11/02/07 6th Sunday after Epiphany, Sexagesima Sunday
[Please remember this is a sort of "menu" from which to select. No one has to pray it all]
If you would like these meditations to come directly to your in box, please click here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnitternunMeditation/
Collect
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; 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/
Jeremiah 17:5-10
The ideas expressed in this reading are atypical for Jeremiah’s time; they seem to reflect the thinking of later centuries, when books of wisdom literature (e.g. Proverbs, Wisdom) were written. God, through the prophet Jeremiah, contrasts the fates of the ungodly and the godly. The ungodly purposely “turn away” from God; they “trust” (believe) in humankind’s power and strength. On the other hand, the godly truly “trust” in God. V. 6 likens the ungodly to a “shrub”: it dies in the desert sun. But the godly (v. 8) are like a “green” “tree”: sustained (“water”) and growing with the help of the “stream” (perhaps God’s Spirit). They have nothing to worry about (“not anxious”, v. 8).
To ancient peoples, the “heart” (v. 9) was not only the centre of emotions, feelings, moods and passions but also of will and motive power for the limbs. The heart discerned good from evil; it was also the centre of decision-making. Conversion to God’s ways took place in the heart. In v. 9, it is said to be where evil begins. Only God can see clearly the intentions of the heart; only he can properly judge humans in their actions. God rewards people for the good they do, and condemns them for evil deeds. In v. 11, God reminds the reader that, in the end, wealth acquired unjustly does not benefit a person, for it does not extend his life. (The notion of life after death was yet to be realized.)
Psalm 1
This psalm contrasts the fate of the godly and the ungodly (as does our reading from Jeremiah.) Vv. 1-3 speak of the happiness of the godly. They do not live as the ungodly do; rather they constantly (“day and night”, v. 2) and joyfully study and observe Mosaic law; their well-being is like trees which bear fruit; they are prosperous. On the other hand, the ungodly are like “chaff” (v. 4): in manual threshing, the wind blows it away; it is discarded. So, says v. 5, their fate will be disaster: they will be excluded from the fellowship enjoyed by those who follow God’s ways, and will suffer - unlike the godly, over whom God keeps watch.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Paul continues his argument against those at Corinth who deny that Christians will be resurrected bodily. He has written of three basic doctrines he has received and passed on: Christ died, was buried, and rose. Perhaps he is countering some who attached all importance to the spirit, thus neglecting physical, earthly, living. Perhaps they, under the influence of the philosopher Philo of Alexandria, believed that they already possessed eternal life. For such people, resurrection would be meaningless. It was commonly thought that only the soul is immortal. He now confronts these people with a logical argument and the consequences of their denial, and tells the benefits of affirming resurrection.
In v. 12, he restates a point: a tenet of our faith is that Jesus physically rose after being dead. He did this as a human being, so how can some argue that physical resurrection of humans does not exist? In vv. 13ff, he states five logical consequences if these people are correct:
# Jesus was not raised (vv. 13,16);
# Paul’s (“our”, v. 14) preaching is “in vain”, unproductive, i.e. has not introduced anything new into his readers’ lives;
# the faith of his readers is “futile” (v. 17), ineffective, pointless, so they are still subject to God’s wrath for their sins (vv. 14, 17);
# he has taught something about God which is not true (v. 15) and
# those Christians “who have died” (v. 18) are definitively lost (“have perished”).
Then v. 19: if our faith in Christ stops with his death (i.e. does not include his raising), we are living a hoax, and a tough one: Christian life involves suffering, disappointment, etc., so we are “most to be pitied”. Jesus’ death alone doesn’t gain forgiveness of sins (v. 17): it’s his resurrection that does. If he did not rise, we are caught in affirming death rather than life. But, says Paul (v. 20), Jesus really was raised. In fact, he was the forerunner, the model for all those who have died (and of those yet to die). The “first fruits” of the harvest (the initial yield) was offered to God as a symbol of offering the whole harvest to him.
Luke 6:17-26
Jesus has ascended a mountain to pray. While there, he has chosen twelve of his disciples, his followers, to be apostles. Now he descends part-way, to a “level place”. There he finds other followers and many others, from Israel and beyond (“Tyre and Sidon”, v. 17). Many are healed, both of known “diseases” (v. 18) and of being possessed. Evil “spirits” made them ritually “unclean” so they were not permitted to share in corporate worship of God.
Luke tells us of four beatitudes (vv. 20-22) and corresponding woes or warnings of deprivation in the age to come. Some are “blessed” (happy) by being included in the Kingdom Jesus brings. The warnings are prophecies, cautions. The pairs are:
# the “poor” (v. 20) and the “rich” (v. 24);
# the “hungry” (v. 21a) and the “full” (v. 25a);
# the sorrowful (v. 21b) and the joyous (v. 25b); and
# the persecuted (v. 22) and the popular (v. 26).
The “poor” (v. 20) are those who acknowledge their dependence on God; the “rich” (v. 24) do not want to commit themselves to Jesus and the Kingdom; they are comfortable with the existence they have now. The Greek word translated “consolation” (v. 24) is a financial term: the “rich” do not realize what they owe to Jesus. The “hungry” (v. 25) hunger for the word of God, the good news; the “full” are the materially satisfied. In v. 22, “exclude” means socially ostracized and excluded from the synagogue and Temple. The “Son of Man” has a corporate sense: it includes Jesus and his followers: they will be persecuted, as Israel (“their ancestors”, v. 23) persecuted Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Amos, but “in that day” (at the end of the era), they will be rewarded. Jeremiah 5:31 says that people spoke well of “false prophets” (v. 26).
© 1996-2003 Chris Haslam
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
1 Corinthians 15:12-20. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Here's my question: why do so many of us think being a Christian is going to mean we will have an easier life' when we wear tiny crosses around our necks' the very expression of sacrifice made by our Lord?
We do, though. Why did God allow this to happen someone asks after a terrible diagnosis, as if there must be a moral reason for his cancer, a reason related to his own failure, or as if his illness were in violation of an agreement.
It would be a cruel thing indeed, if we were to think we had an agreement with God that nothing would ever go wrong in our lives. Our fall would be mighty: things go wrong in every life. About most of them, we have little choice.
But we do have a choice as to how we will survive them, or even how we will approach them when it is clear that we will not survive. Will we insist on solitary misery, or allow God to be our partner in our suffering as he is in our joy?
Ours is a God who delivers, not from the hour of trial, but out of it, out of its power; and in the bearing up under it, not in the sliding out from beneath it, there is strength and victory. --Amy Carmichael
++++++++++
Today we remember: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Calendar.htm
Today is Sexagesima Sunday, the 8th Sunday before easter and in round numbers, tells us that it is 60 days until Easter.
Prayer for this Sunday: O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Masindi-Kitara (Uganda)
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.
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
On Gentleness
Abba Nilus said, "Prayer is the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger."
We came from Palestine to Egypt and went to see one of the fathers. He offered us hospitality and we said, "Why do you not keep the fast when visitors come to see you? In Palestine they keep it." He replied, "Fasting is always with me but I cannot always have you here. It is useful and necessary to fast but we choose whether we will fast or not. What God commands is perfect love. I receive Christ in you and so I must do everything possible to serve you with love. When I have sent you on your way, then I can continue my rule of fasting. The sons of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them; when he is taken away from them, then they will fast."
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Words That Create
Words, words, words. Our society is full of words: on billboards, on television screens, in newspapers and books. Words whispered, shouted, and sung. Words that move, dance, and change in size and color. Words that say, "Taste me, smell me, eat me, drink me, sleep with me," but most of all, "buy me." With so many words around us, we quickly say: "Well, they're just words." Thus, words have lost much of their power.
Still, the word has the power to create. When God speaks, God creates. When God says, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same. It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important. When we say, "I love you," and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, "I hate you," we can destroy another person. Let's watch our words.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Eleven - The Third Aim (Cont)
Although we possess property and earn money to support ourselves and our
families, we show ourselves true followers of Christ and of Saint Francis by
our readiness to live simply and to share with others. We recognize that
some of our members may be called to a literal following of Saint Francis in
a life of extreme simplicity. All of us, however, accept that we avoid
luxury and waste, and regard our possessions as being held in trust for God.
God, your love led Francis and Clare to establish our three Orders: draw us
into your love that we may grow in love towards all with whom we have to do,
for the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, who gives himself in love to all.
Amen
++++++++++
Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
GOD, HELP US TO BE OPEN to new ideas, daring to err on the side of idealism rather than settling for entanglement in the practicalities of expedience. Forgive our idolatry in insisting on our particular way as the only way. Whatever our differences, help us to express them with charity, from a perspective always tilted toward the needy. Amen.
- W. Paul Jones
An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful
From page 101 of An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful by W. Paul Jones. Copyright © 2006 by W. Paul Jones.
[Personal Note: I read Jones' The Province Beyond the River about 25 years ago and it was one of the means God used to show me how to meld the Roman Catholicism of my childhood with Anglicanism, becoming one of the many steps on the journey of discovering a vocation.]
+++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Catholic Identity"
Most of us over forty today were given a strong sense of Catholic identity. Catholicism was a total world, a total way of thinking and feeling. Someone said you could just as easily stop being Catholic as you could stop being black, brown, yellow, red or white. You couldn’t change it. “Holy Mother Church” is still our mother. You can’t change mothers. You can’t kill your mother. Maturity usually means accepting that Mom was a good enough mother and not a perfect one. But most people who have been formed since Vatican II have never had that experience. Except in rare instances, they were never given a strong sense of Catholic identity. So they don’t have a strong sense of loyalty to Catholicism. Neither, however, do they have a big need to fight the Church. I don’t know which is worse. Is it worse to have a mother to rebel against or not to have a mother at all? Those of my generation are putting all their time into reforming structures and models of authority. The younger set, however, have an entirely different set of problems: no Christian or Catholic identity, a poor sense of healthy boundaries and almost no sense of the sacred.
from Why be Catholic?
++++++++++
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
Welcoming those who have strayed
In the veiled words of the parable I see there a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. When one of them became separated from the flock and wandered away lost, that shepherd did not stay with the sheep who remained together grazing, but set out to look for the lost one. He crossed many chasms and ravines, he climbed high mountains, he endured great hardship in the wilderness, searching until he found his sheep. Then when he found it he did not beat it or roughly drive it back, but placed it on his own shoulders and gently carried it home, taking more joy in this one sheep that was lost than in all the others.
Now there is a hidden meaning in this parable which we must try to penetrate. The sheep is not really a sheep and the shepherd is certainly not a man who looks after senseless beasts. These are illustrations which contain sacred teaching. They warn us against making off-hand judgments that anyone is beyond hope of salvation and against abandoning those who are in peril. On the contrary, it is our duty to seek out those who have gone astray and restore them to the fold. To welcome them back among those leading good and holy lives should be a great joy for us.
Asterius of Amasea, metropolitan of Amasea, was a preacher of considerable power. He lived in the fourth century.
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
Chapter 9: How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office
In winter time as defined above,
there is first this verse to be said three times:
"O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare Your praise."
To it is added Psalm 3 and the "Glory be to the Father,"
and after that Psalm 94 to be chanted with an antiphon
or even chanted simply.
Let the Ambrosian hymn follow next,
and then six Psalms with antiphons.
When these are finished and the verse said,
let the Abbot give a blessing;
then, all being seated on the benches,
let three lessons be read from the book on the lectern
by the brethren in their turns,
and after each lesson let a responsory be chanted.
Two of the responsories are to be said
without a "Glory be to the Father"
but after the third lesson
let the chanter say the "Glory be to the Father,"
and as soon as he begins it let all rise from their seats
out of honor and reverence to the Holy Trinity.
The books to be read at the Night Office
shall be those of divine authorship,
of both the Old and the New Testament,
and also the explanations of them which have been made
by well known and orthodox Catholic Fathers.
After these three lessons with their responsories
let the remaining six Psalms follow,
to be chanted with "Alleluia."
After these shall follow the lesson from the Apostle,
to be recited by heart,
the verse
and the petition of the litany, that is "Lord, have mercy on us."
And so let the Night Office come to an end.
Commentary: http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
None was available today. They haven;t updated their website.
++++++++++
If you would like these meditations to come directly to your in box, please click here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnitternunMeditation/
Collect
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; 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/
Jeremiah 17:5-10
The ideas expressed in this reading are atypical for Jeremiah’s time; they seem to reflect the thinking of later centuries, when books of wisdom literature (e.g. Proverbs, Wisdom) were written. God, through the prophet Jeremiah, contrasts the fates of the ungodly and the godly. The ungodly purposely “turn away” from God; they “trust” (believe) in humankind’s power and strength. On the other hand, the godly truly “trust” in God. V. 6 likens the ungodly to a “shrub”: it dies in the desert sun. But the godly (v. 8) are like a “green” “tree”: sustained (“water”) and growing with the help of the “stream” (perhaps God’s Spirit). They have nothing to worry about (“not anxious”, v. 8).
To ancient peoples, the “heart” (v. 9) was not only the centre of emotions, feelings, moods and passions but also of will and motive power for the limbs. The heart discerned good from evil; it was also the centre of decision-making. Conversion to God’s ways took place in the heart. In v. 9, it is said to be where evil begins. Only God can see clearly the intentions of the heart; only he can properly judge humans in their actions. God rewards people for the good they do, and condemns them for evil deeds. In v. 11, God reminds the reader that, in the end, wealth acquired unjustly does not benefit a person, for it does not extend his life. (The notion of life after death was yet to be realized.)
Psalm 1
This psalm contrasts the fate of the godly and the ungodly (as does our reading from Jeremiah.) Vv. 1-3 speak of the happiness of the godly. They do not live as the ungodly do; rather they constantly (“day and night”, v. 2) and joyfully study and observe Mosaic law; their well-being is like trees which bear fruit; they are prosperous. On the other hand, the ungodly are like “chaff” (v. 4): in manual threshing, the wind blows it away; it is discarded. So, says v. 5, their fate will be disaster: they will be excluded from the fellowship enjoyed by those who follow God’s ways, and will suffer - unlike the godly, over whom God keeps watch.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Paul continues his argument against those at Corinth who deny that Christians will be resurrected bodily. He has written of three basic doctrines he has received and passed on: Christ died, was buried, and rose. Perhaps he is countering some who attached all importance to the spirit, thus neglecting physical, earthly, living. Perhaps they, under the influence of the philosopher Philo of Alexandria, believed that they already possessed eternal life. For such people, resurrection would be meaningless. It was commonly thought that only the soul is immortal. He now confronts these people with a logical argument and the consequences of their denial, and tells the benefits of affirming resurrection.
In v. 12, he restates a point: a tenet of our faith is that Jesus physically rose after being dead. He did this as a human being, so how can some argue that physical resurrection of humans does not exist? In vv. 13ff, he states five logical consequences if these people are correct:
# Jesus was not raised (vv. 13,16);
# Paul’s (“our”, v. 14) preaching is “in vain”, unproductive, i.e. has not introduced anything new into his readers’ lives;
# the faith of his readers is “futile” (v. 17), ineffective, pointless, so they are still subject to God’s wrath for their sins (vv. 14, 17);
# he has taught something about God which is not true (v. 15) and
# those Christians “who have died” (v. 18) are definitively lost (“have perished”).
Then v. 19: if our faith in Christ stops with his death (i.e. does not include his raising), we are living a hoax, and a tough one: Christian life involves suffering, disappointment, etc., so we are “most to be pitied”. Jesus’ death alone doesn’t gain forgiveness of sins (v. 17): it’s his resurrection that does. If he did not rise, we are caught in affirming death rather than life. But, says Paul (v. 20), Jesus really was raised. In fact, he was the forerunner, the model for all those who have died (and of those yet to die). The “first fruits” of the harvest (the initial yield) was offered to God as a symbol of offering the whole harvest to him.
Luke 6:17-26
Jesus has ascended a mountain to pray. While there, he has chosen twelve of his disciples, his followers, to be apostles. Now he descends part-way, to a “level place”. There he finds other followers and many others, from Israel and beyond (“Tyre and Sidon”, v. 17). Many are healed, both of known “diseases” (v. 18) and of being possessed. Evil “spirits” made them ritually “unclean” so they were not permitted to share in corporate worship of God.
Luke tells us of four beatitudes (vv. 20-22) and corresponding woes or warnings of deprivation in the age to come. Some are “blessed” (happy) by being included in the Kingdom Jesus brings. The warnings are prophecies, cautions. The pairs are:
# the “poor” (v. 20) and the “rich” (v. 24);
# the “hungry” (v. 21a) and the “full” (v. 25a);
# the sorrowful (v. 21b) and the joyous (v. 25b); and
# the persecuted (v. 22) and the popular (v. 26).
The “poor” (v. 20) are those who acknowledge their dependence on God; the “rich” (v. 24) do not want to commit themselves to Jesus and the Kingdom; they are comfortable with the existence they have now. The Greek word translated “consolation” (v. 24) is a financial term: the “rich” do not realize what they owe to Jesus. The “hungry” (v. 25) hunger for the word of God, the good news; the “full” are the materially satisfied. In v. 22, “exclude” means socially ostracized and excluded from the synagogue and Temple. The “Son of Man” has a corporate sense: it includes Jesus and his followers: they will be persecuted, as Israel (“their ancestors”, v. 23) persecuted Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Amos, but “in that day” (at the end of the era), they will be rewarded. Jeremiah 5:31 says that people spoke well of “false prophets” (v. 26).
© 1996-2003 Chris Haslam
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
1 Corinthians 15:12-20. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Here's my question: why do so many of us think being a Christian is going to mean we will have an easier life' when we wear tiny crosses around our necks' the very expression of sacrifice made by our Lord?
We do, though. Why did God allow this to happen someone asks after a terrible diagnosis, as if there must be a moral reason for his cancer, a reason related to his own failure, or as if his illness were in violation of an agreement.
It would be a cruel thing indeed, if we were to think we had an agreement with God that nothing would ever go wrong in our lives. Our fall would be mighty: things go wrong in every life. About most of them, we have little choice.
But we do have a choice as to how we will survive them, or even how we will approach them when it is clear that we will not survive. Will we insist on solitary misery, or allow God to be our partner in our suffering as he is in our joy?
Ours is a God who delivers, not from the hour of trial, but out of it, out of its power; and in the bearing up under it, not in the sliding out from beneath it, there is strength and victory. --Amy Carmichael
++++++++++
Today we remember: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Calendar.htm
Today is Sexagesima Sunday, the 8th Sunday before easter and in round numbers, tells us that it is 60 days until Easter.
Prayer for this Sunday: O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Masindi-Kitara (Uganda)
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.
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
On Gentleness
Abba Nilus said, "Prayer is the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger."
We came from Palestine to Egypt and went to see one of the fathers. He offered us hospitality and we said, "Why do you not keep the fast when visitors come to see you? In Palestine they keep it." He replied, "Fasting is always with me but I cannot always have you here. It is useful and necessary to fast but we choose whether we will fast or not. What God commands is perfect love. I receive Christ in you and so I must do everything possible to serve you with love. When I have sent you on your way, then I can continue my rule of fasting. The sons of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them; when he is taken away from them, then they will fast."
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Words That Create
Words, words, words. Our society is full of words: on billboards, on television screens, in newspapers and books. Words whispered, shouted, and sung. Words that move, dance, and change in size and color. Words that say, "Taste me, smell me, eat me, drink me, sleep with me," but most of all, "buy me." With so many words around us, we quickly say: "Well, they're just words." Thus, words have lost much of their power.
Still, the word has the power to create. When God speaks, God creates. When God says, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same. It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important. When we say, "I love you," and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, "I hate you," we can destroy another person. Let's watch our words.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Eleven - The Third Aim (Cont)
Although we possess property and earn money to support ourselves and our
families, we show ourselves true followers of Christ and of Saint Francis by
our readiness to live simply and to share with others. We recognize that
some of our members may be called to a literal following of Saint Francis in
a life of extreme simplicity. All of us, however, accept that we avoid
luxury and waste, and regard our possessions as being held in trust for God.
God, your love led Francis and Clare to establish our three Orders: draw us
into your love that we may grow in love towards all with whom we have to do,
for the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, who gives himself in love to all.
Amen
++++++++++
Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
GOD, HELP US TO BE OPEN to new ideas, daring to err on the side of idealism rather than settling for entanglement in the practicalities of expedience. Forgive our idolatry in insisting on our particular way as the only way. Whatever our differences, help us to express them with charity, from a perspective always tilted toward the needy. Amen.
- W. Paul Jones
An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful
From page 101 of An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful by W. Paul Jones. Copyright © 2006 by W. Paul Jones.
[Personal Note: I read Jones' The Province Beyond the River about 25 years ago and it was one of the means God used to show me how to meld the Roman Catholicism of my childhood with Anglicanism, becoming one of the many steps on the journey of discovering a vocation.]
+++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"Catholic Identity"
Most of us over forty today were given a strong sense of Catholic identity. Catholicism was a total world, a total way of thinking and feeling. Someone said you could just as easily stop being Catholic as you could stop being black, brown, yellow, red or white. You couldn’t change it. “Holy Mother Church” is still our mother. You can’t change mothers. You can’t kill your mother. Maturity usually means accepting that Mom was a good enough mother and not a perfect one. But most people who have been formed since Vatican II have never had that experience. Except in rare instances, they were never given a strong sense of Catholic identity. So they don’t have a strong sense of loyalty to Catholicism. Neither, however, do they have a big need to fight the Church. I don’t know which is worse. Is it worse to have a mother to rebel against or not to have a mother at all? Those of my generation are putting all their time into reforming structures and models of authority. The younger set, however, have an entirely different set of problems: no Christian or Catholic identity, a poor sense of healthy boundaries and almost no sense of the sacred.
from Why be Catholic?
++++++++++
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
Welcoming those who have strayed
In the veiled words of the parable I see there a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. When one of them became separated from the flock and wandered away lost, that shepherd did not stay with the sheep who remained together grazing, but set out to look for the lost one. He crossed many chasms and ravines, he climbed high mountains, he endured great hardship in the wilderness, searching until he found his sheep. Then when he found it he did not beat it or roughly drive it back, but placed it on his own shoulders and gently carried it home, taking more joy in this one sheep that was lost than in all the others.
Now there is a hidden meaning in this parable which we must try to penetrate. The sheep is not really a sheep and the shepherd is certainly not a man who looks after senseless beasts. These are illustrations which contain sacred teaching. They warn us against making off-hand judgments that anyone is beyond hope of salvation and against abandoning those who are in peril. On the contrary, it is our duty to seek out those who have gone astray and restore them to the fold. To welcome them back among those leading good and holy lives should be a great joy for us.
Asterius of Amasea, metropolitan of Amasea, was a preacher of considerable power. He lived in the fourth century.
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
Chapter 9: How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office
In winter time as defined above,
there is first this verse to be said three times:
"O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare Your praise."
To it is added Psalm 3 and the "Glory be to the Father,"
and after that Psalm 94 to be chanted with an antiphon
or even chanted simply.
Let the Ambrosian hymn follow next,
and then six Psalms with antiphons.
When these are finished and the verse said,
let the Abbot give a blessing;
then, all being seated on the benches,
let three lessons be read from the book on the lectern
by the brethren in their turns,
and after each lesson let a responsory be chanted.
Two of the responsories are to be said
without a "Glory be to the Father"
but after the third lesson
let the chanter say the "Glory be to the Father,"
and as soon as he begins it let all rise from their seats
out of honor and reverence to the Holy Trinity.
The books to be read at the Night Office
shall be those of divine authorship,
of both the Old and the New Testament,
and also the explanations of them which have been made
by well known and orthodox Catholic Fathers.
After these three lessons with their responsories
let the remaining six Psalms follow,
to be chanted with "Alleluia."
After these shall follow the lesson from the Apostle,
to be recited by heart,
the verse
and the petition of the litany, that is "Lord, have mercy on us."
And so let the Night Office come to an end.
Commentary: http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
None was available today. They haven;t updated their website.
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posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 11:08 AM
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