Message of 12-29-14

Published: Mon, 12/29/14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Monday: December 29, 2014
Message of the Day
“Faith, if it be true faith, is a sure trust and confidence of the heart, and a firm consent whereby Christ is apprehended: so that Christ is the object of faith, yea, rather he is not the object, but, as it were, in the faith itself Christ is present.”
- Martin Luther

(Faith is a kind of experience of God . . . let yourself marvel at the mystery of faith.)
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Readings of the Day
 
1 JN 2:3-11;    PS 96:1-3, 5-6;    LK 2:22-35

R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.

Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.

The LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty go before him;
praise and grandeur are in his sanctuary.

USCCB lectionary
Reflection on the Scripture
"Whoever keeps His word, truly has the love of God been made perfect in him." –1 John 2:5

The purpose of the Christmas season is to grow greatly in love for Jesus. To grow in love requires God's grace, our willingness to accept His grace, and a process by which we are transformed and made more capable of loving. We go through this process of transformation by taking step after step in obedience. "By obedience to the truth" we purify ourselves "for a genuine love" (1 Pt 1:22). "The way we can be sure of our knowledge of Him is to keep His commandments" (1 Jn 2:3).

By obedience, Mary conceived Christ and loved Him more deeply than anyone has ever loved Him. By obedience, Joseph became the foster-father of Jesus and grew from love to love. By obedience, the shepherds and wise men saw the infant Jesus and began a new life of love forever. By obedience, Simeon "came to the temple" (Lk 2:27) where he met Jesus, the Light to the Gentiles, the Glory of Israel (Lk 2:32), and the God Who is Love (1 Jn 4:16).

Christmas is a journey into "the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love" (Eph 3:18). We do not know the way, but Jesus, the Way (Jn 14:6), will tell us each step to take. Obey Love on the road to love.

PRAYER: Abba, lead me to love with a martyr's love.

PROMISE: "This Child is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed – and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword – so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare." –Lk 2:34-35

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Spiritual Reading
A Christian Understanding of the Soul, by Philip St. Romain
- from Caring for the Self, Caring for the Soul

10. Summary

As a created spirit, the soul naturally longs for union with its Maker even while it infuses life into the body.

The fundamental dispositions of the soul, then, are twofold:
    a. To give life to the body and thus cultivate its spiritual powers in a context of embodied life to which the soul is properly suited (unlike angels and demons, which are not suited for embodiment).
    b. To be united with God, its Source of life and existence. 

Christian theology does not see an opposition between these two dispositions.  The body and its needs do not negate the spiritual life of the soul.  The body is not a prison of the soul, nor an obstacle to union with God, nor a prison into which the soul has fallen.  Nevertheless, a soul too attached to bodily life cannot be united with God (nor can a soul who rejects the life of the body).  A sound spiritual approach recognizes the importance of proper and disciplined care for the body and its needs while cultivating union with God.

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