Devotion
Practice lovingkindness
David Jacobs
I love podcasts and listen to them regularly. One of my favorites is called the 'Tim Ferris podcast' with host, you guessed it, Tim Ferris. Ferris is an angel investor and all-around smart guy, constantly experimenting on himself in order to improve the way he feels, thinks, and acts. He had a Buddhist monk on the program that taught me something that I still use today: practicing lovingkindness. Every morning when the monk wakes up, he writes down a list of the first 10 people that he wants to share his love and kindness with. I started to do this, and it had a dramatic effect. Lots of the people on my list were people that I had problems with or that were on my mind. After writing their names down, the next time I saw them, it was as if the problems had melted away and been replaced with lovingkindness.
It is rather depressing to think of how few people we share our love with on a regular basis. Our love is also somewhat conditional, hinging on things like if they are faithful, reciprocate our love, or don't understand us fully. God has written His list of lovingkindness, and it contains every living thing. There are no conditions as there may be for us, but we should strive to accept God into our hearts. Until we do, we will never be able to fully love others, ourselves, or experience eternal life. His love for us is unconditional, but He gives us the choice of whether or not to reciprocate. The choice is ours; thanks be to God for giving it to us!
Prayer
Write your lovingkindness list. Who is on your list? Is God?
Devotion
Culpability
Frances Taylor
This is an interesting passage because, among other things, it talks about sin and who is considered guilty of sin. Paul is talking about how he has been forgiven, how God has been merciful to him because his actions were committed in unbelief. In order for sin to be committed, one needs to know he is committing it. No one can commit sin in retrospect. Sin is always a deliberate act. This can be hard for some to understand. Actions can be considered sinful, even though the person committing them may not be culpable. For example, lying is a sin. However, is the two year old hiding behind the curtains sinning when he or she claims not to have broken the vase? No, because the child has no understanding of the difference between truth and lie. Those who do not have a relationship with God, who do not know the commandments, who have never heard of Jesus, may commit sinful actions, but are not guilty of sin. This is what Paul claims is his situation. Paul ...
Morning Prayer
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ) full of grace and truth.
Inspiration
When the Lord sent his only Son, he sent also his word. For his body was this very word made flesh. Importantly this was not simply a manifestation of God's word, but also rather an 'animation' of it (meant here in the original Latin as 'animare' –'to instill with life or spirit'), an instance of God's love and divine grace in action, among us.
Prayer
Lord, I am grateful for your mercy in showing us your word made flesh so that we may be redeemed. Further, I am grateful to you for showing us your love and grace through your only begotten son. Let his body not have been torn and broken for no avail, but feed us now in the Eucharist. Let not his blood have...
