Message of 7-23-08
Published: Tue, 07/15/08
Read whatever chapter of scripture you will, and be ever so
delighted with it - yet it will leave you as poor, as empty and
unchanged as it found you unless it has turned you wholly and
solely to the Spirit of God, and brought you into full union with
and dependence upon him.
- William Law
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Jer 1:1, 4-10; Ps 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15 and 17; Mt 13:1-9
R. (see 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother's womb you are my strength.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from "Daily Reflections"
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
- by Carol Zuegner
I am an enthusiastic, optimistic, but not very good gardener. I
love pottering about my yard, which has been a work in progress as
I gradually get rid of my weed patches and plant flowers and
shrubs. It's a garden I attend to in fits and spurts, weeding at
whim. I tend to plant what I like and sometimes pay little
attention to the instructions carefully printed on the little
plastic marker stuck in each plant from the garden store.
In that way, I'm like the sower in the gospel, who sows seed on
rocky ground or among thorns. But the parable tells us that whoever
has ears should hear. The lavender I planted with such high
expectations probably needs more sun, perhaps some compost. It's
not doing so well. But my tomato plants, in their sunny, mulched
plot, are growing tall, flowering and producing little green
tomatoes.
My mother used to tell me that sometimes I would hear, but I wasn't
really listening to her. ( And that must have been annoying!)
Sometimes we don't hear the word of God, really hear it in the way
that the word and the message take root in our lives and the way we
live our lives. My faith needs even more tending than my tomatoes
to make sure that my faith is growing, flowering and producing fruit.
My prayer as I am watering and weeding my garden is that I really
listen to God with my heart.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "Meister Eckhart's Sermons"
The one who abides in God's love must be dead to himself and all
created things, and regard himself as a mere unit among a thousand
million. Such a man 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
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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
_________________________________________________
* Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
* RSS: http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed