|
This past week, I endured an illness I thought would be a mild cold. An extremely long week later, I'm still recovering.
We've been posting almost daily for something like six months, and at this point, I think it's safe to say the Daily Devotional is going to have to be called something else. Being sick made me realize it isn't feasible to post every single day. So I'll be mulling over how to make this work in the near future. In Christ, Steve
0 Comments
May you have:
A world of wishes at your command. God and his angels close to hand. Friends and family their love impart, And Irish blessings in your heart! I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In the predictions of prophets, In the preaching of apostles, In the faith of confessors, In the innocence of holy virgins, In the deeds of righteous men. I arise today, through The strength of heaven, The light of the sun, The radiance of the moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rock. I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near. I summon today All these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul; Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me an abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. May the Strength of God pilot us.
May the Power of God preserve us. May the Wisdom of God instruct us. May the Hand of God protect us. May the Way of God direct us. May the Shield of God defend us. May the Host of God guard us Against the snares of the evil ones, Against temptations of the world. May Christ be with us! May Christ be before us! May Christ be in us, Christ be over all! May Thy Salvation, Lord, Always be ours, This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen. Holy Trinity,
Almighty Father-Mother God, grant your devoted servants who seek You peace during Lent that we may know that which is deeper and truer than all the appearances of the world In the Name of the Father-Mother and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN How's everyone holding up with their Lenten vows?
What did you give up? What did you take on? Are you able to unite the sacrifice with your pursuit of God? Keep going. You can do it. In Christ, Steve THE GOSPEL
The gospel is taken from the Book of the Pistis Sophia: And Mary, the mother of Jesus according to matter, said: When Thou my Master wert a child, before the Spirit had descended upon Thee, when Thou wert in the vineyard with Joseph, the Spirit came down from the height, and came unto me in the house, like unto Thee, and I knew him not, but thought that he was Thou. And he said unto me, ‘Where is Jesus, my brother, that I may go to meet him?’ And when he had said this unto me I was in doubt, and thought it was a phantom tempting me. I seized him and bound him to the foot of the bed which was in my house, until I had gone to find you in the field-- Thee and Joseph. It came to pass, therefore, when Thou didst hear me saying this thing unto Joseph, that Thou didst understand, and Thou wert joyful and saidest, ‘Where is he, that I may see him? Nay I am expecting him in this place.’ And it came to pass, when Joseph heard Thee say these words, that he was disturbed. We went together, we entered into the house, we found the spirit bound on the bed, and we gazed upon Thee and him, and found that Thou wert like unto him. And he that was bound to the bed was unloosed; he embraced Thee and kissed thee, and Thou didst kiss him; and ye became one and the same being. THE COLLECT
O gracious father, kindly prince, countless myriads of years have now passed since we were separated from Thee! We yearn and long to see Thy luminous and living face! Unstained we roam forth in Thy power, unstained we come again to stand before Thee! It is true we have not altogether been able to fulfill Thy will, but now be merciful to us, O gracious and royal God; we would forget our sorrows, we would live in the joy of eternal love! Amen. THE LESSON The lesson is taken from the Great Book of the Mandaeans: From the day when I came to love the Life, from the day when my heart came to love the Truth, I no longer have trust in anything in the world. In father and mother, I have no trust in the world. In brothers and sisters I have no trust in the world. In what is made and created I have no trust in the world. After my soul alone I go searching about, which to me is worth generations and worlds. I went and found my soul — What are to me all the worlds? I went and found Truth, as she stands at the outer rim of the worlds. One of the most wondrous things about meditation is that even small doses can be super beneficial.
We can throw out any metaphysical perspective and just focus on an incredibly practical aspect: meditation just gives our brain a much-needed rest. So I encourage you to meditate, even if you only have a minute or two to do so. In Christ, Steve  All of the seasons, and certainly the Liturgical seasons, have different associations and energies to which they point.
But the Spring Christ Energy is one of the best. After the cold of winter, the warmer, lighter energy seems to carry us almost effortlessly, as though we were merely a wave in the ocean. And I enjoy this and hope you are as well. Perhaps this is one reason we celebrate Lent- to cut ourselves from the former energy and enter into this newer energy. Either way, I pray Lent goes well for you, and know that Christ loves you. In Christ, Steve This is a short entry, but I do want to draw everyone's attention to the fact that one is technically allowed to relax the Lenten vows on Sundays.
In Christ, Steve THE GOSPEL The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Thomas: Jesus saw children who were being suckled. He said to his disciples: These children who are being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom. They said to Him: Shall we then, being children, enter the Kingdom? Jesus said to them: When you make the two one, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male will not be male and the female not be female, when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in the place of a hand, and a foot in the place of a foot, and an image in the place of an image then shall you enter the Kingdom. Taken with regards from the Lectionary of the Ecclesia Gnostica.
From here on out, I think it would be good to include the Collect, Lesson, and Gospel from the lectionary of the Ecclesia Gnostica. In the future, the Aquarian Catholic Spiritual Community will also have our lectionary to use; in the meantime, this will perhaps help us to have reflections and keep us pursing Christ. THE COLLECTO loving God,
look upon Thy children who have answered Thy call! Come to us with Thy mighty aid in our time of need. Cleanse us of all darkness and ignorance, let our tears be turned to jubilation, let Thy most glorious power watch over us until we enter Thy light. Let Thy great brightness come and cause the path to be lit before us, let Thy angels bring to us Thy garments, Thy crowns and Thy garlands; let our way be restful, let the door open before us into the column of glory, let us cross over in the ships of Light and rest for evermore. Amen. THE LESSONThe lesson is taken from the words of the Holy Prophet Mani: The man whose mind is full of light is the one to whom belongs wisdom; as soon as he hears truth he welcomes it to himself; but he whose mind is without light, who is alien to it, does not take it to himself, nor does he listen to it. And every weak soul which has not learned the truth belonging to her is doomed to remain without any rest or happiness. God’s enlightening word is sweet when it finds ears to hear it; it does not lodge in a closed mind, makes not its way into a polluted shrine. Let us therefore examine our shrines, so that in cleanliness they may receive the Light. O gracious Master,
infuse in our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom and open the eyes of our mind that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel. Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that we may lead a spiritual life, both thinking and doing everything to please You. For You, O Christ, our God, are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies; and to You we render glory, together with Your eternal Father, and with Your all holy, life-creating Spirit, now and forever. Amen Our church had a wonderful Ash Wednesday service.
Father Daniel graciously helped with the responses in Mass, and he delivered a talk that related the Lenten season to alchemy- an amazing connection that took our already deep Ash Wednesday to an even deeper level! Today's only the second day, and I wanted some coffee creamer, but due to my own ban on sugar for Lent, guess what I'm not having in my coffee...! The doubled Bible reading is going well; generally, it's two chapters in the Old Testament and two in the New, complete with reading all the surrounding study notes. One word of advice: anything that one gives up for Lent, make sure it's something within your ability to do. Don't do something that's going to harm you or stress you out too much as that's likely to backfire. In Christ, Steve Today, for those who are able to, many will go to have ashes signed onto their forehead.
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and our very first reminder is that we are made of the dust of the Earth and to the dust we shall we return. Our mortality, at least the mortality of the body, is a reality with which we all live. The eventually decline and ending of our vital processes is a solidified, guaranteed fact of life. Ash Wednesday helps us to remember that. Ash Wednesday reminds us that we will eventually transition from this form, from this reality, into another. Whether the eventual form we take after the transition to the next chapter is something we would recognize while still in the body is up for debate. One thing is for sure: hearing the stories from hospice nurses and others who deal with people on the brink of passing on is an incredible comfort. People often begin seeing the next world before they fully transition, and it's almost always peaceful and a matter of seeing relatives who have passed on. I am hopeful, indeed, one day for a peaceful death myself. But death does mean we can't return to this form, to this world, to this moment. We must accept the preciousness of the day, of the moment, and do our best while in this world. In Christ, Steve That's right, guys, gals and non-binary pals! Today's Mardi Gras, translated to "Fat Tuesday!" This is the last time do indulge in all your delicious foods before making your commitment to give up something you enjoy for the 40 days leading up to Easter.
Tomorrow begins Lent with Ash Wednesday. What are you planning on giving up? Are you instead going to add practices? As for me, I'm going to read additional spiritual writings, additional chapters of the Bible, and give up sweets. I pray for everyone to have the necessary fortitude and to understand that this is an offering to God. In Christ, Steve |
