Marist Association Daily Prayer

Let us always remember that

we are in the holy presence of God

May God continue to live in our hearts

In the name of the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit

Amen

CLICK HERE TO BEGIN
  • Intention of the Day
  • Today's Gospel
  • Breaking Open the Word
  • Marist Source
  • Reflection
  • Meditation
  • Call to Action
  • Closing Prayer

Intention of the Day

That we invite young people to give themselves to something that demands passion and commitment.
Marists connected to the Exodus Community, Heidelberg West

That we invite young people to give themselves to something that demands passion and commitment.
Marists connected to the Exodus Community, Heidelberg West

Today's Gospel

'...certainly not lose your reward...'

Mark 9: 39.
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Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48.

38 John said to him, 'Master, we saw someone who is not one of us driving out devils in your name, and because he was not one of us we tried to stop him.'

39 But Jesus said, 'You must not stop him; no one who works a miracle in my name could soon afterwards speak evil of me.

40 Anyone who is not against us is for us.

41 'If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not lose his reward.

42 'But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone hung round his neck.

43 And if your hand should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire that can never be put out.

45 And if your foot should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

47 And if your eye should be your downfall, tear it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell

48 where their worm will never die nor their fire be put out.

Breaking Open The Word

In Jesus' circle, everyone touched by the Spirit is cool enough to belong.

Taken from: Give Us This Day
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Taken from: Give Us This Day

The Spirit on All.

If you've ever been the awkward smarty-pants with freckles and glasses, and here I speak from experience, you know how it feels to be outside the 'in-crowd.' Perhaps my fondness for Eldad and Medad, apart from their crackerjack names, comes from identifying with their situation outside the loop. They do not go out to the tent with the elders but are left in the camp. Yet the spirit touches them. They too are prophets.

Similarly, in Mark's Gospel, the apostles cast themselves as the popular kids. John tattles to Jesus about the outsider, who 'does not follow us' but is able to drive out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus, in a teachable moment, reaches out to include those his apostles presume to exclude.

Indeed, John's report sends Jesus into a bit of a rant. He raises the specter of Gehenna as the eternal destination for those who ignore his calling and choose to sin, using the harsh images of chopping off limbs and plucking out eyes to make his point. The letter of St. James echoes Jesus' words, warning that the perpetrators of injustice, no matter how wealthy or elite, will answer for their sins. Their fattened hearts are accountable.

Today's readings give hope to everyone who is not in the 'club,' the Eldads and Medads, the loners and losers: in other words, the very ones Jesus loves and invites to follow him. In Jesus' circle, everyone touched by the Spirit is cool enough to belong.

Valerie Schultz. Taken from Give Us This Day.

Valerie Schultz is a freelance writer and award-winning essayist. The author of Closer, a collection of essays on marriage and intimacy, she and her husband Randy have four daughters.

That we invite young people to give themselves to something that demands passion and commitment.
Marists connected to the Exodus Community, Heidelberg West

Marist Source

From our Family Spirit develops a spirituality that is strongly relational and affective. Marcellin's preferred way of relating to God and to Mary were through familial terms: Jesus in his 'Sacred Heart'; Mary as 'Our Good Mother.'...

How deeply embedded in your work is this 'family spirit?'

# WFR 31.

That we invite young people to give themselves to something that demands passion and commitment.
Marists connected to the Exodus Community, Heidelberg West

To Ponder

'Not one of us'- if we follow Jesus the Christ there is nothing that is not 'of us in the One'.

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Where has the Spirit drawn you in today's prayer?

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Closing Prayer

All Loving God

Cultivate in us a spirituality that flows out of Marian simplicity, humility and modesty.

Release in us wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement for your work in which we share.

Help us set our gaze on those people and places most in need of Christlife,

Impel us to respond together,

And lead us to be in communion with one another, and with you.

Like Mary, we listen for your invitation,

Like Mary, we set out joyfully and in haste to the hill country of the lives of young people,

Like Mary, we build communities in ways that are Christ-centred.

All Loving God, come and live in our hearts.

 

 Amen