Welcome God every morning before your work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which has snippets from Living Faith (livingfaith.com). All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Col. 3:17
Come let us climb the Lord's mountain...That He may instruct us in His ways, and we may walk in His paths. Isaiah 2:3
Living Faith snippets: "An eagerness for learning and a craving for wisdom [God] is portrayed in the hearts of these pilgrims. The image of changing all weapons of war into tools for service and peace is indeed uplifting. Let us reflect on ways we can take our sword-like qualities and change them into peacekeeping qualities. How would our living conditions improve if we could change all of our complaints to gratitude, our bitterness to compassion, our envy to affirmation, our indifference to love? How would our lives be transformed if all negativity would soften into encouragement and fear to trust? [We] already know the answer to these questions. Meditate on these truths." by Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr
Pat nuggets:
* Jesus' Christmas (birthday) List: Aaron Ferrie shared this great 2.5 min video on keeping Christ in Christmas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU). Christmas is Jesus' birthday party. This is how we give Jesus a birthday present..."whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matt 25:40). The true meaning of Christmas is to share our gifts (time, talent, treasure) with those in dire need of "daily bread" and love...feed children (http://www.compassion.com/), serve homeless, visit homebound & prisoners, write injured & deployed soldiers, help unemployed, help crisis pregnancies, etc (what else?). For our adult & child family members who don't need material gifts, consider giving them a nice hand written card with a gift certificate for spending time with you...presence (vs presents) is more valuable to relationships: lunch, sporting event, church/pray, hiking, fishing, etc (what else?). Give the gift funds you saved (from presence vs presents) to the needy. Consider giving to the needy in the name of a family member (as a gift). Consider asking family members to donate your gifts (funds) to the needy. Consider pooling gift funds with immediate/extended family members and give to the needy...God's work brings family closer together! Other ideas on how we can keep Christ in Advent/Christmas?
* Bella movie: Per Melissa McBride's recent reminder/recommendation, we rented the ProLife movie "Bella" last week. This movie did a fantastic job of putting abortion in perspective by bringing two people together who were wrestling with the sanctity of life. One accidentally killed a little girl (~4 yrs old) with his car, which caused him huge suffering. He worked with a woman who was considering an abortion to kill her very little girl (a few wks past conception). He reached out with a loving friendship (made sacrifices) to help open her mind, heart, and soul to the sanctity of life and evil of abortion...thereby saving her daughter's life (Bella) and replacing her own suffering with joy! The best indicators for real love are service and sacrifice.
Christian ID: How would unbelievers recognize a Christian in the world? By our love! Let's share things we can do to glorify God and love neighbor.
* (NEW) Pastor Don Bird shared: "Whenever I see Christian "ID", I am reminded of Freud's classifications of the id, ego, and superego. According to Freud, the id is the personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy...those unconscious drives that help us survive and meet our own needs. Should not our faith, our Christianity, our spirituality, be so in-grained within us that it becomes the very thing that drives us? When our Christian ID takes over we respond differently, act differently, and pursue our needs and meet the needs of others differently. When we are troubled, we turn to prayer instead of worry. When we are angered, we turn to mercy instead of revenge. When we despair, we live in the hope of Jesus instead of wallowing in the mire of our own existence. When someone speaks poorly of us, we respond in silence instead of gossip. When we are confronted with hate, we respond in love. When our Christian ID becomes the driving energy in our lives, Jesus is shared in a real and evident way. May we continue to pray that our Freudian id does not drive us to meet our own needs and cause us to look selfishly at the world, but that our Christian ID leads us to be the hands, feet, and voice of Christ in our world today!" http://pastordonbird.blogspot.com/
ProLife news: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ & http://www.priestsforlife.org/
* Let's pray for courage to build relationships and talk about ProLife. Let's pray that We The People of America will shine Christ's Light and build a culture of Life (Matt 5:16).
* Let's pray for courage to build relationships and talk about ProLife. Let's pray that We The People of America will shine Christ's Light and build a culture of Life (Matt 5:16).
Our Prayers: Prayer to End Abortion, chastity, our enemies, our troops, natural disasters, depression/ despair, prisoners, ProLife politicians, loss of loved ones, lack of faith, illnesses/injuries, Joe Castle (medical concerns), Matt Kayser (family of Jesse Alne)
* NEW: Rob Ouellette (Jeff, Arleen, Ramona, Pat)
* NEW: Rob Ouellette (Jeff, Arleen, Ramona, Pat)
Faith quote: "If you only want to have more and more -- if your idol is profit and pleasure -- remember that one's value is not measured by what one has, but by what one is!" Pope John Paul II
Through Christ for ProLife,
Pat
Phil 4:13
* Today's Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml. Reflection on readings at http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
* Prayer: Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others. Wayne Watson lyrics, “When God's people pray, there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven, and miracles you can't explain await!” 'If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead & see Him.'
* Fasting: Let's fast from things that takes our eyes off Jesus (selfishness, bitterness, being so critical, impatience, judgment, gossip, excessive video games, etc) and take on things that fix our eyes on Jesus (selflessness, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, patience, understanding, caring, helping, listening).
* Defend the unborn: 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die' (Prov 24:11). 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' (Jer 1:5). 'It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might lie as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa.
* Defend the unborn: 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die' (Prov 24:11). 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' (Jer 1:5). 'It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might lie as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa.
* Evangelization: Let's make room for unbelievers (be a friend, make a friend, lead friend to Christ) and perpetual re-evangelization of self and those near us, by way of daily prayer (relationship) and following Christ's example of selfless love, mercy, and service.
Let's joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)!
1 comment:
* (NEW) Pastor Don Bird shared: "Whenever I see Christian "ID", I am reminded of Freud's classifications of the id, ego, and superego. According to Freud, the id is the personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy...those unconscious drives that help us survive and meet our own needs. Should not our faith, our Christianity, our spirituality, be so in-grained within us that it becomes the very thing that drives us? ... May we continue to pray that our Freudian id does not drive us to meet our own needs and cause us to look selfishly at the world, but that our Christian ID leads us to be the hands, feet, and voice of Christ in our world today!" http://pastordonbird.blogspot.com/
I’d like to build on Pastor Don Bird’s ideas regarding Christian ID. The motivation (that which moves me) behind the Freudian id is self-preservation. This motivation also causes human beings to respond with vengeance. Vengeance suggests just punishment for criminal or immoral act ( see http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=motivation&searchmode=none ) thus “an eye for an eye” is the teaching prior to Jesus’ teaching of “turn the other cheek.”
The Christian is I.D.’ed by his love, more specifically, his motivation of love. Jesus said that my righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees whose motivation to follow the law was not love. My encounter with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection transforms my heart to love. His was the ultimate sacrifice of which there is no greater love. Through this encounter my heart is transformed to love and I find new life -- in the image of God.
The LOVE MOTIVATION (that which moves me) is more important than my actions or my faith (I Cor 13:1-3). You’ve heard it said that God is not a noun but a verb. More specifically, though, God is not an action verb but a being verb. God is the great “I AM.” Love is a way of being just as the other fruits of the spirit are ways of being (Gal 5:22). God can command me to love my neighbor and enemy but I cannot follow this law by gritting my teeth or trying harder: it arises only through my spirit of willingness and openness to God’s will. (Recall that mercy [merchant, commerce] implies a “divine exchange” which can only occur through openness or willingness.)
Openness to God’s spirit of love transforms my heart so that His love flows through me totally unself-consciously and spontaneously, indiscriminately (focusing on what is best and beautiful in the other via spiritual sight), gratuitously, allowing freedom in the other. This transformation of heart is wrought through my willingness and openness to Christ and subsequent faithfulness to the spiritual teachings of Jesus. It is wrought through grace.
The word heart comes from the Old French “coeur” which means core. Jesus came to change hearts of stone into hearts of real flesh (Ezekiel 11:19). In the Catechism, Paragraph 2563: The heart is the dwelling-place where “I Am”. The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives (Freudian id, ego, superego). It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as the image of God we live in relationships: it is the place of covenant.
God’s Word helps me to grow in His likeness. The old motivations fueled by psychic needs – self-preservation, fear of punishment, desire for reward, fitting in, following rules, duty – are no longer my motivation and my righteousness comes to surpass that of the Pharisee. Love is, in this eternal instant, my only motivation. In the fullness of time I am perfected as my Heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48). http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%205;&version=31
To focus on formation of my Christian ID I meditate on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5,6,7 where we are given a new set of laws – the Beatitudes – which can be fathomed only through a spirit of love. In His Sermon Jesus provides clarity about what it means to be transformed by grace to God’s image. Narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it. (Matt 7:14) Sharing in the life of God requires more than just doing the right thing. What appears to be a success, if not motivated by love, will mean nothing. What appears to be a failure, if motivated by love, will have infinite meaning. The passion and death of Christ might appear to be a supreme failure. But of His own volition He died because of love to do God’s will. This is the meaning of the resurrection: love gives new life no matter what the situation appears to be. If Christ had died – followed God’s will -- out of fear of punishment, desire for reward, wanting to follow rules, or even out of duty, there would be no resurrection. Only the sacrifice which springs from love results in new life.
When I define love as seeing the best in the other, I am relieved of the felt responsibility to change others. I can repeat the prayer, “Bless them. Change me.” The desire to change others through coercion is not a characteristic of God who, in His infinite wisdom, gives free will as a gift. When my relationships are characterized by control or needing to change another I can be sure that love is not my motivation. To assist in overcoming my psychic need to control, a type of addiction which reflects a loss of freedom and lack of trust in God, I can use the practice of centering prayer.
Centering prayer is a powerful advent discipline to “make straight the path” and “prepare the way of the Lord.” It draws on the practice of “letting go” and “hopeful waiting” rolled into one beautiful package. I willingly let go of my motivations and actions “of the flesh” (as St. Paul would say) and let God’s power make of me a new person in the spirit. “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (Rom 8:5) The gentle discipline of giving something up, the constant practice of “letting go”, whether it be of addictions to control, anger, my own self-image or even the constant noise in my mind, eventually provides the freedom to respond with love at all times in every situation.
The advent disciplines of awareness and wakefulness help me to acknowledge my baser motivations for thinking what I think and doing what I do. Hopeful waiting is sitting in the presence of God, waiting on God. From the Catechism, paragr 2715 “Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. ‘I look at him and he looks at me’: this is what a peasant of Ars used to say while praying before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men.” A pure heart renders the gift of spiritual sight so that I can see the best in my neighbor and enemy. This way of seeing is what provides the space so I can make a more loving choice, a space between my unconscious, instinctual response (the Freudian id) and the response of one who is made in the image of God (the Christian ID).
Blessed Advent!
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