Christian Reflection and Prayer

God delights in those who honor him

Known in advance

God knew his people in advance, and he chose them
to become like his Son.
Romans 8:29 NLT

The Reforming Monk

Girolamo Savonarola was born in 1452 in Ferrara, Italy.
He was a sensitive and serious boy who was enamored
with the study of religion. He started training as a
physician, but his idealism caused him to drop out and
join a Dominican order to fight the evils of the world.

Savonarola was deeply distressed by the corruption
within the Catholic Church and what he saw as a lack
of piety among its leaders. He spent his time praying,
fasting, and teaching the novice monks. He became
famous as a preacher. He preached about God's
pending judgment, the need for repentance, against the
worldliness of the clergy, the evils of the ruling class,
and the general corruption of secular living.

Savonarola used his power and popularity to bring about
reform of church and state. He is considered an early
reformer within the Catholic Church. Under his leadership
Florence underwent a startling transformation:
businessmen restored ill-gotten gains, there was much
Bible ready, and the churches were crowded. At the
same time, Savonarola made many enemies.

With the passage of time, community support for
Savonarola's strict views started to wane. On
May 13, 1497, Alexander VI excommunicated Savonarola
from the church on the grounds that he had disobeyed
the pope's commands. He was arrested in April 1498,
tried for sedition and heresy and was brutally tortured.
On May 23, 1498, he was publicly hanged and his body
burned.

In the succeeding years the majority of citizens of
Florence went back to their old ways, yet many
permanently changed. One of those was a sculptor
named Michelangelo.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History
by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003),
entry for May 13.

Verse

Pray without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:17

Voice

Spirituality without a prayer life is no spirituality at
all, and it will not last beyond the first defeats.
Prayer is an opening of the self so that the Word
of God can break in and make us new. Prayer
unmasks. Prayer converts. Prayer impels. Prayer
sustains us on the way. Pray for the grace it will
take to continue what you would like to quit.
Joan Chittister

Prayer

Though you are worthy of trumpets and the song
of angels, you graciously receive our daily prayers
of whispered words and mundane habits. Enable us,
Lord, to love you with all that we are and in all that
we do. Teach us how we might truly pray without
ceasing. Amen.
Common Prayer

A minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was
going to ask the congregation to come up with more
money than they were expecting for repairs to the church
building.

Therefore, he talked with the organist to see what kind of
inspirational music she could play after the announcement
about the finances to get the congregation in a giving mood.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll think of something.”

During the service, the minister paused and said, “Brothers
and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost
twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more.
Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up.”

Just at that moment, the organist started playing, “The Star
Spangled Banner.”