Message of 5-3-11
Published: Fri, 04/29/11
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Kindness does not require us to be blind to facts or to live in
fancies, but it does require us to cherish a habit of goodwill,
ready to show pity if sorrow appears, and slow to turn away even if
hostility appears.
- Alexander MacLaren
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LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE DAY
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19:2-3, 4-5; Jn 14:6-14
R. (5) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day;
and night to night imparts knowledge.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
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REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as
our Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like. In Jesus we
see the perfect love of God - a God who cares intensely and who
yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down
his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is the revelation of God -
a God who loves us unconditionally - without reservation,
unselfishly - for our sake and not his, and perfectly - without
neglecting or forgetting us even for a brief moment. Jesus promises
that God the Father will hear our prayers when we pray in his name.
That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with confidence, Our
Father who art in heaven ..give us this day our daily bread
(Matthew 6:9,11; Luke 11:2-3). Do you pray to your Father in
heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for you?
"Lord Jesus, you fill us with the joy of your saving presence and
you give us the hope of everlasting life with God our Father in
Heaven. Show me the Father that I may know and glorify him always."
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SPIRITUAL READING
"The Way of Perfection"
- by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
(Exhorts the nuns to keep their Rule and names three things which
are important for the spiritual life. Describes the first of these
three things, which is love of one's neighbour, and speaks of the
harm which can be done by individual, exclusivist friendships.)
Let us not allow our will to be the slave of any, sisters, save of
Him Who bought it with His blood. Otherwise, before we know where
we are, we shall find ourselves trapped, and unable to move. God
help me! The puerilities which result from this are innumerable.
And, because they are so trivial that only those who see how bad
they are will realize and believe it, there is no point in speaking
of them here except to say that they are wrong in anyone, and, in a
prioress, pestilential.
In checking these preferences we must be strictly on the alert from
the moment that such a (exclusive) friendship begins and we must
proceed diligently and lovingly rather than severely. One effective
precaution against this is that the sisters should not be together
except at the prescribed hours, and that they should follow our
present custom in not talking with one another, or being alone
together, as is laid down in the Rule: each one should be alone in
her cell. There must be no workroom at Saint Joseph's; for,
although it is a praiseworthy custom to have one, it is easier to
keep silence if one is alone, and getting used to solitude is a
great help to prayer. Since prayer must be the foundation on which
this house is built, it is necessary for us to learn to like
whatever gives us the greatest help in it.
- Chapter 4
(It is good to remember in all of this that the nuns to whom she is
writing were a contemplative order.)
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