Message of 2-18-16

Published: Thu, 02/18/16

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Message of the Day
A discipline won’t bring you closer to God. Only God can bring you closer to Himself. What the discipline is meant to do is to help you get yourself, your ego, out of the way so you are open to His grace.
- James Kushner

(What disciplines do you need to work at this time to diminish your resistance to God's love?)
 
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Daily Readings
Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25;   Ps. 138:1-3, 7c-8;    Mt 7:7-12

R.  Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.

Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.

Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
 
Reflection on the Scriptures
Prayer flows from the love of God; and the personal love we show to our neighbor is fueled by the love that God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Jesus concludes his discourse on prayer with the reminder that we must treat our neighbor in the same way we wish to be treated by God. We must not just avoid doing harm to our neighbor, we must actively seek his or her welfare. In doing so, we fulfill the the scriptural teaching from the "law and the prophets," namely what God requires of us - loving God with all that we have and are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. The Holy Spirit is ever ready to change our hearts and transform our lives in Jesus' way of love and merciful kindness towards all. Do you thirst for holiness and for the fire of God's purifying love?

"Let me love you, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am - a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I touch, those in authority over me or those under my authority, my friends and my enemies. Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself and reach out towards others."  (Prayer attributed to Clement XI of Rome, 1721)

- dailyscripture.net

 
Spiritual Reading
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich 

Fourth Revelation, Chapter 12


“The dear worthy blood of our Lord Jesus Christ as verily as it is most precious, so verily it is most plenteous”

AND after this I saw, beholding, the body plenteously bleeding in seeming of the Scourging, as thus:—The fair skin was broken full deep into the tender flesh with sharp smiting all about the sweet body. So plenteously the hot blood ran out that there was neither seen skin nor wound, but as it were all blood. And when it came where it should have fallen down, then it vanished. Notwithstanding, the bleeding continued awhile: till it might be seen and considered. And this was so plenteous, to my sight, that methought if it had been so in kind and in substance at that time, it should have made the bed all one blood, and have passed over about.

And then came to my mind that God hath made waters plenteous in earth to our service and to our bodily ease for tender love that He hath to us, but yet liketh Him better that we take full homely His blessed blood to wash us of sin: for there is no water that is made that He liketh so well to give us. For it is most plenteous as it is most precious: and that by the virtue of His blessed Godhead; and it is [of] our Kind, and all-blissfully belongeth to us by the virtue of His precious love.



 
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