Message of 8-3-07
Published: Fri, 08/03/07
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Borrow the Beloved's eyes. Look through them and you'll see the Beloved's face everywhere. No tiredness, no jaded boredom...things you have hated will become helpers.
- Jalaluddin Rumi, We Are Three
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37; Ps 81:3-4, 5-6, 10-11ab; Mt 13:54-58
R.
(2a) Sing with joy to God our help.
Take up a melody, and sound the timbrel,
the pleasant harp and the lyre.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast.
For it is a statute in Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob,
Who made it a decree for Joseph
when he came forth from the land of Egypt.
There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt.
Take up a melody, and sound the timbrel,
the pleasant harp and the lyre.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast.
For it is a statute in Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob,
Who made it a decree for Joseph
when he came forth from the land of Egypt.
There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt.
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Praying the Daily Gospels
- by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- Matthew 13: 54-58 His own town rejects Jesus
It is ironic that the people with whom we are the closest are also the people who often limit us most. This is what happened to Jesus in Nazareth. His brethren relatives are not open to his ministry because their ideas of him were too limited.
• Do you feel
that the people with whom you live love and accept you the way you are?
Do the people with whom you work love and accept you?
• “We like people in proportion to the good we do them and not in proportion to the good they do us, Laurence Sterne wrote. Do you agree?
• “We like people in proportion to the good we do them and not in proportion to the good they do us, Laurence Sterne wrote. Do you agree?
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- Anyone want a gmail address?
I have numerous invitations I can send out. This would give you a permanent lifetime POP email and webmail address.
See http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about.html for more info, and, if interested, send me an email with your request and I'll invite you. Google will send instructions on what to do after that.
- mailto:phil@shalomplace.com
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ABANDONMENT TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE
- by Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J.
The science of theology is full of theories
and explanations of the wonders of this state in each soul according to its
capacity. One may be conversant with all these speculations, speak and write
about them admirably, instruct others and guide souls; yet, if these
theories are only in the mind, one is, compared with those who, without any
knowledge of these theories, receive the meaning of the designs of God and
do His holy will, like a sick physician compared to simple people in perfect
health. The designs of God and his divine will accepted by a faithful soul
with simplicity produces this divine state in it without its knowledge, just
as a medicine taken obediently will produce health, although the sick person
neither knows nor wishes to know anything about medicine.
-- Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 4
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Contemplative Method)
- adapted by Philip St. Romain from a variety of sources -
A. Select a short passage that you will use for prayer.
B. Settle in by sitting straight (on tailbone, spine erect). Notice sensations in your body, sounds around you, the manner of your breathing. Call to mind that God is present in and amidst all of this.
C. Read the passage aloud slowly, prayerfully. Let the words make their own impact, and voice whatever they awaken in your mind and heart to God.
- proceed to Step E if you already feel yourself coming to contemplative silence -
D. Read the passage a second time silently. Again, voice whatever is awakened to God, or acknowledge before God in your heart. Let this be a spontaneous conversation which includes your questions, intellectual reflections, petitions, resolutions, and so forth.
E. Read the passage a third time. If there is a word or phrase that sums up this passage, or that speaks to you in a special way, repeat it in your mind prayerfully. Let it express your willingness to allow God to be God in your life.
F. Allow yourself to simply be present to God in loving silence, aware of God's unfailing Presence to you in love. When distractions come which capture your attention, re-introduce the sacred word from Step E. Continue with this resting until your prayer time is over.
G. Close your prayer time with a sincere vocal recitation of the Lord's prayer, putting your whole being into the words.
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