Message of 6-27-08
Published: Sat, 06/21/08
A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- - -
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
"It is not sufficient to place yourself day under God. What
matters is to be only under God: the slightest division of
allegiance opens the door to daydreaming, petty conversation, petty
boasting, and pettyy malice--all the petty satellites of the
death-instinct."
- Dag Hammarskjold, "Markings" -
(Beware this spirit of pettiness. Let your mind and heart be moved
to God when you find yourself drifting in this direction.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
2 Kgs 25:1-12; Ps. 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Mt 8:1-4
R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
"Sing for us the songs of Zion!"
How could we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GOSPEL MEDITATION
from "Praying the Daily Gospels," by Philip St. Romain:
- http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
- Matthew 8: 1-4 (Jesus heals a leper)
In many accounts of Jesus' healings, we hear him cautioning those
he cured to tell no one. The leper in today's reading is instructed
to go to the priests so he may be released from his banishment from
society. The injunction to tell no one else reveals Jesus' concern
for the proper interpretation of his miracles.
- Do you accept your body, its strengths, and its limitations?
- How do you think other people view your physical appearance? How
much does it matter to you what they think?
- Pray for the grace to be able to accept yourself as you are now.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE (Benedictine Approach)
1. Relax. Settle in. Be aware that God is here, now, loving you.
2. Read a short passage of Scripture as though God were speaking
directly to you in it.
3. Choose a phrase from the passage that strikes you and repeat it
slowly, prayerfully, non-analytically.
4. When your heart is full, express to God the needs and sentiments
awakened by your meditation. When you're done, read another passage
and repeat steps 3 and 4.
5. If, at any time, you feel moved to simply be present to God in
loving silence, put the Scripture aside and rest in God.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
- "The Practice of the Presence of God," by Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence said:
That in this conversation with GOD, we are also employed in
praising, adoring, and loving him incessantly, for His infinite
goodness and perfection.
That, without being discouraged on account of our sins, we should
pray for His grace with a perfect confidence, as relying upon the
infinite merits of our LORD. That GOD never failed offering us His
grace at each action; that he distinctly perceived it, and never
failed of it, unless when his thoughts had wandered from a sense of
GODs Presence, or he had forgot to ask His assistance.
- Fourth Conversation
______________________________
* Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
* RSS: http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed