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"Dear friend, if you are lost, you can be found. No one is destined for the 'unclaimed' bin at life's Lost and Found. Simply acknowledge your need for the Saviour and honour God. It doesn't matter who you are or where you have been. That's why grace is so amazing. It saves wretches like me, like you."
~ by Thelma Wells ~
("Simply acknowledge your need for the savior and honor God . . .")
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GAL 5:1-6; PS 119:41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48; LK 11:37-41
R. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
Let your mercy come to me, O LORD,
your salvation according to your promise.
Take not the word of truth from my mouth,
for in your ordinances is my hope.
And I will keep your law
continually,
forever and ever.
And I will walk at liberty,
because I seek your precepts.
And I will delight in
your commands,
which I love.
And I will lift up my hands to your commands
and meditate on your statutes.
USCCB Lectionary
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
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The readings today place freedom and mercy within the context of a relationship with God that calls us to love God and one another. Freedom is not a self-centered license to do whatever we want -- it is freedom from oppressive pressures that pull us from a focus on love. The Galatians worry that they need to follow the ritual of circumcision. Paul puts the focus back on having faith that works itself out in love. When the
Pharisees dwell on ritual as essential, Jesus puts the emphasis back on love by telling them to give alms to love those in need. The Psalm models an expression of love for God in the form of grateful reflection on what God calls us to do as we live in His love. Mercy frees us from the oppression of dwelling on our past failings and from paralysis that we could never live up to the high standards of the live of love to which God calls us.
- by Sue Crawford
Creighton Online Ministries
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Selected Quotes from the Writings of St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity.
This Word manifests itself in every creature.
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