Message of 8-24-07

Published: Fri, 08/24/07



MESSAGE OF THE DAY

"It was pride that caused the fall of Lucifer and Adam.  If you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is still humility.  Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility does not precede all that we do our efforts are fruitless."
    - Augustine of Hippo -

(This is the pride of self-will and control.  Beware!)

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SCRIPTURE READINGS
     http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/

Rv 21:9b-14;   Ps 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18;   Mt. 22: 34-40

R.    (12) Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.

Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.

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Praying the Daily Gospels
 - by Philip St. Romain:
 - http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614

- Matthew 22: 34-40 (The two great commandments)

    Still trying to discredit Jesus, the Pharisees attempt to bait him into heresy. Jesus again proves the wiser, simplifying the Old Testament to two laws of love, both of which are dependent on and inseparable from the other.

• “The brotherhood of man is impossible unless we recognize the fatherhood of God,” Taylor Caldwell wrote. Do you agree?

• “You are as close to God as you are to your neighbor” is another popular saying. Think of one way to show love to the five most important people in your life during the next week.

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ABANDONMENT TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE
   - by Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J.

   This divine will, working in the soul of a simple ignorant girl by means of
   sufferings and actions of a very ordinary nature, produces a state of
   supernatural life without the mind being filled with self-exalting ideas;
   whereas the proud man who studies spiritual books merely out of curiosity
   receives no more than the dead letter into his mind, and the will of God
   having no connexion with his reading his heart becomes ever harder and more
   withered.
         -- Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 5

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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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