MEDITATION:
Written by Joan Chittister, a contemporary American Benedictine nun, theologian, author, and speaker. This is an excerpt from her book “Illuminated Life.”
Contemplation breaks us open to ourselves. The fruit of contemplation is self-knowledge, not self-justification. “The nearer we draw to God,” Abba Mateos said, “the more we see ourselves as sinners.” We see ourselves as we really are, and knowing ourselves we cannot condemn the other. We remember with a blush the public sin that made us mortal. We recognize with dismay the private sin that curls within us in fear of exposure. Then the whole world changes when we know ourselves. We gentle it. The fruit of self-knowledge is kindness. Broken ourselves, we bind tenderly the wounds of the other.
PRAYER:
Written by Jamie Rohrbaugh, a contemporary missionary, author, and speaker.
Father God, in Jesus’ name, please create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within me. Take away my old broken heart of stone, and give me a new, bright heart. Take away my old spirit and fill me with Your Spirit. Fill me with Your light, Father, and create in me a bright heart. Thank You, Father. Amen.
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