Daily Meditation 01/04/08
[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]
HYMN
Words: © Timothy Dudley-Smith
Tune: Newtown St. Luke
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/c/c009.html
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Lord by right of the lords of earth,
let angels sing of a King newborn,
the world is weaving a crown of thorn:
a crown of thorn for that infant head
cradled soft in the manger bed.
Eyes that shine in the lantern's ray;
a face so small in its nest of hay,
face of a child who is born to scan
the world he made through the eyes of man:
and from that face in the final day
earth and heaven shall flee away.
Voice that rang through the courts on high,
contracted now to a wordless cry,
a voice to master the wind and wave,
the human heart and the hungry grave:
the voice of God through the cedar trees
rolling forth as the sound of seas.
Infant hands in a mother's hand,
for none but Mary may understand
whose are the hands and the fingers curled
but his who fashioned and made the world;
and through these hands in the hour of death
nails shall strike to the wood beneath.
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Father's gift to a wayward earth,
to drain the cup in a few short years
of all our sorrows , our sins, and tears--
ours the prize for the road he trod:
risen with Christ; at peace with God.
Collect
Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
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Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
AM Psalm 85, 87; PM Psalm 89:1-29
Joshua 3:14-4:7; Eph. 5:1-20; John 9:1-12,35-38
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From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
John 9:1-12, 35-38. They kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight."
I attended college a thousand miles away from my home. Every time I left the house to return to classes, my mother performed a ritual known among Hispanic Latinos. She walked me to the chain-link fence, laid her hands on my head, said a prayer, signed a cross on my forehead, and blessed my way. She was claiming me and commissioning me. Her touch was affirming a vision that I attend a university and anointing my vocation as a child of God.
Jesus anoints the man blind from birth, making use of dirt, spittle, touch, and water to give sight, teaching that what we need for healing is right in front of us. The man who regains his sight believes in the Lord who has touched him. Shaking hands, a warm hug, a soft kiss, and other anointing contacts are also ways to connect with one another and with God.
I trusted that my mother's blessisng would bring personal growth, spiritual fulfillment, and sustaining power in Christ. Perhaps I even tried harder and studied more. I became free to say, "Lord, I believe!"
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Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney (Scotland)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
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From: Christmas CLARESHARE December 2006
Ty Mam Duw Poor Clare Colettine Community
http://www.poorclarestmd.org/
4th January
Today's Gospel is John 1:35-42. It is also about friendship. There was an
early Franciscan brother called Juniper. When he prayed for his brothers he
lined up a row of pebbles and gave them names and he lifted them up to God.
Perhaps you would like to do the same for your friends, you might want to
write their name on the pebble or even draw their faces!
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Twelve Days of Christmas
http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas
« Thread Started on Jan 4, 2007, 8:35am » [Quote] [Modify] [Delete]
04/01/07, week of the 1st Sunday after Christmas
Collect:
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Readings:
AM Psalm 85, 87; Exod. 3:1-12
PM Psalm 136; Heb. 11:23-31; John 14:6-14
From Forward Day by Day
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: Diocese of Lincoln - (Canterbury, England)
Advent calendar: Ways to Move Systems -- like businesses and governments -- Toward Sustainability:
9. Promote media literacy. Oppose Channel One's mandatory TV commercials in schools. Help: www.medialit.org
From: Christmas CLARESHARE December 2006
Ty Mam Duw Poor Clare Colettine Community
4th January
Today's Gospel is John 1:35-42. It is also about friendship. There was an
early Franciscan brother called Juniper. When he prayed for his brothers he
lined up a row of pebbles and gave them names and he lifted them up to God.
Perhaps you would like to do the same for your friends, you might want to
write their name on the pebble or even draw their faces!
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
Mary's care
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. Of your own blessed body, the body of Christ had now been created; and in your womb, you felt his body ever growing and moving even to the time of his glorious nativity. Before anyone else, you yourself touched him with your holy hands; you wrapped him in cloths; and, in accord with the prophet’s oracle, you laid him in a manger. With exultant joy, in motherly fashion, you used the most sacred milk of your breasts to nurture him.
Glory be to you, O my Lady, O Virgin Mary. While still dwelling in a contemptible house, that is, the stable, you saw mighty kings coming to your Son from afar and humbly offering to him, with the greatest reverence, their royal guest-gifts. Afterward, with your own precious hands, you presented him in the temple; and, in your blessed heart, you diligently preserved all that you heard from him or saw during his infancy.
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. With your most holy offspring, you fled into Egypt; and afterward, in joy, you bore him back to Nazareth. During his physical growth, you saw him, your Son, humble and obedient to yourself and to Joseph.
Birgitta of Sweden, Four Prayers, from Life and Selected Revelations, Albert Kazel, Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist Press, 1990, 222.
Birgitta of Sweden (1302 - 1373), born into wealth and aristocracy, a happily married mother, a religious foundress, a mystical visionary, devoted her life to asceticism and preached peace to the rulers of Europe and strove to persuade the popes to return to Rome.
read more: www.umilta.net/birgitta.html , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Birgitta ,
HYMN
Words: © Timothy Dudley-Smith
Tune: Newtown St. Luke
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/c/c009.html
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Lord by right of the lords of earth,
let angels sing of a King newborn,
the world is weaving a crown of thorn:
a crown of thorn for that infant head
cradled soft in the manger bed.
Eyes that shine in the lantern's ray;
a face so small in its nest of hay,
face of a child who is born to scan
the world he made through the eyes of man:
and from that face in the final day
earth and heaven shall flee away.
Voice that rang through the courts on high,
contracted now to a wordless cry,
a voice to master the wind and wave,
the human heart and the hungry grave:
the voice of God through the cedar trees
rolling forth as the sound of seas.
Infant hands in a mother's hand,
for none but Mary may understand
whose are the hands and the fingers curled
but his who fashioned and made the world;
and through these hands in the hour of death
nails shall strike to the wood beneath.
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Father's gift to a wayward earth,
to drain the cup in a few short years
of all our sorrows , our sins, and tears--
ours the prize for the road he trod:
risen with Christ; at peace with God.
On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Day 11, January 4
Eleven Pipers Piping
The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas bar James. (Luke 6:14-16). The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders and the Romans.
"Farm Dorm"
It was Christmas Eve, actually Christmas morning about 2 a.m. The deep of night was dark, the air was cold and crisp, the wind brisk, and I was making my bed check rounds as a prison guard. I was working the minimum custody dorm where the inmates were housed in large rooms with 20 inmates to a room. Each side of the room was lined with beds in which slept the inmate residents of what was called the "Farm Dorm." It was time for count and I was making my rounds early that first Christmas morning of my married life.
As I eased the door to the dorm room opened, trying not to let it squeak and awaken the men, I looked down the long room and at the sleeping forms of twenty convicted criminals. Burglars, robbers, rapists, even one or two incarcerated for murder. I needed to count them, to make sure they were all still in their proper place.
I distinctly remember entering the room and being struck by the powerful realization that on that Christmas day, the baby Jesus had been given to these men also. A free gift. Not just to those who had been privileged in life. Those who had good jobs, good homes, good families. But, he had come even for these men too. I had to pause a moment to collect my thoughts before I, their jailer, continued my rounds. I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of those men sleeping on Christmas morning. Sleeping and not even yet fully aware that Jesus had come as a gift for them also. I resolved then to do my best to let them know about the gift. John 6:47 says, "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life." How will they know if we do not tell them?
~ Chuck Wilkes
Highlands Ranch, Colorado, USA
Dear Father,
How easy it is to forget that it wasn't only for the people "just like me" that You came to bless with Your Presence. Lord, nearly every day this year I will be confronted with someone who isn't "just like me." Help me to remember that I wasn't "just like You" before I came to know You as my personal Savior. Help me to remember that I am still not "just like You." But, You love me anyway. Help me be an example of that love, and Your grace.
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Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/
Candle spark
Daily Reading for January 4
Across the purple-patterned snow
laced with light of lantern-glow,
dappled with dark,
comes Christ, the Child born from the skies.
Those are stars that are his eyes.
His baby face is wise
seen by my candle spark.
But is he cold from the wind’s cold blow?
Where will he go?
I’ll wrap him warm with love,
well as I’m able,
in my heart stable.
“Night’s lodging,” in Accompanied by Angels: Poems of the Incarnation by Luci Shaw (Eerdmans, 2006).
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Spiritual Practice of the Day http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/
You explore the spirit of God the same way you explore the spirit of another person: you spend time in God's presence, you examine your own heart and mind with respect to God. You watch the world for signs of the spirit.
— Barbara Cawthorne Crafton in Meditations on the Book of Psalms
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Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
It is very important for us to realise that God does not lead us all by the same road…
St Teresa of Jesus
Way, 17.2
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Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
from http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexsayings2.htm
Monasticism itself is a perpetual labor of conquering passions and
uprooting them in order that, being in a pure and immaculate
state, one may preserve oneself before the face of God. This,
then, is your task! Give your attention to it, and direct all your
powers towards it.
St. Theophan the Recluse
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Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Fruits That Grow in Vulnerability
There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds. Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.
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From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis: http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml
Day Four - The Object, cont'd
When Saint Francis encouraged the formation of the Third Order he recognized that many are called to serve God in the spirit of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience in everyday life (rather than in a literal acceptance of these principles as in the vows of the Brothers and Sisters of the First and Second Orders). The Rule of the Third Order is intended to enable the duties and conditions of daily living to be carried out in this spirit.
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Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
The Miraculous Tapestry
January 4th, 2008
Friday’s Reflection
WE EACH HAVE different ways of understanding and viewing the world around us. Some people see in images; some hear words; some speak with silence; and some long to move their bodies to the unseen rhythms of the Holy Spirit. These differences are to be celebrated, as together they give us a full and glorious picture of the miraculous tapestry that is the mind and body of Christ. Because of these differences, God has gifted us with a variety of prayer practices, each allowing us to speak with the one God, albeit through diverse aspects of our being.
- Daniel Wolpert
Creating a Life with God
From p. 52 of Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2003 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/
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Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
Community
Question of the day:
What is the common good for your community?
Jesus used the image of the Kingdom; Paul, the image of the body of Christ; John, the vine and the branches. But it's all the same sense of mystical union: that, first, we are one; secondly, we became separate.
I don't suppose that most of us can think that way. I want to think that way, and I try to let the Lord convert me, but I'm still an American individualist. I wish I were not. Such an exaggerated sense of the private self breeds competition: your good becomes a threat to my good.
Do you know what the Greeks called a private person? They called someone who had no sense of the common good an idiot. The original meaning of idiot is one who simply thinks of himself and has no sense of the city-state.
Paul said the Spirit is given "for the sake of the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:7). We cannot make any claim to being people of the Spirit if we do not have that profound commitment to the common good first.
from Why Be Catholic?
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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
Mary's care
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. Of your own blessed body, the body of Christ had now been created; and in your womb, you felt his body ever growing and moving even to the time of his glorious nativity. Before anyone else, you yourself touched him with your holy hands; you wrapped him in cloths; and, in accord with the prophet’s oracle, you laid him in a manger. With exultant joy, in motherly fashion, you used the most sacred milk of your breasts to nurture him.
Glory be to you, O my Lady, O Virgin Mary. While still dwelling in a contemptible house, that is, the stable, you saw mighty kings coming to your Son from afar and humbly offering to him, with the greatest reverence, their royal guest-gifts. Afterward, with your own precious hands, you presented him in the temple; and, in your blessed heart, you diligently preserved all that you heard from him or saw during his infancy.
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. With your most holy offspring, you fled into Egypt; and afterward, in joy, you bore him back to Nazareth. During his physical growth, you saw him, your Son, humble and obedient to yourself and to Joseph.
Birgitta of Sweden
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Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/
WHY CANNOT I FOLLOW THEE NOW?
"Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?" John 13:37
There are times when you cannot understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings the blank space, see that you do not fill it in, but wait. The blank space may come in order to teach you what sanctification means, or it may come after sanctification to teach you what service means. Never run before God's guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt - don't.
In the beginning you may see clearly what God's will is - the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, something you feel distinctly before God is His will for you to do, never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end in making difficulties that will take years of time to put right. Wait for God's time to bring it round and He will do it without any heartbreak or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.
Peter did not wait on God, he forecast in his mind where the test would come, and the test came where he did not expect it. "I will lay down my life for Thy sake." Peter's declaration was honest but ignorant. "Jesus answered him ...The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice." This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself, of what he was capable. Natural devotion may be all very well to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His fascination, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will always deny Jesus somewhere or other.
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
January 4, May 5, September 4
Prologue
Having our loins girded, therefore,
with faith and the performance of good works (Eph. 6:14),
let us walk in His paths
by the guidance of the Gospel,
that we may deserve to see Him
who has called us to His kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12).
For if we wish to dwell in the tent of that kingdom,
we must run to it by good deeds
or we shall never reach it.
But let us ask the Lord, with the Prophet,
"Lord, who shall dwell in Your tent,
or who shall rest upon Your holy mountain" (Ps. 14:1)?
After this question,
let us listen to the Lord
as He answers and shows us the way to that tent, saying,
"The one Who walks without stain and practices justice;
who speaks truth from his heart;
who has not used his tongue for deceit;
who has done no evil to his neighbor;
who has given no place to slander against his neighbor."
This is the one who,
under any temptation from the malicious devil,
has brought him to naught (Ps. 14:4)
by casting him and his temptation from the sight of his heart;
and who has laid hold of his thoughts
while they were still young
and dashed them against Christ (Ps. 136:9).
It is they who,
fearing the Lord (Ps. 14:4),
do not pride themselves on their good observance;
but,
convinced that the good which is in them
cannot come from themselves and must be from the Lord,
glorify the Lord's work in them (Ps. 14:4),
using the words of the Prophet,
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to Your name give the glory" (Ps. 113, 2nd part:1).
Thus also the Apostle Paul
attributed nothing of the success of his preaching to himself,
but said,
"By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).
And again he says,
"He who glories, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Cor. 10:17).
Insight for the Ages: A Commentary by Sr Joan Chittister
http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
Two themes emerge very strongly here. In case the meaning of the earlier paragraphs has escaped us, Benedict repeats them. Justice, honesty and compassion are the marks of those who dwell with God in life, he insists. Then, he reminds us again that we are not able to achieve God's grace without God's help. If we do good for the poor, it is because God has given us the courage to do good. If we speak truth in the face of lies, it is because God has given us a taste for the truth. If we uphold the rights of women and men alike, it is because God has given us eyes to see the wonders of all creation. We are not a power unto ourselves.
The two ideas may seem innocent enough today but at the time at which Benedict wrote them they would both have had great social impact.
In the first place, physical asceticism had become the mark of the truly holy. The Fathers and Mothers of the Desert, the dominant form of religious life prior to the emergence of communal monasticism, had been known and revered for the frugality, discipline and asceticism of their lives. They lived in the desert as solitaries. They ate little. They prayed night and day. They deprived their bodies to enrich their souls. They struggled against the temptations of the flesh and fled the world. Theirs was a privatized version of religious development not unlike those theologies that still thrive on measuring personal penances and using religion as personal massage rather than on making the world look the way God would want it to look. Benedict, then, introduces very early in the Rule the notion of responsibility for the human community as the benchmark of those who "dwell in God's tent," know God on earth, live on a higher plane than the mass of humanity around them. The really holy, the ones who touch God, Benedict maintains, are those who live well with those around them. They are just, they are upright, they are kind. The ecology of humankind is safe with them.
In the second place, Benedict puts to rest the position of the wandering monk Pelagius who taught in the fifth century that human beings were inherently good and capable of achieving God's great presence on the strength of their own merits. Benedict wants "good deeds" but he does not want pride. We do what we do in life, even holy things, the Prologue teaches, not because we are so good but because God is so good and enables us to rise above the misery of ourselves. Even the spiritual life can become an arrogant trap if we do not realize that the spiritual life is not a game that is won by the development of spiritual skills. The spiritual life is simply the God-life already at work in us.
An obligation to human community and a dependence on God, then, become the cornerstones of Benedictine life.
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Dynamis http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxdynamis/
Dynamis is a daily Bible meditation based upon the lectionary of the Holy Orthodox Church.
St. Mark 13: 1-8 (1/4) For Friday of the 31st Week
after Pentecost (Fri of P&P)
Holding On To Christ: St. Mark 13:1-8, especially vss. 5, 6: "And Jesus,
answering them, began to say: 'Take heed that no one deceives you. For
many will come in My Name, saying, "I Am He," and will deceive many.'"
What a treasure we have, Beloved of the Lord! We are joined to the only
One Who may be followed fearlessly, the True One, Life Himself (Jn.
14:6). Therefore, heed His warning not to be deceived, which St. John
of Kronstadt also urges on you: "Take care; do not forget, Christian,
never lose hearty faith in Him Who is your invisible Life, your Peace,
your Light, your Strength, your Breath; that is, in Jesus Christ. Do
not believe your heart when it becomes gross, darkened, unbelieving, and
cold from plenteousness of food and drink, from worldly distractions, or
finally when you live by the intellect, and not by the heart." Hold on
to Christ Who is Life!
Counterfeit christs abound, and they approach the Faithful in many
forms, appearing as friends, wise teachers, renown authorities, persons
of fame with credentials and world-wide recognition. "Take heed that no
one deceives you" (Mk. 13:5)! Remember also, deceivers come often with
fervent belief in their messages, "deceiving and being deceived" (2 Tim.
3:13). So how do we "take heed" not to lose Christ from our hearts?
Let us take strength frequently and regularly as the Holy Spirit
provides, through the Church: from Her Scriptures, Her Liturgy and Holy
Mysteries, Her Sacred Icons, and Her Holy Fathers and Mothers, the
Saints, and Prayer.
For two thousand years, the Spirit never has ceased to pour out His
blessings upon the Church in abundance, ever making a way for those who
entreat the Savior and Lord with their whole heart (Ps. 118:58 LXX).
Carefully, over the centuries, the Holy Spirit crafted the Divine life
into a vibrant grove of fruit-bearing trees, types of those trees that
will line the street of the New Jerusalem, "each yielding its fruit
every month....for the healing of the nations" (Rev. 22:2). Thus, let
us never be counted among the "many" whom the Lord told us would be
deceived.
Instead, the Holy Fathers teach us how to read the Scriptures. As St.
John Chrysostom says, "Reading the Holy Scriptures is like a treasure.
With a treasure, you see, anyone able to find a tiny nugget gains for
himself great wealth; likewise in the case of Sacred Scripture, one can
get from a small phrase a great wealth of thought and immense riches.
The Word of God is not only like a treasure, but is also like a spring
gushing with ever-flowing waters in a mighty flood."
Similarly, the rich, healing texts of the Liturgy are satisfying fruits
written by the Fathers over many centuries for nourishment. As the
Russian writer Nikolai Gogol reminds us: "The influence of the Divine
Liturgy can be great and incalculable if a person makes it a rule to
apply in life what he has heard there. Teaching all equally, acting
equally on all conditions and all professions, from the emperor down to
the poorest beggar, the Liturgy teaches love which is the bond of all
fellowship, the hidden spring of everything which keeps all life in
rhythmic motion."
The great scholar of iconography, Leonid Ouspensky, makes clear how it
is that the Icon, as liturgic art, "does not define itself as an art
belonging to one or another historical epoch, nor as the expression of
the national peculiarities of one or another people." Rather, "in its
essence the icon...never served religion, but like the word, has always
been and is an integral part of religion, one of the instruments for the
knowledge of God, one of the means of communion with Him." If you would
hold fast to Christ, reverence Him as the Spirit provides through His
Holy Icons.
Finally, the Spirit brings Christ to us through the accounts of the
lives of the Saints and in the writings of the Holy Fathers and Mothers
for they teach us and show us how to pray.
O Eternal King, when Thou didst cleanse the substance of mankind and
anointed it with the Spirit, Thou didst destroy the powers of darkness
and translate mankind to life immortal.
HYMN
Words: © Timothy Dudley-Smith
Tune: Newtown St. Luke
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/c/c009.html
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Lord by right of the lords of earth,
let angels sing of a King newborn,
the world is weaving a crown of thorn:
a crown of thorn for that infant head
cradled soft in the manger bed.
Eyes that shine in the lantern's ray;
a face so small in its nest of hay,
face of a child who is born to scan
the world he made through the eyes of man:
and from that face in the final day
earth and heaven shall flee away.
Voice that rang through the courts on high,
contracted now to a wordless cry,
a voice to master the wind and wave,
the human heart and the hungry grave:
the voice of God through the cedar trees
rolling forth as the sound of seas.
Infant hands in a mother's hand,
for none but Mary may understand
whose are the hands and the fingers curled
but his who fashioned and made the world;
and through these hands in the hour of death
nails shall strike to the wood beneath.
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Father's gift to a wayward earth,
to drain the cup in a few short years
of all our sorrows , our sins, and tears--
ours the prize for the road he trod:
risen with Christ; at peace with God.
Collect
Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
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Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
AM Psalm 85, 87; PM Psalm 89:1-29
Joshua 3:14-4:7; Eph. 5:1-20; John 9:1-12,35-38
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From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
John 9:1-12, 35-38. They kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight."
I attended college a thousand miles away from my home. Every time I left the house to return to classes, my mother performed a ritual known among Hispanic Latinos. She walked me to the chain-link fence, laid her hands on my head, said a prayer, signed a cross on my forehead, and blessed my way. She was claiming me and commissioning me. Her touch was affirming a vision that I attend a university and anointing my vocation as a child of God.
Jesus anoints the man blind from birth, making use of dirt, spittle, touch, and water to give sight, teaching that what we need for healing is right in front of us. The man who regains his sight believes in the Lord who has touched him. Shaking hands, a warm hug, a soft kiss, and other anointing contacts are also ways to connect with one another and with God.
I trusted that my mother's blessisng would bring personal growth, spiritual fulfillment, and sustaining power in Christ. Perhaps I even tried harder and studied more. I became free to say, "Lord, I believe!"
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Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney (Scotland)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
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From: Christmas CLARESHARE December 2006
Ty Mam Duw Poor Clare Colettine Community
http://www.poorclarestmd.org/
4th January
Today's Gospel is John 1:35-42. It is also about friendship. There was an
early Franciscan brother called Juniper. When he prayed for his brothers he
lined up a row of pebbles and gave them names and he lifted them up to God.
Perhaps you would like to do the same for your friends, you might want to
write their name on the pebble or even draw their faces!
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Twelve Days of Christmas
http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas
« Thread Started on Jan 4, 2007, 8:35am » [Quote] [Modify] [Delete]
04/01/07, week of the 1st Sunday after Christmas
Collect:
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Readings:
AM Psalm 85, 87; Exod. 3:1-12
PM Psalm 136; Heb. 11:23-31; John 14:6-14
From Forward Day by Day
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: Diocese of Lincoln - (Canterbury, England)
Advent calendar: Ways to Move Systems -- like businesses and governments -- Toward Sustainability:
9. Promote media literacy. Oppose Channel One's mandatory TV commercials in schools. Help: www.medialit.org
From: Christmas CLARESHARE December 2006
Ty Mam Duw Poor Clare Colettine Community
4th January
Today's Gospel is John 1:35-42. It is also about friendship. There was an
early Franciscan brother called Juniper. When he prayed for his brothers he
lined up a row of pebbles and gave them names and he lifted them up to God.
Perhaps you would like to do the same for your friends, you might want to
write their name on the pebble or even draw their faces!
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
Mary's care
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. Of your own blessed body, the body of Christ had now been created; and in your womb, you felt his body ever growing and moving even to the time of his glorious nativity. Before anyone else, you yourself touched him with your holy hands; you wrapped him in cloths; and, in accord with the prophet’s oracle, you laid him in a manger. With exultant joy, in motherly fashion, you used the most sacred milk of your breasts to nurture him.
Glory be to you, O my Lady, O Virgin Mary. While still dwelling in a contemptible house, that is, the stable, you saw mighty kings coming to your Son from afar and humbly offering to him, with the greatest reverence, their royal guest-gifts. Afterward, with your own precious hands, you presented him in the temple; and, in your blessed heart, you diligently preserved all that you heard from him or saw during his infancy.
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. With your most holy offspring, you fled into Egypt; and afterward, in joy, you bore him back to Nazareth. During his physical growth, you saw him, your Son, humble and obedient to yourself and to Joseph.
Birgitta of Sweden, Four Prayers, from Life and Selected Revelations, Albert Kazel, Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist Press, 1990, 222.
Birgitta of Sweden (1302 - 1373), born into wealth and aristocracy, a happily married mother, a religious foundress, a mystical visionary, devoted her life to asceticism and preached peace to the rulers of Europe and strove to persuade the popes to return to Rome.
read more: www.umilta.net/birgitta.html , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Birgitta ,
HYMN
Words: © Timothy Dudley-Smith
Tune: Newtown St. Luke
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/c/c009.html
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Lord by right of the lords of earth,
let angels sing of a King newborn,
the world is weaving a crown of thorn:
a crown of thorn for that infant head
cradled soft in the manger bed.
Eyes that shine in the lantern's ray;
a face so small in its nest of hay,
face of a child who is born to scan
the world he made through the eyes of man:
and from that face in the final day
earth and heaven shall flee away.
Voice that rang through the courts on high,
contracted now to a wordless cry,
a voice to master the wind and wave,
the human heart and the hungry grave:
the voice of God through the cedar trees
rolling forth as the sound of seas.
Infant hands in a mother's hand,
for none but Mary may understand
whose are the hands and the fingers curled
but his who fashioned and made the world;
and through these hands in the hour of death
nails shall strike to the wood beneath.
Child of the stable's secret birth,
the Father's gift to a wayward earth,
to drain the cup in a few short years
of all our sorrows , our sins, and tears--
ours the prize for the road he trod:
risen with Christ; at peace with God.
On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Day 11, January 4
Eleven Pipers Piping
The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas bar James. (Luke 6:14-16). The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders and the Romans.
"Farm Dorm"
It was Christmas Eve, actually Christmas morning about 2 a.m. The deep of night was dark, the air was cold and crisp, the wind brisk, and I was making my bed check rounds as a prison guard. I was working the minimum custody dorm where the inmates were housed in large rooms with 20 inmates to a room. Each side of the room was lined with beds in which slept the inmate residents of what was called the "Farm Dorm." It was time for count and I was making my rounds early that first Christmas morning of my married life.
As I eased the door to the dorm room opened, trying not to let it squeak and awaken the men, I looked down the long room and at the sleeping forms of twenty convicted criminals. Burglars, robbers, rapists, even one or two incarcerated for murder. I needed to count them, to make sure they were all still in their proper place.
I distinctly remember entering the room and being struck by the powerful realization that on that Christmas day, the baby Jesus had been given to these men also. A free gift. Not just to those who had been privileged in life. Those who had good jobs, good homes, good families. But, he had come even for these men too. I had to pause a moment to collect my thoughts before I, their jailer, continued my rounds. I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of those men sleeping on Christmas morning. Sleeping and not even yet fully aware that Jesus had come as a gift for them also. I resolved then to do my best to let them know about the gift. John 6:47 says, "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life." How will they know if we do not tell them?
~ Chuck Wilkes
Highlands Ranch, Colorado, USA
Dear Father,
How easy it is to forget that it wasn't only for the people "just like me" that You came to bless with Your Presence. Lord, nearly every day this year I will be confronted with someone who isn't "just like me." Help me to remember that I wasn't "just like You" before I came to know You as my personal Savior. Help me to remember that I am still not "just like You." But, You love me anyway. Help me be an example of that love, and Your grace.
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Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/
Candle spark
Daily Reading for January 4
Across the purple-patterned snow
laced with light of lantern-glow,
dappled with dark,
comes Christ, the Child born from the skies.
Those are stars that are his eyes.
His baby face is wise
seen by my candle spark.
But is he cold from the wind’s cold blow?
Where will he go?
I’ll wrap him warm with love,
well as I’m able,
in my heart stable.
“Night’s lodging,” in Accompanied by Angels: Poems of the Incarnation by Luci Shaw (Eerdmans, 2006).
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Spiritual Practice of the Day http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/
You explore the spirit of God the same way you explore the spirit of another person: you spend time in God's presence, you examine your own heart and mind with respect to God. You watch the world for signs of the spirit.
— Barbara Cawthorne Crafton in Meditations on the Book of Psalms
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Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
It is very important for us to realise that God does not lead us all by the same road…
St Teresa of Jesus
Way, 17.2
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Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
from http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexsayings2.htm
Monasticism itself is a perpetual labor of conquering passions and
uprooting them in order that, being in a pure and immaculate
state, one may preserve oneself before the face of God. This,
then, is your task! Give your attention to it, and direct all your
powers towards it.
St. Theophan the Recluse
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Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Fruits That Grow in Vulnerability
There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds. Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.
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From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis: http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml
Day Four - The Object, cont'd
When Saint Francis encouraged the formation of the Third Order he recognized that many are called to serve God in the spirit of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience in everyday life (rather than in a literal acceptance of these principles as in the vows of the Brothers and Sisters of the First and Second Orders). The Rule of the Third Order is intended to enable the duties and conditions of daily living to be carried out in this spirit.
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Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
The Miraculous Tapestry
January 4th, 2008
Friday’s Reflection
WE EACH HAVE different ways of understanding and viewing the world around us. Some people see in images; some hear words; some speak with silence; and some long to move their bodies to the unseen rhythms of the Holy Spirit. These differences are to be celebrated, as together they give us a full and glorious picture of the miraculous tapestry that is the mind and body of Christ. Because of these differences, God has gifted us with a variety of prayer practices, each allowing us to speak with the one God, albeit through diverse aspects of our being.
- Daniel Wolpert
Creating a Life with God
From p. 52 of Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2003 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/
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Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
Community
Question of the day:
What is the common good for your community?
Jesus used the image of the Kingdom; Paul, the image of the body of Christ; John, the vine and the branches. But it's all the same sense of mystical union: that, first, we are one; secondly, we became separate.
I don't suppose that most of us can think that way. I want to think that way, and I try to let the Lord convert me, but I'm still an American individualist. I wish I were not. Such an exaggerated sense of the private self breeds competition: your good becomes a threat to my good.
Do you know what the Greeks called a private person? They called someone who had no sense of the common good an idiot. The original meaning of idiot is one who simply thinks of himself and has no sense of the city-state.
Paul said the Spirit is given "for the sake of the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:7). We cannot make any claim to being people of the Spirit if we do not have that profound commitment to the common good first.
from Why Be Catholic?
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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
Mary's care
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. Of your own blessed body, the body of Christ had now been created; and in your womb, you felt his body ever growing and moving even to the time of his glorious nativity. Before anyone else, you yourself touched him with your holy hands; you wrapped him in cloths; and, in accord with the prophet’s oracle, you laid him in a manger. With exultant joy, in motherly fashion, you used the most sacred milk of your breasts to nurture him.
Glory be to you, O my Lady, O Virgin Mary. While still dwelling in a contemptible house, that is, the stable, you saw mighty kings coming to your Son from afar and humbly offering to him, with the greatest reverence, their royal guest-gifts. Afterward, with your own precious hands, you presented him in the temple; and, in your blessed heart, you diligently preserved all that you heard from him or saw during his infancy.
Blessed may you be, my Lady, O Virgin Mary. With your most holy offspring, you fled into Egypt; and afterward, in joy, you bore him back to Nazareth. During his physical growth, you saw him, your Son, humble and obedient to yourself and to Joseph.
Birgitta of Sweden
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Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/
WHY CANNOT I FOLLOW THEE NOW?
"Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?" John 13:37
There are times when you cannot understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings the blank space, see that you do not fill it in, but wait. The blank space may come in order to teach you what sanctification means, or it may come after sanctification to teach you what service means. Never run before God's guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt - don't.
In the beginning you may see clearly what God's will is - the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, something you feel distinctly before God is His will for you to do, never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end in making difficulties that will take years of time to put right. Wait for God's time to bring it round and He will do it without any heartbreak or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.
Peter did not wait on God, he forecast in his mind where the test would come, and the test came where he did not expect it. "I will lay down my life for Thy sake." Peter's declaration was honest but ignorant. "Jesus answered him ...The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice." This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself, of what he was capable. Natural devotion may be all very well to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His fascination, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will always deny Jesus somewhere or other.
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
January 4, May 5, September 4
Prologue
Having our loins girded, therefore,
with faith and the performance of good works (Eph. 6:14),
let us walk in His paths
by the guidance of the Gospel,
that we may deserve to see Him
who has called us to His kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12).
For if we wish to dwell in the tent of that kingdom,
we must run to it by good deeds
or we shall never reach it.
But let us ask the Lord, with the Prophet,
"Lord, who shall dwell in Your tent,
or who shall rest upon Your holy mountain" (Ps. 14:1)?
After this question,
let us listen to the Lord
as He answers and shows us the way to that tent, saying,
"The one Who walks without stain and practices justice;
who speaks truth from his heart;
who has not used his tongue for deceit;
who has done no evil to his neighbor;
who has given no place to slander against his neighbor."
This is the one who,
under any temptation from the malicious devil,
has brought him to naught (Ps. 14:4)
by casting him and his temptation from the sight of his heart;
and who has laid hold of his thoughts
while they were still young
and dashed them against Christ (Ps. 136:9).
It is they who,
fearing the Lord (Ps. 14:4),
do not pride themselves on their good observance;
but,
convinced that the good which is in them
cannot come from themselves and must be from the Lord,
glorify the Lord's work in them (Ps. 14:4),
using the words of the Prophet,
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to Your name give the glory" (Ps. 113, 2nd part:1).
Thus also the Apostle Paul
attributed nothing of the success of his preaching to himself,
but said,
"By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).
And again he says,
"He who glories, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Cor. 10:17).
Insight for the Ages: A Commentary by Sr Joan Chittister
http://www.eriebenedictines.org/Pages/INSPIRATION/insights.html
Two themes emerge very strongly here. In case the meaning of the earlier paragraphs has escaped us, Benedict repeats them. Justice, honesty and compassion are the marks of those who dwell with God in life, he insists. Then, he reminds us again that we are not able to achieve God's grace without God's help. If we do good for the poor, it is because God has given us the courage to do good. If we speak truth in the face of lies, it is because God has given us a taste for the truth. If we uphold the rights of women and men alike, it is because God has given us eyes to see the wonders of all creation. We are not a power unto ourselves.
The two ideas may seem innocent enough today but at the time at which Benedict wrote them they would both have had great social impact.
In the first place, physical asceticism had become the mark of the truly holy. The Fathers and Mothers of the Desert, the dominant form of religious life prior to the emergence of communal monasticism, had been known and revered for the frugality, discipline and asceticism of their lives. They lived in the desert as solitaries. They ate little. They prayed night and day. They deprived their bodies to enrich their souls. They struggled against the temptations of the flesh and fled the world. Theirs was a privatized version of religious development not unlike those theologies that still thrive on measuring personal penances and using religion as personal massage rather than on making the world look the way God would want it to look. Benedict, then, introduces very early in the Rule the notion of responsibility for the human community as the benchmark of those who "dwell in God's tent," know God on earth, live on a higher plane than the mass of humanity around them. The really holy, the ones who touch God, Benedict maintains, are those who live well with those around them. They are just, they are upright, they are kind. The ecology of humankind is safe with them.
In the second place, Benedict puts to rest the position of the wandering monk Pelagius who taught in the fifth century that human beings were inherently good and capable of achieving God's great presence on the strength of their own merits. Benedict wants "good deeds" but he does not want pride. We do what we do in life, even holy things, the Prologue teaches, not because we are so good but because God is so good and enables us to rise above the misery of ourselves. Even the spiritual life can become an arrogant trap if we do not realize that the spiritual life is not a game that is won by the development of spiritual skills. The spiritual life is simply the God-life already at work in us.
An obligation to human community and a dependence on God, then, become the cornerstones of Benedictine life.
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Dynamis http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxdynamis/
Dynamis is a daily Bible meditation based upon the lectionary of the Holy Orthodox Church.
St. Mark 13: 1-8 (1/4) For Friday of the 31st Week
after Pentecost (Fri of P&P)
Holding On To Christ: St. Mark 13:1-8, especially vss. 5, 6: "And Jesus,
answering them, began to say: 'Take heed that no one deceives you. For
many will come in My Name, saying, "I Am He," and will deceive many.'"
What a treasure we have, Beloved of the Lord! We are joined to the only
One Who may be followed fearlessly, the True One, Life Himself (Jn.
14:6). Therefore, heed His warning not to be deceived, which St. John
of Kronstadt also urges on you: "Take care; do not forget, Christian,
never lose hearty faith in Him Who is your invisible Life, your Peace,
your Light, your Strength, your Breath; that is, in Jesus Christ. Do
not believe your heart when it becomes gross, darkened, unbelieving, and
cold from plenteousness of food and drink, from worldly distractions, or
finally when you live by the intellect, and not by the heart." Hold on
to Christ Who is Life!
Counterfeit christs abound, and they approach the Faithful in many
forms, appearing as friends, wise teachers, renown authorities, persons
of fame with credentials and world-wide recognition. "Take heed that no
one deceives you" (Mk. 13:5)! Remember also, deceivers come often with
fervent belief in their messages, "deceiving and being deceived" (2 Tim.
3:13). So how do we "take heed" not to lose Christ from our hearts?
Let us take strength frequently and regularly as the Holy Spirit
provides, through the Church: from Her Scriptures, Her Liturgy and Holy
Mysteries, Her Sacred Icons, and Her Holy Fathers and Mothers, the
Saints, and Prayer.
For two thousand years, the Spirit never has ceased to pour out His
blessings upon the Church in abundance, ever making a way for those who
entreat the Savior and Lord with their whole heart (Ps. 118:58 LXX).
Carefully, over the centuries, the Holy Spirit crafted the Divine life
into a vibrant grove of fruit-bearing trees, types of those trees that
will line the street of the New Jerusalem, "each yielding its fruit
every month....for the healing of the nations" (Rev. 22:2). Thus, let
us never be counted among the "many" whom the Lord told us would be
deceived.
Instead, the Holy Fathers teach us how to read the Scriptures. As St.
John Chrysostom says, "Reading the Holy Scriptures is like a treasure.
With a treasure, you see, anyone able to find a tiny nugget gains for
himself great wealth; likewise in the case of Sacred Scripture, one can
get from a small phrase a great wealth of thought and immense riches.
The Word of God is not only like a treasure, but is also like a spring
gushing with ever-flowing waters in a mighty flood."
Similarly, the rich, healing texts of the Liturgy are satisfying fruits
written by the Fathers over many centuries for nourishment. As the
Russian writer Nikolai Gogol reminds us: "The influence of the Divine
Liturgy can be great and incalculable if a person makes it a rule to
apply in life what he has heard there. Teaching all equally, acting
equally on all conditions and all professions, from the emperor down to
the poorest beggar, the Liturgy teaches love which is the bond of all
fellowship, the hidden spring of everything which keeps all life in
rhythmic motion."
The great scholar of iconography, Leonid Ouspensky, makes clear how it
is that the Icon, as liturgic art, "does not define itself as an art
belonging to one or another historical epoch, nor as the expression of
the national peculiarities of one or another people." Rather, "in its
essence the icon...never served religion, but like the word, has always
been and is an integral part of religion, one of the instruments for the
knowledge of God, one of the means of communion with Him." If you would
hold fast to Christ, reverence Him as the Spirit provides through His
Holy Icons.
Finally, the Spirit brings Christ to us through the accounts of the
lives of the Saints and in the writings of the Holy Fathers and Mothers
for they teach us and show us how to pray.
O Eternal King, when Thou didst cleanse the substance of mankind and
anointed it with the Spirit, Thou didst destroy the powers of darkness
and translate mankind to life immortal.
posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 12:53 PM
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