Message of 10-24-07
Published: Thu, 10/18/07
- Life-long learning and formation in Christian spirituality.
Groups now open include the following:
A. Psychological Types and Spirituality
B. The Way of Christian Spirituality
C. Freedom from Codependency
D. Christian Spirituality Resources
E. Wonderfully Made (Christian Metaphysics)
F. Growing in Christ
G. Spiral Dynamics®
H. Discerning God's Will
I. Dark Night of the Soul
J. Silence, Solitude and Sabbath
K. Alpha Group -- includes all the above and all to come.
- see http://shalomplace.org/groups.html
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
The mystery of God touches us -- or does not -- in the smallest
details: giving a strawberry, with love; receiving a touch, with
love; sharing the snapdragon red of an autumn sunset, with love.
- Marion Woodman, "Coming Home to Myself "
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Rom 6:12-18; Ps 124:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8; Lk 12:39-48
R. (8a) Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us,
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us-
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive;
When their fury was inflamed against us.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers' snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
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Praying the Daily Gospels
- by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- Luke 12: 39-48 (Honesty and fidelity)
The world is a much better place because of the Judeo-Christian
doctrine of an eventual call to judgment. But fear of punishment
is, at best, only a minimal reason to remain faithful to God.
Fidelity to Christ's values is strongest in people who recognize in
these principles a way to live life to the fullest. Those who never
achieve this understanding will not be judged as harshly as will
those who do know the truth but choose selfishness anyway.
- What are some of the reasons why you faithfully follow Jesus?
- "When you know the right thing to do but do not do it, you
sin," James wrote. Spend some time reflecting on how lately you
have fallen short of the goodness to which Jesus calls you. Ask God
for forgiveness.
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MYSTICISM
- by Evelyn Underhill -
Here East and West are in agreement (on the importance of poverty
and detachment): "Their science," says Al Ghazzali of the Sufis,
who practised, like the early Franciscans, a complete renunciation
of worldly goods, "has for its object the uprooting from the soul
of all violent passions, the extirpation from it of vicious desires
and evil qualities; so that the heart may become detached from all
that is not God, and give itself for its only occupation meditation
upon the Divine Being."
All those who have felt themselves urged towards the attainment of
this transcendental vision, have found that possessions interrupt
the view; that claims, desires, attachments become centres of
conflicting interest in the mind. They assume a false air of
importance, force themselves upon the attention, and complicate
life. Hence, in the interest of self-simplification, they must be
cleared away: a removal which involves for the real enthusiast
little more sacrifice than the weekly visit of the dustman. "Having
entirely surrendered my own free-will," says Al Ghazzali of his
personal experience," my heart no longer felt any distress in
renouncing fame, wealth, or the society of my children."
------ Part 2, Chapter 3
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MEDITATING ON SCRIPTURE (Method of St. Francis de Sales)
A. Settling in: call to mind God's presence; address oneself to God
in vocal prayer.
B. Reading the Scripture passage slowly, prayerfully.
C. Exercise of the will and intellect in considering the message:
what is this passage saying? what is it calling forth from me?
D. Conclusion: acts of thanksgiving, remorse and intercessions
awakened by the meditation.
E. Application: Immediate follow-through on resolutions made.
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