knitternun

Friday, February 29, 2008

Daily Meditation 02/29/08

[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]






Collect

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/

AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory] 88; PM Psalm 91, 92
Gen. 47:1-26; 1 Cor. 9:16-27; Mark 6:47-56
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From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm

Mark 6:47-56. Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.

It had been a long day. The disciples thought at first it was going to be a day off: Jesus had invited them to come away by themselves and rest a while. But the crowds had found them and needed to be taught and fed (that was still disturbing them, the way Jesus fed so many, so abundantly, from so little). And then Jesus sent them back in the boat by themselves; it was late; they were even more tired than they had been before. And then a storm blew up.


Then Jesus, whom they thought they knew but who had been doing such strange things lately, Jesus came walking toward them on the water. And they were terrified, not recognizing him, thinking it was a ghost.


So many things they did not understand. So much weariness, and failure, and straining at the oars.


But Jesus neither reproached them, nor excused them, nor explained himself.


"Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."


May we in all our stormy darkness trust the One who offers us his heart, who is always in the same boat, and with whom we never need to be afraid.
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Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Episcopal Church in Micronesia
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
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40 Ideas for Lent: A Lenten calendar http://ship-of-fools.com/lent/index.html

21. UPLOAD A PSALM
FRI 29 FEB

Choose a Psalm or other passage from the Bible which means a lot to you, and learn it off by heart. You might find it best to start learning it at home, and then trying to recall it when you're out walking or driving, or on your journey to work. Here are some suggested passages...

> Psalm 23 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2023;&version=31;
> Romans 8:38-39 ttp://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208:38-39;&version=31;
> 1 Corinthians 13 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013;&version=31;
> Psalm 121 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20121;&version=31;

Idea by: Lord Kevin

"The holy scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts." – St John Chrysostom
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Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan
Read Excerpts from the Church Fathers during Lent
http://www.churchyear.net/lentfathers.html

St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 1-10
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Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/

True progress

Daily Reading for February 29

True progress is never made by spasms. Real progress is growth. It must begin in the seed. Then, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” There is something to encourage and inspire us in the advancement of individuals since their emancipation from slavery. It at least proves that there is nothing irretrievably wrong in the shape of the black man’s skull, and that under given circumstances his development, downward or upward, will be similar to that of other average human beings.

But there is no time to be wasted in mere felicitation. That the Negro has his niche in the infinite purposes of the Eternal, no one who has studied the history of the last fifty years in America will deny. That much depends on his own right comprehension of his responsibility and rising to the demands of the hour, it will be good for him to see; and how best to use his present so that the structure of the future shall be stronger and higher and brighter and nobler and holier than that of the past, is a question to be decided each day by every one of us.

The race is just twenty-one years removed from the conception and experience of a chattel, just at the age of ruddy manhood. It is well enough to pause a moment for retrospection, introspection, and prospection. We look back, not to become inflated with conceit because of the depths from which we have arisen, but that we may learn wisdom from experience. We look within that we may gather together once more our forces, and, by improved and more practical methods, address ourselves to the tasks before us. We look forward with hope and trust that the same God whose guiding hand led our fathers through and out of the gall and bitterness of oppression, will still lead and direct their children, to the honor of His name, and for their ultimate salvation. . . .

Now the fundamental agency under God in the regeneration, the re-training of the race, as well as the ground work and starting point of its progress upward, must be the black woman. With all the wrongs and neglects of her past, with all the weakness, the debasement, the moral thralldom of her present, the black woman of to-day stands mute and wondering at the Herculean task devolving around her. But the cycles wait for her. No other hand can move the lever. She must be loosed from her bands and set to work. . . .

Only the BLACK WOMAN can say “when and where I enter, in the quiet, undisputed dignity of my womanhood, without violence and without suing or special patronage, then and there the whole Negro race enters with me.” Is it not evident then that as individual workers for this race we must address ourselves with no half-hearted zeal to this feature of our mission. The need is felt and must be recognized by all. There is a call for workers, for missionaries, for men and women with the double consecration of a fundamental love of humanity and a desire for its melioration through the Gospel; but superadded to this we demand an intelligent and sympathetic comprehension of the interests and special needs of the Negro.

From “Womanhood: A Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress of a Race” by Anna Julia Cooper; read before the convocation of colored clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Washington, D. C., 1886 and published in A Voice from the South by Anna J. Cooper. http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/cooper/cooper.html
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Spiritual Practice of the Day http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/

Thank God for days filled with nothing much at all. Nothing much is more than enough.
— Steven Z. Leder in The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things

To Practice This Thought: Set aside an hour or two to do nothing much.
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Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php

How many remain at the foot of the mountain … who might climb to its summit!
St Teresa of Jesus
Conceptions, 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


What toil we must endure, what fatigue, while we are attempting to
climb hills and the summits of mountains! What, that we may ascend
to heaven! If you consider the promised reward, what you endure is
less. Immortality is given to the one who perseveres; everlasting
life is offered; the Lord promises His Kingdom.

St. Cyprian
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Daily Meditation from http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/PraytheOffice/morningprayer.html

Readings for Day 29

February 29

Psalm 84:10-12 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

2 Kings 23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.

Luke 14:10-11 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, `Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honoured in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
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Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/

Being Free to Love

Jesus came to us to help us overcome our fear of God. As long as we are afraid of God, we cannot love God. Love means intimacy, closeness, mutual vulnerability, and a deep sense of safety. But all of those are impossible as long as there is fear. Fear creates suspicion, distance, defensiveness, and insecurity.

The greatest block in the spiritual life is fear. Prayer, meditation, and education cannot come forth out of fear. God is perfect love, and as John the Evangelist writes, "Perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18). Jesus' central message is that God loves us with an unconditional love and desires our love, free from all fear, in return.
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From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis: http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml

Day Twenty Nine - The Third Note, cont'd

This joy is a divine gift, coming from union with God in Christ. It is still there even in times of darkness and difficulty, giving cheerful courage in the face of disappointment, and an inward serenity and confidence through sickness and suffering. Those who possess it can rejoice in weakness, insults, hardship, and persecutions for Christ's sake; for when we are weak, then we are strong.
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Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/

Trusting in God’s Presence
February 29th, 2008
Friday’s Reflection

AS OUR PRAYER LIFE brings God out of the shadows of our consciousness and into the full light of our lives, we begin to trust in God’s immanence. This trust emboldens members of the community to step out into the world as spiritual leaders in a way they never considered possible before. They are willing to give new things a try, willing to say yes when asked to do something. They find new faith to overcome obstacles.

- Daniel Wolpert
Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership

From p. 158 of Leading a Life with God by Daniel Wolpert. Copyright © 2006 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

Contemplative Prayer

Question of the day:
What is it to get out of the way?



Once you can recognize the divine image where you don't want to see the divine image, then you've learned how to see. It's really that simple. And here's the rub, it's not you that is doing the seeing. It's like there is another pair of eyes inside of you seeing through you, seeing with you, seeing in you. Notice for example the very final prepositions of the great Eucharistic prayer—through Him, with Him, in Him. It recognizes that this isn't anything I can generate. It is done to me. Not I, but the wind that blows through me. It is being done to me, and all you can do is get out of the way.

from Contemplative Prayer
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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

The true worshipers and the true priests

Prayer is the spiritual offering that has replaced the ancient sacrifices. What good do I receive from the multiplicity of your sacrifices? asks God. We learn from the gospel: The hour will come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is spirit, and so he looks for worshipers who are like himself.

We are the true worshipers and the true priests. Praying in spirit we offer prayer to God as a sacrifice. Prayer is an appropriate and an acceptable sacrifice to God. It is the offering he has asked for and the offering he expects.

We must make this offering with our whole heart. We must fatten it on faith, prepare it by truth, keep it unblemished by innocence, spotless by chastity, and we must crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God. What can God refuse to prayer offered in spirit and in truth, when he himself asks for such prayer? How many proofs of its efficacy we read about, hear of, and believe!

Tertullian of Carthage
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Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/

WHAT DO YOU WANT THE LORD TO DO FOR YOU?


Lord, that I may receive my sight." Luke 18:41

What is the thing that not only disturbs you but makes you a disturbance? It is always some thing you cannot deal with yourself. "They rebuked him that he should hold his peace . . . but he cried so much the more." Persist in the disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord Himself; do not deify common sense. When Jesus asks us what we want Him to do for us in regard to the incredible thing with which we are faced, remember that He does not work in common-sense ways, but in supernatural ways.

Watch how we limit the Lord by remembering what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past: I always failed there, and I always shall; consequently we do not ask for what we want. "It is ridiculous to ask God to do this." If it is an impossibility, it is the thing we have to ask. If it is not an impossible thing, it is not a real disturbance. God will do the absolutely impossible.

This man received his sight. The most impossible thing to you is that you should be so identified with the Lord that there is nothing of the old life left. He will do it if you ask Him. But you have to come to the place where you believe Him to be Almighty. Faith is not in what Jesus says but in Himself; if we only look at what He says we shall never believe. When once we see Jesus, He does the impossible thing as naturally as breathing. Our agony comes through the wilful stupidity of our own heart. We won't believe, we won't cut the shore line, we prefer to worry on.
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 29, June 30, October 30
Chapter 23: On Excommunication for Faults

(If there is no 29th of Feburary, append this entry to the previous.)

If a brother is found to be obstinate,
or disobedient, or proud, or murmuring,
or habitually transgressing the Holy Rule in any point
and contemptuous of the orders of his seniors,
the latter shall admonish him secretly a first and a second time,
as Our Lord commands (Matt. 18:15).
If he fails to amend,
let him be given a public rebuke in front of the whole community.
But if even then he does not reform,
let him be placed under excommunication,
provided that he understands the seriousness of that penalty;
if he is perverse, however,
let him undergo corporal punishment.
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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 15:22-25, 33-41 (2/29) Gospel for Friday of the
Week of the Last Judgment: of Meatfare

Responses to Christ's Passion: V ~ Kindness: St. Mark 15: 20, 22, 25,
33-41, especially vs. 36: "Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of
sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying,
'Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.'" The
Lord Jesus embodies kindness to all in need. He restored a
demon-possessed man to his right mind. He stopped a woman's issue of
blood. He fed crowds, gave sight to the blind, healed lepers, enabled
the lame to walk, forgave sinners, embraced little children, returned
departed ones to their bereaved families, and saved a wedding
celebration. Only the proud, the self-righteous, the power-hungry, the
calloused, and indifferent received His scorn. To us He is kind.

And in response, people love Him! Certainly His disciples cared deeply
for His welfare and His needs (Mt. 26:35). Mary of Bethany anointed His
head, "...for the day of My burial" (Jn. 12:7). Most heartening are the
glimpses of others being kind to Him during His Passion. Best-known is
the good thief. Sharing the same sentence of death on an adjoining
cross, he sought to restrain the bitter tongue of his criminal
accomplice on the third cross (Lk. 23:40,41). Also, the good thief
expressed faith in the Lord Jesus with no earthly reason compelling him:
"Remember me when You come into Your kingdom" (Lk. 23:42).

In the present portion of St. Mark's Passion narrative, there is a
record of four who were kind to Him: a soldier in the execution squad,
the Centurion in charge of the detail, an unknown person in the crowd,
and a small group of women who had supported His ministry.

The soldiers took the Lord Jesus out to the site for the crucifixion
(vs. 22). Then one of the squad offered Him wine laced with myrrh. The
concoction is narcotic. Had the Lord drunk what was offered, it would
have deadened His pain, created a mood of euphoria, relaxed Him, and
likely shortened His suffering. The act revealed a pragmatic degree of
human kindness. It recalls Jesus' promise that if anyone gave Him drink
when He was thirsty, or "did it to one of the least of these My
brethren," such a one would inherit the Kingdom (Mt. 25:35,40). Thank
God for such kind gestures that happen by the thousands all across the
face of the world every day.

For three long hours, our Blessed Lord endured not only the physical
agony of crucifixion, but also mockery from "those who passed by" (vss.
29-33). Then at the ninth hour, when He cried out (Mk. 15:36), "someone
ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed and offered
it to Him to drink," another kindness like the soldier who earlier had
offered him wine with myrrh. Shortly afterwards, the Lord died. God
bless all such acts of kindness!

Tradition tells us that the Centurion in charge of the squad of soldiers
was Longinos. By the gift of faith he was able to say, "Truly this Man
was the Son of God" (Mk. 15:39). When the elders tried to bribe him to
lie and say that the body was stolen, he refused and sought Baptism, but
he was hunted down and martyred. Thank God for all who tell the truth
kindly.

Finally, there were the women who were to become the Myrrh-bearers. As
the Lord suffered, they stood by. After His death, with the Sabbath
ended, they came with a last gesture of love - to anoint His body and
bid farewell as they could. Their grief turned to joy! God bless those
who clean up the pain and grief of the world without seeking recognition
(vss. 41; 16:1).

May God give us the grace to relieve pain as we are able, to offer
gestures of comfort to those who struggle, to tell the truth with love,
and to assuage the world's pain when we meet it. And may the Lord say
to us, "Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom..." (Mt. 25:34).

O Lord, constrain my heart to love friends and enemies, and shouldest
Thou see in me the tiniest spark of kindness or love, fill it with grace
sufficient for salvation - mine and others.

Reading 02/29/08

February 29, June 30, October 30
Chapter 23: On Excommunication for Faults


If a brother is found to be obstinate,
or disobedient, or proud, or murmuring,
or habitually transgressing the Holy Rule in any point
and contemptuous of the orders of his seniors,
the latter shall admonish him secretly a first and a second time,
as Our Lord commands (Matt. 18:15).
If he fails to amend,
let him be given a public rebuke in front of the whole community.
But if even then he does not reform,
let him be placed under excommunication,
provided that he understands the seriousness of that penalty;
if he is perverse, however,
let him undergo corporal punishment.

Some thoughts:

How much trouble would be eliminated in this world if we had the intolerance for the obstinate, disobedient, proud, murmurers etc that St. Benedict had. OTOH, people like I would be continually under discipline for these sorts of behaviors. But maybe that would be a small price to pay if by it we would to get our eyes off of what people do wrong and concentrate on what people do right.

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Daily Meditation 02/28/08

[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]






Collect

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER (contemporary language)
Almighty God, you inspired your servant Anna Julia Heyward Cooper with the love of learning and the skill of teaching: Enlighten us more and more through the discipline of learning, and deepen our commitment to the education of all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/

AM Psalm [83] or 42, 43; PM Psalm 85, 86
Gen. 46:1-7,28-34; 1 Cor. 9:1-15; Mark 6:30-46
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From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm

Mark 6:30-46. How many loaves have you? Go and see.

In the other gospels, the loaves and fishes that the disciples find for the raw material of this miracle are explicitly provided by a boy who has brought his lunch along.


For many years, I packed school lunches for my daughters: sandwiches, apples, milk. To their credit, the girls never seemed to tire of this limited fare, but I did sometimes tire of preparing it. Like so much of daily life and work, it was repetitive, mundane. And it never stayed done.


In Mark's account, the lad with the loaves and fishes disappears into the background; his mother is not mentioned at all. But I can see her there. I wonder what she thought when her son came home and told her what had happened to the little meal she had sent with him--how Jesus had taken and blessed it and fed thousands of people with it, with such staggering abundance that twelve baskets were left over.


More than she had ever imagined or intended had been done with her ordinary work. May we too come to see what miracles God can do with the tiny gifts we bring, the ordinary duties we perform.
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Today we remember:
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper

AM Psalm [83] or 42, 43; PM Psalm 85, 86
Gen. 46:1-7,28-34; 1 Cor. 9:1-15; Mark 6:30-46
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Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Bermuda
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
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40 Ideas for Lent: A Lenten calendar http://ship-of-fools.com/lent/index.html

20. TURN TALK INTO PRAYER
THUR 28 FEB

Pray for every person you spend time with today.

Idea by: frin

"God, enable me in some measure to live here on earth as Jesus lived, and to act in all things as he would have acted." – Ashton Oxenden
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Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan
Read Excerpts from the Church Fathers during Lent
http://www.churchyear.net/lentfathers.html

St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church (Treatise I): Secs. 19-21
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Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/

Anna J. Cooper

Daily Reading for February 28 • Anna Julia Heyward Cooper, Educator, 1964

Anna Julia Cooper, the widow of an Episcopal priest and a teacher at St. Augustine’s College in North Carolina, was an important supporter of [Alexander] Crummell’s efforts to foster racial uplift. Cooper, who was born in slavery, emphasized the value of education, religion, and proper conduct in assisting the rise of black women and men in the South. One of six delegates from the United States to the Pan-African Conference in London in 1900, Cooper was an active public speaker and writer. In an address to a convocation of black priests in 1886, she summoned the clergy to the task of saving their people from “the peculiar faults of worship” into which they fell when left on their own. She praised the Episcopal Church for the positive influence it had offered African Americans before the Civil War, but she was concerned that, following emancipation, white Episcopalians had been pathetically slow in recruiting and ordaining black priests. Although white southerners complained that African Americans were no longer interested in the Episcopal Church, they had created the problem themselves. Since most southern bishops advised black ministerial candidates to aspire only to deacon’s orders, they not only relegated black men to “a perpetual colored diaconate” but also tacitly encouraged them to seek full ordination in other denominations. African Americans in the Episcopal Church needed priests of their own race, Cooper said, for only black men could be fully trusted to “come in touch with our life and have a fellow feeling for our woes.”

From Episcopalians and Race: Civil War to Civil Rights by Gardiner H. Shattuck (The University Press of Kentucky, 2000).

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Spiritual Practice of the Day http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/

When we come to a point of rest in our own being, we encounter a world where all things are at rest, and then a tree becomes a mystery, a cloud becomes a revelation, and each person we meet a cosmos whose riches we can only glimpse.
— Dag Hammarskjöld quoted in Senses Wide Open by Johanna Putnoi

To Practice This Thought: Find a place of peace within yourself; see what happens.
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Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php

How can I fear a God who is nothing but mercy and love.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus
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Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html

from http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexsayings2.htm

A man may seem to be silent, but if his heart is condemning
others, he is babbling ceaselessly. But there may be another who
talks from morning till night and yet he is truly silent, that is,
he says nothing that is not profitable.

Abba Pimen
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Daily Meditation from http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/PraytheOffice/morningprayer.html

Readings for Day 28

February 28

Psalm 143:5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.

Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

John 4:28–38 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying `One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."
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Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/


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From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis: http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml

Day Twenty Eight - The Third Note -

Joy

Tertiaries, rejoicing in the Lord always, show in our lives the grace and beauty of divine joy. We remember that they follow the Son of Man, who came eating and drinking, who loved the birds and the flowers, who blessed little children, who was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, and who sat at the tables of both the rich and the poor. We delight in fun and laughter, rejoicing in God's world, its beauty and its living creatures, calling nothing common or unclean. We mix freely with all people, ready to bind up the broken-hearted and to bring joy into the lives of others. We carry within them an inner peace and happiness which others may perceive, even if they do not know its source.
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Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/

Learning by Heart
February 28th, 2008
Thursday’s Reflection

[ONE] ASPECT OF LEARNING is learning by heart. It may seem unnecessary now, when everyone has access to books, but stocking your mind with words from God can be a marvelous way of following Paul’s injunction in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Memorizing favorite Bible verses, prayers, hymns, and poetry gives you a stock of “pure, pleasing, commendable” words to draw on anywhere at any time — while driving, standing in line, or sitting in a waiting room.

- Helen Julian CSF
The Road to Emmaus: Companions for the Journey through Lent

From pp. 48-49 of The Road to Emmaus by Helen Julian CSF. Copyright © 2006 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

Contemplative Prayer

Question of the day:
What is your relationship with silence?



As a people, we are afraid of silence. That's our major barrier to prayer. I believe silence and words are related. Words that don't come out of silence probably don't say much. They probably are more an unloading than a communicating. Yet words feed silence, and that's why we have the word of God—the read word, the proclaimed word, the written word. But that written and proclaimed word, doesn't bear a great deal of fruit—it doesn't really break open the heart of the Spirit—unless it's tasted and chewed, unless it's felt and suffered and enjoyed at a level beyond words.

If I had to advise one thing for spiritual growth, it would be silence.

from Letting Go: A Spirituality of Subtraction
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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

You are a borrower

Make light of the world and of yourself and of all earthly pleasures. Hold your kingdom as something lent to you, not as if it were your own. For you know well that life, health, wealth, honor, status, dominion—none of these belongs to you. If they did, you could own them in your own way. But just when we want to be healthy we are sick; just when we want to be alive we die; just when we want to be rich we are poor; just when we want to be in power we are made servants. And all this because these things are not ours, and we can keep them only as much and as long as it pleases the One who has lent them to us. So it is really foolish to hold as if it were our own what belongs to another: it is, in fact, a thievery worthy of death. This is why I am asking you to act wisely, as a good steward, holding everything as lent to you who have been made God's steward.

Catherine of Siena
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Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/

DO YE NOW BELIEVE?


"By this we believe . . . Jesus answered, Do ye now believe?" John 16:30-31

Now we believe. Jesus says - Do you? The time is coming when you will leave Me alone. Many a Christian worker has left Jesus Christ alone and gone into work from a sense of duty, or from a sense of need arising out of his own particular discernment. The reason for this is the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. The soul has got out of intimate contact with God by leaning to its own religious understanding. There is no sin in it, and no punishment attached to it; but when the soul realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and produced for himself perplexities and sorrows and difficulties, it is with shame and contrition he has to come back.

We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus much deeper down than we do, to get into the habit of steadily referring everything back to Him; instead of this we make our common - sense decisions and ask God to bless them. He cannot, it is not in His domain, it is severed from reality. If we do a thing from a sense of duty, we are putting up a standard in competition with Jesus Christ. We become a "superior person," and say - "Now in this matter I must do this and that." We have put our sense of duty on the throne instead of the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to walk in the light of conscience or of a sense of duty, but to walk in the light as God is in the light. When we do anything from a sense of duty, we can back it up by argument; when we do anything in obedience to the Lord, there is no argument possible; that is why a saint can be easily ridiculed.
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 28, June 29, October 29
Chapter 22: How the Sisters Are to Sleep

Let each one sleep in a separate bed.
Let them receive bedding suitable to their manner of life,
according to the Abbess's directions.
If possible let all sleep in one place;
but if the number does not allow this,
let them take their rest by tens or twenties
with the seniors who have charge of them.

A candle shall be kept burning in the room until morning.

Let them sleep clothed and girded with belts or cords --
but not with their knives at their sides,
lest they cut themselves in their sleep --
and thus be always ready to rise without delay
when the signal is given
and hasten to be before one another at the Work of God,
yet with all gravity and decorum.

The younger shall not have beds next to one another,
but among those of the older ones.

When they rise for the Work of God
let them gently encourage one another,
that the drowsy may have no excuse.
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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 15:1-15 (2/28)
Gospel for Thursday of the Week of Meatfare

Responses to Christ's Passion IV ~ The Good Confession: St. Mark
15:1-15, especially vs. 5: "But Jesus still answered nothing, so that
Pilate marveled." As the years of his ministry drew to a close, the
Apostle Paul, to encourage him in the Faith, reminded his young protégé,
Timothy, of the Lord's "good confession" before Pilate, (1 Tim. 6:13).
St. Paul's challenge applies to all Christians: that our manner of life
should follow the model of our Lord's example. Before the tribunal of
the world, let us be found "...without spot, blameless until our Lord
Jesus Christ's appearing..." (1 Tim. 6:14). How? St. Paul says, by
fleeing foolish and harmful lusts (cf: 1 Tim. 6:9,11), by pursuing
righteousness (1 Tim. 6:11), and by fighting the good fight of faith,
laying hold of eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12). These surely were elements
in the Lord's "good confession before Pilate," and they caused the Roman
Procurator to marvel.

The most striking aspect of the Lord's demeanor - both in His trial
before the Sanhedrin in an all-night session and before Pilate the next
morning - was His restraint. He disclosed freedom from the passions.
In "answering nothing" (Mk. 14:61) to a flood of accusations, our
Incarnate God spoke the infinite eloquence of restrained silence.
Through a "passionless Passion," He "spoke" a word of calm, Divine
judgment against all human sin and passion.

Much was asked of the Lord during the two trials, and He answered either
with silence or concise brevity. When asked, "Are you the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed?" He answered, "I AM" (Mk. 14:61,62), and described
His future glory. When Pilate asked, "'Are you the King of the Jews?'
He answered, 'It is as you say'" (vs. 15:2). "I AM" and "as you say."
So free was He of passions and the need to defend His life, of lust for
power, of concern to make "His point," or of a need to "prove" His
enemies wrong, that He remain largely silent. As we are cleansed of
passion, God will bless us with peace and calm even in the most
agitating situations.

Is it possible to imagine One more righteous than the Lord? Is it
possible to think of a time when His righteousness was more plainly
evident than during His trials and at His Crucifixion? Our hearts
command us to agree with Jeremiah and call Christ Jesus "Josedec,"the
Lord our Righteousness1 (Jer. 23:6). Most striking in the entire
Passion account is the serene perseverance of our Savior and God while
intrigue, betrayal, mob rule, and injustice raged around Him.

Read through the Passion narratives, and see the Lord Jesus'
all-pervading power to manage what happened. He reveals Himself as the
"Producer" of His ministry, as the "Director" of the sequences,
including His own arrest, trials, and execution. The Lord Christ moves
the events steadily forward toward the salvation of mankind. Thus, at a
turning point in the Gospel of Luke, the Evangelist notes: "...when the
time had come for Him to be received up...He steadfastly set His face to
go to Jerusalem" (Lk. 9:51). The Lord's fellow humans appear as "bit"
players, taking their part in their assigned scenes and passing off the
stage. Others pursue their ends. Unremittingly, Christ our God pursues
righteousness and our salvation.

Finally, the Lord "fought the good fight of faith." The Sanhedrin
assured themselves that they had rid the world of terrible "blasphemy"
(Mk. 14:64), that they had won a struggle for true Faith. But no:
Christ won the battle of faith. It was He Who laid hold of eternal life
for mortal men if we will put our faith in Him. No doubt Pontius Pilate
sighed after he did not lose control of a frenzied mob. What was the
life of one harmless Jewish teacher? Pilate sustained the "Pax
Romana!" However, Beloved of the Lord, Pilate lost his greatest chance
for eternal life, for Christ offers Life to all through His good fight
on the Cross and His great victory over death.

Glory to Thee O Savior, Who didst trample down death by death and bestow
life upon all.

Reading 02/28/08

February 28, June 29, October 29
Chapter 22: How the Sisters Are to Sleep

Let each one sleep in a separate bed.
Let them receive bedding suitable to their manner of life,
according to the Abbess's directions.
If possible let all sleep in one place;
but if the number does not allow this,
let them take their rest by tens or twenties
with the seniors who have charge of them.

A candle shall be kept burning in the room until morning.

Let them sleep clothed and girded with belts or cords --
but not with their knives at their sides,
lest they cut themselves in their sleep --
and thus be always ready to rise without delay
when the signal is given
and hasten to be before one another at the Work of God,
yet with all gravity and decorum.

The younger shall not have beds next to one another,
but among those of the older ones.

When they rise for the Work of God
let them gently encourage one another,
that the drowsy may have no excuse.

Some thoughts:

Any of us who have read in the history of monasticism know that the original monks in the Egyptian desert or in what is now Syria, had individual cells. By Benedict's time, the norm was monastic dormitories. I've read that dormitories were preferred in order to stop the "abuses of private space". One can only wonder what that charming expression means and perhaps, on the whole, it is just better not to go there.

I see some contrasts in this bit: dormitories; candles burning all nights; the younger monastics interspersed with the elder. Then we have attention to comfort and safety: bedding; knives. The point of both concerns is that the monastics be ready for the prayers. The Work of God is the central focus of their day and they must be ever ready to undertake it.

The question has to arise: what is the central focus of our days?

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Reading 02/27/08

February 27, June 28, October 28
Chapter 21: On the Deans of the Monastery

If the community is a large one,
let there be chosen out of it
brethren of good repute and holy life,
and let them be appointed deans.
These shall take charge of their deaneries in all things,
observing the commandments of God
and the instructions of their Abbot.

Let men of such character be chosen deans
that the Abbot may with confidence
share his burdens among them.
Let them be chosen not by rank
but according to their worthiness of life
and the wisdom of their doctrine.

If any of these deans should become inflated with pride
and found deserving of censure,
let him be corrected once, and again, and a third time.
If he will not amend,
then let him be deposed
and another be put in his place who is worthy of it.

And we order the same to be done in the case of the Prior.

Some thoughts:

Maybe I said this the last time around, but i find myself comparing this to the way our politicians handle themselves this primary season. Less said on that the better, I daresay.

Benedict lists qualities we all do well to develop: good reputation; holy living; observation of God's commandments; worthiness of life; wisdom of their doctrine. Without the grace of God, companionship of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have zero chance to become such people. We have the Bible, the RB and the writings of our fellow Christians to help us.

Today in the Episcopal Church we honor that Caroline Divine, George Herbert.

from The Temple (1633), by George Herbert:


¶ Faith.

LOrd, how couldst thou so much appease
Thy wrath for sinne as, when mans sight was dimme,
And could see little, to regard his ease,
And bring by Faith all things to him?

Hungrie I was, and had no meat:
I did conceit a most delicious feast;
I had it straight, and did as truly eat,
As ever did a welcome guest.

There is a rare outlandish root,
Which when I could not get, I thought it here:
That apprehension cur’d so well my foot,
That I can walk to heav’n well neare.

I owed thousands and much more:
I did beleeve that I did nothing owe,
And liv’d accordingly; my creditor
Beleeves so too, and lets me go.

Faith makes me any thing, or all
That I beleeve is in the sacred storie:
And where sinne placeth me in Adams fall,
Faith sets me higher in his glorie.

If I go lower in the book,
What can be lower then the common manger?
Faith puts me there with him, who sweetly took
Our flesh and frailtie, death and danger.

If blisse had lein in art or strength,
None but the wise or strong had gained it:
Where now by Faith all arms are of a length;
One size doth all conditions fit.

A peasant may beleeve as much
As a great Clerk, and reach the highest stature.
Thus dost thou make proud knowledge bend & crouch,
While grace fills up uneven nature.

When creatures had no reall light
Inherent in them, thou didst make the sunne
Impute a lustre, and allow them bright;
And in this shew, what Christ hath done.

That which before was darkned clean
With bushie groves, pricking the lookers eie,
Vanisht away, when Faith did change the scene:
And then appear’d a glorious skie.

What though my bodie runne to dust?
Faith cleaves unto it, counting evr’y grain
With an exact and most particular trust,
Reserving all for flesh again.

Note on Stanzas 2-4: The poem's interpretation is easier if you consider the spiritual meaning. The concrete version, as the poem "Faith" explains it, is more difficult to believe. See, of course, Matthew 17:20,21. 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. -- The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.



I prefer the 17th century version but for those who don;t share this eccentricity, here is a modern version:



Faith

Lord, how could you so much appease

Your wrath for sin as, when man's sight was dim,

And could see little, to regard his ease,

And bring by Faith all things to him?



Hungry I was, and had no meat:

I did conceit a most delicious feast;

I had it straight, and did as truly eat,

As ever did a welcome guest.



There is rare outlandish root,

Which when I could not get, I thought it here:

That apprehension cur'd so well my foot,

That I can walk to heav'n well near.



I owed thousands and much more:

I did believe that I did nothing owe,

And liv'd accordingly; my creditor

Believes so too, and lets me go.



Faith makes me any thing, or all

That I believe is in the sacred story:

And where sin places me in Adam's fall,

Faith sets me higher in his glory.



If I go lower in the book,

What can be lower than the common manger?

Faith puts me there with him, who sweetly took

Our flesh and frailty, death and danger.



If bliss had lien in art or strength,

None but the wise or strong had gained it:

Where now by Faith all arms are of a length;

One size does all conditions fit.



A peasant may believe as much

As a great Clerk, and reach the highest stature.

Thus do you make proud knowledge bend & crouch,

While grace fills up uneven nature.



When creatures had no real light

Inherent in them, you did make the sun

Impute a luster, and allow them bright;

And in this show, what Christ has done.



That which before was darkened clean

With bushy groves, pricking the looker's eye,

Vanished away, when Faith did change the scene:

And then appeared a glorious sky.



What though my body run to dust?

Faith cleaves unto it, counting ev'ry grain

With an exact and most particular trust,

Reserving all for flesh again.

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Daily Meditation 02/27/08

[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]



Love bade me welcome

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

-- George Herbert




Collect

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Our God and King, you called your servant George Herbert from the pursuit of worldly honors to be a pastor of souls, a poet, and a priest in your temple: Give us grace, we pray, joyfully to perform the tasks you give us to do knowing that nothing is menial or common that is done for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/

AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82
Gen. 45:16-28; 1 Cor. 8:1-13; Mark 6:13-29
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From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm

Mark 6:13-29. Herod said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."

Mark's gospel began with the story of John the baptizer. Now John appears again, though off-stage, in a rear-view mirror: Herod has heard about Jesus' teaching, healing, casting out demons--and he fears that John, whom he beheaded at the whim of a dancing girl, has come back to haunt him.


He doubts his own power to silence inconvenient truth. As well he should.


In the infancy narratives of Luke's gospel, we learned of an earlier Herod (the father of the one who ordered John killed) who also tried to eliminate a
political threat through murder. He failed to kill the newborn Jesus, though he slaughtered many innocent children in the brutal attempt to secure his power.


Soon, in the gospel story, Jesus himself will be put to death. But (as my little daughter explained to me when she first heard the story of Aslan, the great Lion King of Narnia, who is killed in another's place), "The bad people can't make him stay dead."


In the mystery of grace, the powerful rulers of this world may seek to silence goodness, to extinguish light, but the light still shines.


Thanks be to God.
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Today we remember:
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary

George Herbert
Psalm 23 or 1
1 Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 5:1-10
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Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Benin (Bendel, Nigeria)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
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40 Ideas for Lent: A Lenten calendar http://ship-of-fools.com/lent/index.html

19. NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE
WED 27 FEB

Read the day's news from a different angle (i.e. from an oversees source) to try to see how other people perceive events. Choose one of the following from a country different to yours – all these sites are in English...

> Al Jazeera (Qatar) http://tinyurl.com/yb4ql9
> China Daily (China) http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
> The Statesman (India) http://www.thestatesman.net/
> Daily Independent (Nigeria) http://www.independentngonline.com/
> AFP (France) http://www.afp.com/english/home/
> Spiegel (Germany)http://www.spiegel.de/international/
> Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) http://www.smh.com.au/
> Los Angeles Times (USA)http://www.latimes.com/
> The Guardian (UK) http://www.guardian.co.uk/

And a lot more... http://www.world-newspapers.com/index.html

Idea by: Hazey*Jane

"Be good, keep your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ." – Thomas Merton
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Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan
Read Excerpts from the Church Fathers during Lent
http://www.churchyear.net/lentfathers.html

St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church (Treatise I): Secs. 10-18
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Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/



Daily Reading for February 27 • George Herbert, Priest, 1633

Herbert had a particular fondness for the imagery of bees and herbs. Bees represent productive lives not least when Herbert expresses his deep desire to serve God usefully (‘Employment I’) or when he laments his spiritual weakness (‘Praise I’). Bees also become an image of the natural wisdom that all creatures have that enables God’s providence to express itself effectively in the world’s workings.

Bees work for man; and yet they never bruise
Their master’s flower, but leave it, having done,
As fair as ever, and as fit to use;
So both the flower doth stay, and honey run.
(‘Providence’)

Heaven may be compared to a hive to which our lives are drawn like laden bees.

Surely thou wilt joy, by gaining me
To fly home like a laden bee
Unto that hive of beams
And garland-streams.
(‘The Star’)

For all that Herbert relishes natural imagery and offers a positive view of the created order, his vision is not merely romantic or a form of nature mysticism. Creation is the second book of revelation precisely because it draws us to the deeper truth of God’s reality, loving presence and powerful action.

From Love Took My Hand: The Spirituality of George Herbert by Philip Sheldrake (Cowley Publications, 2000).
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Spiritual Practice of the Day http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/

In trying to control everything, we make our world smaller. Instead, we can open into a larger world where we are not in charge, but are a part of something much larger — something deeply wondrous.
— Philip Martin in The Zen Path through Depression

To Practice This Thought: Give up trying to control things — be a conduit instead.
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Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php

He is within me at each moment; He is guiding and inspiring me with what I must say and do.
St Therese of the Child Jesus
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Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html

from http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexsayings2.htm

The way of humility is this: self-control, prayer, and thinking
yourself inferior to all creatures.

Abba Tithoes
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Daily Meditation from http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/PraytheOffice/morningprayer.html

Readings for Day 27

February 27

Psalm 84:10; 85:8 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 85:8 I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints-- but let them not return to folly.

Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

John 21:2–5 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 "I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered.
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Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/

Creating Space for God

Discipline is the other side of discipleship. Discipleship without discipline is like waiting to run in the marathon without ever practicing. Discipline without discipleship is like always practicing for the marathon but never participating. It is important, however, to realize that discipline in the spiritual life is not the same as discipline in sports. Discipline in sports is the concentrated effort to master the body so that it can obey the mind better. Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God's guidance.

Thus, discipline is the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God. Solitude requires discipline, worship requires discipline, caring for others requires discipline. They all ask us to set apart a time and a place where God's gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to.
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From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis: http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml

Day Twenty Seven - The Second Note, cont'd

The Third Order is Christian community whose members, although varied in race, education, and character, are bound into a living whole through the love we share in Christ. This unity of all who believe in him will become, as our Lord intended, a witness to the world of his divine mission. In our relationship with those outside the Order, we show the same Christ-like love, and gladly give of ouselves, remembering that love is measured by sacrifice.
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Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/

Make Me Merciful
February 27th, 2008
Wednesday’s Reflection

HOLY JESUS, your forgiving love saves and disturbs me.
Without it, I am lost,
Yet, if I receive it, I must practice it.
By your mercy, make me merciful;
By your forgiveness, help me to forgive as I have been forgiven.
Amen.

- Peter Storey
Listening at Golgotha: Jesus’ Words from the Cross

From p. 24 of Listening at Golgotha by Peter Storey. Copyright © 2004 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

Make Me Merciful
February 27th, 2008
Wednesday’s Reflection

HOLY JESUS, your forgiving love saves and disturbs me.
Without it, I am lost,
Yet, if I receive it, I must practice it.
By your mercy, make me merciful;
By your forgiveness, help me to forgive as I have been forgiven.
Amen.

- Peter Storey
Listening at Golgotha: Jesus’ Words from the Cross

From p. 24 of Listening at Golgotha by Peter Storey. Copyright © 2004 by the author. Published by Upper Room Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/
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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

The wealth of Christ's love for us

If, having been made in the image of God, you wish to be like him, follow his example. Christians, whose very name is a profession of love for everyone, should imitate the love of Christ.

Consider and wonder at the wealth of Christ's love for us. When he was about to show himself to us in our own nature, he sent John the Baptist to preach repentance by word and example. Before John he sent all the prophets. They too were to teach people to amend their lives. Then he came himself and with his own voice cried out: Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. And how did he receive those who listened to his call and followed him? He readily forgave them their sins, instantly relieving them of all their cause for grief. The Word made them holy, the Spirit set his seal on them. Their old self was buried in the waters of baptism and a new self born; their youth was renewed by grace. And the result? Enemies of God became his friends, strangers to him became his children, idolaters became worshipers of the true God.

Asterius of Amasea
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Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/

IMPOVERISHED MINISTRY OF JESUS


"From whence then hast Thou that living water?" John 4:11

"The well is deep" - and a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! Think of the depths of human nature, of human life, think of the depths of the "wells" in you. Have you been impoverishing the ministry of Jesus so that He can not do anything? Suppose there is a well of fathomless trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says - "Let not your heart be troubled"; and you shrug your shoulders and say, "But, Lord, the well is deep; You cannot draw up quietness and comfort out of it." No, He will bring them down from above. Jesus does not bring anything up from the wells of human nature. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and by saying, "Of course I cannot expect God to do this thing." The thing that taxes almightiness is the very thing which we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish His ministry the moment we forget He is Almighty; the impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus as Comforter or as Sympathizer, but we will not come to Him as Almighty.

The reason some of us are such poor specimens of Christianity is because we have no Almighty Christ. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying - "Of course He cannot do any thing," and we struggle down to the deeps and try to get the water for ourselves. Beware of the satisfaction of sinking back and saying - "It can't be done"; you know it can be done if you look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness is deep, but make the effort and look away to Him.
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 27, June 28, October 28
Chapter 21: On the Deans of the Monastery

If the community is a large one,
let there be chosen out of it
brethren of good repute and holy life,
and let them be appointed deans.
These shall take charge of their deaneries in all things,
observing the commandments of God
and the instructions of their Abbot.

Let men of such character be chosen deans
that the Abbot may with confidence
share his burdens among them.
Let them be chosen not by rank
but according to their worthiness of life
and the wisdom of their doctrine.

If any of these deans should become inflated with pride
and found deserving of censure,
let him be corrected once, and again, and a third time.
If he will not amend,
then let him be deposed
and another be put in his place who is worthy of it.

And we order the same to be done in the case of the Prior.
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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 14:43-15:1 (2/27) Gospel for the
Wednesday of the Week of Meatfare

Responses to Christ's Passion III ~ I Denied Thee! St. Mark
14:43-15:1: Lord Jesus, I behold them, a great crowd coming with swords
and clubs. It's raw and brutal power, but I cannot move. I can only
watch. It is wrong and inverted. Why does Judas lead them to Thee?
How can he? This night is a bad dream; it is not real. Listen to him!
"Rabbi, Rabbi," and, besides, he even greets Thee with a kiss! O Lord,
God of our Fathers, save us!

Men put their impure hands on God's pure One. No! No! No! Let there be
no bloodshed. O, my brother, the Master does not want it so. Put back
thy sword. It is not His way. Please, Lord! Stop them! Why do they
come out at night as if Thou wast a robber? Why? Let them answer
Thee! Take away all these swords and clubs! Did these men not hear
Thee in the Temple? Do they not see the hand of our Almighty God upon
Thee? Why swords and clubs? Are they coming for every one of us? Lord
Jesus, save me!

Thou saidst that they would beat us also in their councils and the
synagogues. No! Let them not take me, too! They have taken Thee,
Master. Save me, O God by Thy Name. Where can I hide? I am utterly
naked. O God of my Master, let no harm come upon Him! Lord, forgive
me. I am a sinner. I am afraid. I have deserted Thee. Lord, have mercy!

See, they have taken Him to the high priest's residence. All of the
chief priests are inside with the elders and scribes also. What are
they going to do? And Peter has even gone into the courtyard. Maybe he
will find out what is happening! He had better be careful! They may
take him, too. What a terrible night! Who could believe this? You
warned us, Lord. O God, Who didst deliver our fathers at the Red Sea,
save and help us we humbly beseech Thee!

Look, Peter is talking to one of the servant girls. Why is he shaking
his head? She must suspect that he is one of us! May God Who watcheth
over all keep thee safe, Peter, my brother. What is that servant asking
thee now, Simon? He has upset thee. Peter is really angry. He is
coming out. He is weeping. What does he know?

Peter, my beloved brother. Our Master trusted thee above all the rest
of us. And, look, my brother, I too ran away. We all are seized with
the fear. Yes, I remember, Peter: thou didst say that thou wouldst die
with Him, but Simon, we all denied Him. Thy tears are mine. We all ran
like startled sheep! The Shepherd has been taken. They have stricken
Him. Do you hear? Dawn is coming. It is the rooster's crow. I love
thee, my brother. I weep with thee.

Now what word is there from the Council? What have they done? What are
they doing? Is He safe? No! No, say it is not true! They cannot be
trying Him! The witnesses lie! He never said He would destroy the
Temple, only that the Temple would be destroyed. They must not condemn
Him for that! Let them be truthful, and they will not condemn Him. Do
you hear that? Not even their paid witnesses agree! Did He actually
tell them openly that He is the Christ? They should have believed Him!
They think He has blasphemed God. They are the ones who have gone too
far! When will He come in power on the clouds of Heaven? When He does,
they will be the ones to hide. How long will He permit them to
blaspheme God this way - spitting on Him, beating Him, condemning Him?
Forgive us, O, Holy One!

Look, here is the Master. They are coming out with Him. Blessed is He
that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Bound like some criminal! Why
does He permit this? Will He not stop them? He stopped the storm on
the sea. Where are they taking Him now? They are so rough. Oh, no!
They are not going to Pilate's headquarters. Not for death, Lord
Jesus! Not for death!

Refrain not Thyself, O God, but save us!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Reading 02/22/08

Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 26, June 27, October 27
Chapter 20: On Reverence in Prayer

When we wish to suggest our wants to persons of high station,
we do not presume to do so
except with humility and reverence.
How much the more, then,
are complete humility and pure devotion necessary
in supplication of the Lord who is God of the universe!
And let us be assured
that it is not in saying a great deal that we shall be heard (Matt 6:7),
but in purity of heart and in tears of compunction.
Our prayer, therefore, ought to be short and pure,
unless it happens to be prolonged
by an inspiration of divine grace.
In community, however, let prayer be very short,
and when the Superior gives the signal let all rise together.

Some thoughts:

Reverence is an odd word for us today, I think. How many times have we heard someone make fun of someone else's reverence? I suspect that for those who do this, do it because they are embarrassed. Perhaps they feel guilty that they themselves do not show reverence. Who knows?

Perhaps the idea of "persons of high station" is one that is foreign to some of us. I know it is to me. What comparisons might we have for our society today?

Labels: , ,

Daily Meditation 02/26/08

[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]






Collect

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/

AM Psalm 78:1-39; 78:40-72
Gen. 45:1-15; 1 Cor. 7:32-40; Mark 6:1-13
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From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm

Mark 6:1-13. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff.

I travel a lot, and I pride myself on traveling light. However, the idea of taking nothing for a journey ("no bread, no bag, no money") seems wildly impractical, foolish, even terrifying. But so Jesus ordered the Twelve, and "so they went out."


This ideal of radical dependence on God alone appealed to the young Francis of Assisi: his devotion to "Lady Poverty" proved to be too much, however,
for those who came after him. Even before Francis died, his Rule was modified to allow the brethren to take more with them on their journey.


Radical dependence is tough.
In my own dependence on so much that is not God, I cling to the fact that Jesus allowed his disciples to carry a staff--something to help them over the rocky stretches along the way, to lean on when they grew weary, to defend themselves against attack.


When I travel I will doubtless continue to take the equivalent of "bread, bag, money"--but perhaps, at least when I pray, I could check my baggage and
take with me only Jesus, to help me over the rough places, to lean on, to defend me.
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Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America and the Diocese of El Salvador

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
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40 Ideas for Lent: A Lenten calendar http://ship-of-fools.com/lent/index.html

18. RELEASE A BOOK
TUES 26 FEB

Join Book Crossing, and release a much-loved book or two into the wild. http://www.bookcrossing.com/

Booking Crossing is a place where people round the world can share their books with others for free. You register your book on the website and then... "leave it on a park bench, at a coffee shop, at a hotel on vacation. Share it with a friend or tuck it onto a bookshelf at the gym – anywhere it might find a new reader! What happens next is up to fate, and we never know where our books might travel next. Track the book's journey around the world as it is passed on from person to person."

Idea by: Bookworm

"The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us." – John Henry Newman
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Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan
Read Excerpts from the Church Fathers during Lent
http://www.churchyear.net/lentfathers.html

St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church (Treatise I): 1-9
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Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/

Let's fight

Daily Reading for February 26

Two old men had lived together for many years and they had never fought with one another. The first said to the other, “Let us also have a fight like other men.” The other replied, “I do not know how to fight.” The first said to him, “Look, I will put a brick between us and I will say: it is mine; and you will reply: no, it is mine; and so the fight will begin.” So they put a brick between them and the first said, “This brick is mine,” and the other said, “No, it is mine.” And the first replied, “If it is yours, take it and go.” So they gave it up without being able to find a cause for an argument.

From The Desert of the Heart: Daily Readings with the Desert Fathers, edited by Benedicta Ward (Darton, Longman and Todd, 1988).

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Spiritual Practice of the Day http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/

A hasid complains to his rebbe that wherever he goes, people step on his toes. The rebbe says, "You don't give people room, so they have no where to step but on your toes."
— Nilton Bonder quoted in Working on God by Winifred Gallagher

To Practice This Thought: Don't hog the spotlight; give others a chance to strut their stuff.
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Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php

For me, prayer means launching out of the heart towards God; it means lifting up ones' eyes, quite simply, to heaven, a cry of grateful love, from the crest of joy or the trough of despair.
St Therese of the Child Jesus
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Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html

from http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexsayings2.htm

Make glad, O Jerusalem, and all ye who love Sion, keep feast.
Today the ancient bond of the condemnation of Adam is loosed.
Paradise is opened to us: the serpent is laid low; for of old he
deceived the woman in Paradise, but now he seeth a woman become
the Mother of the Creator. O the depth of the riches of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! The instrument of sin that brought death
upon all flesh hath become the first fruits of salvation for the
whole world through the Theotokos. For God the All-perfect is born
a babe of her, and by His birth He doth set a seal upon her
virginity. By His swaddling bands he doth loose the bands of sin,
and by becoming a child He doth heal Eve's pangs in travail.
Wherefore, let all creation sing and dance for joy, for Christ
hath come to restore it and to save our souls.

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Daily Meditation from http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/PraytheOffice/morningprayer.html

Meditation for Day 26



MY MASTER'S FACE
No pictured likeness of my Lord
I have;
He carved no record
of His ministry
on wood or stone,
He left no sculptured tomb
nor parchment dim
but trusted for all memory of Him
the heart alone.

Who sees the face but sees in part;
Who reads the spirit which it hides,
sees all;
he needs no more.

Thy life in my life, Lord,
give Thou to me;
and then, in truth,
I may forever see
my Master's face!
William Hurd Hillyer
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Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/

Facing Our Mortality

We all have dreams about the perfect life: a life without pain, sadness, conflict, or war. The spiritual challenge is to experience glimpses of this perfect life right in the middle of our many struggles. By embracing the reality of our mortal life, we can get in touch with the eternal life that has been sown there. The apostle Paul expresses this powerfully when he writes: "We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our ... mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:8-12).

Only by facing our mortality can we come in touch with the life that transcends death. Our imperfections open for us the vision of the perfect life that God in and through Jesus has promised us.
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From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis: http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml

Day Twenty Six - The Second Note, cont'd

Therefore, we seek to love all those to whom we are bound by ties of family or friendship. Our love for them increases as their love for Christ grows deeper. We have a special love and affection for members of the Third Order, praying for each other individually and seeking to grow in that love. We are on our guard against anything which might injure this love, and we seek reconciliation with those from whom we are estranged. We seek the same love for those with whom we have little natural affinity, for this kind of love is not a welling up of emotion, but is a bond founded in our common union with Christ.
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Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/

Moments of Loneliness
February 26th, 2008
Tuesday’s Reflection

CONTEMPORARY LIFE provides precious little space for discernment, given the overriding burden of time. We hurry from one task to another, expressing thoughts and emotions on the fly but rarely sitting down to discern what they may be saying to us. Even accomplished multitaskers know moments of loneliness. In a quiet, predawn moment or while daydreaming between gulps of coffee at a traffic light, an ache may surface. We yearn to share the ordinary ups and downs of our lives with someone, the unspoken prayers we don’t feel comfortable uttering at a church meeting, and experiences like the moment when we realized God had healed our heart after years of grieving a loss.

- Stephanie Ford
Kindred Souls: Connecting through Spiritual Friendship

From p. 63 of Kindred Souls by Stephanie Ford. Copyright © 2006 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

Contemplative Prayer

Question of the day:
Where do you abide?

"Whoever remains in me as I in them, will bear much fruit." (John 15:5) That's the language of all of the mystics—the language of union. If it's not the language of union, don't trust it.

Mother Teresa said a person consciously filling a vase with water out of union and love of God is giving more glory to God than a priest at the altar who is standing there in a state of anger or separateness. It's all about the who, not the what, and we spend all of our time concentrating on what "I" should do.

from Contemplative Prayer
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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

Manna

Our Lord Jesus Christ nourishes us for eternal life both by his commands, which teach us how to live holy lives, and by the eucharist. He in himself therefore is truly the divine, life-giving manna. Anyone who eats it will be exempt from corruption and will escape death, unlike those who ate the material manna. That type had no power to save, but was merely an imitation of the reality.

God sent down manna like rain from above, and ordered everyone to gather as much as necessary, those who shared a tent gathering together if they wished. Gather it, each of you, he said, with those who share your tent. Let none of it be left over till the morning. That is to say, we must fill ourselves with the divine teaching of the gospel.

Christ indeed gives us his grace in equal measure, whether we are great or small, and bestows life-giving food on all alike. He wishes the stronger among us to gather for the others, working on behalf of their sisters and brothers, lending them their labor so that all may share in the heavenly gifts.

Cyril of Alexandria
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Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/

INFERIOR MISGIVINGS ABOUT JESUS


"Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with." John 4:11

"I am impressed with the wonder of what God says, but He cannot expect me really to live it out in the details of my life!" When it comes to facing Jesus Christ on His own merits, our attitude is one of pious superiority - Your ideals are high and they impress us, but in touch with actual things, it cannot be done. Each of us thinks about Jesus in this way in some particular. These misgivings about Jesus start from the amused questions put to us when we talk of our transactions with God - Where are you going to get your money from? How are you going to be looked after? Or they start from ourselves when we tell Jesus that our case is a bit too hard for Him. It is all very well to say "Trust in the Lord," but a man must live, and Jesus has nothing to draw with - nothing whereby to give us these things. Beware of the pious fraud in you which says - I have no misgivings about Jesus, only about myself. None of us ever had misgivings about ourselves; we know exactly what we cannot do, but we do have misgivings about Jesus. We are rather hurt at the idea that He can do what we cannot.

My misgivings arise from the fact that I ransack my own person to find out how He will be able to do it. My questions spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, let me bring them to the light and confess them - "Lord, I have had misgivings about Thee, I have not believed in Thy wits apart from my own; I have not believed in Thine almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it."
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 26, June 27, October 27
Chapter 20: On Reverence in Prayer

When we wish to suggest our wants to persons of high station,
we do not presume to do so
except with humility and reverence.
How much the more, then,
are complete humility and pure devotion necessary
in supplication of the Lord who is God of the universe!
And let us be assured
that it is not in saying a great deal that we shall be heard (Matt 6:7),
but in purity of heart and in tears of compunction.
Our prayer, therefore, ought to be short and pure,
unless it happens to be prolonged
by an inspiration of divine grace.
In community, however, let prayer be very short,
and when the Superior gives the signal let all rise together.
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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 14:10-42 (2/26) Gospel for Tuesday, Week of the Last
Judgment (Meatfare)

Responses to Christ's Passion-II ~ Moments of Choice: St. Mark 14:10-42,
especially vs. 38: "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation." As
we begin the Great Fast, St. Mark's Passion account (Chapters 11, 14,
15) invites reflection on the Lord Jesus' Passion, that we might
meditate on the sufferings and death whereby Christ our God has given
unto us life and immortality. Later, in Great and Holy Week, the Church
will again place our Savior's Passion before us in the narratives from
the other Gospels, thus framing our Lenten journey.

Today's Gospel reading places six real-life choices before us, decisions
one might face on any given day: to betray, obey, follow, protect one's
self, desert, or suffer with.
1) Judas, as one of the Twelve most trusted, betrayed the Lord (vs.
10). He chose to approach the chief priests that he might betray the
Lord. His choice - to seek out the authorities, to cooperate with the
Lord's enemies - was his own. The religious leaders did not come to him
(vs. 10). Yes, but we face the same choice every day. We may betray
Christ by compromising His truth (I do not have any sins to confess), by
deserting Him (I do not need to attend Liturgy every Sunday), by acts of
petty self-interest (I have to tell a little lie to get ahead), or by
mindless, plain carelessness (I like to see how fast my new car really
will go).

2) Then, there is the choice to carry out tasks thoroughly and
diligently. At Jesus' bidding, two of His disciples "went out and came
into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they
prepared the Passover" (vs. 16). Opportunities of this sort fill every
day of life. We may do our chores as God-given tasks, as would please
Him, following directions, doing the task correctly, carrying out every
detail with care and attention. On the other hand, we may do just
enough to get by, give a project a quick fix, but not follow through
with every detail. In what moment is the choice to obey Christ not
present? Do we always work and speak to please Him?

3) To follow the Lord, is to remain close to Him. When the Supper
ended, and "...they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of
Olives" (vs. 26). Wandering off and "doing our own thing" are available
choices. Those who finally would meet Him in the Resurrection followed
Him as the clouds of suffering and death gathered. Yes, they fell
asleep (vs. 37); but who among us has not discovered that the spirit is
willing but the flesh is weak (Mk. 14:38)?

4) At the Supper, the Lord told the disciples, "All of you will be made
to stumble because of Me..." (vs. 27). Sooner or later every disciple
of the Lord fails Him through "self interest." Were it not for the
Cross and His forgiveness, for His Resurrection, and for the Gift of the
Spirit, we would all fail our gracious Lord and live permanently in
despair. Save us, O Savior!

5) Like St. Peter, we prefer to think of ourselves as those who would
never flee from Christ for any reason (vss. 29,31), yet we make little
evasions and forsake Him (Mk. 14:50). We protect a false "self" when we
fib to avoid the crosses that inevitably come our way. Who is our true
"self"? Have we not chosen to put on Christ, to stand with Him, not to
gloss the truth? When others make coarse jokes about sacred matters, do
we laugh? Do we go to movies or watch TV programs that insult the
Faith? Beloved brethren, we choose! Pray for the grace to be loyal!

6) Finally, there is the possibility of suffering with Christ and for
Him. Yes, that night in the garden, He said, " Rise, let us be going.
See, My betrayer is at hand" (vs. 42). But notice: those who did flee
thereafter met Him risen and alive, chose His salvation, and embraced
death. Christ was very forthright with us: "as I said to the Jews,
'Where I Am going, you cannot come'" (Jn. 13:33) - there is only one
Savior; but He does tell us, "Love one another" (Jn. 13:34)!

O Christ our Salvation, Who didst suffer in pity for mankind, save us
who cry to Thee.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Reading 02/25/08

Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 25, June 26, October 26
Chapter 19: On the Manner of Saying the Divine Office

We believe that the divine presence is everywhere
and that "the eyes of the Lord
are looking on the good and the evil in every place" (Prov. 15:3).
But we should believe this especially without any doubt
when we are assisting at the Work of God.
To that end let us be mindful always of the Prophet's words,
"Serve the Lord in fear" (Ps. 2:11)
and again "Sing praises wisely" (Ps. 46:8)
and "In the sight of the Angels I will sing praise to You" (Ps. 137:1).
Let us therefore consider how we ought to conduct ourselves
in sight of the Godhead and of His Angels,
and let us take part in the psalmody in such a way
that our mind may be in harmony with our voice.
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Some Thoughts:

I have to ask myself... do I really live as if I believe the divine presences is everywhere and the eyes of the Lord are gazing at me? You wouldn't know it from the comments I make to other drivers on the freeway. mercifully, they can't hear my unloving and unlovable comments.

Benedict says we should be especially aware of this during the "work of God" which we know is praying the daily office.

Benedict invited us to "take part in the psalmody in such a way that our mind may be in harmony with our voice." Paul tells us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds.

Yes, please.

Labels: , ,

Daily Meditation 02/25/08

[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]






Collect
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Almighty God, who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve: Grant that your Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors; 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.
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Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/

AM Psalm 80; PM Psalm 77, [79]
Gen. 44:18-34; 1 Cor. 7:25-31; Mark 5:21-43
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From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm

John 15:1, 6-16. You did not choose me, but I chose you.

In The Silver Chair (volume four of C. S. Lewis's
The Chronicles of Narnia), young Jill assumes that Aslan, the great golden Christlike lion, has opened the way into Narnia for the children because they called on him to help them. But Aslan corrects her gently: "You would not have called me, unless I had been calling you," echoing Jesus' words to his disciples on the night he was betrayed: "You did not choose me, but I chose you."

Today we remember Saint Matthias, the apostle the disciples chose to replace the traitor Judas in the fellowship of the Twelve. Matthias had been with them from the beginning, Peter reminds the others, and thus is qualified to "become a witness with us to Christ's resurrection."

Matthias is never mentioned in scripture again; we know nothing else about him. Nonetheless he was called and chosen to complete the apostolic band, to become a witness to our Risen Lord.

Matthias, it seems to me, could be the patron saint for all of us (and our name is legion) of whom history may record nothing, but who have been chosen and called by God to be faithful witnesses of the power of Christ's resurrection in the world and in our lives.
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Today we remember:
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary

St. Matthias
AM: Psalm 80; 1 Samuel 16:1-13; 1 John 2:18-25
PM: Psalm 33; 1 Samuel 12:1-5; Acts 20:17-35

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Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of Bendigo (Victoria, Australia)
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
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40 Ideas for Lent: A Lenten calendar http://ship-of-fools.com/lent/index.html


17. BREATHE
MON 25 FEB

Today, in the morning, in the afternoon, and before you sleep, take a few minutes to notice that you are breathing... and how it is quietly keeping you alive.

Idea by Simon P

"Men go abroad to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering." – St Augustine
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A Celtic lenten Calendar
http://www.oursanctuary.net/celticlent.html



The Image of God

3. Salvation is the restoration of goodness. "For the Celts salvation was the restoration of original goodness. What had been covered needed to be uncovered. What had been lost needed to be found. This finding and uncovering was the work of Jesus, who came to banish evil and restore creation's goodness. God's Spirit was fully present in Jesus, and the gracefulness of his life, makes our restoration possible. As Jesus healed the sick and forgave sinners, he restored the divine image in us. Once again we can all live as God's sons and daughters. Knowing that they were God's sons and daughters and were given the grace to live that way, the Celts understood their goal was to become more and more like Jesus in their own life and work.



For a Celtic Lent: "Think of yourself as being created in the image of God. How does it feel to know that you too are God's beloved child, that God's spirit is within you? What is covering up that image, choking that Spirit in your life. What needs to happen to uncover, to revive it, in you this Lent?
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Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan
Read Excerpts from the Church Fathers during Lent
http://www.churchyear.net/lentfathers.html

St. Justin Martyr: First Apology: 60-68
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Speaking to the Soul: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/

The hidden ones

Daily Reading for February 25 • St. Matthias the Apostle

All we know is that his name was Matthias and that for some reason he was chosen to replace the traitor Judas in the circle of Jesus’ apostles. . . . I have a feeling that Matthias turns up many times in our lives. He is the person who just failed to get into the photograph; either he was not there when it was taken or he stood behind someone taller or bigger. Matthias is the new neighbor we have glimpsed only once; is he worth getting to know? Or is he the person we have met only briefly, and yet when he walks out of our lives forever we are intrigued and haunted?

Matthias turns up many times in the lives of parish churches, especially in the very large ones, the kind we call corporate parishes these days. These are the people that you never really get to know beyond the shake of the hand at coffee hour, the exchange of smiles. At first she may volunteer her name, but somehow it never settles in your mind and she remains anonymous in her quiet, faithful way. Months, even years, go by until something happens or something is said that makes you realize that there is within this person a very great soul. Perhaps it turns out that the whole congregation comes to realize that hidden within its life is someone whose courage or faithfulness or generosity puts others to shame. I call someone like that my Matthias.

From For All the Saints: Homilies for Saints’ and Holy Days by Herbert O’Driscoll (Cowley Publications, 1995).
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Spiritual Practice of the Day http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/

Blessed, therefore, are the strangers.
— Muhammad quoted in The Knowing Heart by Kabir Helminski

To Practice This Thought: Repeat this statement when you are out in a crowd and see how it affects your attitudes toward others.
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Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php

Enter within yourself and work in the presence of your Spouse Who is ever present loving you.
St John of the Cross
Spiritual Canticle, 1.8
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Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html

from http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexsayings2.htm


Christ is Risen!
O the marvel! the forbearance! the immeasurable meekness!
The Untouched is felt; the Master is held by a servant,
And He reveals His wounds to one of His inner circle.
Seeing these wounds, the whole Creation was shaken at the time.
Thomas, when he was considered worthy of such gifts,
Lifted up a prayer to the One Who deemed him worthy,
Saying, "Bear my rashness with patience,
Have pity on my unworthiness and lighten the burden
Of my lack of faith, so that I may sing and cry,
`Thou art our Lord and God.'"

Kontakia of Romanos, V. 1, On Doubting Thomas
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Daily Meditation from http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/PraytheOffice/morningprayer.html

Meditation for Day 25



Of all in earth and heaven
the dearest name to me
is the matchless name of Jesus
the Christ of Calvary!
The Christ of Calvary!
The dearest name to me
is the matchless name of Jesus
the Christ of Calvary.
I cannot help but love Him
or tell His love to me
for He became my ransom,
the Christ of Calvary.
The Christ of Calvary!
The dearest name to me
is the matchless name of Jesus
the Christ of Calvary.
I could not live without Him,
His love is life to me.
My blood-bought life I give Him,
the Christ of Calvary.
The Christ of Calvary!
The dearest name to me
is the matchless name of Jesus
the Christ of Calvary.
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Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/

Hidden Greatness

There is much emphasis on notoriety and fame in our society. Our newspapers and television keep giving us the message: What counts is to be known, praised, and admired, whether you are a writer, an actor, a musician, or a politician.

Still, real greatness is often hidden, humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. We must have strong self-confidence combined with deep humility. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.
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From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis: http://www.tssf.org/textonly/principles.shtml

Day Twenty Five - The Second Note -

Love

Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35) Love is the distinguishing feature of all true disciples of Christ who wish to dedicate themselves to him as his servants.
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Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/

God Is Near
February 25th, 2008
Monday’s Reflection

GOD IS BEYOND but also near, transcendent and immanent. Seen not only with telescopic vision but also in the microscopic view of deep intimacy. God is the Source beyond my imagining and also the Love who is immediately present. God, the Center of all, dwells at the center of my being. So when I am centered, I open the eyes of my heart to perceive God’s presence, transcendent in glory and present here and now. I receive the gift of an intimate relationship with God deeper than words can express. I let go of my efforts to reach God and simply rest in the love of the Trinity. I let go of my attachments and surrender myself to Christ. I release whatever thoughts come to me and consent to the Presence and to the restoring action of the Spirit within.

- J. David Muyskens
Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God: The Practice of Centering Prayer

From pp. 13-14 of Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God by J. David Muyskens. Copyright © 2006 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

Contemplative Prayer

Question of the day:
How do we know when we are transformed?

Religion teaches us about the transformed self. It's a different I. Paul uses that wonderful phrase, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20). It is a different sense of self. I think until you have come to that realization, you have not been transformed.

Contemplative prayer draws us to our true self. This is the only self that's ever existed. We came forth from God and our deepest DNA is divine. We are not human beings trying to become spiritual, we are already spiritual beings and the profound question is how to be human. I believe that is why Jesus came as a human being.

from Contemplative Prayer
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Weekly Reflection from the Merton Institute

The Burial of Herman Hanekamp

[The following entry from Merton's private journals describes the funeral of Herman Hanekamp, who did not succeed as a novice at Gethsemani, but who was allowed to live on Linton Farm, a property the Abbey owned. When Herman moved in, Merton wrote: "He came over in the rain with all his possessions in a mule cart. It was a pathetic sight." Many at the Abbey considered Hanekamp a "character" and a "bum". But Merton attests, perhaps seriously, that, of all the members of Gethsemani's community he had known to that point, he would have most wanted to be like Herman.]

This morning I went to the funeral of Herman Hanekamp in New Haven. Started out in the frost after dawn. The body laid out in the funeral parlor was that of a millionaire, a great executive. I never before saw Herman shaven, in a suit, least of all, in a collar and tie. He looked like one of the great of the earth. I was a pallbearer along with Andy Boone, Hanekamp's old friend Glen Price (a great stout man with a lined face like the side of an old building but very humble and gentle). Brothers Clement and Colman were pallbearers and another man with a shoelace necktie. . . .

When we came out of the church into the sun, carrying the coffin, the bright air seemed full of great joy and a huge freight train came barreling through the valley with a sound of power like an army. All the pride of the world of industry seemed, somehow, to be something that belonged to Herman. What a curious obsession with the conviction of him as a great, rich man, tremendously respected by the whole world! We drove back to bury him in the graveyard outside the monastery gate.

The bare woods stood wise and strong in the sun as if they were proud of some great success that had been achieved in secret with their connivance and consent.

As we carried the coffin through the sunlit yard, I listened with exaltation: it was hailed by the singing of skylarks on the second day of January.

What has triumphed here is not admired by anyone, despised even by the monks who also could not help thinking of Herman as a lazy man and an escapist. He had not taken seriously the world of business so important to us all. And now behold--a captain of industry!

Thomas Merton. A Search for Solitude. Edited by Lawrence S. Cunningham (San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 1996): 245.

Thought for the Day

Herman, who was once a novice here (in the days before the first world war) is one of the very few members or former members of the community that I have ever had any desire to imitate.

A Search for Solitude: 242.
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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

God's way is an ascent

We might suppose a path pointed out by God would be a smooth and pleasant one, free of obstacles and requiring no effort from the traveler, but in fact God's way is an ascent, a tortuous and rugged climb. There can be no downhill road to virtue—it is uphill all the way, and the path is narrow and arduous. Listen also to the Lord's warning in the gospel: The way that leads to life, he says, is narrow and hard. Notice how close the agreement is between the gospel and the law. In the law the way of virtue is shown to be a tortuous climb; the gospels speak of the way that leads to life as narrow and hard. Is it not obvious then, even to the blind, that the law and the gospels were both written by one and the same Spirit?

And so the road they followed was a winding ascent, an ascent surmounted by a beacon. The ascent refers to works and the beacon to faith, so that we can see the great difficulty and laborious effort involved in both faith and works. Many are the temptations we shall meet and many the obstacles to faith that lie in store for us in our desire to pursue the things of God.

Origen of Alexandria
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Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/

THE DESTITUTION OF SERVICE


"Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." 2 Corinthians 12:15

Natural love expects some return, but Paul says - I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may get you to God. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor." Paul's idea of service is exactly along that line - I do not care with what extravagance I spend myself, and I will do it gladly. It was a joyful thing to Paul.

The ecclesiastical idea of a servant of God is not Jesus Christ's idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of other men. Jesus Christ out-socialists the socialists. He says that in His Kingdom he that is greatest shall be the servant of all. The real test of the saint is not preaching the gospel, but washing disciples' feet, that is, doing the things that do not count in the actual estimate of men but count everything in the estimate of God. Paul delighted to spend himself out for God's interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. We come in with our economical notions - "Suppose God wants me to go there - what about the salary? What about the climate? How shall I be looked after? A man must consider these things." All that is an indication that we are serving God with a reserve. The apostle Paul had no reserve. Paul focuses Jesus Christ's idea of a New Testament saint in his life, viz.: not one who proclaims the Gospel merely, but one who becomes broken bread and poured out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for other lives.
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Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 25, June 26, October 26
Chapter 19: On the Manner of Saying the Divine Office

We believe that the divine presence is everywhere
and that "the eyes of the Lord
are looking on the good and the evil in every place" (Prov. 15:3).
But we should believe this especially without any doubt
when we are assisting at the Work of God.
To that end let us be mindful always of the Prophet's words,
"Serve the Lord in fear" (Ps. 2:11)
and again "Sing praises wisely" (Ps. 46:8)
and "In the sight of the Angels I will sing praise to You" (Ps. 137:1).
Let us therefore consider how we ought to conduct ourselves
in sight of the Godhead and of His Angels,
and let us take part in the psalmody in such a way
that our mind may be in harmony with our voice.
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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 11:1-11 (2/25) The Gospel for
Monday of the Week of Meatfare

Responses to Christ's Passion I ~ Understanding: St. Mark 11:1-11,
especially vs. 10: "Blessed is the Kingdom of our father David That
comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" The Gospels
for the next five days trace St. Mark's account of the Passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The narrative begins with the Lord's regal-style
arrival in Jerusalem for what would be His last pilgrimage to celebrate
Passover. Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of the Bulgarian Church at
the end of the 11th Century, observes that on numerous occasions the
Lord Jesus had come to the Holy City. His earlier visits largely had
been private, subdued, or unobtrusive (but see Lk. 2:46-47; Jn. 2:13-24;
7:37-52). However, on this occasion, Christ and His growing notoriety
converged to transform His entry into a significant public event.

Blessed Theophylact notes Jesus' reason for going public: "The Lord did
this so that they might understand His glory if they wanted to
understand, and so that by seeing in Him the fulfillment of the
prophecies, they might know that He is truly God. But if they did not
wish to understand, it would be to their greater condemnation, that not
even with such glorious miracles did they believe."1 Thus, we too must
observe Him and choose: how shall we understand Jesus?

By speaking of "understanding," Blessed Theophylact does not refer to
our having certain information. Rather, he focuses attention on
Christ's true nature and purpose in order to separate those who
understand and accept Jesus as Lord and those who refuse His
sovereignty. Will you open your hearts to God, or will you choose to
avoid, resist, or ignore Him?

The Saint echoes the universal call of all the Prophets, Apostles, and
other Biblical writers. For example, the Prophet Jeremiah grieves with
the Lord that the people of his day, "'like their bow...have bent their
tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For
they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,' says the Lord"
(Jer. 9:3).

Like our original parents, we choose to sin and stultify our
understanding - not only of God, but of ourselves as well. St. Paul
says that all men fall under the wrath of God because they "...suppress
the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is
manifest in them, for God has shown it to them" (Rom. 1:18,19). In
practice "...although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God,
nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish
hearts were darkened" (Rom. 1:21). Willful ignorance leads to confusion
and darkness.

No fault may be placed against God for our failure to understand. Even
in our legal tradition, the principle of "ignorantia juris," or
"ignorance of the law," admits of no exception. Compassion and common
sense allow for "mitigating circumstances" about facts, but not in cases
involving duty. St. Paul says that even those who never have read the
Law of God "...show the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness..." (Rom. 2:15).

God has revealed Himself to all of us in a manner that everyone can
understand - as fellow human beings. He has revealed His will through
all cultures and in all periods of history. Truly the Lord has gone out
of His way to help all men understand His will and purpose: "Has it not
been told thee, O man, what is good? or what does the Lord require of
thee but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the
Lord thy God?" (Mic. 6:8). So, you may choose to "understand" and to
pray with the Prophet David, "Let my supplication draw nigh before Thee,
O Lord; according to Thine oracle give me understanding" (Ps. 118:169).
Among those who welcomed the Lord in triumph, there were those who
wanted true knowledge of God. Join them and cry "Blessed is He Who
comes in the Name of the Lord" (Mk. 11:9)!

O loving Christ, deliver us from the darkness of ignorance, and fill us
with the stream of Thy knowledge, that we may become sons and daughters
of Thine undying Light.