From: your-daily-tripod+noreply@googlegroups.com
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:33:34 +0000
Subject: [Your Daily Tripod] Digest for
your-daily-tripod@googlegroups.com - 2 Messages in 2 Topics
To: Digest Recipients <your-daily-tripod+digest@googlegroups.com>
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Today's Topic Summary
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Group: your-daily-tripod@googlegroups.com
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/topics
- Spirit and Power (August 30) [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/4b58e776bc5c271e
- With Humility (August 29) [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/f6b196b381d217cd
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Topic: Spirit and Power (August 30)
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/4b58e776bc5c271e
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From: The Lighthouse Keeper <dxfaro@cox.net>
Date: Aug 29 06:46PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/msg/53a1b066134a30ec
Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message
and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but
with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might
rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:3-5
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go
free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." Rolling up the
scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes
of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them,
"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." Luke
4:18-21
Piety
Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am
pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice
to the nations, Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice
heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a
smoldering wick he shall not quench, Until he establishes justice on
the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. Isaiah 42:1-4
Study
What do you think the vision of God was for the people sitting in the
pews that day in Nazareth? From some historical accounts, they might
have been waiting for a God who was going to free them from the Roman
occupation just like God freed their ancestors from slavery in Egypt.
This young man, a carpenter's son picks up the Book of Isaiah and
proceeds not just to proclaim that sacred scripture but he offers
commentary on it. The crowd knew very well this scripture from their
oral traditions. They know that the prophet Isaiah explains that
"Until [the Lord] establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands
will wait for his teaching." His teaching apparently has arrived.
"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." They now
anticipate freedom, liberty, and victory. That is what Jesus said. No?
But wait, Jesus left out an important passage from Isaiah 61:2 that
contains the promise of "a day of vindication by our God." If the
people can not expect vengeance, then what can they expect?
It appears that this scene may be where the concept that God comforts
the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable has its origin. No sooner
are the people amazed at what Jesus has to say than does he start to
turn the tables on them. In Luke4:22, "…all spoke highly of him and
were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth." By Luke
4:28-29, (seven sentences later), "they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of
the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down
headlong."
This Jesus was not preaching what they wanted to hear. In the course
of these seven sentences, Jesus sets in motion the fulfillment of the
scriptures. However, he sets in motion not the fulfillment of any
human agenda for vengeance, but rather God's agenda which calls for
the Servant of the Lord to be sacrificed.
Action
What is your vision of God when you are sitting in the pews this week
in Fairfax? Have you transferred onto God your image of what you want
him to do? One scholar has commented that God created us in his image
and we have returned the favor.
Are you more ready than the people in Nazareth to accept the sacrifice
and resurrection story that begins to unfold today? Or are you
awaiting a God who will solve all your problems like Dr. Phil? Are you
awaiting a God who will lead you into battle like Julius Caesar or
Alexander the Great?
Are you ready to hear his message and see it to fulfillment?
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Topic: With Humility (August 29)
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/f6b196b381d217cd
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From: The Lighthouse Keeper <dxfaro@cox.net>
Date: Aug 28 09:41PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/msg/142de0b442af6be8
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
[C]onduct your affairs with humility and you will be loved more than a
giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are and you
will find favor with God. Sirach 3:17-18
"[W]hen you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame,
the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to
repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the
righteous." Luke 14:13-14
Piety
Humility is an elusive virtue at best. The humble person does not know
self as humble. We meet person after person in our lives that
possessed of wonderful gifts lack confidence in themselves. The
pretense of having it all together is what characterizes false
humility. Humility is a true self awareness. Recognition of all our
gifts as come from God makes genuine humility possible. The humble
person knows the truth of self. What you see is what you get. To blow
one's own horn misses the reality of humility. Humility does not need
to defend itself. Humility allows a person to be trusted. Humility is
the reflection of the truly human in a person. The humble person
acknowledges God as the source of the good in one's life.
Study
We study the environments around us to see what we can do. We know by
honest reflection on ourselves what we can best do. Study of the
people we work with allows us to see where we best fit in. Self-
awareness allows us to offer ourselves for the job that needs doing.
The Consciousness Examen helps us to grow in appreciation of what we
do best and where the Lord most needs us to work. We learn by praying
over our day with the Examen where the Lord was most at work in our
lives. Gradually we turn over our lives to the work of God in us. Each
morning we make our offering of the day and offer ourselves to the
Lord with a clean slate to be used by the Lord for the work of the
Kingdom. The greatest possible good, for the greatest number of people
in the shortest possible time is a rule of thumb on how to select our
work. At the end of the day we give to the Lord credit for the good he
has been able to do through us. Humility allows us to tell the Lord he
has used us well when we see the good he has accomplished through our
efforts.
Action
Actions speak humility louder than words. Doing the best one can does
not need explanation. We do not have to defend ourselves when we are
trying our best to do the job at hand as well as we can. God sees our
intentions more than our performances. We do not have to put on airs
when we are doing the job that needs doing. Humility makes us freer to
work at our own pace without worrying about what otters might think.
Our best needs no defense because humility gives us the pleasure of
freedom to work as best we can. We are free to let those who can do
the job better have their chance. We do not have to defend our chance
to do a job because humility speaks for itself in the way it makes
others free about us to do their best also. We see the work we do as a
share in God's work and that makes us free to allow God to work
through others when he does not need our contribution. Humility makes
us a bigger part of the Bigger Picture of God's plan for us. Humility
gives us our awareness of the job we are meant to do for the Lord. We
are able to rejoice in how well the Lord uses us when we give him the
credit for the good we do. Humility is God's truth in us, active in
God's work through us.
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