Quotes and Readings of the Day

Luke 14:12-24

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”


The Parable of the Great Dinner
(Mt 22.1—14)
One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’ ”




Note: Today's Gospel reading is Luke 14:12-24. Find a Bible translation.

From the New Revised Standard Version. Reprinted with permission from HarperBibles.

TAGS: Bible, Bible Reading, Christian, Luke

Genesis 23:1-23:16

Sarah's lifetime—the span of Sarah's life—came to one hundred and twenty-seven years. Sarah died in Kiriath-arba—now Hebron—in the land of Canaan; and Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her. Then Abraham rose from beside his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying, "I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial." And the Hittites replied to Abraham, saying to him, "Hear us, my lord: you are the elect of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold his burial place from you for burying your dead." Thereupon Abraham bowed low to the people of the land, the Hittites, and he said to them, "If it is your wish that I remove my dead for burial, you must agree to intercede for me with Ephron son of Zohar. Let him sell me the cave of Machpelah that he owns, which is at the edge of his land. Let him sell it to me, at the full price, for a burial site in your midst."

Ephron was present among the Hittites; so Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, all who entered the gate of his town, saying, "No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and I give you the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead." Then Abraham bowed low before the people of the land, and spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If only you would hear me out! Let me pay the price of the land; accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there." And Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him, "My lord, do hear me! A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Go and bury your dead." Abraham accepted Ephron's terms. Abraham paid out to Ephron the money that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites—four hundred shekels of silver at the going merchants' rate.

From Parshat Hayyei Sarah. From THE TANAKH: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.

TAGS: Torah, Torah Reading, Judaism, Genesis

Angels take an interest in men...They have been called our "fellow-citizens." We all have something to do with one another--God doesn't create in separate compartments. We are all in life together.

Dorothy Donnelly,
"God and the Apple of His Eye"

From "Angels Around Us." Compiled by Karen Maguire. Reprinted by arrangement with Andrews McMeel Publishing.

TAGS: Angel, Angel Quote, Angels, Inspiration

Studying Zen, learning the way, is originally for the sake of birth and death, no other thing. What do I mean by other things? Arousing the mind and stirring thoughts right now; having contrivance and artificiality; having grasping and rejecting; having practice and realization; having purity and defilement; having sacred and profane; having Buddhas and sentient beings; writing verses and songs, composing poems and odes; discoursing on Zen and the way; discoursing on right and wrong; discoursing on past and present. These various activities are not relevant to the issue of birth and death; they are all “other things.”

Chien-ju

From "The Pocket Zen Reader," edited by Thomas Cleary, 1999. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com.

TAGS: Buddhism, Buddhist Quote

I just think a lot more about how life can change at every second and that you just never know what's ahead of you--that you've got to be the best person you can be in your life.

-Jeff Gordon

TAGS: Entertainment, Entertainment Quote, Celebrities, Celebrity Spirituality

The will of God for your life is simply that you submit yourself to Him each day and say, "Father, Your will for today is mine. Your pleasure for today is mine. Your work for today is mine. I trust You to be God. You lead me today and I will follow."

Kay Arthur

TAGS: Bible, Christian Quote, Christianity

Always choose a shower over a bath. While a five-minute shower uses 12 gallons of water, a bath can use over 70!

TAGS: Eco Tips, Environment

All the mistakes I ever made in my life where when I wanted to say No, and said Yes.

-Moss Hart

TAGS: Inspiration, Inspiration Quote, Inspirational Quote

God is especially present in the hearts of His people, by His Holy Spirit; and indeed the hearts of holy men are temples in the truth of things, and in type and shadow they are heaven itself. For God reigns in the hearts of His servants; there is His Kingdom.

Jeremy Taylor

TAGS: Evangelical, Evangelical Quote, Christianity

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Albert Camus

TAGS: Health, Health Quote

Illness is not cured by saying the word "medicine," but by taking medicine. Enlightenment is not achieved by repeating the word "God" but by directly experiencing God.

Sankara

Reprinted with permission from "The Wisdom of the Hindu Gurus," edited by Timothy Freke, published by Godsfield Press. The book can be purchased online through Amazon.

TAGS: Hinduism, Hindu Quote

When you examine the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, you discover one thread that winds through them all. They have been aligned first with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical selves.

-Albert Einstein

TAGS: Glow, Holistic Living Quote, Spirituality, Holistic Living

A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck.

-Nils Nilson’s sister

TAGS: Inspiration, Inspiration Quote, Motivational Quote

You shall make the planks for the Tabernacle of acacia wood, upright. The length of each plank shall be ten cubits and the width of each plank a cubit and a half. Each plank shall have two tenons, parallel to each other; do the same with all the planks of the Tabernacle. Of the planks of the Tabernacle, make twenty planks on the south side: making forty silver sockets under the twenty planks, two sockets under the one plank for its two tenons and two sockets under each following plank for its two tenons; and for the other side wall of the Tabernacle, on the north side, twenty planks, with their forty silver sockets, two sockets under the one plank and two sockets under each following plank. And for the rear of the Tabernacle, to the west, make six planks; and make two planks for the corners of the Tabernacle at the rear. They shall match at the bottom, and terminate alike at the top inside one ring; thus shall it be with both of them: they shall form the two corners. Thus there shall be eight planks with their sockets of silver: sixteen sockets, two sockets under the first plank, and two sockets under each of the other planks. You shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the planks of the one side wall of the Tabernacle, five bars for the planks of the other side wall of the Tabernacle, and five bars for the planks of the wall of the Tabernacle at the rear to the west. The center bar halfway up the planks shall run from end to end. Overlay the planks with gold, and make their rings of gold, as holders for the bars; and overlay the bars with gold. Then set up the Tabernacle according to the manner of it that you were shown on the mountain.

Exodus 26:15-26:30

From Parshat Terumah. From THE TANAKH: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.

TAGS: Judaism, Jewish Quote

Human beings are created from the dust of the earth; but do they resemble dust? Grapes come from vines; but do grapes look like vines? Does theft have the same shape as gallows? Does piety resemble eternal life? Nothing resembles its consequences. So the root of pain and torment is not evil.

Rumi, "Mathnawi"

From "366 Readings From Islam," translated by Robert Van der Weyer. Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. Used with permission of John Hunt Publishing, United Kingdom.

TAGS: Rumi, Islam Quote, Islam, Spirituality

Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.

-Voltaire

TAGS: Relationships, Relationships Quotes