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To: All
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 

<< Friday, August 3, 2007 >>
 
Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 Psalm 81 Matthew 13:54-58
View Readings  
 
MUCH TOO MUCH
 
"They were filled with amazement." —Matthew 13:54
 

We want God to help us, bless us, and be there when we need Him. However, He wants us to help Him, bless Him, and be there when He needs us. We want to tell God what to do, but He wants to tell us what to do and take over our lives. That's much more than we had in mind.

Like the people of Nazareth, we find Jesus "altogether too much" for us (Mt 13:57). If only Jesus would stay in His place, come when He's called, speak only when spoken to, and visit occasionally...

But, no, He wants to run our entire lives and be with us constantly. We can't go anywhere without Him tagging along. We can't go on a date, watch TV, or even go to the bathroom without Him being there, all the time. We might feel like dwelling on sexual fantasies, committing sexual sins, or getting high. Yet with Jesus there all the time, we can't have any "fun."

We have no privacy. We can't do as we please. Jesus is too much. He's too concerned about our actions. He spends too much time with us. Twenty-four hours a day, every day, is excessive. Jesus refuses to be Lord of anything in our lives unless He can be Lord of everything.

Is He asking too much?

 
Prayer: Jesus, because You died for me, I give my life to You unreservedly.
Promise: "When you come into the land which I am giving you, and reap your harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest." —Lv 23:10
Praise: Having experienced a conversion of heart, Rhonda felt uncomfortable smoking cigarettes knowing the Lord was always present. She prayed for and received deliverance from her addiction.
 
 

20 posted on 08/03/2007 10:07:12 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Compline -- Night Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer)

O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.


This is an excellent moment for an examination of conscience. In a communal celebration of Compline, one of the penitential acts given in the Missal may be recited.

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.


Psalm 87 (88)
The prayer of one gravely ill
I cry out to you, Lord, by day and by night.
Lord God, my saviour,
 I have cried out to you by day and by night.
Let my prayer come before you:
 turn your ear to my request.

For my soul is full of evils,
 my life has come close to its end.
I am counted with those who go down to the pit:
 I am left without help.
I am one of the dead,
 like the murdered who sleep in their tombs,
who lie there forgotten,
 cut off from your care.

You have thrust me down into the pit,
 to the gloom and the shadow of death.
Your anger weighs heavy upon me;
 you have drowned me under your waves.

You have taken my friends away from me:
 you have made me hateful in their sight,
 I am shut in, I may not go out.
My eyes are weak from my sufferings.
I have called to you, Lord, all the day;
 I have stretched out my hands to you.
Is it for the dead that you perform your wonders?
 Will the ghosts rise up and proclaim you?
In the tomb, will they tell of your kindness?
 Will they tell of your faithfulness in the place of the lost?
Will your wonders be known in the darkness,
 or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

And so I have called out to you, Lord,
 and in the morning my prayer will come before you.
With what purpose, Lord, do you reject my soul?
 Why do you hide your face from me?
I am poor; from my youth I have been dying;
 I have borne the terrors you sent, I am lost in confusion.
Your anger has overrun me, your terrors have broken me:
 they have flowed round me like water,
 they have besieged me all the day long.
You have taken my friends and those close to me:
 all I have left is shadows.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.
I cry out to you, Lord, by day and by night.

Reading (Jeremiah 14:9)
You, Lord, are in our midst, and we are called by your name; therefore do not abandon us, Lord, our God.

Short Responsory ?
Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
- Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
You have redeemed us, Lord, God of faithfulness.
- Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
- Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

Canticle Nunc Dimittis
Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace.
Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace.
 You have fulfilled your promise.
My own eyes have seen your salvation,
 which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples.
A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness;
 the glory of your people Israel.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.
Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace.

Prayer
Let us pray.
Lord, let us be so united with your only Son that we become worthy to rise with him into new life, who lives and reigns for ever and ever, Amen.

May the almighty Lord grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
A M E N
An antiphon to Our Lady should be recited here.

21 posted on 08/03/2007 10:18:56 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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