Conversations That Matter What are we doing to put our Spirituality into practice? Spirituality is about the way we live, after all. This is a place for Communal Lectio, Centering on the Word. Ministry of the Word is central to Precious Blood Spirituality.
Saturday, October 12, 2002
Tropes for Sunday's Mass:
You have destroyed death forever, and called your people to an eternal banquet, Lord have Mercy (from first reading)
You strengthen us for all things, and you satisfy every need. Christ have mercy.(from second reading)
You call your servants to issue the invitation to the ends of the earth, Lord have mercy. (based on the gospel)
How does one clothe himself with Christ? We cannot create him, design him, or mold him. We must learn to receive him as he is. We can know him, touch him, and taste him. He is present to us as broken bread, as decanted wine, precious wine filling the space with the aroma of his generous mercy.
I am not the artist, and my sacred self is certainly not the work of my own hands. I am clothed with the one who from time immemorial has known this moment and placed us here to learn, to love, and to seek.
signs of a wedding garment....
inviting the outcast
healing of broken relationships
binding up wounds
forgiving others
sharing our goods and our love
struggling to ensure that the poor are not neglected
sharing the good news
For me I will practice sharing of my self, my goods and my love with any who come to me and ask, or any that I see this week, that includes everyone I live with, or even panhandlers I pass on the street. I have several tasks that need to be completed this week. In spite of their number I will do my best to do them with a spirit of generosity.
How does this make me feel? Fear comes up, but it is not a strong feeling, maybe a 2 on a scale of 1-10. This somewhat uneasiness comes from the knowledge that this relationship takes priority over everything, and sometimes I have made the same self-centered choices. I think the fear covers over a feeling of sadness that sometimes I depend on myself rather than on God’s mercy. Still there is a greater confidence in that mercy. That feeling is like an 8 on a scale of 1-10. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
"Movement" of Conversation
What are we doing to put our Spirituality into practice? Spirituality is about the way we live, after all.
Conversation will be on the Gospel or any of the Scriptures for the coming Sunday.
The lens we will use to attend to the Word of God will include an understanding of Precious Blood Spirituality and the Life and mission of St. Gaspar del Bufalo.
Each entry must be an answer to one of these questions pertaining to the gospel:
1. What did I hear?
What did he say that affected me? What did I hear for the first time? What leapt off the page at me? What word or phrase is important?
2. How does this make me feel?
No thoughts, opinions or judgments. If you can use the words, I think... intelligibly in the sentence it is not a feeling. Stick to feelings. Maybe start the sentence with I am...
3. What will I do?
How does the gospel call me to live? No plans, hopes or dreams; what concrete action will I do this week?
4. How shall I pray?
Prayers, litanies, tropes, and other forms based on the readings may be posted.
Thoughts, discussion, opinions, debate, will all be moved over to The New Gasparian.
Anyone who would like to become a regular correspondent is invited send me an email.
