the world, to engage in the
affairs of the world, and, as I have said, to live as worldly men
do, and yet inwardly to be strangers to the world, and enemies of
the world, like persons who are in exile -- to be, in short, not
men but angels? Yet unless these persons act thus, they neither
deserve to bear the title of captain nor to be allowed by the Lord
to leave their cells, for they would do more harm than good. This
is no time for imperfections in those whose duty it is to teach.
- Chapter 3
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