Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Isaiah, Chapter
59, verse 19
Those in the
west shall fear the name of the LORD,
and those in the east, his glory, coming like a pent-up stream driven on by the
breath of the LORD.
God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea. (Ps. 46:2-3)
God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea. (Ps. 46:2-3)
Chapter
59 of Isaiah is about the effects of sin and how it delays our salvation. God
is faithful because once we acknowledge the nature of our transgressions; God
provides the divine intervention needed to save us. The proud (those from the
West) fear the name of the Lord for
they in order to be saved must acknowledge Him as King of heaven and earth
rather than themselves. On the other hand, those from the East must acknowledge
his glory or His teachings on justice and mercy given to His disciples being
careful to avoid complacency.
Another
version of the bible puts this verse differently; “When the enemy shall come in
like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him”. By
comparing these two versions of the bible we can learn that the enemy to our
spiritual progress may sometimes be our pride and complacency.
The
practice of fasting that pleases God and goes further than going without food.
God does not delight in our denying ourselves but in us turning eyes from
ourselves to others and begin to loosen the chains that bind others. God is
calling us to live from His values and ethics not ours. Fasting is good in that
it redirects our focus and helps us to bring the body back under the control of
the mind and spirit but we must not fast while continuing to harbor destructive
thoughts, assumptions and attitudes. Consider what God expects from the “Fasted
life.”
1.
Liberate
the oppressed.
2.
Share
with the needy
3.
Shelter
the homeless
4.
Clothe
the naked
5.
Stop
judging and accusing others
Rosary[2]
The
Rosary is the foremost daily method of meditative prayer used by popes and
saints alike. There are many forms of praying the Rosary such as the “The Seven
Sorrows” Rosary and recently Pope John Paul II added the luminous mysteries.
The Rosary has even been adapted to pray for the United States. Pious Germans
have the custom of improvising a mystery-specific insertion for each Hail Mary.
For example, while meditating on the annunciation, they pray, “Blessed is the
fruit of your womb, Jesus”(and they insert the words) “who died for our sins”
then start again with “Holy Mary...The Rosary works, on a human level, because
it engages the five senses. It involves our speech and our hearing. It occupies
our mind and incites our emotions. We feel the beads with our fingertips. If we
pray before a sacred image or better before the Blessed Sacrament we are
transported into the lives of Mary and Jesus. The Rosary works best when we
stop working and abandon ourselves like children to the time we are spending
with our mother. The best place to pray the Rosary is with the family. Mother
Teresa of Calcutta after enduring a vision of Calvary stated that Mary reassured
her to: “Fear not. Teach them to say
the Rosary—the family Rosary—and all will be well.” To God and to the Blessed
Virgin, all our efforts at prayer are precious, when we persevere in praying
the Rosary, we become like little children, children of Mary, children of our
heavenly Father.
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