Corpus Christi

Short Reflection for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (B)

Readings:  Exodus 24: 3-8; Hebrew 9: 11-15; Mark 14: 1-16. 22-26

Selected Passage:  “While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many’.” Mark 14: 22-24)

Meditation:  Corpus Christi Sunday reminds us that we are truly “partakers” of Jesus’ Body and Blood.  As he is broken and shared for the many, so are we.  In the Eucharist – the breaking of the bread among brithers and sisters Chruit becomes present, once again, in our midst and the same breaking of the break is the bond that unites us all together in faith and fellowship love and service. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...

Dhikr is an Arabic word for remembrance. In the “tariqa” (the way) movement, dhikr developed into a form of prayer… It is a prayer of the heart… following three simple steps:

1.    Write in one’s heart a certain passage of the Holy Writ…

2.   Make the same passage ever present in one’s lips. 

3.   Then wait for God’s disclosure on the meaning of the passage…that interprets one’s life NOW…!

It takes a week of remembering (dhikr)…or even more days to relish the beauty of this method…

The Most Holy Trinity

Short Reflection for Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday (B)

Readings:  Deuteronomy 4: 32-34, 39-40; Romans 8: 14-17; Matthew 28: 16-20

Selected Passage:  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 19-20)

Trinity Sunday reminds us that we are “sealed” by our baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  This “seal” is manifested in our common FELLOWSHIP and COMMUNION by our baptism – regardless of color, race, belief, language and gender.  The fullness of ONE God is revealed to us in the community of persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We, thus, experience the fullness of God when we are in communion and fellowship with others.

www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...

Dhikr is an Arabic word for remembrance. In the “tariqa” (the way) movement, dhikr developed into a form of prayer… It is a prayer of the heart… following three simple steps:

Ÿ  Write in one’s heart a certain passage of the Holy Writ…

Ÿ  Make the same passage ever present in one’s lips. 

Ÿ  Then wait for God’s disclosure on the meaning of the passage…that interprets one’s life NOW…!

It takes a week of remembering (dhikr)…or even more days to relish the beauty of this method…

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Our classical catechisms had lists for everything – sacraments, commandments, deadly sins, cardinal virtues, minor virtues and even types of angels. There are two such lists for the Holy Spirit, one listing the fruits and the other listing the gifts. These gifts are not simply a catechetical invention arbitrarily created for pedagogical purposes; both have a solid biblical foundation.

Thus, the fruits of the Spirit are based on a list of virtues that Paul (Galatians 5:22-23) describes as coming from the Spirit. Our Catechism lists twelve of these: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.

The gifts ascribed to the Spirit are based upon two biblical lists; the first given by the prophet Isaiah (11:2) and the second revealed by Paul in 1 Corinthians (12:4-11). Our catechisms, both old and new, summarize these gifts in a list of seven: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.

How is the Holy Spirit generated within the Trinity and how do the gifts of the Spirit flow out of that? It might seem daunting to try to describe, but we are not without help from divine revelation and human analogues in doing so.

The Holy Spirit has classically been defined in theology as “the love between the Father and the Son.” This is not simply an abstract formula but a phrase that tries to express, however inadequately, what results anywhere, here or in heaven, whenever there is a genuine reciprocal flow of love.

• Thus, simply within the normal flow of human love, we can see the following dynamic: Someone, out of love and gratitude, gives a gift to another.
• That gift helps fire love and gratitude in that other who then, in gratitude, reciprocates.
• This reciprocation fires a deeper love and gratitude within the initial giver who can now give in an even deeper way to the other.
• This in turn fires a still deeper love and gratitude in that other who can then respond even more deeply in love and gratitude to the giver.
• As this dynamic works, an energy, a fire, a certain palpable force, a spirit, begins to build which affects and infects for the good everything it comes into contact with, drawing it into its own joyous energy.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/the-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit/#.WvuX7cgh1hE
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The Solemnity of Pentecost

Short Reflection for Pentecost Sunday (B)

Readings: Acts 2: 1-11; 1 Corinthians 12. 3-7. 12-13; John 20: 19-23

Selected Passage: “Jesus breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20: 22-23)

Reflection: We have not received the spirit of slavery and live in fear, but the Holy Spirit that makes us sons and daughters of God. The Holy Spirit empowers us to call God – Abba (Father)! And with the power of the Holy Spirit, we preach the Gospel of Life and forgive those who tresspass against us.

www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...

Dhikr is an Arabic word for remembrance. In the “tariqa” (the way) movement, dhikr developed into a form of prayer… It is a prayer of the heart… following three simple steps:

1.    Write in one’s heart a certain passage of the Holy Writ…

2.   Make the same passage ever present in one’s lips. 

3.   Then wait for God’s disclosure on the meaning of the passage…that interprets one’s life NOW…!

It takes a week of remembering (dhikr)…or even more days to relish the beauty of this method…

Love Is Coming Home...

LOVE IS COMING HOME

What is contained in these comments can be very helpful in answering the question: How do I know what real love is? Real love is always a coming home, it’s not a place we deserve or earn, it’s coming to a place where you sense others will love you without necessarily being impressed with you. Thus, real love is always experienced as a security, a safe place, home, a safe harbor which we sail into. It’s a place of rest. For this reason, it is experienced as a place from which you don’t want to, or need to, go home.

Conversely, infatuation and other kinds of bonding that can feel like real love, are places of insecurity, of deep restlessness, places which “don’t have to take us,” places which we have to earn, places where we have to perform and impress, and places from which, ultimately, we go home.

The criterion to use when choosing someone for marriage, or even for intimate friendship, is the sense of coming home. Love is home. Ultimately, if we cannot really be of one heart and mind with someone, however interesting and exciting that person might be, then that other will become just part of our world and we will grow apart and go our separate ways, that is, to our separate homes.

Given the complexities of the human heart, we can be obsessed with someone, painfully and hopelessly even, and yet in that relationship, not be at our right place in the universe. In the end, our completeness, real love, home, lies elsewhere. But the heart needs to be scrutinized carefully before it will tell us that.

Our true rest lies, namely, at that place where we don’t have to impress or perform, or earn or win, where we feel safe and secure, and where we are at home.

To read more click here or copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/love-is-coming-home/#.WtnsPdPwZAY
www.facebook.com/ronrolheiser

Poverty and Building our Common Lives

POVERTY AND REBUILDING OUR COMMON LIVES

“Poverty is not only about shortage of money. It is about relationships; about how people are treated and how they regard themselves; about powerlessness, exclusion and loss of dignity.”

We hear a lot in the churches and communities about giving “a voice to the voiceless”; rather less about the unglamorous task of sitting down together and patiently building a common life. (Jenny Sinclair)

The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord (B)

Short Reflection for the Ascension Sunday (B)

Readings: Acts 1: 1-11; Ephesians 4: 1-13; Mark 16: 15-20

Selected Passage:  “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16: 17-18)

Meditation: Signs accompany the preaching of the Good News like speaking new languages; no harm to them when they pick up serpents or drink deadly poisons. Today, we ask ourselves what are the signs that must accompany our Mission?

·      Is it a FELLOWSHIP in the name of Jesus – regardless of color, race, belief, language and gender?

·      Is it our fellowship with the poor and the excluded?

·      Is it our capacity to walk the “extra mile” and to give away our extra coat as well...?

Visit www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...

Dhikr is an Arabic word for remembrance. In the “tariqa” (the way) movement, dhikr developed into a form of prayer… It is a prayer of the heart… following three simple steps:

1.    Write in one’s heart a certain passage of the Holy Writ…

2.   Make the same passage ever present in one’s lips. 

3.   Then wait for God’s disclosure on the meaning of the passage…that interprets one’s life NOW…!

It takes a week of remembering (dhikr)…or even more days to relish the beauty of this method…