Message of 4-10-08
Published: Sat, 04/05/08
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
"Something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of
life without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of
life and the gift of another day."
- Kent Nerburn
(It's a simple gesture, but one too easily taken for granted.
"Give us this day our daily bread.")
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Acts 8:26-40; 66:8-9, 16-17, 20; Jn 6:44-51
R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
Jesus offers us tje abundant supernatural life of heaven itself -
but we can miss it or even refuse it. To refuse Jesus is to refuse
eternal life, unending life with the Heavenly Father. To accept
Jesus as the bread of heaven is not only life and spiritual
nourishment for this world but glory in the world to come. When you
approach the Table of the Lord, what do you expect to receive?
Healing, pardon, comfort, and rest for your soul? The Lord has much
more for us, more than we can ask or imagine. The principal fruit
of receiving the Eucharist or Lord's Supper is an intimate union
with Christ. As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the
Eucharist strengthens us in charity and enables us to break with
disordered attachments to creatures and to be more firmly rooted in
the love of Christ. Do you hunger for the "bread of life"?
"Lord Jesus, you are the living bread which sustains me in this
life. May I always hunger for the bread which comes from heaven and
find in it the nourishment and strength I need to love and serve
you wholeheartedly. May I always live in the joy, peace, and unity
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, both now and in the age to
come."
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PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Carmelite Method)
A. Introduction: settling in, relaxing in awareness of God's
presence.
B. Reading the text slowly, prayerfully.
C. Meditation: imaginative representation of the material; reflection
on the meaning of the material and its application to one's life.
D. Affective prayer: conversation with God, attentive to sharing
feelings awakened in meditation. Prayer of petition, thanksgiving,
remorse.
E. Resting in God in silent loving awareness, if moved to do so.
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NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "Imitation of Christ," by Thomas A. Kempis
Remember that because all flesh had corrupted its course, the
great
deluge followed. Since, then, our interior affection is corrupt,
it
must be that the action which follows from it, the index as it
were of
our lack of inward strength, is also corrupt. Out of a pure
heart come
the fruits of a good life.
-------- Bk. 3, Chapter 31
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