15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 13, 2014

Written by Fr. Fitz Thursday, 10 July 2014 15:29

Have you read anything lately that seemed like good seed falling on good ground?

 

"But some seed fell on good ground and produced fruit...MT 13, today's Good News

From David Ulin, The Lost Art of Reading:

Reading is an act of contemplation,perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking us to make them part of ourselves...Books enlarge us by giving direct access to experiences not our own. In order for this to work, we need a certain type of silence, an ability to filter out the noise."

Ah then what am I reading?  Confession time: the last 20 books? Detective stories!

All very good and no regrets in reading them, but is there better reading seed yhat might be planted in my mind?

So I checked out some reviews and came up with three books that I want to get into:

Tomas Halik: A Czech writer: Patience With God

Here is how he starts: "I agree with atheists on many things, often on almost everything--except their belief that God does not exist."

Wow! that is a great start!

Cardinal Kasper: Mercy, The Essence of the Gospel

Pope Francis read it and loved it. If good enough for him, good enough for me.

George Eliot: Middlemarch

Reviewer: "I admire Eliot for willingness to introduce such fierce doubt into the mysterium fide."

I like that too.

Last week, we celebrated the feast of Saint Benedict who put in his rule: lectio divina which meant savoring and digesting reading that feeds our soul. Reading that provides high quality seed will germinate when it is mulched and savored.

One of his monks, Fr. Bede OSB wrote in Spirit magazine * this reflection on reading:

"Reading fills the mind with good thoughts, broadens our views of the world, draws forth our admiration of heroes, ...and contributes to good conversation."

Breakfast Question: What have you read lately that enriched your life?

Personal Reflection: Will the next book I read be of higher quality than the last?

* Spirit Magazine is available for a donation you can afford from the Benedictine Monestery at Clyde MO. Google it and see how you could order it.

Another good resource for daily lectio divina is: Give Us This Day

www.giveusthisday.org