Thursday, January 09, 2003

Meditation for seminarians
This passage would be a good spiritual reading for a seminarian.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove;and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased." The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." Bible, Revised Standard Version

First, there is the experience of a calling, an affirmation, a sense of election by the Father (Note: it is Jesus who sees the dove and hears the voice). Then, the struggle (seminary). The seminary ought to be a desert experience, a testing. Then, the preaching.

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