WEBINAR SERIES ON CHRISTIAN PRAYER:
Drawing Closer to God
July 1, 8, 15, 2015: 7:00 -8:30 p.m. CDT
Free-will donation.
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Take some time this summer to give more attention to your prayer life. We will explore many topics, including methods of prayer, Jesus' teachings on prayer, prayer in the early Church, encounter with Eastern methods, and others.
A webinar is a live presentation, with interactive opportunities for asking questions and making comments. Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min. will present the material, which is from a course he taught for the Diocese of Dodge City through Newman University.
For more information and registration options, visit the link below.
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“God has no need for anyone to carry out His work, I know, but just as He allows a clever gardener to raise rare and delicate plants, giving him the necessary knowledge for this while reserving to Himself
the care of making them fruitful, so Jesus wills to be helped in His divine cultivation of souls.” - St. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul
(God works through creatures, including you. Pray for the wisdom to know how you can be fruitful for God this day.) |
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GN 12:1-9; PS 33:12-13, 18-20, 22; MT 7:1-5
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he has chosen for his own
inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down; he sees all mankind.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear
him, upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"If you want to avoid judgment, stop passing judgment." –Matthew 7:1
We must not judge a person's character and motives. Those things are none of our business. Also, we must not pronounce a verdict on others (Mt 7:2). Nor should we sentence them to
punishment. We are not to judge in these ways.
We must judge whether or not people have specks in their eyes, that is, we should judge if they are sinning. We must do this in order to remove the specks from their eyes after we have removed the planks from our own eyes (Mt 7:4). The Lord commands us: "If I say to the
wicked man, you shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live: that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death" (Ez 3:18). The Lord also commands: "Anyone who sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, should petition God, and thus life will be given to the sinner" (1 Jn 5:16). Thus we must judge what is right or wrong. We must judge, condemn, and hate sin. We do this not because we
have judged sinners but because we love them.
Thus, we are responsible to judge sin, not sinners. We must do this to love sinners by removing the specks from their eyes. Judging sin is necessary for loving others. Judging people is an obstacle to loving them. Judge so as to love.
PRAYER: Father, may I judge the world in the right way (see 1 Cor 6:2).
PROMISE: "All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." –Gn
12:3
PRAISE: St. Thomas More was not only faithful to God in matters of state, he also was faithful in leading his own family to the Father. mycatholic.com
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Theological Gems from Emile Merch's Theology of the Mystical Body - selected by Jim and Tyra Arraj
Book I: Theological and Philosophical Introduction
Chapter 1: The Understanding and Supernatural Truths
5. A genuine supernatural knowledge of truth surpasses reason. It has to do with mysteries, and even with what is mysterious in the mysteries.
Faith is a union with God: a union of the intellect.
God is light as well as
love.
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