Praying without losing heart

Lk 18:1-8

And Jesus told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’  For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’”

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The seriousness of faith

Lk 17:26-37

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of man to be revealed. ‘When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back.

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The King of hearts

Lk 17:20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus gave them this answer, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say, “Look, it is here! Look, it is there!” For look, the kingdom of God is among you.’ He said to the disciples, ‘A time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of man and will not see it. They will say to you, “Look, it is there!” or, “Look, it is here!” Make no move; do not set off in pursuit; for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so will be the Son of man when his Day comes. But first he is destined to suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation. Read More

THE LORD IS GOOD

507th Meditation

“The Lord is (…) good in all his deeds” (Ps 114:13b); the Lord is the Good One par excellence.

To the one who approached Jesus and called Him “Good Teacher,” Jesus replied: “No one is good but God alone” (Mk 10:18).

From the Heart of God flows this goodness, which is His essence and which He wants to make known to all people. Read More

Gratitude

Lk 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.  And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.  Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 1And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

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The school of humility

Lk 17:7-10

At that time the Lord said, ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal at once”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper ready; fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are useless servants: we have done no more than our duty”. Read More

THE TRUE GOLD

506th Meditation

On our way of following Christ, we have to deal with our weaknesses again and again. Often we do not succeed in overcoming them as we would like to and, despite our sincere efforts, they catch up with us. Sometimes we fall into sin, and then feelings of despair may even arise because we are simply not able to resist the temptations. Read More