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Please note that the meditations for Saturday, Sunday and Monday are being sent in advance because I will be away this weekend for my annual retreat. Please say a prayer for me and all my fellow-Carmelites on retreat. -joachim
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The Catholic Calendar for Monday, October 13, 2003
Twenty-eighth week Ordinary Time
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Romans 1:1-7
Psalm 98:1-4
Luke 11:29-32
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
Since Adam it seems that there have been requests for a sign from God to show His power and authority. I ask why? Why does the creator of all things have to show a sign? I submit that He does show us a sign - every minute of the day.
I invite you to try something: choose a day and carry a notepad with you wherever you go and whenever you see a sign of God write it down. Be observant!
I tried this recently and I'll share a brief part of the beginning of my list of the signs from an Almighty God:
- sunrise
- my wife next to me as I awake
- the smell of fresh coffee
- my son wiping the sleep from his eyes
Four signs of an Almighty God - and the day had just begun! Granted, not one was a miracle in the normal sense, but they are all miracles nonetheless.
Do you think you need a sign? Open your eyes and you'll see countless signs of God wherever you look.
- Don Claunch, SFO
The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, October 12, 2003
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Wisdom 7:7-11
Psalm 90:12-17
Hebrews 4:12-13
Mark 10:17-30
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
‘Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.’
In today’s first reading, we listen to the merits of wisdom and how everything in this material world is secondary to Her. It reminds me of a quote from the book of Job 28:28: ‘And He said to humankind: Truly the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil is understanding.’ So too, in Proverbs we are told: ‘Keep sound wisdom and prudence, and they will be life for your soul.’ Again Wisdom is elevated in Solomon 7:24 ‘God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom…in kinship with wisdom, there is immortality.’
Part of the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) prayer is the strength to accept the things we cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference. Wisdom is that inner knowing or recognition that only comes from God. Concerned only with our humanity, we would always look to satisfy our senses and our desires yet wisdom understands that all things of this earth pass, that nothing truly matters unless it is grounded in God, in divine Love.
Today, I want to bring to mind all those who are faced with difficult decisions in their lives, who are at a crossroads so to speak. May the Holy Spirit bring forth the spirit of wisdom in their hearts that they may discern the right path in union with God.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
- Cliodhna Doyle (clia at cliadoyle dot com)
The Catholic Calendar for Saturday, October 11, 2003
Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Joel 4:12-21
Psalm 97:1-2,5-6,11-12
Luke 11:27-28
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
Blest are they who hear the word of God...
Jesus does not deny that his mother is blessed. But blessed as she
is, Jesus tells us that the person who hears the word of God and
keeps it is especially blest. His own Mother met this criterion,
the saints met it.
Jesus has promised a special blessing for simply listening, being
present to God and heeding what he has to say to us in our present
state of life. Let us worship Him and remember the blessings of
great obedience.
- JuandelaCruz
The Catholic Calendar for Friday, October 10, 2003
Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Joel 1:13-15;2:1-2
Psalm 9:2-3,6,16,8-9
Luke 11:15-26
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
Often when reading Holy Scripture I am reminded that God's ways are not our ways. Today is one of those times and in addition to recognizing that God acts differently than us, I say, Thank God! or more accurately, Thank you God.
Like many, I am sure that there have been times when you wished that God would just swoop down with His power and put an end to all the abhorrences hurled against Him. If things were left up to us with our human mentality, everything regarding human history would have been over before it hardly had begun.
God instead is patient and we are reminded in scripture that His patience is directed toward our salvation. Let us then not be so quick to tell God what to do, but instead submit moment by moment to His mighty plan.
When we are tempted to ask God to 'get on with the program' let us remember that today's First Reading from holy scripture says that the 'day of the Lord' will be a frightening day of divine judgment. May we not be found unprepared, but utilize every opportunity that God grants us for our salvation and that of the world. May our prayer be the prayer of Jesus who said, Father, that none may be lost.
- Donna Raye Nelson, ocds (drn3rd at hotmail dot com)
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