SPIRITUAL FITNESS PLAN FOR LENT.
(An exercise program to enhance your spiritual life)
Week Three– Beginning March 21, 2011
St. Augustine (358-430 AD) was Bishop of Hippo and one of the most influential figures of his day. He had a profound impact on the beliefs and thinking of people even to today.
Augustine concluded that we are born with a ‘God shaped space’, reserved for God alone. Unfortunately, most people fill the space with non God like stuff, e.g., possessions, activities, busyness, negative things, etc. It is like trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Nothing will fit there properly, except God. Augustine struggled with this and concluded that he was restless until he found his rest in God.
At that moment he invited God to COME and DWELL in his ‘God shaped space.
He said he did not know what he was doing, nor what it meant, nor what it would lead to … he just did it.
It appears Augustine decided to GIVE UP or clean out the ‘junk’ from his ‘God shaped space’; then he was able to TAKE UP other interests and things to fill and grow his understanding of and relationship with God. And through the transformation of his total being, he was able to HELP others come to the same actualization of self, not only in his own time, but for generations of strangers yet to come.
Maybe Augustine is asking us to invite God to COME and DWELL in us, and John’s Gospel may be the vehicle we need to achieve this goal.
Here are this week’s daily readings from John’s Gospel.
Monday March 21–John 5:19-47
Tuesday March 22 – John 6:1-15
Wednesday March 23– John 6:16-21
Thursday March 24 – John 6:22-59
Friday March 25– John 6:60-71
Saturday March 26– John 7:1-52
There are six suggested spiritual exercises for a HOLY LENT.
Here are this week’s exercises.
1. PRAYER – Each day, spend at least 5 minutes in prayer. Pray with your paper, newscast, internet browsing, walking, riding .. wherever you encounter people and their needs.
2. PENITENCE – confess your sins confident in God’s forgiveness and make amends for any wrong-doing.
3. SELF EXAMINATION – look at yourself, your relationship with God and your relationships with other people. Make improvements as required.
Tell others about this blog ... post a comment.
(An exercise program to enhance your spiritual life)
Week Three– Beginning March 21, 2011
St. Augustine (358-430 AD) was Bishop of Hippo and one of the most influential figures of his day. He had a profound impact on the beliefs and thinking of people even to today.
Augustine concluded that we are born with a ‘God shaped space’, reserved for God alone. Unfortunately, most people fill the space with non God like stuff, e.g., possessions, activities, busyness, negative things, etc. It is like trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Nothing will fit there properly, except God. Augustine struggled with this and concluded that he was restless until he found his rest in God.
At that moment he invited God to COME and DWELL in his ‘God shaped space.
He said he did not know what he was doing, nor what it meant, nor what it would lead to … he just did it.
It appears Augustine decided to GIVE UP or clean out the ‘junk’ from his ‘God shaped space’; then he was able to TAKE UP other interests and things to fill and grow his understanding of and relationship with God. And through the transformation of his total being, he was able to HELP others come to the same actualization of self, not only in his own time, but for generations of strangers yet to come.
Maybe Augustine is asking us to invite God to COME and DWELL in us, and John’s Gospel may be the vehicle we need to achieve this goal.
Here are this week’s daily readings from John’s Gospel.
Monday March 21–John 5:19-47
Tuesday March 22 – John 6:1-15
Wednesday March 23– John 6:16-21
Thursday March 24 – John 6:22-59
Friday March 25– John 6:60-71
Saturday March 26– John 7:1-52
There are six suggested spiritual exercises for a HOLY LENT.
Here are this week’s exercises.
1. PRAYER – Each day, spend at least 5 minutes in prayer. Pray with your paper, newscast, internet browsing, walking, riding .. wherever you encounter people and their needs.
2. PENITENCE – confess your sins confident in God’s forgiveness and make amends for any wrong-doing.
3. SELF EXAMINATION – look at yourself, your relationship with God and your relationships with other people. Make improvements as required.
Tell others about this blog ... post a comment.
Love the idea of praying with our "paper, newscast, internet browsing..." etc.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of an exercise you gave us years ago in a sermon. You suggested that every time we hung up the phone after a phone call, that we pray for the person we just spoke to. I love this idea of weaving prayer into the everyday moments of our lives.