YOU HAVE ALWAYS SOUGHT OUT MAN

457th Meditation

“In your constant goodness you have always sought out man. In Paradise you exclaimed, ‘Adam, where are you?’” (Praise of the Blessed Trinity).

This was our Father’s response to the painful fall of human being, the consequence of which was that sin proliferated and all future generations had to live under the shadow of original sin, except for the Virgin Mary, whom You preserved from the stain of sin so that she could be the bridge across which the Redeemer would come into the world. Read More

Attentive listening to the Word of God

Lk 8:16-18

‘No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No, it is put on a lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in. For nothing is hidden but it will be made clear, nothing secret but it will be made known and brought to light. So take care how you listen; anyone who has, will be given more; anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he thinks he has.’ Read More

Living for the glorification of God

Phil 1:20c-24,27a

Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.  But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Read More

THE LOSS OF PARADISE

456th Meditation

“But man did not remain in his splendor. Tempted by the Evil One, he disobeyed your command and was banished from Paradise” (Hymn of Praise to the Blessed Trinity).

Our Father had made it easy for man… Of all the things that abounded in the beautiful garden of Paradise, only one was forbidden: the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16-17). But our first parents listened to the lies of the fallen angel, which aroused their sensual and spiritual appetites. Adam and Eve thus disobeyed God’s commandment, with all the consequences our Father had warned them about. What had happened could not be undone: man had listened to seduction and had to leave Paradise. Read More

The fruit of God’s Word

Lk 8:4-15

When a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

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The good fight of faith

1 Tim 6:3-12

If any one teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

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Our service for unity

Eph 4:1-7, 11-13

I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you therefore to lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you were called. With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love. Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, over all, through all and within all. On each one of us God’s favour has been bestowed in whatever way Christ allotted it.

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PRAISE OF THE BLESSED TRINITY (I)

453rd Meditation

“All praise to you Eternal Father, Holy God, living and all-powerful. You have no equal, and nothing compares with the works You have created.”

The hymn of praise to the Most Holy Trinity, the first phrase of which we have just heard, was written after someone asked me what would be a good way to begin our time of silent prayer, which is the first thing we do in the early morning in our community. Read More