“DEATH LOSES ITS TERROR”

“Death holds no terror for a sincere servant of Christ who works to lead souls to the knowledge of the truth.” (St. Ramon Llull)

As we move toward the great goal of meeting the Lord in death, it is a great comfort to know that we have sincerely tried to serve in the Lord’s vineyard. There is hardly anything more important that we can do on earth than help people find God and walk in His ways. From this, we can draw the confidence that St. Paul had when he knew that the crown of victory awaited him (cf. 2 Tim. 4:8).

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Salvation in the Cross

Lk 9:43b-45

While they were all marveling at everything Jesus did, he said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men.”  But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

It was difficult for the disciples to understand what Jesus meant when He said that He would be “delivered into the hands of men”. Even today it is one of the most difficult spiritual lessons to understand God’s motives in allowing His Son to be handed over to the cruelty of men.

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“TRUST IN MY MERCY”

“Therefore let not thy heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Believe in Me, and put thy trust in My mercy.” —The Imitation of Christ, III, 30

There are many circumstances that seek to take hold of our hearts. Fear and dread are among them and have the power to captivate a person completely or, at the very least, rob them of their inner peace.

From stories and reports, we know that in times of war, it is not uncommon for people to deliberately try to spread fear and dread to intimidate the enemy before the battle begins and use them as a weapon of war. If successful, the enemy’s fighting strength is weakened, and their courage may wane.

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Everything has its time

Eccl 3:1-11

There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven: A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted. A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building. A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing. A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing. A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for discarding. A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking. A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace. What do people gain from the efforts they make? I contemplate the task that God gives humanity to labour at. All that he does is apt for its time; but although he has given us an awareness of the passage of time, we can grasp neither the beginning nor the end of what God does. Read More

The limitation of the created

Eccl 1:2-11

Sheer futility, Qoheleth says. Sheer futility: everything is futile! What profit can we show for all our toil, toiling under the sun? A generation goes, a generation comes, yet the earth stands firm for ever. The sun rises, the sun sets; then to its place it speeds and there it rises. Southward goes the wind, then turns to the north; it turns and turns again; then back to its circling goes the wind. Into the sea go all the rivers, and yet the sea is never filled, and still to their goal the rivers go. All things are wearisome. No one can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fill of hearing. What was, will be again, what has been done, will be done again, and there is nothing new under the sun! Take anything which people acclaim as being new: it existed in the centuries preceding us. No memory remains of the past, and so it will be for the centuries to come – they will not be remembered by their successors. Read More

“GOD’S LONGING FOR OPEN HEARTS”

“Nothing is impossible for me, and when I find an open heart, I want to give everything and, through it, bestow gifts upon others as well.” (Inner Word)

How deeply our Father longs to find open hearts! Perhaps we cannot even imagine this because God is self-sufficient. It is true: God is perfect and does not need our love to become more perfect. And yet….

Our Father longs for this love, which He Himself is. God longs to share with those creatures whom He has made His children everything He wishes to give them. It is an unimaginably vast amount. However, it requires an open heart to receive it.

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The simplicity of a disciple

Lk 9:1-6

‘He called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money; and do not have a spare tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there; and when you leave let your departure be from there. As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave their town shake the dust from your feet as evidence against them.’ So they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.’

The Lord gives authority to the disciples! Authority is not the same as earthly power; rather, it refers to spiritual acts and comes from God.

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“DO NOT SPURN GOD’S LOVE”

“Turn back before it is too late. Do not spurn my love, for it restrains my wrath” (Inner Word)

Even though we can recognize our Father’s mercy so deeply when we contemplate His love that we can hardly imagine how people could fail to be caught in the net of love that the Son of God has cast upon the earth, this must not lead to an unhealthy carelessness in our relationship with God.

The call to repentance resounds constantly: Whether it is a return from a sinful life to God, like the Prodigal Son, or a deeper conversion on the path to holiness. Love never fails, as the Apostle Paul so aptly reminds us, and what is the call to repentance other than turning toward the love of God, leaving the path of ruin, or abandoning lukewarmness and growing in love?

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“NO HESITATION”

“Come, my son, come! Go, my son, go, but do not hesitate!” (Inner Word)

We are always called to come to God and to look for our Father with our hearts. Even though God has already taken up residence in our hearts, He still desires to deepen our union with Him each day through the cultivation of love. In addition, a final revelation of God’s love and glory still lies ahead of us, as the Apostle Paul testifies: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.” (1 Cor. 13:12)

In the Little Book of the Father, it is expressed this way: “My children, I will not speak to you about the whole greatness of My infinite love, because you have only to open the holy books, to look at the crucifix, the tabernacle and the Blessed Sacrament, to realize the extent to which I have loved you!” Read More

True unity among men

Lk 8:19-21

His mother and his brothers came looking for him, but they could not get to him because of the crowd. He was told, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.’ But he said in answer, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’

With these words, the Lord reveals the supreme dimension of kinship among men; that is, the bond between those who live as true children of God. This new dimension surpasses all the ties that come from blood, for the children of God are oriented toward the same goal: their Heavenly Father. With no one else can we have such a family relationship as with those who earnestly seek God’s Will and try to fulfill it day after day.

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