Message of 9-23-08
Published: Sun, 09/21/08
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
"Let the meaning of your words shine forth, let understanding blaze
out from them. Let no word escape your lips in vain or be uttered
without depth of meaning."
- St. Ambrose -
(To say "yes" if we mean "yes," and "no" if we mean "no."
Integrity!)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Prv 21:1-6, 10-13; Ps 119:1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44; Lk 8:19-21
R. (35) Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
Lead me in the path of your commands,
for in it I delight.
And I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
An early Christian martyr once said that "a Christian's only
relatives are the saints" - namely those who have been redeemed by
the blood of Christ and adopted as sons and daughters of God. Those
who have been baptized into Jesus Christ and who live as his
disciples enter into a new family, a family of "saints" here on
earth and in heaven. Jesus changes the order of relationships and
shows that true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood.
Our adoption as sons and daughters of God transforms all of our
relationships and requires a new order of loyalty to God first and
to his kingdom of righteousness and peace. Do you want to grow in
love and friendship? Allow God's Holy Spirit to transform your
heart, mind, and will to enable you to love freely and generously
as he loves.
"Heavenly Father, you are the source of all true friendship and
love. In all my relationships, may your love be my constant guide
for choosing what is good and for rejecting what is contrary to
your will."
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Ignatian Method)
A. Preparation: acts of faith and reverence in the presence of God;
asking grace of a good meditation; petition for specific graces
sought in meditation.
B. Reading the Scriptures slowly, prayerfully.
C. Exercise of the memory, imagination, and intellect:
consideration of the material.. What practical applications are
suggested?
D. Expression of feelings and sentiments awakened in meditation.
Conversation with God.
E. Exercise of will and imagination in making resolutions. Prayer
for grace to fulfill resolutions.
F. Vocal prayer (Our Father, Hail Mary, other prayers).
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
"Sayings of Light and Love," by St. John of the Cross (jottings
from his notebooks)
79. If you desire to discover peace and consolation for your soul
and to serve God truly, do not find your satisfaction in what you
have left behind, because in that which now concerns you you may be
as impeded as you were before, or even more. But leave as well all
these other things and attend to one thing alone that brings all
these with it (namely, holy solitude, together with prayer and
spiritual and divine reading), and persevere there in forgetfulness
of all things. For if these things are not incumbent on you, you
will be more pleasing to God in knowing how to guard and perfect
yourself than by gaining all other things together; what profit
would there be for one to gain the whole world and suffer the loss
of one's soul? [Mt. 16:26].
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