Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Mental Prayer for August 31- Charity

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God.

Grace I Ask: Teach me, God, to know what charity is and give me the strength to practice it.

The Idea: Two persons must have something in common if they are to be in love. A mother and child share the same blood. A husband and wife share each other. Close friends share the same interests. What about myself and God? God could have arranged things so that He and I would never have been friends. He could have arranged things so that He and I would have nothing in common. He would have been the mighty awe-­inspiring God, and I would have had to keep my distance. But God did not do that. Instead He arranged that He and I would share His own life through sanctifying grace. He sent His own Son to be a man to win back that life for me and all men and teach us how much God wants to be friends with each and every human being.

My Personal Application: If God the Father sent His own Son to die for me, what should I do for God? If God wants each and every man to think of Him as a friend, what should be my attitude to my fellowmen? Can I be a real friend of God if I am not a friend of His friends, if I am not friendly to all those with whom He wants to be friends? God wants all men to be His friends. He wants all men to share sanctifying grace on earth and the vision of Himself in heaven. If He thinks that highly of all men, what should I think of them?

I Speak to God: God, help me realize all that lies beneath the simple words "charity to God and men."

Thought for Today: "If a man says he loves God while he hates his fellowmen, he is a liar" (1 John 4:20).
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)

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