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When the will, the moment it feels any joy in sensible things, rises upwards in that joy to God, and when sensible things move it to pray, it should not neglect them, it should make use of them for so holy an exercise; because sensible things, in these conditions, subserve the end for which God created them, namely to be occasions for making Him better known and loved.
- St. John of the Cross, The Living Flame of Love -
(Here is a powerful affirmation of the "kataphatic" dimension of Christian spirituality--namely, of how creation can mediate God's presence. Be alert to God's messages through creation this day.)
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EZ 37:1-14; PS 107:2-9
MT 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“They have been saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost.’ ” —Ezekiel 37:11
In the last generation, much of the world has engaged in an unprecedented bloodbath through chemical and surgical abortions, starvation, “ethnic cleansing,” and many other atrocities, displaying a blatant disregard for human life. Some have commented that, if God does not destroy us, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Is there hope for our culture?
There is hope because:
• Jesus has already definitively conquered the evil one. He now waits for His enemies to be placed beneath His feet (Heb 10:12-13).
• The Holy Spirit could prophesy new life into our culture, even if it were destroyed (Ez 37:4ff).
• God’s “mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:13).
• Some of those victimized by the culture of death have accepted the miracle of forgiving and loving their enemies. There is great hope in the miracle of forgiveness.
• Some of the countless suffering people in our society have united their sufferings with the Passion and death of Jesus. Redemptive suffering can be a prelude to risen life.
We have hope, for Christ is within us (Col 1:27), and “this hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us” (Rm 5:5). Face reality and dreadful circumstances, then “rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer” (Rm 12:12).
Prayer: Father, make me realistic and extremely joyful.
Promise: “He satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with good things.” —Ps 107:9
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER III. THE TRIALS CONNECTED WITH THE STATE OF ABANDONMENT
SECTION V. Distrust of self
The fruit of these trials. The conduct of the submissive soul.
It results from all that has just been described that, in the path of pure faith, all that takes place spiritually, physically, and temporarily, has the aspect of death. This is not to be wondered at. What else could be expected? It is natural to this state. God has His plans for souls, and under this disguise He carries them out very successfully. Under the name of "disguise‚" I include ill-success, corporal
infirmities, and spiritual weakness. All succeeds, and turns to good in the hands of God. It is by those things that are a trouble to nature that He prepares for the accomplishment of His greatest designs. "Omnia cooperantur in bonum iis qui secundum propositum vocati sunt sancti.‚" "All things work together unto good to such as according to His purpose are called to be saints.‚" (Rom. viii, 28). He brings life out of the shadow of death; therefore, when nature is afraid, faith, which takes
everything in a good sense, is full of courage and confidence. To live by faith is to live by joy, confidence, and certainty about all that has to be done or suffered at each moment according to the designs of God. It is in order to animate and to maintain this life of faith that God allows the soul to be plunged into and carried away by the rough waters of so many pains, troubles, difficulties, fatigues and overthrows; for it requires faith to find God in all these things. The divine life is
given at every moment in a hidden but very sure manner, under different appearances such as, the death of the body, the supposed loss of the soul, and the confusion of all earthly affairs.
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