Posted on 02/25/2015 8:08:50 PM PST by Salvation
February 26, 2015
Thursday of the First Week in Lent
Reading 1 Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.
“And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Verse Before the Gospel Ps 51:12a, 14a
A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.
Gospel Mt 7:7-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”
-- Saint John Berchmans
Just A Minute (Listen) Some of EWTN's most popular hosts and guests in a collection of one minute inspirational messages. A different message each time you click. |
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The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. |
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Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 7 |
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7. | Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. | Petite, et dabitur vobis : quærite, et invenietis : pulsate, et aperietur vobis. | αιτειτε και δοθησεται υμιν ζητειτε και ευρησετε κρουετε και ανοιγησεται υμιν |
8. | For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. | Omnis enim qui petit, accipit : et qui quærit, invenit : et pulsanti aperietur. | πας γαρ ο αιτων λαμβανει και ο ζητων ευρισκει και τω κρουοντι ανοιγησεται |
9. | Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? | Aut quis est ex vobis homo, quem si petierit filius suus panem, numquid lapidem porriget ei ? | η τις εστιν εξ υμων ανθρωπος ον εαν αιτηση ο υιος αυτου αρτον μη λιθον επιδωσει αυτω |
10. | Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent? | aut si piscem petierit, numquid serpentem porriget ei ? | και εαν ιχθυν αιτηση μη οφιν επιδωσει αυτω |
11. | If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? | Si ergo vos, cum sitis mali, nostis bona data dare filiis vestris : quanto magis Pater vester, qui in cælis est, dabit bona petentibus se ? | ει ουν υμεις πονηροι οντες οιδατε δοματα αγαθα διδοναι τοις τεκνοις υμων ποσω μαλλον ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις δωσει αγαθα τοις αιτουσιν αυτον |
12. | All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. | Omnia ergo quæcumque vultis ut faciant vobis homines, et vos facite illis. Hæc est enim lex, et prophetæ. | παντα ουν οσα αν θελητε ινα ποιωσιν υμιν οι ανθρωποι ουτως και υμεις ποιειτε αυτοις ουτος γαρ εστιν ο νομος και οι προφηται |
Welcome.
Feast Day: February 26
Born: 347, Thessalonica, Greece
Died: February 26, 420, Gaza, Palestine
Let’s give St. Matthew the credit!
St. Porphyry
Feast Day: February 26
Born: (around)360 : : Died: 420
Porphyry was born at Thessalonica, in Greece to wealthy, noble parents. He left his family when he was twenty-five and went to Egypt to enter a monastery as a Hermit, in the desert of Skete. After five years, he made a trip to Jerusalem. He wanted to visit the places where Jesus had actually been while he was on earth.
Porphyry was very fascinated by the Holy Land. His love for Jesus made him more deeply aware of the sufferings of the poor. At home in Thessalonica he had never known what it was like to be poor. Now he still owned all the property and wealth that his parents had left him, but not for long.
He asked his friend Mark to go to Thessalonica and sell everything for him. After three months, Mark returned with the money. This, Porphyry gave away to those who really needed it. He then lived for a while as a Hermit in Palestine on the banks of the river Jordan.
At the age of forty he became a priest and was given care of the relics (remains) of the true cross of Jesus. Porphyry was then made bishop of Gaza in Palestine. He worked generously to lead the people to believe in Jesus and to accept the faith.
But it was hard and slow work that required a great amount of patience. Most of people who lived there at that time were pagans who worshiped false gods and had wrong ideas. Although Porphyry was able to stop many of these pagan practices, he had enemies who made him suffer much.
Others who were Christians loved and admired him very much. They prayed and made sacrifices for him begging God to protect him. Bishop Porphyry spent many years strengthening the Christian community, teaching and preaching about all that Christianity stood for. He died in 420.
Have I trusted God in all my undertakings, believing that he watches over me? Are there some parts of my life still controlled by fear?
Thursday, February 26
Liturgical Color: Violet
Today the Church recalls St. Paula of
Saint Joseph of Calasanz. In 1847, she
founded the Daughters of Mary, which
operated several schools in Spain. The
goal of the order was to provide a good
education while maintaining devotion to
God.
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, 3 and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Other ancient authorities add verse 11, "For the Son of man came to save the lost."
A hundred sheep: Jesus is often described as a shepherd (25:32; Jn 10:1-18; 1 Pet 2:25). This parable alludes to the messianic prophecy of Ezek 34:11-31. In context, Ezekiel foretells that God himself would assume the role of a shepherd to seek out and rescue the lost sheep of his fold.
-- Allegorically (St. Hilary, St. Anselm): the lost sheep represent mankind, who went astray in sin. The 99 on the hills are the angels in heaven. In the Incarnation, Christ temporarily descended from the hills to seek the lost souls of men (cf. 15:24; Lk 19:10); through the redemption, Christ restores men to grace and raises them again to the company of the angels (cf. Heb 12:22).
Lent Day 9 – Obeying God
by Fr. Robert Barron
One of the most dreadful stories in the entire Bible is the one the ancient Israelites called “the Akeda,” the binding of Isaac. The story is terrible, not simply because it involves human sacrifice, not only because it involves a father’s willingness to kill his own son, but because it seems to set God against God.
After all, Isaac was the son of the promise, the son of Abraham’s impossibly old age, the one through whom Abraham would become the father of many nations. Hoping against hope, Abraham had continued to have faith, even as he and his wife became old and then ancient. This faith was finally justified as Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac.
Then, some twelve years later, when Isaac was just coming of age, Abraham heard a voice commanding him to sacrifice this son to God, this beloved, bearer of the promise of God. God asks obedience of Abraham.
Now I know many of us might grate against calls to be obedient to authority. But obedience (which means, fundamentally, “listening”) is absolutely essential to the Biblical perspective.
Obeying God is nothing like obeying a politician or a president or a king. Such people are flawed and sinful and sometimes have to be opposed. But God isn’t like that. God is love right through; he wants only what is for our good.
Another important point: politicians and presidents and kings put out policies that we can readily understand, but God is essentially mysterious. We cannot, even in principle, fully understand what God is up to, what his purposes are. His commands—which will always be for our good—are nevertheless often opaque to us. And this is precisely why we have to obey, listen, and abide—even when that obedience seems the height of folly.
February 26, 2015 by Dan Burke
In 1577, St. Teresa of Avila completed what is heralded as her seminal work on mental prayer, meditation, and contemplation in the Interior Castle. This guidebook to the most profound depths of prayer has become the standard against which all serious inquiries into interior progress must be measured. This is the reason that it is to St. Teresa that the Catechism of the Catholic Church poses the question, “What is contemplative prayer?”
It is in the fourth mansion of the Interior Castle that the author of this work, the holy Franciscan Friar, Peter of Alcántara, through his writings and relationship with St. Teresa, collaborates with her in an important exchange that should impact the way we view prayer today.
This collaboration arose from a dispute involving individuals positing to St. Teresa that a soul seeking to advance in prayer should work to manage thoughts or guide the mind to silence or stillness during prayer. Those advancing this idea cited St. Peter’s writings as proof of the veracity of their claims.
Owing to her knowledge of and respect for St. Peter, as he was one of her spiritual directors, St. Teresa desired to ensure that her thinking on the matter was correct. She turned to the text you now hold to resolve the dispute.
After her investigation, St. Teresa, not known for timidity of expression and emboldened by her union with St. Peter, attacked these false teachings with a notable force that should elicit our careful attention.
St. Teresa, in the third chapter of the fourth mansion of the Interior Castle argued four key points against using any method that is excessively focused on thought management during prayer. In summary, she argues that recollection is a loving awareness of the Lord that comes in the form of a gift and not as a result of spiritual gymnastics. Teresa argues that, as we become absorbed in the Lord, it is insufficient, stifling, frustrating and even dangerous to strive for some inert state of consciousness in which we act against our desire to understand. Instead of a state of consciousness, she encourages us to seek a loving friendship with God:
1) Deeper prayer does not require that we manage our thoughts (which she calls “human industry”) but that we seek to simply and humbly yield to the work of the Lord. Otherwise, she argues, the result will be that we further exacerbate the normal challenges of prayer.
2) Deeper prayer comes through a resignation to the will to God. This resignation brings peace, whereas human efforts bring frustration. Psychologically coercing ourselves to inactivity disturbs the true peace that the Lord wants to grant. Peace is a matter of bringing our created will into harmony with the loving Will that created it. Teresa, who understands the delicacy of spousal friendship with the Lord, is aware that on this point true peace requires a completely free response of the heart to the Lord’s self-disclosure. When we do not give space to the heart to make such a free response through petitionary prayer and meditation, we are trying to surmount the movements God Himself has inspired in it. Such coercion always does more harm than good.
3) “Because the same care which is employed for thinking on nothing, will, perhaps, excite the imagination to think much” instead. The effort to achieve a state of thoughtlessness can exacerbate the soul into thinking in even more distracting ways than otherwise would have been the case. We become aware that we are thinking not to think or else that we have achieved a state of thoughtlessness. But this awareness of our own mental activity or inertia, whether self-congratulatory or condemning, attends not to God or what He discloses but to self. It is locked in an orbit around one’s own big fat ego, unable to break free of its self-awareness even when it is not self-aware.
4) “Because the most pleasing and substantial service we can do for God is to have only His honor and glory in view, and to forget ourselves, our own benefit, delight, and pleasure.” Pursuing a psychic state can be a preoccupation and distraction when our attention should be on the Lord and on responding to His Presence. This is the same problem addressed in Teresa’s third point, but presented from the perspective of our friendship with God, the perspective out of which she begins her critique. If we are self-occupied with self-awareness or lack of self-awareness, thinking or not thinking, understanding or not understanding, we have already lost sight of the Lord. Our prayer is not a response of love to the One who loves us. Rather than the devotion of friendship and awareness of the otherness of God, rather than being vulnerable to adoration before the wonder of the Lord, we have fixated on things that will never expand the heart or allow it to be humble before Him.
Teresa continues her argument with the admonition that we should not seek to “charm our faculties” into some false state of readiness for God, but that if our mind or faculties are ever to be suspended or managed, then the valid impetus or force to achieve such an end comes from God alone. We need do nothing but simply turn our attention to Him and occupy our minds with Him in prayer, which is the central thrust of this book and of the practice of authentic Christian meditation.
Why was this so important to Teresa then, and why is it important to us now? We live in a period that is just as obsessed with methods of prayer and false teaching on prayer as it was then. In keeping with our lower nature, we look for secret, easy formulas to success; five ways to a better this, and four quick and easy ways to a better that. As with modern weight loss schemes, these methods leave the wallet thinner and the soul no closer to the fulfillment of what it truly needs and desires. St. Peter of Alcántara’s work is as sure an antidote to much of the false teaching of our day as it was in his own.
St. Peter’s insights on prayer are far more profound and far reaching than the size of this text might suggest. The reader will find not only help in satisfying the short-term need for insight on how to grow in prayer, but also a window into perspectives on prayer that should challenge and enrich the reader for years to come.
In particular, St. Peter is not afraid to call us to a deeper commitment to self-denial and ascetical practices as we pursue a deeper life of prayer and devotion. Many in our time criticize or downplay traditional asceticism, but if we believe St. Teresa’s account of St. Peter’s appearance to her after his death, it seems that God also approved of his approach. We also have affirmation of his ascetical counsels affirmed and even more deeply explored in the writings of St. John of the Cross.
One of the greatest benefits of our time with respect to theological clarity is St. John Paul II’s gift of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In part four entitled Christian Prayer, we have a beautiful and concise summary of all of the most important aspects of the Church’s understanding of prayer. Here, in the Catechism, we see distinctions made between three expressions of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation. This clarity allows us to better understand the progressive nature of the development of prayer and corrects a number of past and present errors. It also sheds light on and reinforces St. Peter’s use of the terms “meditation” and “contemplation.”
St. Peter’s use of the term “meditation” falls squarely in line with the Catechism wherein it reveals:
2705 Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history—the page on which the “today” of God is written.
2706 To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.
2708 Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the Rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.
St. Peter also clearly acknowledges meditation as a transitional form of prayer (as do all faithful spiritual theologians) that draws us ever more deeply into relationship with God. With God’s grace, we eventually transition out of this mode of prayer, into a more simple prayer, and then to what is known as infused contemplation. St. Peter clarifies this process. In his discussion of contemplation, he uses the term “contemplation” to refer to either acquired/natural contemplation or affective meditation. However, he is particularly clear on this matter in his eighth counsel on meditation, where he reveals the right understanding of a kind of contemplation that is much different than what can be known in meditation and is in keeping with St. Teresa’s understanding of contemplation.
The importance of this clarity is a matter of significance in our time. As Ignatian spirituality has emerged as a dominant expression today, a particular form of Ignatian meditation has become very popular. This approach to prayer has and will continue to bear much fruit in the lives of those who diligently engage with the practice, especially in the manner proposed by St. Peter. It is a form of prayer that is important to help beginners emerge through and then out of the purgative phase of spiritual growth into the illuminative phase. This transition, most clearly revealed in the writings of St. John of the Cross, is one whereby the pilgrim, once deeply blessed by meditation, leaves it behind in favor of a contemplation wherein God rewards their diligent ascesis and devotion by drawing them into a form of prayer that has little to do with human will or action and much more to do with God’s work of transformative grace in the soul.
Much more can be said about the value of this great gift of meditation to the Church. This text is so clear that the reader should have little trouble finding the gems that God has in store for all who truly desire to grow in relationship with Him in prayer.
Daily Readings for:February 26, 2015
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Bestow on us, we pray, O Lord, a spirit of always pondering on what is right and of hastening to carry it out, and since without you we cannot exist, may we be enabled to live according to your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
o Relating the Bible to Liturgy
PRAYERS
o Prayer for the First Week of Lent
LIBRARY
o Greater International Solidarity For The Holy Land | Cardinal Renato R. Martino
o Prayer For Peace at the Greek-Orthodox Church in Quneitra | Pope John Paul II
· Lent: February 26th
· Thursday of the First Week of Lent
Old Calendar: Saint Porphyrius, bishop (Hist)
Historically today is the feast of St. Porphyrius, a wealthy Greek who became a hermit first in the desert of Skete in Egypt and then in Palestine on the banks of the Jordan. Much against his will he was raised to the see of Gaza, which he ruled with extraordinary energy, ability and success. He almost completely uprooted the remnants of paganism in his diocese. His biography written by his deacon Mark is one of the most valuable historical sources of the fifth century.
Saint Porphyrius
Saint Porphyrius, Archbishop of Gaza, was born about the year 346 at Thessalonica. His parents were people of substance, and this allowed St Porphyrius to receive a fine education. Having the inclination for monastic life, he left his native region at twenty-five years of age and set off for Egypt, where he lived in the Nitrian desert under the guidance of St Macarius the Great (January 19). There he also met St Jerome (June 15), who was then visiting the Egyptian monasteries. He went to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to the holy places, and to venerate the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord (September 14), then he moved into a cave in the Jordanian wilderness for prayer and ascetic deeds.
After five years, St Porphyrius was afflicted with a serious malady of the legs. He decided to go to the holy places of Jerusalem to pray for healing. As he lay half-conscious at the foot of Golgotha, St Porphyrius fell into a sort of trance. He beheld Jesus Christ descending from the Cross and saying to him, "Take this Wood and preserve it."
Coming out of his trance, he found himself healthy and free from pain. Then he gave away all his money to the poor and for the adornment of the churches of God. For a time he supported himself by working as a shoemaker. The words of the Savior were fulfilled when the saint was forty-five years old. The Patriarch of Jerusalem ordained St Porphyrius to the holy priesthood and appointed him custodian of the Venerable Wood of the Cross of the Lord.
In 395 the bishop of the city of Gaza (in Palestine) died. The local Christians went to Caesarea to ask Metropolitan John to send them a new bishop who would be able to contend against the pagans, which were predominant in their city and were harassing the Christians there. The Lord inspired the Metropolitan to summon the priest Porphyrius. With fear and trembling the ascetic accepted the office of bishop, and with tears he prostrated himself before the Life-Creating Wood and went to fulfill his new obedience.
In Gaza there were only three Christian churches, but there were a great many pagan temples and idols. During this time there had been a long spell without rain, causing a severe drought. The pagan priests brought offerings to their idols, but the woes did not cease. St Porphyrius imposed a fast for all the Christians; he then served an all-night Vigil, followed by a church procession around the city. Immediately the sky covered over with storm clouds, thunder boomed, and abundant rains poured down. Seeing this miracle, many pagans cried out, "Christ is indeed the only true God!" As a result of this, 127 men, thirty-five women and fourteen children were united to the Church through Holy Baptism, and another 110 men soon after this.
The pagans continued to harass the Christians. They passed them over for public office, and burdened them with taxes. St Porphyrius and Metropolitan John of Caesarea journeyed to Constantinople to seek redress from the emperor. St John Chrysostom (September 14, January 27 and 30) received them and assisted them.
Ss. John and Porphyrius were presented to the empress Eudoxia who was expecting a child at that time. "Intercede for us," said the bishops to the empress, "and the Lord will send you a son, who shall reign during your lifetime". Eudoxia very much wanted a son, since she had given birth only to daughters. Through the prayer of the saints an heir was born to the imperial family. As a result of this, the emperor issued an edict in 401 ordering the destruction of pagan temples in Gaza and the restoration of privileges to Christians. Moreover, the emperor gave the saints money for the construction of a new church, which was to be built in Gaza on the site of the chief pagan temple.
St Porphyrius upheld Christianity in Gaza to the very end of his life, and guarded his flock from the vexatious pagans. Through the prayers of the saint numerous miracles and healings occurred. The holy archpastor guided his flock for twenty-five years, and reposed in 420 at an advanced age.
Excerpted from http://molonlabe70.blogspot.com/2008/02/st-porphyrius-bishop-of-gaza.html
Things to Do:
The Station today is at St. Lawrence in Panisperna. The church stands on the site of St. Lawrence's martyrdom. The appellation refers to the name of the street, which in turn most likely refers to the tradition of the Poor Clares in the adjacent convent of distributing bread and ham (pane e perna) on August 10th, the feast day of St. Lawrence. This is done in remembrance of St. Lawrence distributing funds from the church to the poor.
1st Week of Lent
How much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. (Matthew 7:11)
For some people, prayer is sort of like a trip to the casino. Pop in a prayer request, pull the lever, and see what happens. Maybe once in a while they win—a new job, a healing, an unexpected blessing—but more often than not, they’re just yanking on the lever and waiting to see what happens. God is like a powerful casino owner who occasionally gives you a payout to keep you coming back.
But God doesn’t look at us with the calculating eyes of a businessman. Far from it! He gazes on us with the love of a Father for his children. Like any father, he wants what is best for us. He is committed to helping us become the best possible version of ourselves. So we should feel confident that when we don’t get what we ask for, it’s not because he is cruelly withholding it. It’s because his plan for our lives doesn’t end with earthly riches, but with a much deeper and more persistent sense of fulfillment. His plan and his intentions may not always be clear to us, but we can be confident that they are infinitely better than any ideas we come up with on our own.
Of course we can ask God for anything we think we need, even for those things we just plain want. He accepts every prayer we breathe, if only because it’s another opportunity for us to come into his presence and for him to shape us. Every time we come to him in prayer, he gently and gradually shows us what we really need, what our hearts really cry out for. We bring him our desires and hopes and dreams, and he transforms them! He shifts our priorities and preoccupations and helps us learn how to long for those things that truly are good for us.
God won’t condemn you for being selfish or greedy. Remember, he sent Jesus not to condemn but to save. You are precious to him, and he wants nothing more than to make you happy. Really and truly happy!
“Lord, you have given me so many good things. I am so grateful for the way you provide for me and watch over me. Jesus, I trust in you!”
Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8
Daily Marriage Tip for February 26, 2015:
Perhaps youve avoided the flu so far. Sooner or later, however, one of you will feel under the weather. How does your beloved like to be cared for? Lots of attention or Just leave me alone, honey. Give what he/she needs, not what you would have liked.
Never Stop Seeking Holiness | ||
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February 26, 2015. Thursday of the First Week of Lent
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February 26, 2015
In the book of Esther, the Jews of Persia were being threatened with extermination. But Mordecai and Esther both prayed to God with all their might and implored Him to deliver Israel. God saved His people and their enemies were destroyed.
Oftentimes we go about our daily lives doing many things. When something goes wrong, we try to fix the problem. Often as a last recourse, we ask God for help. To pray to God does not mean not to rely on one’s capacities. It means to invite God into our daily life activities and struggles. It is always good to pray at the beginning of the day, during the day and at the end of the day. In this way, we will be calmer in our decisions, much less impatient and more clear-headed.
It is also not proper to ask God for everything. What we should pray for are things that we really need and things that would benefit others. It is also good to pray for people who have serious problems in life after we have counseled them a bit. We will not know the power of prayer unless we have prayed for a long time and seen its fruits.
Once we have established an intimate relationship with God through prayer, we can start to talk to him as a son addresses his father. We begin to trust in him and understand his plans for us and for others. We start to think like Jesus who is the best model of prayer. Jesus prayed all the time and loved all men totally. The Father always listened to his prayers which were always in accordance with the mind of God.
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