03/02/01 week of Epiphany 4
[Please remember this is a sort of "menu" from which to select. No one has to pray it all]
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
Ps 75, 76 * 23, 27; Isaiah 57:3-13; Gal 5:25-6:10; Mark 9:14-29
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Against whom do you open your mouth wide and put out your tongue?
No kidding--people in ancient times stuck their tongues out at each other when they wanted to insult each other, too, just as we used to do when we were kids! And as we still do, once in a while. I never thought of human derision as being the same from place to place and age to age.
The middle finger of either hand; the pointer finger and the little finger extended; a swift upward stroke of the throat, up and forward to the chin; or a simple upward roll of the eyes--all of these telegraph derision in our culture. No words need accompany the gesture. The meaning is unmistakable. There are many wordless ways to be rude to one another.
None of them contributes to understanding, though. No gesture of scorn ever advances argument. In fact, they all make understanding and productive argument impossible. Insult forecloses relationship.
Imagine sticking your tongue out at God--coarsely dismissing the Maker of all! It would be human to refuse all further contact after receiving such an insult. But God doesn't desert us, no matter how grievously we err, yet another sign of how much greater God is than we are.
++++++++++
Today we remember: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Calendar.htm
ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865)
Psalm 96:1-7 or 98:1-4; Acts 1:1-9 ; Mark 6:7-13
Almighty and everlasting God, who sent your servant Anskar as an apostle to the people of Scandinavia, and enabled him to lay a firm foundation for their conversion, though he did not see the results of his labors: Keep your Church from discouragement in the day of small things, knowing that when you have begun a good work you will bring it to a faithful conclusion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Mara (Tanzania)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
I understood that love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places, in a word, that it was eternal! ... O Jesus, my Love ... my vocation, at last I have found it, my vocation is love! ...in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be Love.
St Therese of the Child Jesus
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
True Poverty
Someone brought money to an old man and said, "Take this and spend it for you are old and ill", for he was a leper. The old man replied, "Are you going to take me away from the one who has cared for me for sixty years? I have been ill all that time and I have not needed anything because God has cared for me." And he would not accept it.
Once abba Arsenius fell ill in Scetis and in this state he needed just one coin. He could not find one so he accepted one as a gift from someone else, and he said, "I thank you, God, that for your name's sake you have made me worthy to come to this pass, that I should have to beg."
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Befriending Our Inner Enemies
How do we befriend our inner enemies lust and anger? By listening to what they are saying. They say, "I have some unfulfilled needs" and "Who really loves me?" Instead of pushing our lust and anger away as unwelcome guests, we can recognize that our anxious, driven hearts need some healing. Our restlessness calls us to look for the true inner rest where lust and anger can be converted into a deeper way of loving.
There is a lot of unruly energy in lust and anger! When that energy can be directed toward loving well, we can transform not only ourselves but even those who might otherwise become the victims of our anger and lust. This takes patience, but it is possible.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Three - The Object (cont.)
Jesus calls those who would serve him to follow his example and choose for
themselves the same path of renunciation and sacrifice. to those who hear
and obey, he promises union with God. The object of the Society of St
Francis is to build a community of those who accept Christ as their Lord and
Master, and are dedicated to him in body and spirit. They surrender their
lives to him and to the service of his people. The Third Order of the
Society consists of those who, while following the ordinary professions of
life, feel called to dedicate their lives under a definite discipline and
vows. They may be female or male, married or single, ordained or lay.
Lord, without you our labour is wasted, but with you all who are weak can
find strength: pour you Spirit on the Society of Saint Francis; give your
labourers a pure intention, patient faith, sufficient success on earth, and
the joy of serving you in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord, help us to live this day quietly, easily; to lean upon your great
strength trustfully, restfully; to wait for the unfolding of your will
patiently, serenely; to meet others peacefully, joyously; to face tomorrow
confidently, courageously.
++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Wrestling With an Angel"
Our faith is not in words. Our faith is in a person. Our faith is in God, who is revealing the divine self to us in Christ and in the lives of the Body of Christ. The word calls us into a personal dialogue, not a slavish idealism of words, not a rigid love affair with ideas. That is fundamentalism. The scriptures call us into a personal struggle like Jacob’s. He wrestled with the angel of Yahweh (Genesis 32:24-31). In that personal involvement, in our personal wrestling match with the mystery of God, we come to faith. Faith is not just another competing ideology. It is more a process than a conclusion, more a way of relating than a way of explaining, more a wrestling match than a classroom lesson.
from The Great Themes of Scripture
++++++++++
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
God seeks our service
The same is true of service given to God. God gains no advantage from it; he has no need of our service. Yet to those who follow and serve him he gives life, incorruptibility, and eternal glory. He rewards his servants for their service and his followers for their loyalty, but he derives no benefit from them, for he is perfect and in need of nothing.
God seeks the service of human beings because he is good and merciful and desires to bless those who persevere in serving him. He is in need of nothing, but we are in need of communion with him.
It is our glory to persevere in God's service. This was why the Lord said to his disciples: You did not choose me; it was I who chose you, meaning by this that it was not they who were glorifying him by their discipleship, but that they themselves were receiving glory from the Son of God for following him. He also said: It is my wish that where I am they also may be, so that they may see my glory. He said this not out of vanity, but because of his desire to share his glory with his disciples.
Irenaeus of Lyons, (140 - 200), bishop of Lyons, wrote a momumental work Against the Heresies. At the heart of his theology is a vision of the unity and the the recapitulation of all things in Christ.
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
Chapter 7: On Humility
The sixth degree of humility
is that a monk be content
with the poorest and worst of everything,
and that in every occupation assigned him
he consider himself a bad and worthless workman,
saying with the Prophet,
"I am brought to nothing and I am without understanding;
I have become as a beast of burden before You,
and I am always with You" (Ps:22-23).
Commentary: http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
In a classless society status is snatched in normally harmless but corrosive little ways. We are a people who like embossed business cards, and monogrammed leather briefcases, and invitations to public events. We spend money we don't have to buy cars with sliding glass windows in the ceiling. We go into debt to buy at the right stores and live on the right street and go to the right schools. We call ourselves failures if we can't turn last year's models in on this year's styles. We measure our successes by the degree to which they outspan the successes of the neighbors. We have lost a sense of "enoughness."
Benedict tells us that it is bad for the soul to have to have more than the necessary, that it gluts us, that it protects us in plexiglass from the normal, the natural. Benedict says that the goal of life is not to amass things but to get the most out of whatever little we have. Benedict tells us to quit climbing. If we can learn to love life where we are, in what we have, then we will have room in our souls for what life alone does not have to offer.
The Tao Te Ching teaches, "Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations."
++++++++++
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
Ps 75, 76 * 23, 27; Isaiah 57:3-13; Gal 5:25-6:10; Mark 9:14-29
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Against whom do you open your mouth wide and put out your tongue?
No kidding--people in ancient times stuck their tongues out at each other when they wanted to insult each other, too, just as we used to do when we were kids! And as we still do, once in a while. I never thought of human derision as being the same from place to place and age to age.
The middle finger of either hand; the pointer finger and the little finger extended; a swift upward stroke of the throat, up and forward to the chin; or a simple upward roll of the eyes--all of these telegraph derision in our culture. No words need accompany the gesture. The meaning is unmistakable. There are many wordless ways to be rude to one another.
None of them contributes to understanding, though. No gesture of scorn ever advances argument. In fact, they all make understanding and productive argument impossible. Insult forecloses relationship.
Imagine sticking your tongue out at God--coarsely dismissing the Maker of all! It would be human to refuse all further contact after receiving such an insult. But God doesn't desert us, no matter how grievously we err, yet another sign of how much greater God is than we are.
++++++++++
Today we remember: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Calendar.htm
ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865)
Psalm 96:1-7 or 98:1-4; Acts 1:1-9 ; Mark 6:7-13
Almighty and everlasting God, who sent your servant Anskar as an apostle to the people of Scandinavia, and enabled him to lay a firm foundation for their conversion, though he did not see the results of his labors: Keep your Church from discouragement in the day of small things, knowing that when you have begun a good work you will bring it to a faithful conclusion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Mara (Tanzania)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
I understood that love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places, in a word, that it was eternal! ... O Jesus, my Love ... my vocation, at last I have found it, my vocation is love! ...in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be Love.
St Therese of the Child Jesus
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
True Poverty
Someone brought money to an old man and said, "Take this and spend it for you are old and ill", for he was a leper. The old man replied, "Are you going to take me away from the one who has cared for me for sixty years? I have been ill all that time and I have not needed anything because God has cared for me." And he would not accept it.
Once abba Arsenius fell ill in Scetis and in this state he needed just one coin. He could not find one so he accepted one as a gift from someone else, and he said, "I thank you, God, that for your name's sake you have made me worthy to come to this pass, that I should have to beg."
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Befriending Our Inner Enemies
How do we befriend our inner enemies lust and anger? By listening to what they are saying. They say, "I have some unfulfilled needs" and "Who really loves me?" Instead of pushing our lust and anger away as unwelcome guests, we can recognize that our anxious, driven hearts need some healing. Our restlessness calls us to look for the true inner rest where lust and anger can be converted into a deeper way of loving.
There is a lot of unruly energy in lust and anger! When that energy can be directed toward loving well, we can transform not only ourselves but even those who might otherwise become the victims of our anger and lust. This takes patience, but it is possible.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Three - The Object (cont.)
Jesus calls those who would serve him to follow his example and choose for
themselves the same path of renunciation and sacrifice. to those who hear
and obey, he promises union with God. The object of the Society of St
Francis is to build a community of those who accept Christ as their Lord and
Master, and are dedicated to him in body and spirit. They surrender their
lives to him and to the service of his people. The Third Order of the
Society consists of those who, while following the ordinary professions of
life, feel called to dedicate their lives under a definite discipline and
vows. They may be female or male, married or single, ordained or lay.
Lord, without you our labour is wasted, but with you all who are weak can
find strength: pour you Spirit on the Society of Saint Francis; give your
labourers a pure intention, patient faith, sufficient success on earth, and
the joy of serving you in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord, help us to live this day quietly, easily; to lean upon your great
strength trustfully, restfully; to wait for the unfolding of your will
patiently, serenely; to meet others peacefully, joyously; to face tomorrow
confidently, courageously.
++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Wrestling With an Angel"
Our faith is not in words. Our faith is in a person. Our faith is in God, who is revealing the divine self to us in Christ and in the lives of the Body of Christ. The word calls us into a personal dialogue, not a slavish idealism of words, not a rigid love affair with ideas. That is fundamentalism. The scriptures call us into a personal struggle like Jacob’s. He wrestled with the angel of Yahweh (Genesis 32:24-31). In that personal involvement, in our personal wrestling match with the mystery of God, we come to faith. Faith is not just another competing ideology. It is more a process than a conclusion, more a way of relating than a way of explaining, more a wrestling match than a classroom lesson.
from The Great Themes of Scripture
++++++++++
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
God seeks our service
The same is true of service given to God. God gains no advantage from it; he has no need of our service. Yet to those who follow and serve him he gives life, incorruptibility, and eternal glory. He rewards his servants for their service and his followers for their loyalty, but he derives no benefit from them, for he is perfect and in need of nothing.
God seeks the service of human beings because he is good and merciful and desires to bless those who persevere in serving him. He is in need of nothing, but we are in need of communion with him.
It is our glory to persevere in God's service. This was why the Lord said to his disciples: You did not choose me; it was I who chose you, meaning by this that it was not they who were glorifying him by their discipleship, but that they themselves were receiving glory from the Son of God for following him. He also said: It is my wish that where I am they also may be, so that they may see my glory. He said this not out of vanity, but because of his desire to share his glory with his disciples.
Irenaeus of Lyons, (140 - 200), bishop of Lyons, wrote a momumental work Against the Heresies. At the heart of his theology is a vision of the unity and the the recapitulation of all things in Christ.
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
Chapter 7: On Humility
The sixth degree of humility
is that a monk be content
with the poorest and worst of everything,
and that in every occupation assigned him
he consider himself a bad and worthless workman,
saying with the Prophet,
"I am brought to nothing and I am without understanding;
I have become as a beast of burden before You,
and I am always with You" (Ps:22-23).
Commentary: http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
In a classless society status is snatched in normally harmless but corrosive little ways. We are a people who like embossed business cards, and monogrammed leather briefcases, and invitations to public events. We spend money we don't have to buy cars with sliding glass windows in the ceiling. We go into debt to buy at the right stores and live on the right street and go to the right schools. We call ourselves failures if we can't turn last year's models in on this year's styles. We measure our successes by the degree to which they outspan the successes of the neighbors. We have lost a sense of "enoughness."
Benedict tells us that it is bad for the soul to have to have more than the necessary, that it gluts us, that it protects us in plexiglass from the normal, the natural. Benedict says that the goal of life is not to amass things but to get the most out of whatever little we have. Benedict tells us to quit climbing. If we can learn to love life where we are, in what we have, then we will have room in our souls for what life alone does not have to offer.
The Tao Te Ching teaches, "Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations."
++++++++++
posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 9:03 AM
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