15/01/07, Monday in the week of Epiphany 2
15/01/07, Monday in the week of Epiphany 2
[Please remember this is a sort of "menu" from which to select. No one has to read it all]
Collect
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ¹s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture:
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
Psalm 25; Psalm 9, 15; Isa. 44:6-8,21-23; Eph. 4:1-16; Mark 3:7-19a
++++++++++
Today we remember: Martin Luther King
Psalm 77:11-20 or 98:1-4; Exodus 3:7-12; Luke 6:27-36
Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Ephesians 4:1-16. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.
In our educational culture, a strange aura hovers around the word "gifted." Schools fund programs for students with unusual intellectual gifts. Such programs are often dwarfed by programs for student athletes. And students whose gifts in either realm are no more than middling or worse often get left out in the cold, and act out accordingly. What a contrast to the deep egalitarianism of the earliest Christian preaching, reflected in this letter to the Ephesians. However different people's gifts are (and there is an underlying conviction here that everyone is gifted in some way), all share in the immeasurable gift of God's reconciling love in Jesus Christ. In these early Christian circles, education shaped not just bodies and minds, but the whole person. And the goal of such formation is full maturity--growing into the measure of the full stature of Christ. In the end it is not so much what we learn, but how we live, that matters. This is lifetime education--the continuing formation of lives lived for others and not only for ourselves, lives shaped and empowered by God's immeasurable grace.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
She lived in solitude, and now in Solitude has built her nest; and in Solitude her beloved alone guides her, who also bears in solitude the wound of love.
St John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, 35.
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Building Inner Bridges
Prayer is the bridge between our conscious and unconscious lives. Often there is a large abyss between our thoughts, words, and actions, and the many images that emerge in our daydreams and night dreams. To pray is to connect these two sides of our lives by going to the place where God dwells. Prayer is "soul work" because our souls are those sacred centers where all is one and where God is with us in the most intimate way.
Thus, we must pray without ceasing so that we can become truly whole and holy.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Fifteen - The First Way of Service, cont'd
The heart of our prayer is the Eucharist, in which we share with other Christians the renewal of our union with our Lord and Savior in his sacrifice, remembering his death and receiving his spiritual food.
++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Religious Dropouts"
I am convinced that most of the saints were religious dropouts from societies that were going nowhere. Faith called them to drop out and believe in something else. Jesus’ announcement of the reign of God was telling us that culture as we’ve created it is on a track toward self-destruction and emptiness. He told us we can get off the train at the next stop and re-center our lives in truth and objectivity. All we have to give up is the utterly false understanding that we have ourselves from civil society. For some reason that liberation seems to be the most difficult thing in the world! Finding God and losing the self are the same thing. That is why faith is never our thing; we don’t really come to it naturally or choose it of ourselves. Faith is always God’s thing. It seems to be the only way that the Lord can draw us into a new viewpoint, a new point from which to view the Life that is larger than life. That life is love.
from “Image and Likeness: The Restoration of the Divine Image”
++++++++++
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/dsteelman/tradition/sources.html
Let your heart be watchful
Born of a virgin, Christ came forth from the womb to shed his light over the whole world, so that everything might be illumined by his rays. His light is received by all who long to see the splendor of that everlasting glory which no darkness can ever dim. Here, the sun of our daily experience is succeeded by the darkness of night; but the sun of holiness knows no setting, since wisdom can never give place to evil.
Blessed is the soul at whose door Christ stands and knocks. Our door is faith; if faith is strong enough, the whole house is safe. That is the door by which Christ enters. Let us be alert, then, otherwise the Bridegroom may come and find himself shut out, and so take his departure. But if your heart is watchful, he will knock and ask you to open your door to him.
Ambrose of Milan, (339 - 397), bishop of Milan, was a noted preacher and writer. He baptized Saint Augustine of Hippo.
read more: www.newadvent.org/cathen/01383c.htm or
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict
http://www.osb.org/rb/
Jan. 15 - May 16 - Sept. 15
Above all, they must not show too great a concern for the fleeting and temporal things of this world; neglecting or treating lightly the welfare of those entrusted to them. Rather, they should keep in mind that they have undertaken the care of souls for whom they must give an account. That they may not plead lack of resources as an excuse, they are to remember what is written: "Seek first the reign and justice of God, and all these things will be given you as well. (Mt 6:33)" and again, "Those who reverence the Holy One lack nothing (Ps 34:10)."
In an age of great institutions and unending development campaigns, Benedict makes a statement in this paragraph that stretches the modern mind to the extremity of disbelief. Benedict instructs the abbot and prioress to be more concerned about the spiritual needs of the monastery than its physical ones. You have to wonder how long a group will last like that. You also have to wonder whether or not a monastery that is not like that should last at all. The implications are profound.
A monastery does not have to be wealthy, Benedict implies, a monastery does not have to be large, a monastery does not have to be popular. What a monastery must be, without doubt and without fail, is holy. The role of the abbot or prioress, therefore, is not to concentrate on the physical development of the community, on the "fleeting and temporal things of this world." The role of the abbot or prioress is to direct their energies to bringing the community to the white heat of the spiritual life, after which no challenge is too great and no effort is too much because we know for certain that "those who reverence the Holy One lack nothing."
In monastic spirituality, then, leadership is not intent on making things right; leadership is intent on making life right. The number of families who have succumbed to the notion that giving their children everything that money can buy assures their happiness need this insight from of monastic spirituality. The number of business people who have put their entire lives into developing their businesses instead of their quality of life, need this insight from monastic spirituality. The number of young people who have learned to believe that success depends on having it all, may need this monastic lesson in life. The Rule of Benedict teaches us that nothing, not even a monastery, is worth the loss of the development of the important things in life, the spiritual things in life.
The prioress and abbot must know that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be ready to account for them. Whatever the number of members they have in their care, let them realize that on judgment day they will surely have to submit a reckoning to God for all their souls--and indeed for their own as well. In this way, while always fearful of the future examination of the shepherd about the sheep entrusted to them and careful about the state of others' accounts, they become concerned also about their own, and while helping others to amend by their warnings, they achieve the amendment of their own faults.
The word here is clear: abbots and prioresses are responsible for the community, yes, but they are responsible for the quality and integrity of their own lives as well. Being an abbot or prioress, a president or corporate tycoon does not put people above the law or outside the law. On the contrary. It may instead create a double burden. In being concerned for the spiritual well-being of others, the caretaker will have to be alert to the demands it makes on her own life. Any leader knows the litany of emotional responses: anger with those who resist, frustration with things that can't be changed, disappointment with things that showed promise but never came to fruit, hurt because of rejection by the people you tried to love, grief over the failure of projects that you counted on to succeed--all tax the soul of a leader. "Thought breaks the heart," the Africans say. Thought also robs the leader of confidence and energy and trust. Despite it all, though, Benedict counsels leaders against the sin of resignation, despair, depression and false hope. Monastic spirituality teaches us that everything we want to do will not succeed, but monastic spirituality also teaches us that we are never to stop trying. We are never to give in to the lesser in life. We are never to lose hope in God's mercy.
People looking for a spirituality of leadership have substance in this chapter for years of thought. Benedict's leaders are to birth souls of steel and light; they are to lead the group but not drive it; they are to live the life they lead; they are to love indiscriminately; they are to favor the good, not to favor the favor the favorites; they are to call the community to the height and depth and breadth of the spiritual life; they are to remember and rejoice in their own weaknesses in order to deal tenderly with the weaknesses of others; they are to attend more to the spiritual than to the physical aspects of community life; and, finally, they are to save their own souls in the process, to be human beings themselves, to grow in life themselves.
In this chapter, monasteries become the image of a world where leadership exists for the people it leads and not for itself. It is a model for businesses and families and institutions that would change the world. It is also a model for leaders who become so consumed in leadership that they themselves forget what it means to live a rich and holy life.
++++++++++
From Pastor Jon of Elias Lutheran Church
http://www.emmitsburg.net/elias/pastor_jon/2003/season_of_epiphany.htm
The Season of Epiphany
"Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." (Isaiah. 60.1)
In the pre-dawn darkness of a recent Sunday morning I saw a light.
Of course I saw many lights shining in the darkness of that early hour as I was driving to Carlisle, Pennsylvania where I am the student intern (the Vicar) at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. In the yards of the many homes I passed I saw figures of deer lit up with small bright white lights, there was a house with two windows that flashed a red Santa in a green sleigh, and there were many homes with their roofs outlined with white icicle lighting or multicolored lights outlining trees and shrubs. All of these were interesting and I enjoyed the scenery as I made my way along the road to St. Paul's. However, these Christmas lights did not cause me to slow down nor did I need to ponder more deeply about why these decorations were put up each year.
"For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you." (Isa. 60.2)
As I drove along I kept looking up through the tree limbs and watching this one solitary light I mentioned earlier. I thought that it was strange to see this lonely light shining solo from its high vantage point up on the ridge. At first it looked small, but the more I watched it, the more I recognized that it was made more brilliant because it was shining out of the immense darkness of those mountains that appear just to the west and north of Idaville along route 34. The light was enhanced further as it contrasted with the black ink covered skies above. The more I thought about it, the more I concluded that it must be a very large light because it had shined so brightly from so far away; I wondered who put it there?
Whoever put up that light must have been thinking about the many people who would see it, they must have wanted the viewers to know about the joyful coming of God's light to the world, the light that we celebrate in the season of Epiphany. I thought about the many people who live in the dark places of our world. Darkness can exist in many dimensions of our lives. It can be literal, as when we don't get enough of the sunlight that our bodies need for good health, or it can be spiritual, as when we become deprived of the goodness and love that God made us in and desires for us to have always.
Seeing the light up on the ridge, and thinking of the community upon which it was shining brought me a level of gratitude for the comfort and hope represented by its brightness and rays. The person or persons who had erected this light and who were paying for the power used to make it shine were demonstrating their love and concern for all who would see it. Like Isaiah's verses written to the people of Israel who desperately needed reassurance that they were loved and sought after by God; so also, as many as would look up into the darkness of the night and see this light, these ones would be directed toward answers to their questions about the Source of hope and love. May we also become beacons of hope and love as we embrace the light of Christ come to us in this season of Epiphany.
"Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice . . . . for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you." (Isa. 60.5, 9b)
Peace and good will to all!
[Please remember this is a sort of "menu" from which to select. No one has to read it all]
Collect
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ¹s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture:
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
Psalm 25; Psalm 9, 15; Isa. 44:6-8,21-23; Eph. 4:1-16; Mark 3:7-19a
++++++++++
Today we remember: Martin Luther King
Psalm 77:11-20 or 98:1-4; Exodus 3:7-12; Luke 6:27-36
Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Ephesians 4:1-16. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.
In our educational culture, a strange aura hovers around the word "gifted." Schools fund programs for students with unusual intellectual gifts. Such programs are often dwarfed by programs for student athletes. And students whose gifts in either realm are no more than middling or worse often get left out in the cold, and act out accordingly. What a contrast to the deep egalitarianism of the earliest Christian preaching, reflected in this letter to the Ephesians. However different people's gifts are (and there is an underlying conviction here that everyone is gifted in some way), all share in the immeasurable gift of God's reconciling love in Jesus Christ. In these early Christian circles, education shaped not just bodies and minds, but the whole person. And the goal of such formation is full maturity--growing into the measure of the full stature of Christ. In the end it is not so much what we learn, but how we live, that matters. This is lifetime education--the continuing formation of lives lived for others and not only for ourselves, lives shaped and empowered by God's immeasurable grace.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
She lived in solitude, and now in Solitude has built her nest; and in Solitude her beloved alone guides her, who also bears in solitude the wound of love.
St John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, 35.
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Building Inner Bridges
Prayer is the bridge between our conscious and unconscious lives. Often there is a large abyss between our thoughts, words, and actions, and the many images that emerge in our daydreams and night dreams. To pray is to connect these two sides of our lives by going to the place where God dwells. Prayer is "soul work" because our souls are those sacred centers where all is one and where God is with us in the most intimate way.
Thus, we must pray without ceasing so that we can become truly whole and holy.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Fifteen - The First Way of Service, cont'd
The heart of our prayer is the Eucharist, in which we share with other Christians the renewal of our union with our Lord and Savior in his sacrifice, remembering his death and receiving his spiritual food.
++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Religious Dropouts"
I am convinced that most of the saints were religious dropouts from societies that were going nowhere. Faith called them to drop out and believe in something else. Jesus’ announcement of the reign of God was telling us that culture as we’ve created it is on a track toward self-destruction and emptiness. He told us we can get off the train at the next stop and re-center our lives in truth and objectivity. All we have to give up is the utterly false understanding that we have ourselves from civil society. For some reason that liberation seems to be the most difficult thing in the world! Finding God and losing the self are the same thing. That is why faith is never our thing; we don’t really come to it naturally or choose it of ourselves. Faith is always God’s thing. It seems to be the only way that the Lord can draw us into a new viewpoint, a new point from which to view the Life that is larger than life. That life is love.
from “Image and Likeness: The Restoration of the Divine Image”
++++++++++
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/dsteelman/tradition/sources.html
Let your heart be watchful
Born of a virgin, Christ came forth from the womb to shed his light over the whole world, so that everything might be illumined by his rays. His light is received by all who long to see the splendor of that everlasting glory which no darkness can ever dim. Here, the sun of our daily experience is succeeded by the darkness of night; but the sun of holiness knows no setting, since wisdom can never give place to evil.
Blessed is the soul at whose door Christ stands and knocks. Our door is faith; if faith is strong enough, the whole house is safe. That is the door by which Christ enters. Let us be alert, then, otherwise the Bridegroom may come and find himself shut out, and so take his departure. But if your heart is watchful, he will knock and ask you to open your door to him.
Ambrose of Milan, (339 - 397), bishop of Milan, was a noted preacher and writer. He baptized Saint Augustine of Hippo.
read more: www.newadvent.org/cathen/01383c.htm or
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict
http://www.osb.org/rb/
Jan. 15 - May 16 - Sept. 15
Above all, they must not show too great a concern for the fleeting and temporal things of this world; neglecting or treating lightly the welfare of those entrusted to them. Rather, they should keep in mind that they have undertaken the care of souls for whom they must give an account. That they may not plead lack of resources as an excuse, they are to remember what is written: "Seek first the reign and justice of God, and all these things will be given you as well. (Mt 6:33)" and again, "Those who reverence the Holy One lack nothing (Ps 34:10)."
In an age of great institutions and unending development campaigns, Benedict makes a statement in this paragraph that stretches the modern mind to the extremity of disbelief. Benedict instructs the abbot and prioress to be more concerned about the spiritual needs of the monastery than its physical ones. You have to wonder how long a group will last like that. You also have to wonder whether or not a monastery that is not like that should last at all. The implications are profound.
A monastery does not have to be wealthy, Benedict implies, a monastery does not have to be large, a monastery does not have to be popular. What a monastery must be, without doubt and without fail, is holy. The role of the abbot or prioress, therefore, is not to concentrate on the physical development of the community, on the "fleeting and temporal things of this world." The role of the abbot or prioress is to direct their energies to bringing the community to the white heat of the spiritual life, after which no challenge is too great and no effort is too much because we know for certain that "those who reverence the Holy One lack nothing."
In monastic spirituality, then, leadership is not intent on making things right; leadership is intent on making life right. The number of families who have succumbed to the notion that giving their children everything that money can buy assures their happiness need this insight from of monastic spirituality. The number of business people who have put their entire lives into developing their businesses instead of their quality of life, need this insight from monastic spirituality. The number of young people who have learned to believe that success depends on having it all, may need this monastic lesson in life. The Rule of Benedict teaches us that nothing, not even a monastery, is worth the loss of the development of the important things in life, the spiritual things in life.
The prioress and abbot must know that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be ready to account for them. Whatever the number of members they have in their care, let them realize that on judgment day they will surely have to submit a reckoning to God for all their souls--and indeed for their own as well. In this way, while always fearful of the future examination of the shepherd about the sheep entrusted to them and careful about the state of others' accounts, they become concerned also about their own, and while helping others to amend by their warnings, they achieve the amendment of their own faults.
The word here is clear: abbots and prioresses are responsible for the community, yes, but they are responsible for the quality and integrity of their own lives as well. Being an abbot or prioress, a president or corporate tycoon does not put people above the law or outside the law. On the contrary. It may instead create a double burden. In being concerned for the spiritual well-being of others, the caretaker will have to be alert to the demands it makes on her own life. Any leader knows the litany of emotional responses: anger with those who resist, frustration with things that can't be changed, disappointment with things that showed promise but never came to fruit, hurt because of rejection by the people you tried to love, grief over the failure of projects that you counted on to succeed--all tax the soul of a leader. "Thought breaks the heart," the Africans say. Thought also robs the leader of confidence and energy and trust. Despite it all, though, Benedict counsels leaders against the sin of resignation, despair, depression and false hope. Monastic spirituality teaches us that everything we want to do will not succeed, but monastic spirituality also teaches us that we are never to stop trying. We are never to give in to the lesser in life. We are never to lose hope in God's mercy.
People looking for a spirituality of leadership have substance in this chapter for years of thought. Benedict's leaders are to birth souls of steel and light; they are to lead the group but not drive it; they are to live the life they lead; they are to love indiscriminately; they are to favor the good, not to favor the favor the favorites; they are to call the community to the height and depth and breadth of the spiritual life; they are to remember and rejoice in their own weaknesses in order to deal tenderly with the weaknesses of others; they are to attend more to the spiritual than to the physical aspects of community life; and, finally, they are to save their own souls in the process, to be human beings themselves, to grow in life themselves.
In this chapter, monasteries become the image of a world where leadership exists for the people it leads and not for itself. It is a model for businesses and families and institutions that would change the world. It is also a model for leaders who become so consumed in leadership that they themselves forget what it means to live a rich and holy life.
++++++++++
From Pastor Jon of Elias Lutheran Church
http://www.emmitsburg.net/elias/pastor_jon/2003/season_of_epiphany.htm
The Season of Epiphany
"Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." (Isaiah. 60.1)
In the pre-dawn darkness of a recent Sunday morning I saw a light.
Of course I saw many lights shining in the darkness of that early hour as I was driving to Carlisle, Pennsylvania where I am the student intern (the Vicar) at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. In the yards of the many homes I passed I saw figures of deer lit up with small bright white lights, there was a house with two windows that flashed a red Santa in a green sleigh, and there were many homes with their roofs outlined with white icicle lighting or multicolored lights outlining trees and shrubs. All of these were interesting and I enjoyed the scenery as I made my way along the road to St. Paul's. However, these Christmas lights did not cause me to slow down nor did I need to ponder more deeply about why these decorations were put up each year.
"For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you." (Isa. 60.2)
As I drove along I kept looking up through the tree limbs and watching this one solitary light I mentioned earlier. I thought that it was strange to see this lonely light shining solo from its high vantage point up on the ridge. At first it looked small, but the more I watched it, the more I recognized that it was made more brilliant because it was shining out of the immense darkness of those mountains that appear just to the west and north of Idaville along route 34. The light was enhanced further as it contrasted with the black ink covered skies above. The more I thought about it, the more I concluded that it must be a very large light because it had shined so brightly from so far away; I wondered who put it there?
Whoever put up that light must have been thinking about the many people who would see it, they must have wanted the viewers to know about the joyful coming of God's light to the world, the light that we celebrate in the season of Epiphany. I thought about the many people who live in the dark places of our world. Darkness can exist in many dimensions of our lives. It can be literal, as when we don't get enough of the sunlight that our bodies need for good health, or it can be spiritual, as when we become deprived of the goodness and love that God made us in and desires for us to have always.
Seeing the light up on the ridge, and thinking of the community upon which it was shining brought me a level of gratitude for the comfort and hope represented by its brightness and rays. The person or persons who had erected this light and who were paying for the power used to make it shine were demonstrating their love and concern for all who would see it. Like Isaiah's verses written to the people of Israel who desperately needed reassurance that they were loved and sought after by God; so also, as many as would look up into the darkness of the night and see this light, these ones would be directed toward answers to their questions about the Source of hope and love. May we also become beacons of hope and love as we embrace the light of Christ come to us in this season of Epiphany.
"Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice . . . . for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you." (Isa. 60.5, 9b)
Peace and good will to all!
posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 10:32 AM
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