Message of 11-13-08
Published: Tue, 11/04/08
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
"If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine
grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it
hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would
complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him,
if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when
they are distributed to us."'
- St. Rose of Lima
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Phmn 7-20; Ps 146:7, 8-9a, 9bc-10; Lk 17:20-25
R. (5a) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"For behold, the kingdom of God is among you."
Given the volatile state of the world, the idea that the kingdom is
among us seems unfathomable. The world bears little resemblance to
what most would envision the kingdom to be. Maybe that's why many
consider it to be a faraway place or a faroff time. We need look no
further, however, than to our own longing to glimpse the kingdom.
It is among us because it is within us. Jesus' ministry is our
model. It is our direct instruction on how to live for the kingdom.
When we fight, discriminate against or ignore others, we deny the
presence of the kingdom within each of us and stray from the
example. No wonder the kingdom seems hard to grasp.
"That we may acknowledge your presence, O God, within all your
people, we pray."
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Carmelite Method)
A. Introduction: settling in, relaxing in awareness of God's
presence.
B. Reading the text slowly, prayerfully.
C. Meditation: imaginative representation of the material; reflection
on the meaning of the material and its application to one's life.
D. Affective prayer: conversation with God, attentive to sharing
feelings awakened in meditation. Prayer of petition, thanksgiving,
remorse.
E. Resting in God in silent loving awareness, if moved to do so.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "Imitation of Christ," by Thomas A. Kempis
The Disciple
Thanks be to You from Whom all things come, whenever it is well
with
me. In Your sight I am vanity and nothingness, a weak, unstable
man.
In what, therefore, can I glory, and how can I wish to be highly
regarded? Is it because I am nothing? This, too, is utterly vain.
Indeed, the greatest vanity is the evil plague of empty
self-glory,
because it draws one away from true glory and robs one of heavenly
grace. For when a man is pleased with himself he displeases You,
when
he pants after human praise he is deprived of true virtue. But
it is
true glory and holy exultation to glory in You and not in self, to
rejoice in Your name rather than in one's own virtue, and not to
delight in any creature except for Your sake.
-------- Bk. 3, Chapter 40
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