Showing all posts by Elija

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“DO THE WORK OF GOD”

Author ElijaPosted on

“Wait a little while longer and do your works. I am your reward!” (Inner Word)

Our life is short, and to use it for both this time and eternity is the highest wisdom. Deep down, many people probably long to fulfill their purpose on earth. If they have not yet encountered God, their professional duties help them move meaningfully within the natural order intended for them. However, their perspective changes upon encountering God. They come to understand that the natural orders originate from God and that carefully fulfilling them pleases and honors Him. Yet one’s perspective opens up even further, for with this realization, one begins to understand one’s service in daily life as a contribution to building the Kingdom of God on earth. Consequently, one carries out everything ever more consciously for the glory of God!

Read More

In Biblical Meditations

The royal path

Author ElijaPosted on

1 Cor 12:31-13,13

Earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  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.  So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Read More

In Reflexion

The sorrows of Mary

Author ElijaPosted on

The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, which we celebrate today, dates back to the Feast of the “The Seven Sorrows of Mary”, which was introduced by Pope Benedict XIII in 1721.

In Eastern Christianity, the Sorrowful Mother has been venerated since the first centuries. The great poet Ephrem the Syrian (+373) already sings of the Virgin under the Cross, and a large number of authors of Christian antiquity depict the Sorrows of Mary. These texts became part of the liturgy of the East. Thus, as early as the 6th century, the depiction of Mary under the Cross was common in the East.

In the West, on the other hand, devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows began to spread only in the 12th century. The Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites), founded in 1233, made the veneration of the “Mater Dolorosa” known to a large part of the Christian population. At this time, the famous hymn to the Sorrowful Mother, the “Stabat Mater”, was also born. The veneration of Our Lady of Sorrows has been deeply rooted in people’s hearts since the Middle Ages. Pilgrimage sites with the image of Jesus being placed in the lap of His Sorrowful Mother after His descent from the Cross have also been established.

Read More

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“GOD COMES VERY CLOSE”

Author ElijaPosted on

“If you are ready to receive me, I will come very close to you” (Little Book of the Father).

It is a promise from our Heavenly Father, and whether or not it is fulfilled depends on us. We know what God means: we must let God into our hearts and offer Him a home so that our Heavenly Father can dwell there always. If our Father has pitched His tent and we never turn away from Him but nurture this holy love, then the Lord will draw very near to us.

Read More

In Biblical Meditations

The Cross: sign of salvation  

Author ElijaPosted on

Phil 2:6-11

Christ, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names; so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   Read More

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“THE OBLIGATION OF FAITH”  

Author ElijaPosted on

“Whoever receives the faith is also called to share it. The light of the Lord, which shines into our darkness, is the light for the world. We owe this to all our fellow human beings.” (St. John Paul II)

So spoke Pope John Paul II, calling on all people to proclaim the Gospel. In doing so, he fulfilled his mission as Pope.

Nothing is closer to our heavenly Father’s heart than this. For this purpose, He sent His Son.

Read More

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“THE ADVENTURE OF SELFLESS LOVE”

Author ElijaPosted on

“People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered—love them anyway. When you do good, they’ll accuse you of selfish and ulterior motives—do good anyway. If you are successful, you will gain false friends and real enemies—be successful anyway. The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow—do good anyway. What you have built up over years of work can be destroyed overnight—build anyway. Your help is truly needed, but people may attack you when you help them—help them anyway.” (Mother Teresa)

Clearly, St. Mother Teresa both discovered and practiced in her life the way God our Heavenly Father loves people, for He causes the sun to rise on the good and the evil alike.

Read More

In Biblical Meditations

All the fullness of God

Author ElijaPosted on

Today we will reflect on the reading for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, according to the traditional calendar.

Eph 3:13-21

I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. Read More

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

“GOD PROTECTS US FROM THE SNARE”  

Author ElijaPosted on

“The Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” (Prov. 3:26)

Without a doubt, there are dangerous snares along our path of following Christ. And there are quite a few that the Lord allows in order to test us. The repeated exhortation to be vigilant is not given in vain, for there are many temptations that seek to lead us astray from the straight path.

Vigilance should not be confused with mistrust. Vigilance recognizes evil and teaches us how to deal with it, while mistrust sees evil everywhere and feels constantly threatened. Vigilance is also incompatible with a certain naivety that fails to properly assess the surrounding situation and feels emotionally secure simply because it does not even perceive the dangers that threaten it.

Read More

In Biblical Meditations

The Sweet Name of Mary

Author ElijaPosted on

Isa 61:9-11

A reading for the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary

Their race will be famous throughout the nations and their offspring throughout the peoples. All who see them will admit that they are a race whom Yahweh has blessed. I exult for joy in Yahweh, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in a cloak of saving justice, like a bridegroom wearing his garland, like a bride adorned in her jewels. For as the earth sends up its shoots and a garden makes seeds sprout, so Lord Yahweh makes saving justice and praise spring up in the sight of all nations. Read More