Message of 5-15-08
Published: Wed, 05/07/08
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
"Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries
or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular
job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example,
starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be
at peace with those around us."
- The Dalai Lama
(This message is found in all the world religions, but stated very
clearly in this teaching. What has been your experience of peace
lately?)
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SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Jas 2:1-9; Ps. 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; Mk 8:27-33
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
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GOSPEL MEDITATION
- from "Daily Bread"
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
If you show partiality, you commit sin.
Time for spiritual spring cleaning! The Epistle of James is every
bit as embarrassing to read now as it was when it was written, back
in about the year 65. When I examine my conscience, I often find
the same old sins, probably because I'm looking in the same old
places. James says, "Hey! Are you a snob?" Do I avoid uncomfortable
hands-on contact with the poor, whom the scriptures repeatedly
indicate are the special focus of God's concern? Do my views and
actions show that I take the preferential option for the poor
seriously, at home as well as globally?
Lord, remind me that what I do for the least ones, I do for you.
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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
The Voice of Christ
MY CHILD, do not trust in your present feeling, for it will soon
give
way to another. As long as you live you will be subject to
changeableness in spite of yourself. You will become merry at
one time
and sad at another, now peaceful but again disturbed, at one
moment
devout and the next indevout, sometimes diligent while at other
times
lazy, now grave and again flippant.
But the one who is wise and whose spirit is well instructed stands
superior to these changes. He pays no attention to what he feels
in
himself or from what quarter the wind of fickleness blows, so
long as
the whole intention of his mind is conducive to his proper and
desired
end. For thus he can stand undivided, unchanged, and unshaken,
with
the singleness of his intention directed unwaveringly toward Me,
even
in the midst of so many changing events. And the purer this
singleness
of intention is, with so much the more constancy does he pass
through
many storms.
-------- Bk. 3, Chapter 33
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