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Today’s reflection  is widely attributed to Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), a Spanish Carmelite nun, reformer, theologian and author.

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body.

Christ has no body now but yours.

Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Today’s prayer is from Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) and comes from the book No Greater Love. 

We cannot find God in noise and agitation.
Nature: trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence.
The stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence.
What is essential is not what we say
but what God tells us and what He tells others through us.
In silence He listens to us;
in silence He speaks to our souls.
In silence we are granted
the privilege of listening to His voice.

Silence of our eyes.
Silence of our ears.
Silence of our mouths.
Silence of our minds.
…in the silence of the heart
God will speak.

Today’s prayer is from Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the 4^th century (339-397).  He contributed to theology and doctrine of the early Christian Church and influenced Augustine of Hippo.

O Lord, who hast mercy upon all,
take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me
the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore Thee,
a heart to delight in Thee,
to follow and enjoy Thee, for Christ’s sake, Amen

It’s been awhile since I added to this site.  I am inspired by the coming Lenten season to change this and return to a practice of spiritual writing. Lent begins this coming Wednesday (March 1) with Ash Wednesday.

Lent is a time to prepare for the miracle of Easter.  It is a season of imitating the practices and teachings of Jesus and traditionally includes activities of  fasting, self-denial, spiritual growth, conversion, and simplicity.  Lent represents a time for taking spiritual inventory and then addressing those things that hinder our relationship with Jesus. Prayer, charitable service, scripture reading and fasting are common practices associated with the Lenten season since these disciplines help enrich our spiritual lives.

I have decided that this Lent I wanted to explore prayer.  I have been researching historical Lenten prayer and want to share some of the beautiful prayers I have discovered each day of Lent.  I hope that you will find the daily prayer that you read to be meaningful to you and that it will help you focus your attention on Christ during this important season.

The first prayer will be posted on Ash Wednesday.  Each day following, until Easter Sunday, I will post a new prayer.  I’ll provide a very short background about the author/source of the prayer – but the focus of each day will be the prayer itself.  I hope you find this meaningful and that you will forward to any friends that you think would like to participate.  I hope the prayers are inspiring and help you focus this season on your faith journey.

Human conscience cannot tell a person what is right and what is wrong – the conscience can only tell a person whether or not he is acting according to what he already believes to be right.  The Holy Scriptures, which are the word of God, are our only rule for faith, obedience, and life.  We cannot have two equal authorities without making one of them the standard for interpreting the other.    While we must view the Old and New Testament as a whole and  be careful not to take any verse or portion of the Bible out of context, it is important that we strive to understand God’s message to us and make it the rule upon which we base our lives.   It’s part of the process of agreeing to the Authority of God versus subtly putting our own conscience before the will of God.  Not an easy task and one that requires much prayer.

That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.  [Ephesians 2:19-22   The Message]

If we are going to base our life on something, there better be a strong, solid foundation for our beliefs.  The Bible carries God’s authority and wisdom for how we should live.  As Christians, we build our entire lives (both now and eternal) on the truth of God’s Word.  Scripture is our strong foundation.   No message of Scripture originates from man’s own wisdom, but only from the inspiration of God through the Holy Spirit. We must take care to understand God’s Word, interpret it correctly, and obey it completely.  Scripture provides the only path for fully understanding God’s promises. The Bible is the solid foundation upon which we, as Christians, learn to live in a manner that is pleasing to God.  It is worth our time to read and study it so we know the truth.  Armed with God’s truth, we can avoid the struggles found in this dark world and see the light that shines from a creative, consistent, loving and living God.

While the basic knowledge of God through His glorious works of nature is available to all mankind, God’s Word and the Holy Spirit are special gifts given to people of faith. The Holy Spirit works by and with the Word in our hearts to reveal many truths about God and His will.  These truths cannot be known solely from a simple belief in God’s existence.   Through the Holy Spirit we can see and believe the truth revealed in scripture.  The Holy Spirit highlights the truth for us – nothing is added to Scripture by the Spirit,  but the Spirit gives us a deeper understanding of it.  God promises that the Holy Spirit is with us and our children forever.  How are we using these precious gifts from a God who seeks relationship with us?