Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to
be still before God.
Opening Prayer: Father, allow the soil of my soul to be
a place that is fertile and receptive to all that you desire to plant in my
heart. Tend it carefully and nurture all
that has sprung up in me that is of you; that I may be a garden of your
delight. Through Jesus. Amen.
Scripture Reading for the Day: Matthew 13:24-30
Reading for Reflection:
Every moment and every
event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the winds carries thousands of
invisible and visible winged seeds, so the stream of time brings with it germs
of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of
men. Most of these unnumbered seeds
perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such
seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of liberty and
desire.
The mind that is the prisoner of its own
pleasure and the will that is the captive of its own desire cannot accept the
seeds of a higher pleasure and a supernatural desire.
For how can I receive the seeds of freedom
if I am in love with slavery and how can I cherish the desire of God if I am
filled with another and opposite desire?
God will not plant His liberty in me because I am a prisoner and I do
not even desire to be free. I love my
captivity and I lock myself in the desire for things that I hate, and I have
hardened my heart against true love. (Seeds of Contemplation by
Thomas Merton)
Reflection and Listening: silent and written
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Closing Prayer: To Thee, O Lord, we cry and pray: bless this
sprouting seed, strengthen it in the gentle movement of soft winds, refresh it
with the dew of heaven, and let it grow to full maturity for the good of body
and soul. Amen. (Blessing of the
Sprouting Seed)
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