Friday, October 08, 2004

2:59 am

The Catholic Calendar for Saturday, October 9, 2004
Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
St. Denis, bishop, martyr and companions, martyrs
St. John Leonardi, priest

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Galatians 3:22-29
Psalm 105:2-7
Luke 11:27-28

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Hear and Observe (see Luke 11:27-28)

Jesus replies to the acclamation, blessing the one whose womb and breasts brought forth His life and sustained Him; that what truly gives Life to Him is the soul that makes Him present in our Living.

Like Mary, we will to prayerfully conceive the Word, to pray, ponder and grow it, and give the Word viability until He is beheld first by us and then by others through us. It is He that becomes evident in our lives and He, that like Mary, we sustain by lovingly nurturing His Life into mature faith.

Quite like the transformation of a pregnant woman who grows new life in the emptiness that is intended for creation of life, we cooperate with our Lord to conceive and bear the new life that is known as "God with us" -- "Emmanuel."

Empty of self, we find He becomes more and more present, until quite noticeably He presents Himself in the monstrances of our lives.

To sustain "God with us" we must truly conform our lives to Him; we love Him, we bear all things for love of Him; and it becomes Christ who is seen. Yes, His life is nurtured by the milk of our perpetual observance of Him; but then, who would take the eyes of their prayerful communion, the shared affection that hastens one's will to conform to Him, their beloved? The attentive beloved hears and observes what the Love desires.

O Beloved Lord,
may we conceive,
nurture
and sustain You with us,
observing Your every desire.

Amen

- Mary Williams
(wlmsconsul at pdq dot net)


The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, October 10, 2004
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
2 Kings 5:14-17
Psalm 98:1-4
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

As faithful and practicing Catholics we may find ourselves at times taking for granted the beautiful traditions and immense wealth of our Catholic faith and think all that it contains belongs to us by right and not as a gift.

Today's readings remind us that God offers Himself in all His immensity not just to us and the "chosen ones" of ages long past, but to everyone--in every age, in every time. Our recognition of this might help us to be less complacent about--and more grateful for--the faith we have embraced. It might tend to make us cherish and protect it, lest it wither and disappear.

Perhaps it is a lesson that we as Catholics are just now seeing with ever-greater frequency--that those of other denominations with great joy and unabashed enthusiastic commitment are the ones that are proclaiming with more "takers", the Good News of redemption.

Let us not be disheartened; but remember how dear we and all others are to the Lord. Let us never fail to be like the one Samaritan who came back to Jesus to praise and render thanksgiving. And what is it that you might give praise and thanksgiving for? Perhaps the often taken-for-granted fact that we have been blessed to be Catholic and to belong to the Church that is the treasury of the promises of Christ. Knowing this and believing this, may we then be more humble, more grateful, more empowered then ever, to be authentic and convincing witnesses for Christ.

- Donna Raye Nelson, OCDS
(drn3rd at hotmail dot com)
______________________


Scripture from today's Mass: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm
Lives of the saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/
Daily Meditations in Spanish: http://www.daily-meditations.org/SpanishMeditations.html
Daily Meditations in English: http://www.daily-meditations.org/
-------------------------------
Please pray the Liturgy of Hours, PC or Mobile Device: http://www.liturgyhours.org/
-------------------------------
Recommend our website http://www.daily-meditations.org/ to your friends and Catholic webmasters.
See the meditations online at our Blog: http://dailymed.blogspot.com
(c)1986-2004 Reprints permitted except for profit. Credit required.

_____________________________
Unsubscribe: http://www.ymlp.com/u.php?dailymeds+steve-s.diurnaljesus@blogger.com
Hosting by http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com

# |