PRAYER TALK
We cannot grow closer to God our Lord in prayer without that closeness affecting our everyday life...Can you imagine Romeo in love with Juliet and then going about his life as though she didn't exist? ... we cannot go about our lives as though God did not exist...So, consolation: When things are going well, we acknowledge God's goodness and thank Him. We are aware that we believe in Jesus Christ and hope to remain faithful to Him...Then, desolation: When everything turns dark, we don't claim to be "depressed." "Desolation" is about me and god, and finally about me and those I love and who love me. Depression might need medicating. Desolation needs something else...When I am desolate, I first ask what I've done or not done.
SPIRITUAL FRIENDSHIP AND COMPANIONSHIP
The spiritual life is not a solitary journey...It's a pilgrimage, a common trip to a common goal... and we need fellow pilgrims.
Jesus' resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. - N.T. Wright
Lord, I would like more local friends in the faith.
BRIEF NOTE: GENEROUSLY GIVE WHAT?
Lord, I accept the gifts the Holy Spirit has given me and do feel generous enough to "put them at the service of others."
For the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost (Lk 19:10). I would like to do a study with S!
Use the special gifts you have given me for Your glory, Lord. Those are: Encouragement, leadership, shepherding, evangelism, discernment, and wisdom. I am generous with my time, heart, devotion.
Jesus invited himself to the home of a person of peace. "Today salvation has come to this house."
BRIEF NOTE: WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD
You will understand this as you grasp maturely that, created in the image of a Triune God, we are fully persona only in our relationships...We mature in membership (as "the people of God") as we grow aware of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, giving us a deep dignity and fiery freedom...You have been praying these weeks for a heart open to the truth that the Church's mission is to be the salt and light of the world (Matt. 5:13). Keep clear that this is the destiny set for you; it is not what you decided for yourself. Your destiny is the same as that of all those who are taken into communion by Christ.
I wrote: Fiery Freedom: It is for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). It was also in connection with the legalistic leadership of the retreat last week.
KEEPING IN MIND: Review the relationships you live in - close family, wider family, your groups - and think about re-collecting or smoothing out where needed. And deepen them all.
The blind man had to yell and keep yelling. That was a good word about persistence.
Blind Bartimaeus - What do you want me to do for you?
Where I am blind - In how to navigate our political divisions (as evidenced by the retreat last week and how politics came into play with the leader).
"What do you want me to do for you? (Mark 10:46-52)
1) Heal my back. It was great at the retreat, but it went out again when I got home.
2) Partner with a media person for my multimedia idea for the next generation.
3) Have an in-person group of friends to do the Spiritual Exercises with.
Being the People of God can be unwieldy and I must ... navigate vastly different political perspectives.
I need to SHOUT for healing (it has gotten 100% better since yesterday).
TOUCHSTONES for Week 10
- Humankind's new destiny as Christ's Mystical Body begins in Jesus's risen human life.
- Jesus' human experience sets the divine tone for human experience after Him; that's why we imitate Him.
- Consolation means we are living faith and hope and love well, however we feel.
- Desolation means we are troubled in our believing, hoping little and not loving much at all -- even when we think we are feeling all right.
- Desolation is most commonly connected with sinful living and taking our eyes off the God who loves us.
- Our koinonia or communion calls on and enables each disciple's special gifts and graces.
- Christ takes us into Himself, making us His Mystical Body in Holy Communion.
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