Message of 1-23-08
Published: Sun, 01/20/08
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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- Lenten spiritual enrichment series:
THE FIVE CONSENTS: Co-operating With the Spirit to Grow in Grace
Internet/email series begins Ash Wednesday and continues through
Easter week.
Leader: Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min.
Cost: free-will donation
This spiritual enrichment series will consist of 35 messages sent
to your email through Lent and the first week of Easter. Themes
for the presentations will focus on giving consent to:
1. Life, and living to the full (the virtue of hope)
2. God's providential care (the virtue of faith)
3. Loving service (the virtue of love and the gift of community)
4. Hardship, suffering and death (the way of the Cross)
5. The gift of the present moment (resurrection living)
A special discussion board forum will also be available for
participants to interact and share experiences. For more
information this series and and to register for it, see
http://shalomplace.org/fiveconsents
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
God is always previous, God is always there first, and if you have
any desire for God, and for the things of God, it is God himself
who put it there.
- A. W. Tozer
(We love because God loved us first. 1 Jn. 4: 19)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Ps. 144:1b, 2, 9-10; Mk 3:1-6
R. (1) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
My refuge and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten-stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword.
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REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
"Go! The Lord will be with you." We don't know what we are capable
of until we trust in the Lord and step out in faith. We say, "Oh,
what difference can I make? I'm only one small, insignificant
person." So was David. But he acted in response to God's promise,
and God always keeps his word. Always. When we act in response to
Gospel imperatives, guided by the Holy Spirit, all of us small and
insignificant individuals do make a difference. Let us pray to
remember that it is not just us, but God acting through all of us
that brings the Kingdom to fulfillment.
Lord, teach me to trust as though everything depended on you, and
to act as though everything depended on me.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "Meister Eckhart's Sermons"
Therefore the Son came down from heaven, and was incarnate of a
Virgin,
and took upon Him all our bodily weaknesses, except sin and
folly, into
which Adam had cast us; and out of all His words and works and
limbs
and nerves, He made a cord, and drew us so skillfully, and so
heartily,
that the bloody sweat poured from His sacred Body. And when He had
drawn men without ceasing for three and thirty years, He saw the
beginnings of a movement and the redemption of all things that
would
follow. Therefore He said, "And I, if I be lifted up on the
Cross, will
draw all men unto Me." Therefore He was stretched upon the
Cross, and
laid aside all His glory, and whatever might hinder His drawing
men.
- Sermon One, on the "Attractive Power of God."
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REVIEW OF DAY
- from, "Handbook for Spiritual Directees"
http://shalomplace.com/view/hndbk-lite.pdf
Here is a practice used by many at the end of the day to see what
lessons can be learned and how God was present and active through
the day. Set aside fifteen to twenty minutes at the end of the
day for prayer and review of your day. A suggested format is
described below:.
1. Take a few moments of quiet. Breathe deeply. Ask God to help you
see yourself as you truly were during the day.
2. Look back over your day - not to see what you did wrong but to
honestly acknowledge what was going on with you and others.
* What happened? What did I do today?
* How did I feel? Why did I feel that way?
* Were my expectations and beliefs reasonable?
3. Affirm the healthy things you recognize.
4. Admit to yourself and God the unhealthy things. Ask God's
forgiveness, believe it is yours, then decide if you need to
apologize or make amends.
5. Use creative visualization to grow stronger. Honestly
acknowledge the troubling situations of the day. See and feel
yourself acting honestly and lovingly in these situations. Ask God
for the grace to help you act in this new way.
6. Close with simple awareness of the sights and sounds around you,
grateful for the good things in your life.
This process can be undertaken as a daily journal exercise or by
prayerfully reviewing your day in your own mind. I like to take a
walk before bedtime for examen. The important thing is to do it. It
is a discipline, to be sure, but a very important one.
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SHALOM PLACE PREMIUM GROUPS
- 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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