Wednesday - living the life carrying the light of Christ

Prayer:   You,  O Christ,  are in the midst of us.  We are called by Your name.  Leave us not,  O Lord our God. In our waking and our slumber,  You are with us.  In our studying and our reading,  You are with us.  In our exercise and our eating,  You are with us.  For this we thank You.   Amen.

Benedict set out a plan for living a Christian life.  He said that four hours each day were to be set aside for prayer,  six to nine hours for work,  seven to nine hours for sleep, three hours for eating and rest,  and three hours for reading and reflecting. 

Looking at what you wrote down from yesterday,  how close to Benedict’s  Christian Life Plan are you?  

How has our living changed from Benedict’s  day  (about 480 to 547) to  today?  Have we advanced at all in living our lives as a Christian?   Or are our priorities different?  

Benedict said that priority must always be worship and prayer.     For the majority of people today,  work is all important.  Today, work and employment define a person.   But if we work and forget to pray, read the Scriptures, and worship,  what are we?  Joan Chittister,  in her book Wisdom Distilled from the Daily,  states that “no matter how  valuable your work,  remember that the empty vessel must be filled”  (Chittister, pg.101)

Read  2 Corinthians 4: 1 - 18

St. Paul  said to the Corinthians  that we carry the light of Christ.  Or more to the fact,  the light of Christ shines through us to our community.    In order to carry this light,  we need to be like vessels waiting to be filled.

How will you “fill” your vessel today?

Prayer:   Great God,  we come before you as empty vessels waiting to be filled with Your love and light and glory.    Help us this day to carry the light of Christ so that all can see Your love and Your glory.  This we ask in Christ,  the Light of the World’s  name.  Amen.