Message of 11-17-08
Published: Fri, 11/07/08
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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ANNUAL APPEAL
Seems just the other day I had the idea to start this daily
meditation resource. That was 1997, however, when the Internet was
coming into its own, and there were very few ministries of this
sort available. There weren't many people online, either --
compared to now, at least. I had a few email addresses of friends,
family members, and people who'd attended programs at the retreat
center where I worked. I put them in a group list in my email
address list and began to send out occasional quotes and ideas for
spiritual practice. No one complained, so I kept it going,
eventually putting up a web site and a sign up form. Thousands of
subscribers later, we're still here, and I still spend a couple of
hours each week putting this resource together and time-queueing it
at aweber.com, our new listserve. It's a prayerful, meditative
experience for me, and from the feedback I've gotten through the
years, it seems that many of you find it the same.
Your support for the Internet ministry at Heartland Center for
Spirituality makes it possible for me to have the time and
resources to do this work. Donations are tax-deductible and help
to defray our expenses.
see http://tinyurl.com/5uhpac for secure online donations.
Or: http://tinyurl.com/5gmy4j for a voluntary paid subscription to
Daily Spiritual Seed.
For checks or money orders, send to: Internet Ministry. Heartland
Center for Spirituality. 3600 Broadway. Great Bend, KS 67530.
Thanks!
Phil St. Romain
Editor
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Christ speaks to Catherine: "You cannot imagine how foolish people
are. They have no sense of discernment, having lost it by hoping
in themselves and putting their trust in their own knowledge. O
stupid people, do you not see that you are not the source of your
own knowledge? It is my goodness, providing for your needs, that
has given it to you."
- St. Catherine of Siena -
(Beware the attachment to self-sufficiency. God is the true Source
of all that we are, and have.)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Rv 1:1-4; 2:1-5; Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6; Lk 18:35-43
R. (Rev. 2:17) Those who are victorious I will feed from the tree
of life.
Blessed the one who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
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REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"You have lost the love you had at first."
Daily preachers will likely avoid the Book of Revelation and stick
to the Gospels for their inspiration, but if the lector has to work
his or her way through prose that suggests psychotropic drugs, then
it only seems fair to comment on these readings. Written during a
time of persecution, somewhere between 50 and 100 years after
Christ's death and resurrection, the author addresses several of
the churches. After the usual flowery introduction, each comment on
the community in question begins with, "I know ..." Today we hear of
a community who is successfully avoiding heresy, but has lost their
love -- a failure that threatens their banishment as a church. Today
we celebrate the life of a woman who loved without measure.
"St. Elizabeth of Hungary, queen, widow, servant of the poor -- pray
for us, that we may not lose our love."
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LECTIO DIVINA PROCESS
- http://heartlandspirituality.org/vocations/prayer.html
First, you choose a passage of Scripture that you will pray with.
It might be the Gospel reading used in the liturgy of the day, or
anything else you want. The process then follows these steps:
* Reading (lectio) After settling in and quieting yourself,
read the passage slowly, prayerfully. Just let it sink in for a
minute or two, then read it a second time, paying closer attention
to the words or phrases that speak to you.
* Reflecting (meditatio) What do you hear God saying to you in
this passage? What words or phrases caught your attention?
* Responding (oratio) What do you want to say to God in
response to what you've heard? Here you can also voice your prayers
of petition, remorse, thanksgiving, praise, and so forth. If you
sense God speaking to you in your thoughts, feelings or
imagination, you respond as you would in any conversation.
* Resting (contemplatio) If, at any time, you feel drawn to
simply rest in the awareness of God's loving presence, you let
yourself do so. Remain in loving silence as long as you feel
comfortable, perhaps using a simple word or phrase from the
Scripture passage to help deepen your openness to rest in God.
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THEOLOGICAL GEMS FROM EMIL MERCH'S "THEOLOGY OF THE MYSTICAL BODY"
from http://www.innerexplorations.com/chtheomortext/theolgems.htm
455. "We are His Workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:10
From the very beginning Christians had at least a confused
intuition that the order of things to which God was leading them
was above everything in nature, that it was at once new and
transcendent, that it was a new life, a new creation, a fellowship
with God, a divinization, a heavenly life.
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