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Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.
- Elisabeth Ellitot, Discipline: The Glad Surrender
(Work and leisure: how balanced are these in your life?)
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Eph 4:1-6; Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Lk 12:54-59
Jesus said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to
interpret the present time?
“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable
throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”
USCCB Lectionary
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Luke 12: 54-59 (The signs of the times)
We have become quite adept at understanding GodÕs creation and of prospering from it. We have placed people on the moon and learned the secrets of the atom. We have
a technology which promises wonders only dreamed of by science fiction writers in the past. Yet we have achieved only minimal ethical and spiritual progress through the ages. In todayÕs reading Jesus tells us that we ought to apply our intelligence to the things of God as much as to creation and materialism.
* “People do not change, only culture,” is a familiar maxim. Do you agree with this? Why? Why
not?
* What are some of the signs of the times today to which we ought to pay more attention? What are you doing to take a stand?
Paperback, Kindle
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The Way of Perfection, by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Treats of these last words of the Paternoster: "Sed libera nos a malo. Amen." "But deliver us from evil. Amen."
I beseech the Lord, then, to deliver me from all evil for ever, since I cannot pay what I owe, and may perhaps run farther into debt each day. And the hardest thing to bear, Lord, is that I cannot know with any certainty if
I love Thee and if my desires are acceptable in Thy sight. O my God and Lord, deliver me from all evil and be pleased to lead me to that place where all good things are to be found. What can be looked for on earth by those to whom Thou hast given some knowledge of what the world is and those who have a living faith in what the Eternal Father has laid up for them because His Son asks it of Him and teaches us to ask Him for it too?
- Chapter 42 (Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters in a cloistered contemplative order.)
Paperback, Kindle
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