Message of 4-29-11
Published: Sat, 04/23/11
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary
world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the
fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept
the discipline, and make the sacrifice.
~Henry Knox Sherrill
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LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Acts 4:1-12; Ps 118:1-2 and 4, 22-24, 25-27a; Jn 21:1-14
R. (22) The stone rejected by the builders has become the
cornerstone.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
"His mercy endures forever."
Let those who fear the LORD say,
"His mercy endures forever."
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
O LORD, grant salvation!
O LORD, grant prosperity!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God, and he has given us light.
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MEDITATION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
We are incredulous that the Jewish temple leaders could reject
Jesus -- the stone rejected by the builders! But a more important
question arises for us: Is Jesus the cornerstone of our lives? Is
the presence and power of Jesus the integrating factor for every
aspect of our lives? Or influenced by our secular culture have we
substituted something else as our cornerstone?
After the Resurrection the power and presence of Jesus become the
cornerstone for the apostles. Peter and the apostles fished all
night catching nothing. Then at dawn Jesus arrived; at Jesus'
beckoning they cast their nets on the other side of the boat and
filled them to the breaking point.
And Peter responds to the temple elders witnessing to the source of
his power to heal the crippled man: "It is in the name of Jesus
Christ the Nazorean that this man stands before you healed, nor is
there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which
we are to be saved."
And Jesus becomes our cornerstone to the degree our lives are
transformed by his presence and power. During this Easter Season we
pray for a fuller experience of our Risen Lord so we can exclaim
with the psalmist, "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us be
glad and rejoice in it!"
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SPIRITUAL READING
- Fenelon's "Maxims of the Saints"
We find in some devout writers on inward experience, the phrase
spiritual nuptials. It is a favorite method with some of these
writers, to represent the union of the soul with God by the figure
of the bride and the bridegroom. Similar expressions are found in
the Scriptures.
We are not to suppose that such expressions mean anything more, in
reality, than that intimate union which exists between God and the
soul, when the soul is in the state of pure love.
- Article 41
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