Message of 9-26-08
Published: Sun, 09/21/08
A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
"The martyrs desired death, not to fly labor, but to attain their
goal. And why do they not fear death, from which we all naturally
shrink? Because they had vanquished attachment to their own bodies
by divine and supernatural love."
- St. Catherine of Siena -
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Eccl 3:1-11; Ps 144:1b and 2abc, 3-4; Lk 9:18-22
R. (1) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
my mercy and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust.
LORD, what is man, that you notice him;
the son of man, that you take thought of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days, like a passing shadow.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
from "Praying the Daily Gospels," by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- Luke 9: 8-22 (Jesus and prayer)
Luke characteristically portrays Jesus as a man of prayer. Before
undertaking major endeavors, Jesus is shown spending time in
prayer, a model we should never ignore. In today's reading, prayer
precedes Jesus' disclosure to his apostles that he is a suffering
redeemer.
- Why do you pray? How has prayer helped you lately?
- Why do you believe Jesus had to "endure many sufferings, be
rejected by the elders, the high priests and the scribes, and be
put to death"?
- Pray for the grace to be more centered in the Spirit of Jesus.
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Benedictine Approach)
1. Relax. Settle in. Be aware that God is here, now, loving you.
2. Read a short passage of Scripture as though God were speaking
directly to you in it.
3. Choose a phrase from the passage that strikes you and repeat it
slowly, prayerfully, non-analytically.
4. When your heart is full, express to God the needs and sentiments
awakened by your meditation. When you're done, read another passage
and repeat steps 3 and 4.
5. If, at any time, you feel moved to simply be present to God in
loving silence, put the Scripture aside and rest in God.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "The Practice of the Presence of God," by Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence shared:
That when he had thus in prayer filled his mind with great
sentiments of that infinite Being, he went to his work appointed in
the kitchen (for he was cook to the society); there having first
considered severally the things his office required, and when and
how each thing was to be done, he spent all the intervals of his
time, as well before as after his work, in prayer.
- Fourth Conversation
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