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- Message of the Day and readings are below
This year’s gratitude gift to all donors will be a free-admission coupon to an online course, Christian
Prayer Methods.
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Christians now constitute about 70% of the U.S. population, which might seem high, but that’s actually down from 78% in 2007. Meanwhile, the fastest growing group is called “Unaffiliated”
(atheists, agnostics, nothing in particular), who are up from 16% to almost 23% in the same period. My sense is that these trends are similar in other countries as well.
Is there a correlation between the decline of Christianity, the rise of the unaffiliated, and the growing popularity of social networking sites? Increasingly, research does indicate a
correlation between these trends, with a strong likelihood of causal connections.
Two ways in which extensive Internet use contributes to a decline in religious commitment are: 1.) Fragmentation of attention and the consequent loss of spiritual sensitivity; 2.) Exposure to a range of ideas that seemingly conflict with one’s religious
perspective.
Of course, we need not be victims to these kinds of influences. We can become responsible consumers of Internet material, making time in our lives for prayer, hobbies, relationships, etc. We can also accept the challenge of different ideas to see how they enable us to go deeper in our religious
understanding.
The Internet ministry of Heartland Center for Spirituality addresses both of these kinds of concerns. Tomorrow I will tell you how we do so.
Peace, Phil
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After the resurrection, when our bodies will be reunited to our souls, they will be incorruptible; and the carnal passions which disturb us now will not be present in those bodies; we shall enjoy a peaceful equilibrium
in which the prudence of the flesh will not make war upon the soul; and there will no longer be that internal warfare wherein sinful passions fight against the law of the mind, conquering the soul and taking it captive by sin. Our nature then will be purified of all these tendencies, and one spirit will be in both, I mean in the flesh and in the spirit, and every corporeal affection will be banished from our nature - Gregory of Nyssa
(Something to hope for . . . )
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1 MC 2:15-29; PS 50:1B-2, 5-6, 14-15; LK 19:41-44
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
God the LORD has spoken and
summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his
justice;
for God himself is the judge.
“Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
Then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify
me.”
USCCB Lectionary
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When God visits his people he comes to establish peace and justice by
rooting out our enemies - the world (in opposition to God), the flesh (our sinful cravings and inordinate desires), and the devil (who is Satan the father of lies) who enslave us to fear and pride, rebellion and hatred, envy and covetousness, strife and violence, and every form of evil and wrong-doing. That is why God both judges and purifies his people - to lead us from our sinful ways to his way of justice, peace, love, and holiness. God actively works among his people to teach us his ways and
to save us from the destruction of of our own pride and sin and from Satan's snares and lies.
Are God's judgments unjust or unloving? Scripture tells us that "when God's judgments are revealed in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26:9). To pronounce judgment on sin is much less harsh than what will happen if those who sin
are not warned to repent. The Lord in his mercy gives us grace and time to turn away from sin, but that time is right now. If we delay, even for a moment, we may discover that grace has passed us by and our time is up. Do you accept the grace to turn away from sin and to walk in God's way of peace and holiness?
"Lord Jesus, you have visited and redeemed your people. May I not miss the grace of your visitation today as you move to bring your people into greater righteousness and holiness of life. Purify my heart and mind that I may I understand your ways and conform my life more fully to your will." DailyScripture.Net
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The Cloud of Unknowing, by Anonymous
How a man may wit when his ghostly work is beneath him or without him, and when it is even with him or within
him, and when it is above him and under his God.
Within in thyself in nature be the powers of thy soul: the which be these three principal, Memory, Reason, and Will; and secondary, Imagination and Sensuality.
Above thyself in nature is no manner of thing but only God.
Evermore where thou findest written thyself in ghostliness, then it is understood thy soul, and not thy body. And then all after that thing is on the
which the powers of thy soul work, thereafter shall the worthiness and the condition of thy work be deemed; whether it be beneath thee, within thee, or above thee.
- Chapter 62 |
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