07/09/07 Fri in the 14th week after Pentecost
[PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A "MENU" FROM WHICH TO PICK AND CHOOSE ONE OR
MORE MEDITATIONS. PLEASE DO NOT THINK YOU HAVE TO PRAY ALL OF IT.
PLEASE THINK OF IT AS A BUFFET OF THE DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF
CHRISTIANITY. IT IS HOPED THAT ALL WILL PRAY THE COLLECT, REFLECT ON
THE DAY'S SCRIPTURES AND PRAY THE ANGLICAN CYCLE OF PRAYER. AFTER
THAT, YOUR CHOICE. THANK YOU]
Blessed are those for whom Easter is...
not a hunt, but a find;
not a greeting, but a proclamation;
not outward fashions, but inward grace;
not a day, but an eternity.
Collect
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things:
Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true
religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the
fruit of good works; 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/
AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35
1 Kings 11:26-43; James 4:13-5:6; Mark 15:22-32
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Mark 15:22-32. He saved others; he cannot save himself.
People here say what is simply true, but the words carry freight
beyond what the speakers or the listeners are aware of. Jesus did save
others-from those he healed and brought back from bondage to Satan, to
(more literally) the men whom the Romans didn't arrest when they came
for him-and a crucified
person surely can't do much to save himself. But here in the mouth of
Jesus' enemies is one of those truths about the kingdom of God in
general: What we are able to do for others-just like what they are
able to do for us-is vastly beyond what we can do for ourselves.
What goes on within the community of the redeemed is a
doing-for-others grounded in what God, the ultimate Other, has done,
and is doing, for and with us. It's more than just the idea of
strength in numbers. In our acting out of this principle of salvation,
God himself becomes one of the number to be reckoned with. We cannot
save ourselves. It should be no loss at all, in that light, to give up
our struggles for salvation, for the best seats at the table, for
recognition, for being one up on everybody else. The crucified Son
shows us even-or especially-in his death how the kingdom works, its
costs and rewards.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of South
Kerala (South India)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/
The wood
Daily Reading for September 7
Years after I found my way back to mainstream Protestantism, someone
asked what attracted me to the Episcopal Church. With only a moment's
pause I replied, "The wood."
I am convinced that wood is holy. Cut from living things, it takes on
new life when used as beams and columns and pews in traditional church
architecture. It is as if the trees continue to grow as they absorb
generations of candle smoke, incense, and prayer. The rings no longer
measure age. Rather, they measure decades of spirituality and
faithfulness. When colored light from stained glass windows falls
across this holy patina, the wood itself seems to breathe God's
spirit.
I found God in a building. All Saints shocked my spiritual senses.
Wood and windows, icons and organ—it was as if I had stumbled into
God's own house. Here was holiness, robust and physical, passed down
through generations. It was the Christian tradition embodied in
architecture, music, and liturgy. But it was not a "wooden tradition,"
stilted and moribund. Like All Saints' glowing woodwork, here,
tradition was vital, a living thing, crafted in the faithfulness and
vision of God's people, present and past. I felt as if I had stumbled
into some great secret world and found the biblical pearl of great
price. Although I could scarcely name it myself, I was seeking God,
incarnated in dynamic tradition, and God was there at All
Saints-by-the-Sea.
From Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community by
Diana Butler Bass (Jossey-Bass, 2002).
The wood
Daily Reading for September 7
Years after I found my way back to mainstream Protestantism, someone
asked what attracted me to the Episcopal Church. With only a moment's
pause I replied, "The wood."
I am convinced that wood is holy. Cut from living things, it takes on
new life when used as beams and columns and pews in traditional church
architecture. It is as if the trees continue to grow as they absorb
generations of candle smoke, incense, and prayer. The rings no longer
measure age. Rather, they measure decades of spirituality and
faithfulness. When colored light from stained glass windows falls
across this holy patina, the wood itself seems to breathe God's
spirit.
I found God in a building. All Saints shocked my spiritual senses.
Wood and windows, icons and organ—it was as if I had stumbled into
God's own house. Here was holiness, robust and physical, passed down
through generations. It was the Christian tradition embodied in
architecture, music, and liturgy. But it was not a "wooden tradition,"
stilted and moribund. Like All Saints' glowing woodwork, here,
tradition was vital, a living thing, crafted in the faithfulness and
vision of God's people, present and past. I felt as if I had stumbled
into some great secret world and found the biblical pearl of great
price. Although I could scarcely name it myself, I was seeking God,
incarnated in dynamic tradition, and God was there at All
Saints-by-the-Sea.
From Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community by
Diana Butler Bass (Jossey-Bass, 2002).
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
What is there to desire but to walk along the straight path of the law
of God and of the Church, and to live only in true and obscure faith,
in certain hope, and in the fullness of love. Rejoice, therefore, and
have confidence in God.
St John of the Cross
Letter 19
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
(Abba Isidore the priest) said, 'If you fast regularly, do not be
inflated with pride, but if you think hightly of yourself because of
it, then you had better eat meat. It is better for a man to eat meat
than to be inflated with pride and to glorify himself.'
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Blessing One Another
To bless means to say good things. We have to bless one another
constantly. Parents need to bless their children, children their
parents, husbands their wives, wives their husbands, friends their
friends. In our society, so full of curses, we must fill each place we
enter with our blessings. We forget so quickly that we are God's
beloved children and allow the many curses of our world to darken our
hearts. Therefore we have to be reminded of our belovedness and remind
others of theirs. Whether the blessing is given in words or with
gestures, in a solemn or an informal way, our lives need to be blessed
lives.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml
Day Seven - The Second Aim
To spread the spirit of love and harmony
The Order sets out, in the name of Christ, to break down barriers
between people and to seek equality for all. We accept as our second
aim the spreading of a spirit of love and harmony among all people. We
are pledged to fight against the ignorance, pride, and prejudice that
breed injustice or partiality of any kind.
++++++++++
Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
Offering Mercy
September 7th, 2007
Friday's Reflection
IN OUR DAILY INTERACTIONS we have the power to criticize, condemn, and
censure others in our words and by our actions. We also have the power
to offer mercy, to offer others a chance to see their possibilities
for something more, to help them turn from the past and toward the
future. God empowers us to choose more than our human nature would
prefer — to offer mercy rather than to seek vengeance. Mercy is
choosing to use for good whatever power we have. … Mercy is choosing
to use our power to extend grace when we could just as well use it to
exact punishment. Jesus promised that those who do so will find God's
mercy extended to them.
- Mary Lou Redding
The Power of a Focused Heart
From pages 69-70 The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Life Lessons from the
Beatitudes by Mary Lou Redding. Copyright (c) 2006 by the author.
Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with
permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/
+++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"The Message of Job"
Job, from the Hebrew Scriptures, can be for Christians a beautiful
symbol of the Calvary that each of us will go through. In the story's
first chapter, Job is presented as the innocent man, confronted with
evil and suffering. He has obeyed the law of God, he has been
faithful. Satan comes before God and says: "Sure, hes been faithful.
You have blessed him. Take everything away from him and see if he
still praises you" (1:9-11).
"Very well," says Yahweh. So Yahweh takes everything away from him,
and still Job says: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall
return. Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken back. Blessed be the name of
Yahweh" (1:21, JB).
So Satan goes again before Yahweh and says: "You took away just the
external things. But destroy his bone and flesh. Make his body suffer,
then see if Job will still not curse you" (2:4-5). So Yahweh gives Job
ulcers and diseases of the skin. But still Job refuses to curse
Yahweh. Now the stage is set for the drama. Job is tempted to curse
his life. He struggles with the absurdity and the meaninglessness of
life but finally says, "If we take happiness from God's hand, must we
not take sorrow too?" (2:10, JB).
Brothers and sisters, if you're seeking to lead a good life, sooner or
later every one of you is going to be led to that point. Every one of
us is led, sooner or later, to the ash-pit with Job picking at our own
sores (2:8). At that time, you will hear many voices (symbolized by
the various advice-giving friends of Job). Pray that you know which
friends to listen to and which are being reasonable at the price of
faith.
The Book of Job probably represents the greatest moral dialogue ever
written. The final response of Job does not come from logical moral
reasoning but from graced personal experience.
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.htm
The discipleship of the cross
Our Lord and Savior said that we must take up our cross and follow
him. What does it mean to take up one's cross? Bearing every annoyance
patiently. That is following Christ. When someone begins to follow his
way of life and his commandments, that person will meet resistance on
every side. He or she will be opposed, mocked, even persecuted, and
this not only by unbelievers but also by people who to all appearances
belong to the body of Christ, though they are really excluded from it
by their wickedness; people who, being Christians only in name, never
stop persecuting true Christians.
If you want to follow Christ, then, take up his cross without delay.
Endure injuries, do not be overcome by them. If we would fulfill the
Lord's command: If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him take up his
cross and follow me, we must strive with God's help to do as the
apostle says: As long as we have food and clothing, let this content
us. Otherwise, if we seek more material goods than we need and desire
to become rich, we may fall prey to temptation. The devil may trick us
into wanting the many useless and harmful things that plunge people
into ruin and destruction. May we be free from this temptation through
the protection of our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and
the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
Caesarius of Arles
++++++++++
Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/
SPRINGS OF BENIGNITY
"The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water." John 4:14
The picture Our Lord gives is not that of a channel but a fountain.
"Be being filled," and the sweetness of vital relationship to Jesus
will flow out of the saint as lavishly as it is imparted to him. If
you find your life is not flowing out as it should, you are to blame;
something has obstructed the flow. Keep right at the Source, and - you
will be blessed personally? No, out of you will flow rivers of living
water, irrepressible life.
We are to be centres through which Jesus can flow as rivers of living
water in blessing to every one. Some of us are like the Dead Sea,
always taking in but never giving out, because we are not rightly
related to the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive from Him, He will
pour out through us, and in the measure He is not pouring out, there
is a defect in our relationship to Him. Is there anything between you
and Jesus Christ? Is there anything that hinders your belief in Him?
If not, Jesus says, out of you will flow rivers of living water. It is
not a blessing passed on, not an experience stated, but a river
continually flowing. Keep at the Source, guard well your belief in
Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady
flow for other lives, no dryness and no deadness.
Is it not too extravagant to say that out of an individual believer
rivers are going to flow? "I do not see the rivers," you say. Never
look at yourself from the standpoint of - Who am I? In the history of
God's work you will nearly always find that it has started from the
obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but the steadfastly true to Jesus
Christ.
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
January 7, May 8, September 7
Prologue
And so we are going to establish
a school for the service of the Lord.
In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome.
But if a certain strictness results from the dictates of equity
for the amendment of vices or the preservation of charity,
do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation,
whose entrance cannot but be narrow (Matt. 7:14).
For as we advance in the religious life and in faith,
our hearts expand
and we run the way of God's commandments
with unspeakable sweetness of love (Ps. 118:32).
Thus, never departing from His school,
but persevering in the monastery according to His teaching
until death,
we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13)
and deserve to have a share also in His kingdom.
Commentary: http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
The spiritual life is not something that is gotten for the wishing or
assumed by affectation. The spiritual life takes discipline. It is
something to be learned, to be internalized. It's not a set of daily
exercises, it's a way of life, an attitude of mind, an orientation of
soul. And it is gotten by being schooled until no rules are necessary.
Among the ancients there is a story told that confirms this insight to this day:
"What action shall I perform to attain God?" the disciple asked the elder.
"If you wish to attain God, the elder said, there are two things you
must know. The first is that all efforts to attain God are of no
avail."
"And the second?" the disciple insisted.
"The second is that you must act as if you did not know the first,"
the elder said.
Clearly, great pursuers of the spiritual life know that the secret of
the spiritual life is to live it until it becomes real.
The difference between Benedict and other spiritual masters of his
time lay in the fact that Benedict believed that the spiritual life
was not an exercise in spiritual gymnastics. It was to be nothing
"harsh or burdensome." And it was not a private process. It was to be
done in community with others. It was to be a "school" dedicated to
"the good of all concerned." It was to be lived with "patience."
The private preserves of the spiritual life are far from dead,
however. It is so much easier to go to daily Mass and feel good about
it than it is to serve soup at a soup kitchen. It is so much more
comfortable to say bedtime prayers than it is speak peace in a warring
world. It is so much more satisfying to contribute to the building of
a new church than it is to advocate for welfare legislation. It is so
much more heroic to fast than it is to be patient with a noisy
neighbor. It is so much easier to give the handshake of peace in
church than it is to speak gently in the family. And yet, one without
the other is surely fraud if life with God in community is truly of
the essence of real spiritual growth.
The messages of the Prologue are clear: Life is very short. To get the
most out of it, we must begin to attend to its spiritual dimensions
without which life is only half lived. Holiness is in the Now but we
go through life only half conscious of it, asleep or intent on being
someplace other than where we are. We need to open our eyes and see
things as they exist around us: what is valuable and what is not, what
enriches and what does not, what is of God and what is not. It may be
the neighborhood we live in rather than the neighborhood we want that
will really make human beings out of us. It may be the job we have
rather than the position we are selling our souls to get that will
finally liberate us from ourselves. It may be what we do rather than
the prayers we pray that will finally be the measure of our sanctity.
God is calling us to more than the material level of life and God is
waiting to bring us to it. All we have to do is to live well with
others and live totally in God. All we have to do is to learn to
listen to the voice of God in life. And we have to do it heart, soul
and body. The spiritual life demands all of us.
++++++++++
Dynamis http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxdynamis/
Dynamis is a daily Bible meditation based upon the lectionary of the
Holy Orthodox Church.
The Nativity of the Theotokos
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Epistle: Philippians
2:5-11 Gospel: St.
Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28
2nd Vespers Nativity Theotokos: Ezekiel 43:27-44:4
The Perfect Temple: Ezekiel 43:26-44:4 LXX, especially vs. 27:
"....from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar
your burnt offerings; and I will accept you says the Lord God." The
Prophet Ezekiel was born to serve as a Priest in the ancient Jewish
Temple at Jerusalem; but that holy shrine was destroyed by Babylonian
conquerors. Also, that victorious army forced Ezekiel and many other
Jews to return to their distant homeland and serve as their slaves. God
gave the exiled Ezekiel a prophetic vision of a glorious, Divinely
restored Temple, a holy dwelling place where the Lord would be present
once again to receive the worship of His People. The present passage is
a portion of that vision that the Church receives as a prophecy of the
most Holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary.
Faith perceives that God fulfilled the vision given to Ezekiel nearly
five-hundred years after the prophecy. For the few brief months between
the Annunciation to the Theotokos (March 25) and the Nativity of Christ
(December 25), the Virgin herself was the ideal Temple of God-with-us.
Even before the coming of Christ into the world - from her Nativity
until the Annunciation to her as a young women - the years of her
maturing and preparation were much like the very early hours immediately
before the dawn of day; for the approach of "the true Light which gives
light to every man" (Jn. 1:9) was already manifest in the Virgin's
life. The details of that early time in the life of the Theotokos are
provided by writings honored within Holy Tradition and previewed by
Prophets like Ezekiel. For now, take careful note of what Ezekiel teaches.
It was clear to God's Prophet that the restored Temple of his vision
would be pure and consecrated (Ezek. 43:26). Also, Ezekiel knew that
God would accomplish this. Do you see that miraculous birth of Mary, to
a barren couple well past the child-bearing age, required God's
intervention? And the Lord also provided grace for the child to live a
pure life. She was a consecrated vessel from birth. At the Feast of
her Presentation at three years of age (November 21st), the Church
reminds us that Mary, "the fruit of Joachim and Anne the righteous,
[was] offered to God in His holy Temple as a babe in the flesh whom the
noble Zachariah blessed."
May we, like Ezekiel, know that God accepts worship from His People when
we offer ourselves to Him like "burnt offerings" presented and wholly
consumed in the ancient Temple. Hence, in the perfect Temple, God will
accept His people as they gave themselves as holocausts - as total
offerings, holding back nothing (vs. 27). At every juncture of her
life, the Theotokos did offer herself as a holocaust, always placing
herself fully in the Lord's hands as a vessel to carry out His will.
Thus at the Annunciation by Gabriel the Archangel, she naturally said,
"Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your
word" (Lk. 1:38).
In receiving the vision of the perfect Temple, Ezekiel understood that
the East vestibule and its gate into Temple would only be used by "the
Lord, the God of Israel." Therefore it would ever remain shut
thereafter, since "only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the
Lord...[and] enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and...go out
by the same way" (Ezek. 44:2-3). Do you see here the foreshadowing of
the ever-virginity of the Theotokos, of the All-Pure who "remained
incorruptible after giving birth to Immanuel?"
Not surprisingly, Ezekiel saw "the glory of the Lord [fill] the temple
of the Lord; and [he] fell upon [his] face" (vs. 4). Thus, in the
iconography of the Church, the Theotokos is portrayed as filled with the
glory of the Lord. And we, likewise, offer her praise in hymns and songs.
Thou didst hold in t
MORE MEDITATIONS. PLEASE DO NOT THINK YOU HAVE TO PRAY ALL OF IT.
PLEASE THINK OF IT AS A BUFFET OF THE DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF
CHRISTIANITY. IT IS HOPED THAT ALL WILL PRAY THE COLLECT, REFLECT ON
THE DAY'S SCRIPTURES AND PRAY THE ANGLICAN CYCLE OF PRAYER. AFTER
THAT, YOUR CHOICE. THANK YOU]
Blessed are those for whom Easter is...
not a hunt, but a find;
not a greeting, but a proclamation;
not outward fashions, but inward grace;
not a day, but an eternity.
Collect
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things:
Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true
religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the
fruit of good works; 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/
AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35
1 Kings 11:26-43; James 4:13-5:6; Mark 15:22-32
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Mark 15:22-32. He saved others; he cannot save himself.
People here say what is simply true, but the words carry freight
beyond what the speakers or the listeners are aware of. Jesus did save
others-from those he healed and brought back from bondage to Satan, to
(more literally) the men whom the Romans didn't arrest when they came
for him-and a crucified
person surely can't do much to save himself. But here in the mouth of
Jesus' enemies is one of those truths about the kingdom of God in
general: What we are able to do for others-just like what they are
able to do for us-is vastly beyond what we can do for ourselves.
What goes on within the community of the redeemed is a
doing-for-others grounded in what God, the ultimate Other, has done,
and is doing, for and with us. It's more than just the idea of
strength in numbers. In our acting out of this principle of salvation,
God himself becomes one of the number to be reckoned with. We cannot
save ourselves. It should be no loss at all, in that light, to give up
our struggles for salvation, for the best seats at the table, for
recognition, for being one up on everybody else. The crucified Son
shows us even-or especially-in his death how the kingdom works, its
costs and rewards.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of South
Kerala (South India)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/
The wood
Daily Reading for September 7
Years after I found my way back to mainstream Protestantism, someone
asked what attracted me to the Episcopal Church. With only a moment's
pause I replied, "The wood."
I am convinced that wood is holy. Cut from living things, it takes on
new life when used as beams and columns and pews in traditional church
architecture. It is as if the trees continue to grow as they absorb
generations of candle smoke, incense, and prayer. The rings no longer
measure age. Rather, they measure decades of spirituality and
faithfulness. When colored light from stained glass windows falls
across this holy patina, the wood itself seems to breathe God's
spirit.
I found God in a building. All Saints shocked my spiritual senses.
Wood and windows, icons and organ—it was as if I had stumbled into
God's own house. Here was holiness, robust and physical, passed down
through generations. It was the Christian tradition embodied in
architecture, music, and liturgy. But it was not a "wooden tradition,"
stilted and moribund. Like All Saints' glowing woodwork, here,
tradition was vital, a living thing, crafted in the faithfulness and
vision of God's people, present and past. I felt as if I had stumbled
into some great secret world and found the biblical pearl of great
price. Although I could scarcely name it myself, I was seeking God,
incarnated in dynamic tradition, and God was there at All
Saints-by-the-Sea.
From Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community by
Diana Butler Bass (Jossey-Bass, 2002).
The wood
Daily Reading for September 7
Years after I found my way back to mainstream Protestantism, someone
asked what attracted me to the Episcopal Church. With only a moment's
pause I replied, "The wood."
I am convinced that wood is holy. Cut from living things, it takes on
new life when used as beams and columns and pews in traditional church
architecture. It is as if the trees continue to grow as they absorb
generations of candle smoke, incense, and prayer. The rings no longer
measure age. Rather, they measure decades of spirituality and
faithfulness. When colored light from stained glass windows falls
across this holy patina, the wood itself seems to breathe God's
spirit.
I found God in a building. All Saints shocked my spiritual senses.
Wood and windows, icons and organ—it was as if I had stumbled into
God's own house. Here was holiness, robust and physical, passed down
through generations. It was the Christian tradition embodied in
architecture, music, and liturgy. But it was not a "wooden tradition,"
stilted and moribund. Like All Saints' glowing woodwork, here,
tradition was vital, a living thing, crafted in the faithfulness and
vision of God's people, present and past. I felt as if I had stumbled
into some great secret world and found the biblical pearl of great
price. Although I could scarcely name it myself, I was seeking God,
incarnated in dynamic tradition, and God was there at All
Saints-by-the-Sea.
From Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community by
Diana Butler Bass (Jossey-Bass, 2002).
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
What is there to desire but to walk along the straight path of the law
of God and of the Church, and to live only in true and obscure faith,
in certain hope, and in the fullness of love. Rejoice, therefore, and
have confidence in God.
St John of the Cross
Letter 19
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
(Abba Isidore the priest) said, 'If you fast regularly, do not be
inflated with pride, but if you think hightly of yourself because of
it, then you had better eat meat. It is better for a man to eat meat
than to be inflated with pride and to glorify himself.'
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Blessing One Another
To bless means to say good things. We have to bless one another
constantly. Parents need to bless their children, children their
parents, husbands their wives, wives their husbands, friends their
friends. In our society, so full of curses, we must fill each place we
enter with our blessings. We forget so quickly that we are God's
beloved children and allow the many curses of our world to darken our
hearts. Therefore we have to be reminded of our belovedness and remind
others of theirs. Whether the blessing is given in words or with
gestures, in a solemn or an informal way, our lives need to be blessed
lives.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml
Day Seven - The Second Aim
To spread the spirit of love and harmony
The Order sets out, in the name of Christ, to break down barriers
between people and to seek equality for all. We accept as our second
aim the spreading of a spirit of love and harmony among all people. We
are pledged to fight against the ignorance, pride, and prejudice that
breed injustice or partiality of any kind.
++++++++++
Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
Offering Mercy
September 7th, 2007
Friday's Reflection
IN OUR DAILY INTERACTIONS we have the power to criticize, condemn, and
censure others in our words and by our actions. We also have the power
to offer mercy, to offer others a chance to see their possibilities
for something more, to help them turn from the past and toward the
future. God empowers us to choose more than our human nature would
prefer — to offer mercy rather than to seek vengeance. Mercy is
choosing to use for good whatever power we have. … Mercy is choosing
to use our power to extend grace when we could just as well use it to
exact punishment. Jesus promised that those who do so will find God's
mercy extended to them.
- Mary Lou Redding
The Power of a Focused Heart
From pages 69-70 The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Life Lessons from the
Beatitudes by Mary Lou Redding. Copyright (c) 2006 by the author.
Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with
permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/
+++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"The Message of Job"
Job, from the Hebrew Scriptures, can be for Christians a beautiful
symbol of the Calvary that each of us will go through. In the story's
first chapter, Job is presented as the innocent man, confronted with
evil and suffering. He has obeyed the law of God, he has been
faithful. Satan comes before God and says: "Sure, hes been faithful.
You have blessed him. Take everything away from him and see if he
still praises you" (1:9-11).
"Very well," says Yahweh. So Yahweh takes everything away from him,
and still Job says: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall
return. Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken back. Blessed be the name of
Yahweh" (1:21, JB).
So Satan goes again before Yahweh and says: "You took away just the
external things. But destroy his bone and flesh. Make his body suffer,
then see if Job will still not curse you" (2:4-5). So Yahweh gives Job
ulcers and diseases of the skin. But still Job refuses to curse
Yahweh. Now the stage is set for the drama. Job is tempted to curse
his life. He struggles with the absurdity and the meaninglessness of
life but finally says, "If we take happiness from God's hand, must we
not take sorrow too?" (2:10, JB).
Brothers and sisters, if you're seeking to lead a good life, sooner or
later every one of you is going to be led to that point. Every one of
us is led, sooner or later, to the ash-pit with Job picking at our own
sores (2:8). At that time, you will hear many voices (symbolized by
the various advice-giving friends of Job). Pray that you know which
friends to listen to and which are being reasonable at the price of
faith.
The Book of Job probably represents the greatest moral dialogue ever
written. The final response of Job does not come from logical moral
reasoning but from graced personal experience.
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.htm
The discipleship of the cross
Our Lord and Savior said that we must take up our cross and follow
him. What does it mean to take up one's cross? Bearing every annoyance
patiently. That is following Christ. When someone begins to follow his
way of life and his commandments, that person will meet resistance on
every side. He or she will be opposed, mocked, even persecuted, and
this not only by unbelievers but also by people who to all appearances
belong to the body of Christ, though they are really excluded from it
by their wickedness; people who, being Christians only in name, never
stop persecuting true Christians.
If you want to follow Christ, then, take up his cross without delay.
Endure injuries, do not be overcome by them. If we would fulfill the
Lord's command: If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him take up his
cross and follow me, we must strive with God's help to do as the
apostle says: As long as we have food and clothing, let this content
us. Otherwise, if we seek more material goods than we need and desire
to become rich, we may fall prey to temptation. The devil may trick us
into wanting the many useless and harmful things that plunge people
into ruin and destruction. May we be free from this temptation through
the protection of our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and
the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
Caesarius of Arles
++++++++++
Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/
SPRINGS OF BENIGNITY
"The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water." John 4:14
The picture Our Lord gives is not that of a channel but a fountain.
"Be being filled," and the sweetness of vital relationship to Jesus
will flow out of the saint as lavishly as it is imparted to him. If
you find your life is not flowing out as it should, you are to blame;
something has obstructed the flow. Keep right at the Source, and - you
will be blessed personally? No, out of you will flow rivers of living
water, irrepressible life.
We are to be centres through which Jesus can flow as rivers of living
water in blessing to every one. Some of us are like the Dead Sea,
always taking in but never giving out, because we are not rightly
related to the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive from Him, He will
pour out through us, and in the measure He is not pouring out, there
is a defect in our relationship to Him. Is there anything between you
and Jesus Christ? Is there anything that hinders your belief in Him?
If not, Jesus says, out of you will flow rivers of living water. It is
not a blessing passed on, not an experience stated, but a river
continually flowing. Keep at the Source, guard well your belief in
Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady
flow for other lives, no dryness and no deadness.
Is it not too extravagant to say that out of an individual believer
rivers are going to flow? "I do not see the rivers," you say. Never
look at yourself from the standpoint of - Who am I? In the history of
God's work you will nearly always find that it has started from the
obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but the steadfastly true to Jesus
Christ.
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
January 7, May 8, September 7
Prologue
And so we are going to establish
a school for the service of the Lord.
In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome.
But if a certain strictness results from the dictates of equity
for the amendment of vices or the preservation of charity,
do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation,
whose entrance cannot but be narrow (Matt. 7:14).
For as we advance in the religious life and in faith,
our hearts expand
and we run the way of God's commandments
with unspeakable sweetness of love (Ps. 118:32).
Thus, never departing from His school,
but persevering in the monastery according to His teaching
until death,
we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13)
and deserve to have a share also in His kingdom.
Commentary: http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
The spiritual life is not something that is gotten for the wishing or
assumed by affectation. The spiritual life takes discipline. It is
something to be learned, to be internalized. It's not a set of daily
exercises, it's a way of life, an attitude of mind, an orientation of
soul. And it is gotten by being schooled until no rules are necessary.
Among the ancients there is a story told that confirms this insight to this day:
"What action shall I perform to attain God?" the disciple asked the elder.
"If you wish to attain God, the elder said, there are two things you
must know. The first is that all efforts to attain God are of no
avail."
"And the second?" the disciple insisted.
"The second is that you must act as if you did not know the first,"
the elder said.
Clearly, great pursuers of the spiritual life know that the secret of
the spiritual life is to live it until it becomes real.
The difference between Benedict and other spiritual masters of his
time lay in the fact that Benedict believed that the spiritual life
was not an exercise in spiritual gymnastics. It was to be nothing
"harsh or burdensome." And it was not a private process. It was to be
done in community with others. It was to be a "school" dedicated to
"the good of all concerned." It was to be lived with "patience."
The private preserves of the spiritual life are far from dead,
however. It is so much easier to go to daily Mass and feel good about
it than it is to serve soup at a soup kitchen. It is so much more
comfortable to say bedtime prayers than it is speak peace in a warring
world. It is so much more satisfying to contribute to the building of
a new church than it is to advocate for welfare legislation. It is so
much more heroic to fast than it is to be patient with a noisy
neighbor. It is so much easier to give the handshake of peace in
church than it is to speak gently in the family. And yet, one without
the other is surely fraud if life with God in community is truly of
the essence of real spiritual growth.
The messages of the Prologue are clear: Life is very short. To get the
most out of it, we must begin to attend to its spiritual dimensions
without which life is only half lived. Holiness is in the Now but we
go through life only half conscious of it, asleep or intent on being
someplace other than where we are. We need to open our eyes and see
things as they exist around us: what is valuable and what is not, what
enriches and what does not, what is of God and what is not. It may be
the neighborhood we live in rather than the neighborhood we want that
will really make human beings out of us. It may be the job we have
rather than the position we are selling our souls to get that will
finally liberate us from ourselves. It may be what we do rather than
the prayers we pray that will finally be the measure of our sanctity.
God is calling us to more than the material level of life and God is
waiting to bring us to it. All we have to do is to live well with
others and live totally in God. All we have to do is to learn to
listen to the voice of God in life. And we have to do it heart, soul
and body. The spiritual life demands all of us.
++++++++++
Dynamis http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxdynamis/
Dynamis is a daily Bible meditation based upon the lectionary of the
Holy Orthodox Church.
The Nativity of the Theotokos
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Epistle: Philippians
2:5-11 Gospel: St.
Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28
2nd Vespers Nativity Theotokos: Ezekiel 43:27-44:4
The Perfect Temple: Ezekiel 43:26-44:4 LXX, especially vs. 27:
"....from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar
your burnt offerings; and I will accept you says the Lord God." The
Prophet Ezekiel was born to serve as a Priest in the ancient Jewish
Temple at Jerusalem; but that holy shrine was destroyed by Babylonian
conquerors. Also, that victorious army forced Ezekiel and many other
Jews to return to their distant homeland and serve as their slaves. God
gave the exiled Ezekiel a prophetic vision of a glorious, Divinely
restored Temple, a holy dwelling place where the Lord would be present
once again to receive the worship of His People. The present passage is
a portion of that vision that the Church receives as a prophecy of the
most Holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary.
Faith perceives that God fulfilled the vision given to Ezekiel nearly
five-hundred years after the prophecy. For the few brief months between
the Annunciation to the Theotokos (March 25) and the Nativity of Christ
(December 25), the Virgin herself was the ideal Temple of God-with-us.
Even before the coming of Christ into the world - from her Nativity
until the Annunciation to her as a young women - the years of her
maturing and preparation were much like the very early hours immediately
before the dawn of day; for the approach of "the true Light which gives
light to every man" (Jn. 1:9) was already manifest in the Virgin's
life. The details of that early time in the life of the Theotokos are
provided by writings honored within Holy Tradition and previewed by
Prophets like Ezekiel. For now, take careful note of what Ezekiel teaches.
It was clear to God's Prophet that the restored Temple of his vision
would be pure and consecrated (Ezek. 43:26). Also, Ezekiel knew that
God would accomplish this. Do you see that miraculous birth of Mary, to
a barren couple well past the child-bearing age, required God's
intervention? And the Lord also provided grace for the child to live a
pure life. She was a consecrated vessel from birth. At the Feast of
her Presentation at three years of age (November 21st), the Church
reminds us that Mary, "the fruit of Joachim and Anne the righteous,
[was] offered to God in His holy Temple as a babe in the flesh whom the
noble Zachariah blessed."
May we, like Ezekiel, know that God accepts worship from His People when
we offer ourselves to Him like "burnt offerings" presented and wholly
consumed in the ancient Temple. Hence, in the perfect Temple, God will
accept His people as they gave themselves as holocausts - as total
offerings, holding back nothing (vs. 27). At every juncture of her
life, the Theotokos did offer herself as a holocaust, always placing
herself fully in the Lord's hands as a vessel to carry out His will.
Thus at the Annunciation by Gabriel the Archangel, she naturally said,
"Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your
word" (Lk. 1:38).
In receiving the vision of the perfect Temple, Ezekiel understood that
the East vestibule and its gate into Temple would only be used by "the
Lord, the God of Israel." Therefore it would ever remain shut
thereafter, since "only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the
Lord...[and] enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and...go out
by the same way" (Ezek. 44:2-3). Do you see here the foreshadowing of
the ever-virginity of the Theotokos, of the All-Pure who "remained
incorruptible after giving birth to Immanuel?"
Not surprisingly, Ezekiel saw "the glory of the Lord [fill] the temple
of the Lord; and [he] fell upon [his] face" (vs. 4). Thus, in the
iconography of the Church, the Theotokos is portrayed as filled with the
glory of the Lord. And we, likewise, offer her praise in hymns and songs.
Thou didst hold in t
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