Message of 12-16--14

Published: Tue, 12/16/14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Tuesday: December 16, 2014
Message of the Day

- on the inner noise we encounter during silence -

“We all have patterns in our inner noise. As we discover them, we do not judge them, for these patterns are neither good nor bad; they simply are. When we recognize and become familiar with them, we can greet them, let them go, and gently sink beneath them to the silence that awaits—the compassionate silence of God.”
- Jane Vennard, Embracing the World

(Total self-acceptance . . . letting yourself be drawn to God’s inner embrace...)
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Daily Readings
 
ZEP 3:1-2, 9-13;    PS 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-19, 23;    MT 21:28-32

R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.

USCCB Lectionary
 Reflection on the Scriptures
 
Today’s reading from Zephaniah reminds us that no matter how highly we think of ourselves, there is something greater in the universe than humanity.  I fear that we, like the inhabitants of the city in Zephaniah’s reading, seem to have lost our way and displaced God with our own version of divinity.  We worship athletes, singers, actors, politicians, and business people like gods.  We spend so much of our time consumed with ourselves – our appearance, our personal “brand,” our careers, etc. – it’s an easy, endless slide toward the narcissism and rebellion the Lord condemns in Zephaniah today.  How can we break free from the tempting pitfall of self-obsession?

I am reminded of the Latin dictum “Ad majorem dei gloriam,” for the Greater Glory of God, adopted by the Jesuits as their guiding principle.  We find the letters AMDG inscribed on the cornerstones of Jesuit churches and university buildings as a reminder that the work the Society of Jesus does is not for the glorification of themselves or some human institution, but to acknowledge that God is at the center of all they do.  This motto might serve as an easy way to re-conceptualize what we are doing here on Earth and what should be at the center of our lives.  Let’s see what happens when we kick out the “self” and replace it with God.

- by Charlie Wester

Creighton Online Ministries

Spiritual Reading

Selected Quotes from the Writings of St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

• Mary, ground of all being, Greetings!
  Greetings to you, lovely and loving Mother!

• Humankind, full of all creative possibilities, is God’s work.
  Humankind alone is called to assist God.
    Humankind is called to co-create.
  With nature’s help, humankind can set into creation
    all that is necessary and life-sustaining.


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