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“O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, ‘come upon me,’ and create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery. And You, O Father, bend lovingly over Your poor little creature, ‘cover her with Your shadow,’ seeing in her only the
‘Beloved in whom You are well pleased.’”
- Elizabeth of the Trinity, 19th-20th Centuries
(Let this be our prayer of commitment today.) |
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1 JN 5:5-13; PS 147:12-15, 19-20; LK 5:12-16
R. Praise the Lord,
Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly
runs his word!
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
USCCB Lectionary
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Luke 5:12-16 (Jesus cures a leper)
Today medical treatment effectively controls leprosy, but during the time of Christ and until recently, the disease affected many. Because some forms are contagious, people who had leprosy were cast
out of the community and were required to cry “Unclean!” when anyone approached. In isolation with other lepers, they were left to rot away. Only against this background can we appreciate the significance of JesusÕ contact with lepers.
* How do you feel about your contact with lower classes of society? Do you avoid such contacts?
* How is lack of discipline causing you to rot away spiritually? Ask Jesus to cure you. Paperback, Kindle
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The Way of Perfection, by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Describes the excellence of this prayer called the Paternoster, and the many
ways in which we shall find consolation in it.
O Eternal Wisdom! O good Teacher! What a wonderful thing it is, daughters, to have a wise and prudent Master who foresees our perils! This is the greatest blessing that the spiritual soul still on earth can desire, because it brings complete security. No words could ever exaggerate the importance of this. The Lord, then, saw it was necessary to
awaken such souls and to remind them that they have enemies, and how much greater danger they are in if they are unprepared, and, since if they fall it will be from a greater height, how much more help they need from the Eternal Father. So, lest they should fail to realize their danger and suffer deception, He offers these petitions so necessary to us all while we live in this exile: "And lead us not, Lord, into temptation, but deliver us from evil." - Chapter 36
(Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters
in a cloistered contemplative order.) Paperback, Kindle
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