Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, Verse 13
The LORD, your God, shall you fear;
him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.
Whom do you serve? What
is the first thing you think of when you get up or the last thing before you
sleep? We all serve something; whom or what do you serve?
FOLLOW
ONE MASTER ONLY
What a sad life does he
lead who wants both to please the world and to serve God! It is a great mistake
to make, my friends. Apart from the fact that you are going to be unhappy all
the time, you can never attain the stage at which you will be able to please
the world and please God. It is as impossible a feat as trying to put an end to
eternity. Take the advice that I am going to give you now and you will be less
unhappy: give yourselves wholly to God or else wholly to the world. Do not look
for and do not serve more than one master, and once you have chosen the one you
are going to follow, do not leave him. You surely remember what Jesus Christ
said to you in the Gospel: you cannot serve God and Mammon; that is to say, you
cannot follow the world and the pleasures of the world and Jesus Christ with
His Cross. Of course you would be quite willing to follow God just so far and
the world just so far! Let me put it even more clearly: you would like it if
your conscience, if your heart, would allow you to go to the altar in the
morning and the dance in the evening; to spend part of the day in church and
the remainder in the cabarets or other places of amusement; to talk of God at
one moment and the next to tell obscene stories or utter calumnies about your neighbor;
to do a good turn for your next-door neighbor on one occasion and on some other
to do him harm; in other words, to do good and speak well when you are with
good people and to do wrong when you are in bad company.[1]
Ponder: whom is your Master and whom do you serve?
Today might be a good day to take a hike and ponder on the Beatitudes and after evening mass sit down and enjoy the Lord of the Rings series looking for the hidden spirituality of the writer.
This meditation uses
synonyms of fear, pride, envy, anger, avarice, sloth, gluttony and lust. Words are the music of the human heart;
different words carry different emotions and meanings. If a certain word strikes your heart-it is
the Lord speaking to you.
Walking
away from GOD
(Have
I been/Shown?)
1 FEAR: Terror, Dread; Horror, Fright; Panic, Alarm;
Trepidation, Apprehension
2 PRIDE/HUBRIS: Arrogant; Conceit; Smugness; Self-importance;
Satisfaction; Pleasure; Delight
3 ENVY: Jealousy, Desire; Resentment, Spite, Malice,
Meanness
4 WRATH: Anger, Annoyance, Rage; Fury, Aggravation,
Frustration
5 AVARICE: Greed; Materialism; Covetousness, Acquisitiveness
6 SLOTH: Laziness, Idleness; Sluggishness, Inactivity;
Indolence (condition that is slow to develop or be healed and causes no
pain-i.e. fail to resist evil) Apathy
7 GLUTTONY: Excess, Exclusivity; Over indulgence;
Intemperance.
8 LUST: Yearn, Desire; Long for, Hanker for; Hunger
for, Ache for, Crave
Walking
toward GOD
(Have
I failed to be, do; or show?)
1 COURAGE
(FAITH-BE NOT AFRAID): Confidence, Courageous; Trust, Valiant;
Reliance, Heroic; Assurance, Bold; Conviction, Daring; Belief, Fearless;
Devotion, Plucky; Loyalty
2 HUMILITY
(MEEK) : Modesty, Not Assuming, Reverence, Altruism
3 KINDNESS
(MOURNING): Grief, Sorrow; Remembrance, Respect, Loyalty,
Integrity
4 PATIENCE (PEACEMAKERS):
Relations, Mediation; Negotiation—Prevents Destruction; I.E. Stem
Cell/Abortion, Sufferance
5 CHARITY (MERCIFUL):
Compassion; Kindness, Pity; Bigheartedness, Clemency; Openhandedness,
Forgiveness; Liberality, Understanding; Leniency, Will, Benevolence, Generosity
6 DILIGENCE (HUNGER & THRIST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS): Fairness, Impartiality; Righteousness,
Evenhandedness; Fair Dealing, Persistence, Effort, Ethics, Rectitude
7
TEMPERANCE (POOR
IN SPIRIT): Sacrifice, Give Up; Forgo,
Let Go; Surrender, Tithe, Self-Control, Abstention
8
CHASTITY (PURITY OF HEART): Cleanliness, Wholesomeness; Spotlessness,
Clarity; Transparency, Knowledge, Honesty, Wisdom
Today is the feast of St. Dominic.
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