Only look
to Jesus. . . Regard neither unbelief nor doubt. Fear neither sin nor hell. Choose neither life nor death. All these are swallowed up in the immensity of Christ and are triumphed over in His cross. - John Fletcher (Look to Jesus,
who reveals the loving heart of God.) ________
Christianity and Spirituality monthly forum April 4, 2024, 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. CDT Topic: "Christianity and Reincarnation," by Philip St. Romain More info via the link below Free sign up for Zoom link
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Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26 Jn 13:1-15
Before the feast of
Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and
began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have
done for you, you should also do.”
Come Holy Spirit: a study series for the Easter season. Free access to 16 video teachings on the Holy Spirit, with
handouts Two Zoom sessions for discussion and sharing. Registration is open. https://shalomplace.com/inetmin/holyspirit.html
Reflection on the Scriptures
This day is a very special day in the Christian world. It marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the Sacred Triduum - three very sacred days in our faith tradition. The
celebration this night is so special that in each parish community there may only be one liturgy (except where a special consideration is made for the elderly with an earlier liturgy). For a very long time in our tradition, this celebration is so special, we hope everyone can be together in one celebration on this night. Tonight we celebrate the gift of the Eucharist. We might celebrate the Eucharist every day, or certainly every Sunday, but tonight we celebrate its gift to us and its meaning in the context of the life giving story of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection for us. And, tonight, we celebrate the gift of ministry. We are not only the gifted tonight. We are given a lesson in how we are to give ourselves to and for each other. Tonight we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy
Orders, the gift of Priesthood to the Church, but on this night we solemnly reflect upon the gift of priesthood that we all receive from Jesus, as those who are bathed in him in Baptism. -by Andy Alexander, S.J.
Psychic Energy and Contemplation by James
Arraj From St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. J. Jung, Part III, Chapter 7. Inner Growth Books, 1986. Jung summarized his ideas on psychic compensation in a long but important passage in Psychological Types: "Psychologists often compare consciousness to the eye: we speak of a visual field and a focal point of
consciousness. The nature of consciousness is aptly characterized by this simile: only a limited number of contents can be held in the conscious field at the same time, and of these only a few can attain the highest grade of consciousness. The activity of consciousness is selective. Selection demands direction. But direction requires the exclusion of everything irrelevant. This is bound to make the conscious orientation one-sided. The contents that are excluded and inhibited
by the chosen direction sink into the unconscious, where they form a counter-weight to the conscious orientation. The strengthening of this counter-position keeps pace with the increase of conscious one-sidedness until finally a noticeable tension is produced. This tension inhibits the activity of consciousness to a certain extent, and though at first the inhibition can be broken down by increased conscious effort, in the end the tension becomes so acute that the repressed unconscious contents
break through in the form of dreams and spontaneous images. The more one-sided the conscious attitude, the more antagonistic are the contents arising from the unconscious, so that we may speak of a real opposition between the two. In this case the compensation appears in the form of a counter-function, but this case is extreme. As a rule, the unconscious compensation does not run counter to consciousness, but is rather a balancing or supplementing of the conscious
orientation."(1)
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