From: your-daily-tripod@googlegroups.com
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:33:06 +0000
Subject: [Your Daily Tripod] Digest for
your-daily-tripod@googlegroups.com - 2 Messages in 2 Topics
To: Digest Recipients <your-daily-tripod@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
- Always Seeking Renewal and Restoration December 14, 2011 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/d2d5ee458e841446
- I Will Purify The People December 13, 2011 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/75c7a9a537bfe895
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Topic: Always Seeking Renewal and Restoration December 14, 2011
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/d2d5ee458e841446
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From: The Lighthouse Keeper <dxfaro@cox.net>
Date: Dec 13 08:30PM -0800
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/msg/cb6aac939b48ae1c
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church
By Colleen O'Sullivan
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain
let the skies drop it down. Let the earth open and salvation bud
forth; let justice also spring up! I, the Lord have created this… To
me every knee shall bend; by me every tongue shall swear, Saying,
"Only in the Lord are just deeds and power." (Isaiah 45: 8, 23b-24a)
Love and truth will meet;
justice and peace will kiss.
Truth will spring from the earth,
justice will look down from heaven. (Psalm 85:11-12)
At that time, John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the
Lord to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for
another?"… And Jesus said to them in reply, "Go and tell John what you
have seen and heard; the blind regain their sight, the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have
the good news proclaimed to them." (Luke 7:18b-19, 22)
Piety
The Lord's kindness is forever, toward the faithful from age to age.
(Psalm 103:17a)
Study
I don't understand how anyone could seriously be a deist. Just look at
our Scripture readings for today. God did not create the universe and
all that is in it just to sit back and take a laissez-faire attitude
toward his handiwork. God is always involved in our lives. God has
always been involved in the lives of his people. God is always seeking
to save us, renew us and restore our lives to wholeness.
In our reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, God declares that
he has chosen King Cyrus of Persia to deliver God's people from their
long exile in Babylon. This Persian non-believer is God's chosen
instrument of salvation. Justice will descend like dew when God's
people are freed. The gentle rain of justice will open the earth and
allow salvation to bud forth. God has heard his people's cries and
acted to restore them to freedom, to make them whole once again.
In the verses preceding those in today's reading from Psalm 85, the
Israelites recall a time in their past when God has acted to restore
their community. Now they find themselves in yet another time of
crisis. Again, they pray for renewal. And once again the Lord promises
salvation, a time when love and truth will meet and justice and peace
will kiss. Such beautiful imagery to describe what happens when God
restores us to wholeness.
In today's reading from Luke's gospel, we see Jesus actively restoring
people to wholeness. In answer to John the Baptist's disciples'
question about whether Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus points to what he
is doing. He restores sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf. The
lame are given the power to walk. Lepers are cured of their disease.
The poor are given hope. Even the dead are raised, says Jesus.
Action
During Advent, we prepare ourselves for God's participation in our
lives on several levels. We remember God's sending his Son into our
world to become one of us. We prepare for Christmas, for our
celebration of God's coming to us as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem.
We prepare for Christ's final coming in glory. And we acknowledge the
countless ways God comes into our lives every single day.
Today, when you are praying, follow the example of our ancestors in
faith. Lay before the Lord the broken places in your life. Don't leave
anything hidden. Pray for the Lord to renew your spirit and to restore
you to wholeness. God always responds to the cries of his people.
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Topic: I Will Purify The People December 13, 2011
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/75c7a9a537bfe895
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From: The Lighthouse Keeper <dxfaro@cox.net>
Date: Dec 13 04:08AM -0800
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/msg/9d354e3776197624
Memorial of St. Lucy
By Beth DeCristofaro
Thus says the LORD: Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted, to the
tyrannical city! She hears no voice, accepts no correction; In the
LORD she has not trusted, to her God she has not drawn near.
For then I will change and purify the lips of the peoples, That they
all may call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one accord;
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia and as far as the recesses of the
North, they shall bring me offerings. (Zephaniah 3:1-2, 8-9)
The Lord hears the cry of the poor. (Psalm 34:7a)
Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first."
Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and
prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you. (Matthew
21:31)
Piety
Lord, help me to embrace the poverty of throwing off my own indulgent
ways or needs which rise out of my fears, angers or desires. Help me
to seek the poverty which is placing you, Lord Jesus, at the center of
my being. Help me to say "yes" and go out to your vineyards where I
will reap the rewards of being in your presence all the days of my
life.
Study
Although there isn't much historical evidence, the long tradition
which has sprung up around the heroic martyr Lucy stands in stark
contrast to the brothers in Jesus' parable. He spoke about two sons,
one of whom did not honor his father's request, one of whom did after
disrespecting his father's request by saying "no." Lucy chose to honor
her pledge to be a bride of Christ and not only said "yes" to God but
chose martyrdom over breaking her pledge.
I once heard a Baptist preacher, all full of fiery and rousing
rhetoric ask the question: "If we are supposed to be lights for the
world, why is the world so dark?" Maybe Jesus' parable throws some
understanding on his question. How often do we say yes without a real
commitment – meaning "no" in the secret of our hearts or say yes but
grudgingly. As if we are doing a favor to God! There is little light
in that. There is barely a smudge of smoke in a life like that.
The hope and promise, such as what God offers to the people through
the prophet Zephaniah and what Jesus explains to the leaders, is that
in God there can be salvation. Through Jesus even those of us who say
"no" can say "yes." God is always there, waiting for us with purifying
grace.
Action
In what way are we carrying Jesus' light to the world as we make our
way to the Christmas stable? Are we carrying his light or do we seek
to throw our own light instead? Treat yourself to some beautiful
Christmas sacred music and renew your "yes" as a friend of Jesus.
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