Message of 7-16-08
Published: Wed, 07/09/08
If we could only see the heart of the Father, we would be drawn
into praise and thanksgiving more often. It is easy for us to think
that God is so majestic and so highly exalted that our adoration
makes no difference to him. Our God is not made of stone. His heart
is the most sensitive and tender of all. No act goes unnoticed, no
matter how insignificant or small. A cup of cold water is enough to
put tears in the eyes of God. God celebrates our feeble expressions
of gratitude.
- Richard J. Foster
("Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor
gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not worth much more than they?" Mt. 6: 26)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Is 10:5-7, 13b-16; Ps 94:5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15; Mt 11:25-27
R. (14a) The Lord will not abandon his people.
Your people, O LORD, they trample down,
your inheritance they afflict.
Widow and stranger they slay,
the fatherless they murder.
And they say, "The LORD sees not;
the God of Jacob perceives not."
Understand, you senseless ones among the people;
and, you fools, when will you be wise?
Shall he who shaped the ear not hear?
or he who formed the eye not see?
Shall he who instructs nations not chastise,
he who teaches men knowledge?
For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from "Daily Reflections"
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
I always like it when Jesus refers to children and holds them up
for us as examples. We tend to be like the Assyrian and be boastful
and proud of our own abilities and forget that all comes from God.
That is why children are such a wonderful example of pure faith.
They trust, they believe, they are guileless, they are honest and
loyal, they accept their powerlessness, they live in the now - at
least until we teach them not to trust, to challenge, to scheme, to
shade the truth, to divide their allegiances, to grasp and control,
to fret about tomorrow. As we lose our innocence we layer calluses
of indifference and complications over our childlike nature. We
lose our understanding of the mysteries that Jesus says are
revealed to the childlike as we believe in our own powers of
self-determination and action. Perhaps it would be a gift to live
life backwards, as did Merlyn in T.H. White's "The Once and Future
King" where as we age we become more childlike.
And so my prayer today is for the grace to keep searching for my
true mission so I can use my powers to fulfill it, and not the
misguided mission I might be following; and to seek a childlike
attitude so I can understand what has been revealed with the simple
joy of being alive today.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "Meister Eckhart's Sermons"
The one who abides in God's love must be dead to self and all
created things, and regard self as a mere unit among a thousand
million. Such a one must renounce himself and all the world.
Supposing a man possessed all the world, and gave it back to God
intact just as he received it, God would give him back, all the
world and everlasting life to boot. And supposing there were
another man who had nothing but a good will, and he thought in his
heart, "Lord, were all this world mine, and two worlds more beside
it, I would give them and myself also back to Thee as I received
them from thee"; to that man God would give back as much as he had
given away. And supposing a man had renounced himself for twenty
years, if he took himself back for a moment, that man's
renunciation would be as nothing. The man who has truly renounced
himself and does not once cast a glance on what he has renounced,
and thus remains immovable and unalterable, that man alone has
really renounced self. May God and the Eternal Wisdom grant us to
remain equally immovable and unalterable with Himself. Amen.
- #4, True Hearing
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REVIEW OF DAY
- from, "Handbook for Spiritual Directees"
http://shalomplace.com/view/hndbk-lite.pdf
Here is a practice used by many at the end of the day to see what
lessons can be learned and how God was present and active through
the day. Set aside fifteen to twenty minutes at the end of the
day for prayer and review of your day. A suggested format is
described below:.
1. Take a few moments of quiet. Breathe deeply. Ask God to help you
see yourself as you truly were during the day.
2. Look back over your day - not to see what you did wrong but to
honestly acknowledge what was going on with you and others.
* What happened? What did I do today?
* How did I feel? Why did I feel that way?
* Were my expectations and beliefs reasonable?
3. Affirm the healthy things you recognize.
4. Admit to yourself and God the unhealthy things. Ask God's
forgiveness, believe it is yours, then decide if you need to
apologize or make amends.
5. Use creative visualization to grow stronger. Honestly
acknowledge the troubling situations of the day. See and feel
yourself acting honestly and lovingly in these situations. Ask God
for the grace to help you act in this new way.
6. Close with simple awareness of the sights and sounds around you,
grateful for the good things in your life.
This process can be undertaken as a daily journal exercise or by
prayerfully reviewing your day in your own mind. I like to take a
walk before bedtime for examen. The important thing is to do it. It
is a discipline, to be sure, but a very important one.
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SHALOM PLACE PREMIUM GROUPS
- Life-long learning and formation in Christian spirituality.
Groups now open include the following:
A. Psychological Types and Spirituality
B. The Way of Christian Spirituality
C. Freedom from Codependency
D. Christian Spirituality Resources
E. Wonderfully Made (Christian Metaphysics)
F. Growing in Christ
G. Spiral Dynamics®
H. Discerning God's Will
I. Dark Night of the Soul
J. Silence, Solitude and Sabbath
K. Alpha Group -- includes all the above and all to come.
- see http://shalomplace.org/groups.html
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