Sunday, August 28, 2011

Fwd: [Your Daily Tripod] Digest for your-daily-tripod@googlegroups.com - 2 Messages in 2 Topics

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From: your-daily-tripod+noreply@googlegroups.com
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 04:30:07 +0000
Subject: [Your Daily Tripod] Digest for
your-daily-tripod@googlegroups.com - 2 Messages in 2 Topics
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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

- Come After Me August 28, 2011 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/3b84efb5e1317e19
- Progress Even More August 27, 2011 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/7e419ecc864d3f42


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Topic: Come After Me August 28, 2011
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/3b84efb5e1317e19
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From: The Lighthouse Keeper <dxfaro@cox.net>
Date: Aug 27 08:13AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/msg/77f86e44940d423c

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time A

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
the word of the LORD has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. Jeremiah 20:8-9

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

Piety

How we carry the crosses of our lives is the best statement of our
love for Christ. Piety is our relationship with Christ. The comings of
God into our lives we call consolation. When our hearts come alive to
the joy of serving Christ, we are encouraged beyond human doing. God
touches our lives with an excitement that makes the burdens of our
life light. Crosses that we make for ourselves that weigh us down are
not the cross of Christ. My experience of God in my life pleasures me
even as I am aware that I am being set up for work of Christ that will
cost me. The work of the Lord is never very far from the Cross of
Christ in our lives. Paul in Romans 12 challenges us to offer our
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. It is by the
sweat of our brow that we draw closer to our Lord. Even as God's love
for us is shown in the coming of Christ with his cross, our love for
God has the counter part of carrying our crosses in his name. Love
takes us to union with Christ which is the logic of our piety. If we
want the ultimate union that love brings us, there is no bypass of the
cross of Christ.

Study

Jeremiah claims his is duped by the Lord. He is mocked by everyone.
People laugh at him. Jeremiah does not have the example of the Cross
of Christ to make sense out of the way he is treated like a fool.
Because we love Christ we study how we can be more like him. Our love
for Christ takes us to a profound union with his life. He chose the
short life, the poverty and the disgrace of the cross for our
redemption. Our love makes it the God logic of our lives that we would
choose to be like him so that we can be one with him. Love takes us to
the union of all that we are with all that we see Christ would be in
our lives. The logic of the cross influences the choices of our lives.
The God happiness of our lives flows out of our perceived closeness to
Christ and our desire to be one with him. The great saints of the ages
that make Christ real to their times lived the crosses of their lives
with a gusto that can shock our souls into being like Christ in our
day and age.

Action

Our love for God is shown by our deeds. Love is never the mere words
of the cross. Christ taught his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer. Peter reacts strongly in our gospel to Christ's prediction
of his passion. Prayer, fasting and good works are what nourishes
discernment. If we are to follow Christ up to Jerusalem and discern
what we must do, we need to bring the weapons of the spiritual life to
bear on our spiritual laziness. We go up to Jerusalem to die with
Christ as Thomas says. We do not stop at the hill of Calvary outside
Jerusalem. We must climb the hill with Christ. Our falls on the way up
will not keep us down if we keep our eyes focused on Christ and what
he has done for us. The challenge is to love one another as Christ has
loved us. We go to the cross of Christ not to stare at what he has
done for us. We go to the cross of Christ to take his place. Our work
in the name of Christ is no punishment. Our happiness flows from the
heart that is pierced on the Cross. We become the love of Christ from
his cross by the nobility of the way we carry our crosses for the sake
of each other. Christ is our way, truth and life as we dedicate
ourselves to the hope of our call to be the presence of Christ.

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Topic: Progress Even More August 27, 2011
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/7e419ecc864d3f42
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---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: The Lighthouse Keeper <dxfaro@cox.net>
Date: Aug 27 07:54AM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/msg/8167404ada5be57a

Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

On the subject of fraternal charity
you have no need for anyone to write you,
for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
Indeed, you do this for all the brothers throughout Macedonia.
Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more,
and to aspire to live a tranquil life,
to mind your own affairs,
and to work with your own hands,
as we instructed you. Thessalonians 4:9-11

Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master's joy. Matthew 25:23

Piety

Father, you give us all the good gifts possible. Help us to use these
as you intended with proper stewardship of creation and charity toward
each other so that the peace of Christ will come as promised. Through
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, help us to progress even more to live a
life filled with piety, study and action as we become you're your
hands at work in this world to build the Kingdom. Amen.

Study

Let's not read today's Gospel too literally. This is not what Jesus
wants us to know about investing for retirement. This is symbolic of
what we are to do with the gifts the Lord provides to us. In fact
other parables tell us not to store up treasures in this world in some
401K account but to share what we have with each other and those who
have less.

We know the basics -- Love God. Love one another as God loves us. We
need no more reminder about this than St. Paul needed to remind the
people of Thessalonika about these lessons. However, we do need to
always aspire to progress even more. Isn't that what Cursillo is all
about? Isn't that what Christianity is all about? The more we perfect
his life, then the more gifts we will be granted to continue to
fulfill our responsibilities as Christians.

Action

As the Prayer of St. Theresa and today's first reading remind us, we
are the only hands God has left in this world to do the Kingdom-
building work required. How will you build the Kingdom today while
many of us are hunkered down awaiting the onset of Hurricane Irene.

Forgetting our own personal confrontation with the store, let us
remind ourselves of the financial forces that continue to swell.

In his blog, Fr. Larry Snyder, President of Catholic Charities USA,
reminds us of the few voices who are trying to get us to focus on
those who are truly suffering. He seeks the coming of new prophets who
will take the focus off "inward political wrangling" and shift it to
helping our fellow citizens.

Consider subscribing to Fr. Larry's Blog (http://
www.thinkandactanew.org/) or pick up his book Think and Act Anew from
Orbis Books. These can become additional sources to strengthen us for
our journey and help us to progress even more.


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