Lectio Divina with Fr. Lawrence
Ephesians 2:19
Read
You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God…
Meditate
The Gentiles lacked Israel’s messianic expectation, lacked the various covenants God made with Israel, lacked hope of salvation and knowledge of the true God; but through Christ all these religious barriers between Jew and Gentile have been transcended by the abolition of the Mosaic covenant-law for the sake of uniting Jew and Gentile into a single religious community, imbued with the same holy Spirit and worshiping the same Father. We are now counted among those who belong and are part of the Body of Christ.
Pray
Lord God, I fall down before you like the Samaritan leper who came back to thank you. Where else should I go? I belong to you and you are part of me. Your gracious gift is more than I could ever imagine!
The words “thank you” are so inadequate, but they the only words I have.
Contemplate…
Daily Thought from the Saints
"All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, 'I am the way.'"
— St. Catherine of Siena
Daily Scripture Verse
"I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God."
Luke 12:8-9
Daily Meditation
"I was sure that it was better for me to give myself up to your love than to give in to my own desires. However, although the one way appealed to me and was gaining mastery, the other still afforded me pleasure and kept me victim. I had no answer to give to you when you said to me, ‘Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you.’ When on all sides you showed me that your words were true, and I was overcome by your truth, I had no answer whatsoever to make, but only those slow and drowsy words, ‘Right away. Yes, right away.’ ‘Let me be for a little while.’ But ‘Right away—right away’ was never right now, and ‘Let me be for a little while’ stretched out for a long time."
— St. Augustine
Daily Catholic Wisdom
What power of inward devotion lies in the images of the Mother of God! They manifest the new humanity of the faith. Such images are an invitation to prayer, because they are permeated with prayer from within.
—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
from his book, “The Spirit of the Liturgy”
A Prayer from Notre Dame University
Rev. Herbert Yost, C.S.C.
Jesus, we admire your patience with the disciples, and yet you also balanced it with truth. You understood where Thomas was coming from, but at the same time gave him a challenge. You are merciful, compassionate, and fully understand our human weakness. You know our fears, the things which hold us back from trusting you and from becoming fully ourselves. But you won’t let us use those things as an excuse. There is always a challenge to grow, and with the challenge comes the grace to meet it. Thank you for caring so much about us. Amen.