Message of 11-14-08
Published: Tue, 11/04/08
A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Contemplation is nothing else than a secret, peaceful, and loving
infusion of God, which if admitted, will set the soul on fire with
the Spirit of love.
- St. John of the Cross
(This is the classical understanding of "contemplation" in the
Christian mystical tradition. May we be touched by such Love this
day.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
2 Jn 4-9; Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18; Lk 17:26-37
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
from "Praying the Daily Gospels," by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- Luke 17: 26-37 (The end times)
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is a paradigm for the
direction which history is to take. "He didn't teach us how to swim
only to let us drown," the Imperials sing. This does not mean
Christians will be spared the experience of catastrophe, however.
Even Jesus had to pick up his own cross and face the powers of evil
in this world.
- Do you believe God will allow nuclear warfare to occur?
Why? Why not?
- Do you, as Paul did nineteen hundred years ago, entertain
the hope that Jesus will return before you die? Is this a way to
cope with your fear of death?
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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
At length I came insensibly to do the same thing during my set time
of prayer, which caused in me great delight and consolation. This
practice produced in me so high an esteem for GOD, that faith alone
was capable to satisfy me in that point. [I suppose he means that
all distinct notions he could form of GOD were unsatisfactory,
because he perceived them to be unworthy of GOD, and therefore his
mind was not to be satiisfied but by the views of faith, which
apprehends GOD as infinite and incomprehensible, as He is in
Himself, and not as He can be conceived by human ideas.]
- Second letter
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