Message of 5-8-2020

Published: Fri, 05/08/20

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Friday: May 8, 2020

Message of the Day

Jeremy Taylor gives us some fundamental rules for prayer. And the chief of them is this: "Do not lie to God." And that curt piece of advice, so bluntly thrown down for us, is indeed all-important. Do not burn false fire upon God's altar; do not pose and pretend, either to Him or to yourself, in your religious exercises; do not say more than you mean, or use exaggerated language that goes beyond the facts, when speaking to Him whose word is truth.
- A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), In the Secret Place of the Most High

(This practice bears fruit in genuine self-knowledge. So what do you need to say to God this day? Listen closely for a response.)

Readings of the Day

ACTS 15:22-31; Ps 57:8-9, 10 AND 12

JN 15:12-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”

USCCB lectionary

Reflection on the Scripture

"Do not let your hearts be troubled." —John 14:1

Shortly after Jesus commanded His apostles not to be troubled, He was in agony. He prayed so fervently that "His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Lk 22:44). To be untroubled does not mean not to be in trouble. Jesus was in trouble with the authorities because of His obedience to His Father.

To be untroubled does not mean to be without fear or agony. Jesus' heart was broken. To be untroubled does mean to have faith in our heavenly Father and thereby to have a peace beyond understanding (Phil 4:7).

To be untroubled means to rest in living God's will. To be untroubled means to avoid letting our troubles pressure us into committing sin. Paradoxically, to be untroubled means to be in trouble with the world, for in doing God's will we oppose the ways of the world. To be untroubled can mean even to be persecuted with all the fear and distress that comes with persecution. In summary, to be untroubled means to have the faith to accept the grace to do God's will, resist the temptations to sin, get in trouble with the world, and even deserve persecution.

To be untroubled means to carry our daily crosses. "The message of the cross is complete absurdity to those who are headed for ruin, but to us who are experiencing salvation it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18).

Prayer: Father, make me a troublemaker by Your standards.

Promise: "God raised Him from the dead, and for many days thereafter Jesus appeared to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are His witnesses now before the people." —Acts 13:30-31

Presentation Ministries

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Spiritual Reading

Abandonment to Divine Providence

- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade

BOOK II,

CHAPTER II. THE DUTIES OF THOSE SOULS CALLED BY GOD TO THE STATE OF ABANDONMENT

SECTION VII. Trust in the Guidance of God

The docile soul will not seek to learn by what road God is conducting it.

The divine action is essentially good; it does not need to be reformed or controlled. It began at the creation of the world; and to the present time has manifested ever fresh energy. Its operations are without limit, its fecundity inexhaustible. It acted in one way yesterday, to-day it acts differently. It is the same action applied at each moment to produce ever new effects, and it will extend from eternity to eternity. It has produced Abel, Noah, Abraham, all different types; Isaac, also original, and Jacob from no copy; neither does Joseph follow any prefigure. Moses has no prototype among his progenitors. David and the Prophets are quite apart from the Patriarchs. St. John the Baptist stands alone. Jesus Christ is the first-born; the Apostles act more by the guidance of His spirit than in imitation of His works.

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