Patient Living as Expected

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to live fully serving love, truth and beauty as revealed to us through the Spirit.

Leading in Service

The reading from the Letter to Titus urges that our lifestyle teaches sound doctrine.

* [2:1–10] One of Titus’ main tasks in Crete is to become acquainted with the character of the Cretans and thereby learn to cope with its deficiencies (see Ti 1:12). The counsel is not only for Titus himself but for various classes of people with whom he must deal: older men and women (Ti 2:2–4), younger women and men (Ti 2:4–7), and slaves (Ti 2:9–10); cf. Eph 6:1–9; Col 3:18–4:1. (Titus, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)

Psalm 37 is an exhortation to patience and trust.

* [Psalm 37] The Psalm responds to the problem of evil, which the Old Testament often expresses as a question: why do the wicked prosper and the good suffer? The Psalm answers that the situation is only temporary. God will reverse things, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked here on earth. The perspective is concrete and earthbound: people’s very actions place them among the ranks of the good or wicked. Each group or “way” has its own inherent dynamism—eventual frustration for the wicked, eventual reward for the just. The Psalm is an acrostic, i.e., each section begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section has its own imagery and logic. (Psalms, PSALM 37, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus instructs about the attitude of a servant.

* [17:7–10] These sayings of Jesus, peculiar to Luke, which continue his response to the apostles’ request to increase their faith (Lk 17:5–6), remind them that Christian disciples can make no claim on God’s graciousness; in fulfilling the exacting demands of discipleship, they are only doing their duty. (Luke, CHAPTER 17, n.d.)

Edward Morse comments that today’s readings remind us of the dignity to which we are called, particularly the dignity of servanthood. Servanthood is indispensable to our Christian faith.

In today’s gospel, our Lord illustrates that the habit of serving depends on commitment, not accolades or even gratitude.  Perhaps this is what the letter to Titus was getting at through identifying the need for training.  When the going gets tough – and it will – sometimes we simply must keep loving and serving.  Grace comes to us in those times, saving us from godless behavior and allowing us to persevere toward the hope of our salvation, following our Lord who indeed “gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.”    Lord, please help us to be eager to do what is good, to serve willingly and joyfully. Give us eyes to recognize true greatness in our midst in the form of servanthood and help us to express gratitude for their gifts.  Thanks be to God. (Morse, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “We are called to humble service,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

 

"You do not say to your servant, 'Sit down,' but require more service from him and do not thank him. The Lord also does not allow only one work or labor for you, because so long as we live we must always work.

"Know that you are a servant overwhelmed by very much obedience. You must not set yourself first, because you are called a son of God. Grace must be acknowledged, but nature not overlooked. Do not boast of yourself if you have served well, as you should have done. The sun obeys, the moon complies (Joshua 10:12-13; Baruch 6:60), and the angels serve... Let us not require praise from ourselves nor prevent the judgment of God and anticipate the sentence of the Judge but reserve it for its own time and Judge." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.31-32) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 17:7-10 comments that God invites us into a relationship based on love and mercy, one that involves a divine exchange of our hearts with his. We give him the love that we have in our hearts, and he gives us . . . himself! As that exchange happens, our acts of obedience are rooted less and less in a sense of obligation and more and more in love for God. And not just in the love we have for God but in the love he has for us. Even when we can’t feel it, God is still pouring his love into us through his Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). That means we can keep serving when we are tired. Or hungry. Or worried. When the baby is fussy, the boss is demanding, or the friend is complaining. All because of this divine exchange of love.

The next time you find yourself struggling to meet yet another need, take a moment to cry out to the Lord, “Increase your love in me!” Trust the Holy Spirit to show you how to receive that love and to give you evidence that it is growing in you. Then you can say, “I am just doing what I am obliged to do,” and know the love that eases the pinch.

“Jesus, help me to trust you and experience your love for me as I grow in being your obedient servant.” (Meditation on Luke 17:7-10, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes the passage from Titus about acting in the community in a way that does not negate the Gospel but is an example of how to live for others. The reward for service is in the service. Friar Jude reminds us of the privilege of service as a means to love others as we are loved by God.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces author and preacher Barbara Brown Taylor writes about what she calls “holy envy,” befriending followers of different traditions, and allowing such friendships to enrich our own faith. She recalls a trip she took with her students to a local Islamic center, and the inspiration it provided.

Once, at the end of a field trip to the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, the imam ended his meeting with students by saying, “Our deepest desire is not that you become Muslim, but that you become the best Christian, the best Jew, the best person you can be. In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Thank you for coming.” Then he was gone, leaving me with a fresh case of holy envy.

I could do that, I thought. I could speak from the heart of my faith, wishing others well at the heart of theirs—including those who had no name for what got them through the night. It might mean taking down some fences, but turf was no longer the reigning metaphor. I was not imagining two separate yards with neighbors leaning over a shared boundary. I was imagining a single reservoir of living water, with two people looking into it. One might have been a Muslim and the other a Christian, but there was nothing in their faces to tell me that. All I saw were two human beings looking into deep waters that did not belong to either of them, reflecting back to them the truth that they were not alone. (Rohr, n.d.)

We are ambassadors of peace and love when we live as servant leaders who present the Way in our actions.

References

Luke, CHAPTER 17. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/17?7 

Meditation on Luke 17:7-10. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/11/08/528992/ 

Morse, E. (n.d.). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/110822.htm l

Psalms, PSALM 37. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/37?3 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). We Have Only Done Our Duty. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=nov8 

Titus, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/titus/2?1 

Preparing with alms fasting and prayer

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Ash Wednesday invite us to a journey of alms giving, fasting and prayer to deepen our experience of the Presence of God in our lives.

Alms and fasting

The Prophet Joel urges a return to the Lord for Jerusalem as it anticipates tragedy.

* [2:18] Jealous: the Hebrew word describes the passionate empathetic bond the Lord has with Israel. The people’s wholehearted participation in Joel’s call for fasting and prayer sparks the Lord’s longing to protect and love his people Israel. This desire moves him to withhold punishment and to send the blessing of v. 14 instead.1 

In the Letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes the experience of reconciliation in his ministry.

* [5:21] This is a statement of God’s purpose, expressed paradoxically in terms of sharing and exchange of attributes. As Christ became our righteousness (1 Cor 1:30), we become God’s righteousness (cf. 2 Cor 5:14–15).2 

The Gospel from Matthew from the Sermon on the Mount is a teaching about almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.

* [6:1–18] The sermon continues with a warning against doing good in order to be seen and gives three examples, almsgiving (Mt 6:2–4), prayer (Mt 6:5–15), and fasting (Mt 6:16–18). In each, the conduct of the hypocrites (Mt 6:2) is contrasted with that demanded of the disciples. The sayings about reward found here and elsewhere (Mt 5:12, 46; 10:41–42) show that this is a genuine element of Christian moral exhortation. Possibly to underline the difference between the Christian idea of reward and that of the hypocrites, the evangelist uses two different Greek verbs to express the rewarding of the disciples and that of the hypocrites; in the latter case it is the verb apechō, a commercial term for giving a receipt for what has been paid in full (Mt 6:2, 5, 16).3 

Tom Shanahan, S.J. asks what is most important for us? Clearly it is not to fake out others to make them think that we’re something special. But the truth is that we ARE something special, made so by our Baptism.

The point is where does that “specialness” end up?  If it ends in God’s beauty and love for us and in Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us: it’s grace.  But if it ends in a falsely-humble sign of how good we are it’s the opposite of grace: it’s a blast of the Adam-side of us and totally unrelated to the beauty of Lent.
Lent is a “joyous” season even though many of us have been schooled to think of it as a somber or gloomy period.  We think of having to give up things and not entering into the deep joy of hearing and living out the call of Christ.  Lent is, liturgically, a preparation for the celebration of Baptism. Members of our community receive Baptism and through it entrance into the very person of Christ.  At the end of Lent (Holy Saturday) catechumens begin their lives as “Christed” members of our faith community. By Baptism they join us in the search for the profound meaning of life-in-Christ and growing in faith, hope and charity.4 

Don Schwager quotes “Lent - the epitome of our whole life,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD.

"Christians must always live in this way, without any wish to come down from their cross - otherwise they will sink beneath the world's mire. But if we have to do so all our lives, we must make an even greater effort during the days of Lent. It is not a simple matter of living through forty days. Lent is the epitome of our whole life." (excerpt from Sermon 205, 1)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 shares that Jesus is inviting us to “return to the Lord, your God” this Lent (Joel 2:13). Every journey begins with the smallest, most ordinary of steps. So get into the daily habit of turning to him through these three ordinary spiritual practices. Then watch to see whether something extraordinary comes of them.

 These next forty days offer us a wonderful opportunity to enter into the blessings of a routine. If we can commit to praying every day this Lent, we’ll be well on our way to forming a permanent habit of spending time with God and letting his word change our hearts. If we can commit the next six weeks to fasting—from some food or activity or attitude that has too tight a grip on us—we stand the chance of becoming less attached to this world and more attached to Christ. If we can commit to giving some of our time and money to helping the poor on a regular basis, generosity and compassion will begin to flow from us more naturally 6

Michael Barnes SJ lectures in the Theology of Religions. He asks: What do we expect fasting – and prayer and almsgiving and all the other Lenten practices of faith – to do for us? What part do they play in the living out of those ancient patterns of holiness which are inscribed in our sacred texts and traditions? And what can Muslims and Christians learn from each other? (Ramadan 2019 will begin in the evening of Sunday, May 5 and ends in the evening of Tuesday, June 4)

Lent is like Ramadan in the sense that the community of faith is formed by several weeks of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  But Ramadan is essentially a daily round, a ritual which marks time and measures the rhythms of life. At the end of each day the process is repeated, until the entire spiritual and physical universe is gathered around a single point of time and creation is restored to a new harmony.  The map of time which Christians seek to draw is more complex. Lent intensifies the relationship which the command to follow opens up. Indeed it is itself a pilgrimage in which through personal companionship with Jesus we are drawn more deeply into the intimacy of God’s act of self-communication.7 

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the apocalyptic situation described by Joel that declares that NOW is the time to dedicate ourselves to conversion. The destruction of the Temple in 70 CE required that the rabbis recommend replacement of sacrifice with prayer, fasting and giving alms to heal the death brought by sin. Friar Jude imagines the ashes in our heart that do not draw attention to ourselves.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, declares the Eucharist is an encounter of the heart, knowing Presence through our own offered presence. In the Eucharist, we move beyond mere words or rational thought and go to that place where we don’t talk about the Mystery anymore; we begin to chew on it. Jesus did not say, “Think about this” or “Stare at this” or even “Worship this.” Instead he said, “Eat this!”

We must move our knowing to the bodily, cellular, participative, and thus unitive level. We must keep eating and drinking the Mystery, until one day it dawns on us, in an undefended moment, “My God, I really am what I eat! I also am the Body of Christ.” Then we can trust and allow what has been true since the first moment of our existence. We have dignity and power flowing through us in our bare and naked existence—and everybody else does too, even though most do not know it. A body awareness of this sort is enough to steer and empower our entire faith life, while merely assenting to or saying the words will never give us the jolt we need to absorb the divine desire for us.
This is why I must hold to the orthodox belief that there is Real Presence in the bread and wine. For me, if we sacrifice Reality in the elements, we end up sacrificing the same Reality in ourselves.8 

The pilgrimage of Lent moves us away from creature comfort concerns to experience the community of the Body of Christ.

References

1	(n.d.). Joel chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Retrieved March 6, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/Joel/2:12
2	(n.d.). 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. Retrieved March 5, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/2Corinthians/5:20
3	(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 6. Retrieved March 6, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/6:1
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved March 6, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 6, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Ash Wednesday - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations for .... Retrieved March 6, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/03/06
7	(2008, February 6). Keeping the Lenten Fast – thoughts from a dialogue ... - Thinking Faith. Retrieved March 6, 2019, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20080206_1.htm
8	(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: March 2019 - Center for Action and .... Retrieved March 6, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/03/

Archangels today

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the role of angels in our spiritual journey.

Like Jacob

In the Book of Daniel we discover the battle between the Beasts, representing occupying foreign empires, and the people of Israel.

* [7:9–10] A vision of the heavenly throne of God (the Ancient of Days), who sits in judgment over the nations. Some of the details of the vision, depicting the divine majesty and omnipotence, are to be found in Ezekiel 1. Others are paralleled in 1 Enoch, a contemporary Jewish apocalypse.

The first chapter of the Gospel of John ends with the calling of the disciples and the connecting by Jesus of Nathaniel to Jacob’s vision of a ladder to heaven.

* [1:47] A true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him: Jacob was the first to bear the name “Israel” (Gn 32:29), but Jacob was a man of duplicity (Gn 27:35–36).

Eileen Wirth notes Catholics believe that angels are pure spirits.

It’s interesting that the first prayer that many mothers teach their children is the “Angel of God.” Like countless others, I said it every night when my mom put me to bed.  Is it possible that our moms were our real guardian angels? They also were the messengers who first taught us about God. If you had an angelic mom as I do (she’s 95), I hope this makes you smile.
And remember that  even if angels are pure spirits, we can emulate them in fighting for good and in being messengers of God’s love to others

Don Schwager quotes “The Lord of Angels”, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).

"Do you see how he [Jesus] leads him [Nathanael] up little by little from the earth and causes him no longer to imagine him as merely a man? For one to whom angels minister and on whom angels ascend and descend, how could he be a man? This is why he said, 'You shall see greater things than these.' And to prove this, he introduces the ministry of angels. What he means is something like this: Does this, O Nathanael, seem to you a great matter, and have you for this confessed me to be King of Israel? What then will you say when you see 'angels ascending and descending on me'? He persuades him by these words to receive him as Lord also of the angels. For on him as on the king's own son, the royal ministers ascended and descended, once at the season of the crucifixion, again at the time of the resurrection and the ascension, and before this also, when they 'came and ministered to him' (Matthew 4:11). They also ascended and descended when they proclaimed the good news of his birth and cried, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace' (Luke 2:14), when they came to Mary and also when they came to Joseph... Our Lord made the present a proof of the future. After the powers he had already shown, Nathanael would readily believe that much more would follow." (excerpt from the Homilies On the Gospel of John 21.1)

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 1:47-51 comments that our view of the future is often colored by what we are experiencing in the present.

So follow Nathanael’s lead and make your own declaration of faith. Every day, repeat to yourself, “God has known me before I was born. He loves me more than anyone else could. He longs to spend eternity with me.”
Over time, as you internalize these truths, your perspective on the future will change. You’ll begin to look forward to that day in heaven when you finally see Jesus face-to-face. Can you imagine standing before the throne of God, with his angels and archangels “ascending and descending,” just as Jesus promised (John 1:51)?

Friar Jude Winkler, OFM conv, informs us that in Jewish tradition There are seven, the perfect number, of archangels who bear in their name “el” the title for God. The messenger, warrior, and healer are represented in the Archangels. Friar Jude connects the calling of Nathaniel in the Gospel to angels in the Hebrew Testament.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reminds us that the unifying theme in [Judaism, Christianity, and Islam] is that God loves us unconditionally. . . . A hadith [saying] of the Prophet Muhammad expresses the unconditional love of God: Allah says, “Take one step towards me, I will take ten steps towards you. Walk towards me, I will run towards you” (Hadith Qudsi).

The great Sufi teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan [1882–1927] placed special emphasis on the sacred phrase Ishq Allah Ma’bud Allah, which he translated as “God is Love, Lover, and Beloved.” [1] In Love, Human and Divine, Inayat Khan writes, “The Sufis say that the reason of the whole creation is that the perfect Being wished to know Himself, and did so by awakening the love of His nature and creating out of it His object of love, which is beauty.”. . .

Angels who are the messengers of God and our assistance in the battle against evil have played an important role in interaction between God and humanity in salvation history and in our personal journey. Our recognition of these spirits contributes to the awe we encounter as we discover God calling us closer.

References

(n.d.). Daniel chapter 7 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/daniel/7
(n.d.). II. The Book of Signs. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/john1.htm
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved September 29, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/

A time for revelation and reality

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today refocus our understanding of the relationship between Creator and Creature.





The Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that things happen in God’s time.

* [3:1–8] The fourteen pairs of opposites describe various human activities. The poem affirms that God has determined the appropriate moment or “time” for each. Human beings cannot know that moment; further, the wider course of events and purposes fixed by God are beyond them as well.

The Gospel from Luke emphasizes the role of prayer in our preparation to live as Jesus describes to His disciples.

* [9:18–22] This incident is based on Mk 8:27–33, but Luke has eliminated Peter’s refusal to accept Jesus as suffering Son of Man (Mk 8:32) and the rebuke of Peter by Jesus (Mk 8:33). Elsewhere in the gospel, Luke softens the harsh portrait of Peter and the other apostles found in his Marcan source (cf. Lk 22:39–46, which similarly lacks a rebuke of Peter that occurs in the source, Mk 14:37–38).

The rhythm of Ecclesiastes resonates with the theme of Inshallah in Islam.

In the Gospel of Luke, important moments in Jesus journey are preceded by prayer.

* [3:21] Was praying: Luke regularly presents Jesus at prayer at important points in his ministry: here at his baptism; at the choice of the Twelve (Lk 6:12); before Peter’s confession (Lk 9:18); at the transfiguration (Lk 9:28); when he teaches his disciples to pray (Lk 11:1); at the Last Supper (Lk 22:32); on the Mount of Olives (Lk 22:41); on the cross (Lk 23:46).

Larry Gillick, S.J. chooses to ponder about Jesus’ praying in solitude.

What is new and different is the quality of our life after we spend time praying.  That is what can be evaluated if you are into such things. The encounter comes before results just as pregnancy comes before birth.  What is “new” then is the fruit of praying. Jesus was interrupted in His prayer, not just by wandering thoughts, but by wondering disciples.  His relationships, His authenticity, His fidelity were the fruits of His praying in solitude. His compassionate availability was the fruit of His being so available to His humanity and His prayer.

In the Summa Theologiæ of St. Thomas Aquinas Article 1 asks whether it is becoming of Christ to pray?

I answer that, As was said in the II-II:83:1; II-II:83:2, prayer is the unfolding of our will to God, that He may fulfill it. If, therefore, there had been but one will in Christ, viz. the Divine, it would nowise belong to Him to pray, since the Divine will of itself is effective of whatever He wishes by it, according to Psalm 134:6: "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, He hath done." But because the Divine and the human wills are distinct in Christ, and the human will of itself is not efficacious enough to do what it wishes, except by Divine power, hence to pray belongs to Christ as man and as having a human will.

The Word Among Us Meditation is on the mention of hate in Ecclesiastes 3:1-11.

For instance, you may hate someone because of something hurtful they have said or done to you. Jesus wants to help you try to forgive. Perhaps you hate someone because they are embroiled in a pattern of sin that is overflowing to other people. Let Jesus remind you that we are all sinners. Sometimes, when a person is doing truly evil things, it is especially hard to love them. Maybe all you can do is pray. Even this is a step out of the darkness.

Friar Jude Winkler, OFM Conv, is reminded of a song by the Byrds about Ecclesiastes 3.1-11. Jesus is praying often in Luke’s Gospel. In the prediction of the passion Christ is the Messiah but not a wonder worker but the Son of Man is likened to the Suffering Servant in Second Isaiah.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes the book “God of Love” by Mirabai Starr to show how at the nondual or contemplative levels the teachings of the three Abrahamic Traditions are quite similar, especially regarding the transformation of the separate self into union with God.

“Wash yourself of yourself,” says Rumi [a Sufi]. “Be melting snow.” In Kabbalah [Jewish mysticism], this process is known as bitul hayesh, “nullification of one’s somethingness,” and is consciously cultivated through prayer. In Christian tradition, the union of the soul with God in love is called “bridal mysticism.” And in Sufism, it is fana, where the soul attains complete unity with Allah. In every case, there is a dying of the false self into the truth of the Divine.

Authentic God experience always “burns” us, yet it does not destroy us (Exodus 3:2-3), just as the burning bush was revealed to Moses. Most of us are not prepared for such burning, nor even told to expect it. Authentic God experience is always “too much”! It consoles our True Self only after it has devastated our false self.

References

(n.d.). Ecclesiastes chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/ecclesiastes/3
(n.d.). Luke chapter 9 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9
(n.d.). Luke chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke3:123
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved September 28, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). SUMMA THEOLOGIAE Christ's prayerTertia Pars Q 21 - New Advent. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4021.htm
(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/