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The Lord’s Day

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Sunday, the Lord’s day, is to be a day of rest and renewal. We all know that is easier said than done. This posting will focus on the renewal part more than the rest part given our hectic lifestyles. I directed a middle school camp for seventeen years. One of the basic elements of the camp was called “processing.” This was an effort to get the kids to “connect the dots” in their lives. Asking questions like “how does climbing this wall remind you of difficulties in school, or your relationships, or your home life?” we tried to get them to learn life lessons through connections. And we added the God-element as well. “How is our relationship with God like shooting a bow and arrow?” If they could find God in their camp experiences, they had a better chance of finding him in their lives back home. Think about it for a moment. As adults, if we do not process our daily experiences, how will we ever hope to find the hand of a loving God directing a beautiful plan for our lives? We have to connect the dots. When we do this, we will have more peace and therefore more rest and renewal. Why? Because there is a plan for our lives and it is unfolding. We can work with that plan or work against it – like swimming upstream. This posting will mainly be provoking questions. Processing questions if you will. I hope it helps.

lords day questions for july 9th

sunday link

 

The post The Lord’s Day appeared first on Eden Foundation of Kentucky.

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Weekly Meditation

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Prayers of Heroes

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Pray like a Hero: 6 Simple Lessons

The Bible is full of great books and stories. One of my all-time favorites is the Book of Tobit. We learn so much from this story: about God’s love for us, about angelic intervention, about trust, and about prayer.

I love the beginning of the book. We meet Tobit and Sarah, two good people who have met with terrible misfortune and are at the end of their coping abilities. We can learn a lot from them. The first thing to note is how very human they are. Clearly, they’ve been dealt a bad hand. And clearly, they didn’t deserve their misfortunes. They express some very real and very raw emotions of sadness and despair. Let’s face it, most of us can relate. Unfair things happen in all of our lives and it’s easy to be tempted to give up. Sarah’s pain was so deep that she contemplated hanging herself.

But the way they pray is surprising, and instructive in so many ways. After expressing their grief and heartache, they decide to pray. We can learn valuable lessons from their prayer.

Lesson 1: Praise the Lord

(complete article)

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The Pope and the G20 Summit

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Pope Francis to G20 Summit: With great power comes great responsibility

.- Pope Francis sent a message to leaders of the world’s economy gathered for the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, reminding them of the responsibility they have to care for those not represented at the summit.

The G20 Summit is annual meeting of heads of state and finance from the leaders of the world’s economy. While only 20 countries are members, they represent 85 percent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of it’s population.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting this year’s G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany from July 7-8. The summit has been met this year with small but significant groups of mostly anti-capitalist protesters, who among other things are protesting the meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(complete article)

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Reflection of the Scriptures

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July 16, 2017  by Deacon Candidate Michael Houtchen

Matthew 13:1-23

 

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.  Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore.

And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.  It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots.  Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.  But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.  Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

 

The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”  He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.  To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.

Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see.  Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them.

 

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

 

“Hear then the parable of the sower.  The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.  The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.  But he has no root and lasts only for a time.  When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.  The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.  But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

 

The Soil

 

Before we can talk about soil, we must first determine what kind of seed is being planted.

 

Root vegetables such as carrots and parsnips love sandy soils which have large particles and gaps between them.  This allows water and nutrients to drain away freely, making sandy soils less fertile than heavier soils.  Sandy soils tend to dry out in the summer but they warm up quickly in spring (allowing seedlings a good start), and they are much easier to dig than clay-based soils.

 

The soil in a vegetable garden of clay and silt – ‘heavier’ soils – have small particles.  This means water is less likely to drain away and the soil is more likely to become waterlogged.  Heavier soils are fertile but take longer to warm up in the spring and are harder to dig.  If you have clay soil, you should find that brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, and turnips grow well, but root vegetables are likely to struggle as they have to push through the heavy, often compacted soil.  Shallow-rooted trees such as pear trees are likely to thrive in this soil as it holds moisture better than sand.

 

It sounds like I have a green thumb, doesn’t it?  I don’t.  I Googled all the above.  Let’s move on to the seed Jesus was talking about.  It’s simple.  Jesus tells us the seed is the Word of God.  We hear it, which means it’s been planted; planted in our minds and hearts.  Now, what will I do with it?  That depends on what type of soil I am.  Am I the path?  Perhaps.  Am I the rocky ground?  I could be the soil among thorns, or the rich soil.  Let’s take a moment to look at each soil.  Then I’ll try and determine which soil I am.

 

The path:

“Some seeds fell by the path.”  What is this path?  It is the world in which all are born and pass through.  It is a pilgrimage, and we are the wayfarers.  As wayfarers, we are not concerned about anything along the way except for what we really need.  And what is found along the Path?  People living according to this world, who know everything that is of the world and nothing that is of God.  Day and night their minds and appetites are concerned with eating well and drinking well and cultivating the sordidness of the body.  From these things all evils arise.

– Anonymous

 

 

 

Rocky ground:

The seeds of the Word that are lying on rocky ground are snatched away by fleeting devils.  Tell me, whose fault is it?  That of the devils who snatch away the seeds or that of the careless souls who do not bury them in the furrows of their hearts?  I believe the fault is not of the snatching devils.

– Anonymous

 

Sowed among thorns:

You must realize that the pursuit of wealth holds you back from attending church services to hear the Scriptures and the traditions of the doctors and be fed on the word that you have received.  Though you approach with your body, you do not approach with your mind.  Though you listen with your ears, you do not listen with your heart.  Your hearts lies entirely in those things you are concerned about.  The desire for wealth does not permit you to do good works.  Because you desire wealth or fear to lose what you have or wish to acquire what you do not have, you do not openly profess the truth of your faith.  Do you see how the concern and desire for riches suffocate the word and do not allow it to yield fruit?

– Anonymous

 

The rich soil:

Good soil stands for those who abstain from deceitful wealth and who do good as far as they are able.

– Anonymous

 

Anonymous was a busy writer, wasn’t he?  But, he makes a lot of sense.  After reading what Jesus said, and what Anonymous wrote, this is the kind of soil I think I am.  I am a pilgrim along life’s path.  But hopefully, I’m not caught up in worldly desires.  I pray I never get lost in sordidness, that which is immoral or dishonest.

 

When I hear the Word, the seed, I try to bury it deep within my heart.  I care for and encourage the growth of the seed through the Sacraments, the Eucharist, and prayer.  Thankfully, I have never been absorbed in the pursuit of wealth.  Yes, I want the best for my family, but not at the expense of my faith or my soul.  Not if it keeps me from caring for others.  I want only to be the good soil.

 

And what about you?  Jesus said, “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”  This makes this parable a call to conversion.  So, take some time today and think about what type of soil you are.  You might be surprised.

The post Reflection of the Scriptures appeared first on Eden Foundation of Kentucky.


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The Skinny on Prayer

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by The Skit Guys

Prayer is our way to communicate with God, but as Christians we often treat prayer as something to be checked off a list and we miss the part where we are building our relationship with the Creator of the universe.

CLICK HERE to watch video

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